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Divine Sugar Sticks for November 2001What's the background behind Sugar Sticks? Click here to find out.
Thursday, November 1, 2001“Because I Live, You Shall Live Also,” John 14:19The prophets make it clear that personal accountability is an inescapable fact. Death, physical and eternal, is for the sinner’s own sin and not another’s. “Every one shall die for his own inequity,” Jer 31:31. “The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die,” Ezek 18:20. “Death through sin,” Rom 5:12. Adam, the federal head of the human race, brought sin into the world and death because of sin. Ezekiel and Paul declare that every grave is the result of personal sin. “Death has passed upon all for all have sinned.” All the tears, separations, heartaches, and graves which death produces can be traced back to sin. Had there been no sin, there would have been no death. The death referred to does not mean cessation of being because the soul is indestructible. Death means separation. In physical death there is the separation of the soul from the body. In spiritual and eternal death, the soul is separated from the presence of God throughout all eternity. Therefore, “We believe...in the saving of the soul,” Heb 10:30.
“None Can Keep Alive His Own Soul,” Psalm 22:28Another evident fact the Bible observes is that no one can live beyond the period of Divine permission. Science assures us that the span of life has been considerably lengthened. Life may be sweet to many of us, and the desire to linger as long as possible, but the psalmist here reminds us, None can keep his soul alive. One interpretation is that man must leave all and follow death when it beckons. Saint and sinner, prince and pauper, alike must obey the call. Another thought is that only the Lord who created the soul can supply the true life it must have if it is to function correctly. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ Who is “The Life,” the soul is dead spiritually dead. Dead yet alive, 1 Thes 5:6, even as it struggles to live physically and spiritually.
“Let Me Die the Death of the Righteous,” Numbers 23:10If we do go home by way of the grave, may our end be like the triumphant departure of those who have met death as a transition from Earth to Heaven. Job speaks of those who die in full strength being wholly at ease and quiet. Because the victorious death of a Christian is precious in the Lord’s sight, may ours be the glorious experience of D.W. Moody, who as he died, confessed, “This is glorious. Earth is receding, Heaven is approaching. God is calling.”
“There Shall be No More Death,” Revelation 21:4John found it difficult to describe Heaven. All he could do was to outline with a few negatives what will be missing in God’s new order. Thus he give us a series of “no mores” of which “no more death” is second. What a blessed Promise this is! Because death is to be finally banished, there will be no more sorrow, there will be no more crying, no more pain, all of which are associated with man’s last enemy. In summer-land above, there are no funeral homes, no cemeteries, no more cruel separations. Now death is a grim reality. But with the dawning of “God’s new world order,” no eyes will ever be wet with tears. Now caskets, graves, and heartaches are ours. But when God makes all things new, sin and death will never again mar His creation. That beats the new world order that the politicians of our day are suggesting.
It is not death to close Jesus Christ, thou Prince of life,
Promises Related to the Marital RealmNo matter how one may look at the Bible, it is unique in every direction. “There is none like it,” as David said of Goliath’s sword. Its authorship is Divine. Its historicity unquestioned. Its teachings eminently spiritual. Yet although its tone is so high and lofty, it is the most practical Book in the world when it comes to dealing with the common and ordinary relationships in life. It is indispensable in that it touches life at every point. And this is especially true when it deals with love and romance, and courtship and marriage, home and parenthood. No phase of martial life is omitted. “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”
In these days of disastrous sexual license, pre-marital experiences, wide-spread divorces, and the absence of a real home life, how wholesome it is to turn to the Bible for guidance as to all that concerns love and the home.Numerous Promises are related to the right kind of love and marriage, and to parents and children, and to homes that are fragrant with Divine love and Grace. “My beloved is mine, and I am his.”
“The Many Makes the Household, But Only One the Home”It is to be regretted that most books on sex and marriage written today stress the lower instincts rather than man’s more noble and higher instincts. Many secular bookstores are saturated with literature pandering to evil lusts. Hollywood is not innocent to glamorizing adultery, divorce, and the looseness of the marriage vows. Materially we never had it so good. But morally, our nation was never at a lower level than it is today. And people wonder why we find ourselves in a terrorist condition. Therefore, we have a need of the study of the Word of God on these vital matters. For the Bible gives dignity and righteousness to the exquisite intimacies of love, marriage, and the home. Today it is difficult to separate sex from sin. Originally sex was not connected with sin, because mating and marriage were instituted by God before Adam and Eve had sinned against their Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. “God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth,” Gen 1:28.
“God Blessed Them and Said Unto Them be Fruitful and Multiply and Replenish the Earth,” Genesis 1:28To this first Promise given to our first parents, many more Promises throughout Scripture are directly and indirectly associated with love-union, marriage, wives, and husbands, home, and children. Did not Paul worship “the Father of whom every living family in Heaven and Earth is named?” Eph 3:15. Because family life was Divinely instituted, it is fitting that the Bible should contain clear and explicit precepts and Promises regarding the exact nature and order of all that is connected with marital life. God Who inspired the Bible is the same God who made the marriage of man and woman a part of His creative plan. Because He wants His creatures to be well-adjusted in every area of life, He desires that courtship and marriage be the means of marital contentment rather than frustration.
Thought for the Day!When God wanted to discipline Israel, He used other nations as a whip to bring them back and restore them to Himself. Could it not be that the Lord is using the terrorists as discipline to get this nation back to the Lord? “God bless America” – but which God is America's? “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” The Lord Jesus Christ is not the God of this nation. We can’t even mention His name in the midst of the United Nations. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Me,” John 14:6.
By Ordaining Marriage, God Planned That Men and Women, Through Physical Union, Might Share With Him a Partnership in Begetting New LivesGod alone possesses the power to create, which means to bring something out of nothing. But through marriage, mating, conception, and child-bearing, God permits a man and a woman to be His instruments in creating a new life, “an immortal soul.” What a wondrous thought! A partnership with God! Sex is a sacred and sobering area of life, when seen in Scripture from the viewpoint of God’s creative purposes. This is a most valuable principle in that it proves that God in His great providence has given us all necessary instructions on such a valuable subject. As we endeavor to classify what the Bible has to say about the unfailing flower of love, may these expressive lines remain in our souls. Beloved let us love so well,
Friday, November 2, 2001As We Seek to Gather Out the Promises Covering the Manifold Phases of Marital Life, We Will Find That the Bible is a Bold BookIt hides nothing of shame. And the Bible is not afraid of words which may make your cheek burn. The Bible conceals nothing of moral infirmity, or weakness, or evil. An illustration of the absolute honesty of the Bible can be found in the chapter dealing with Jacob’s progeny and policy. Gen 30. There is no attempt to hush things up. No paint is used to obscure the pallor of the sickly face of that ancient family. Think of this ugly list.
The Frankness of the Bible is Also Presented in an Unvarnished Record Found in Judah’s Sons, “Er and Onan,” Genesis 38The wickedness of “Er” is declared, but not described. Whatever it was, “It was wicked in the sight of the Lord,” Genesis 38:7. Of the sin of “Onan,” which is described, we can only say that such a sin has slain its thousands and is one to be shunned as we would shun, if we could but see them, the flames and smoke of Gehenna. The evil of these two sons must have been great for both of them were slain by God, Gen 38:7, 10. As to love and sex, as a whole the Bible takes cognizance of them and presents them in both the true and perverted light. Divine Promises are given to the virtuous.
Although we have no way of knowing how Adam felt as he looked upon his God-given companion, the world's first woman, wife, and mother, he must have been enraptured as he gazed upon her undraped, perfectly formed figure and the beautiful countenance which Eve must have had as the Lord’s direct creation.For both Adam and Eve it must have been “love at first sight.” As soon as Eve was formed out of Adam, each knew they were meant for each other and were Divinely instructed as to all that they were to do, for, and to be, to each other. By intuition, Adam recognized the close relationship of Eve to himself and that, as part of himself, she would continue to be a part of himself. Is not this fact designed to show that any man and woman made one by marriage are to regard themselves as being one flesh? Eph 5:31. Those who are to be completely one in a spiritual sense are sure to be one in mind, in companionship, and in purpose. And can lay claim to all the Promises connected with such union symbolizing the union between Christ and His Church. Promises were given to Adam and Eve as to their parenthood, power, and provision, which Promises were shadowed by their ensuing sin. Gen 1:28-31, Gen 3:14-19.
Love and Marriage, Then, Received Their Sanction and Their Sacredness From the Divine Relation to ThemGod instructed marriage when He made the world. And the Lord Jesus Christ honored it when He attended the wedding at Cana, John 2. It was good for Adam intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually “not to be alone.” And the provided love and companionship of a woman for Adam show how grievously they err who cast a reflection upon wedded bliss by “forbidding to marry,” 1 Tim 4:3, the doctrine of demons.
God Placed Honor Upon Womanhood in That the First Woman, Like the First Man, Was a Divine Creation, Genesis 2:21-23Adam was made of the common dust, but Eve was made of dust having been “etherealized by passing through the hands of God” and was signally honored, as all should honor women. Eph 5:33. But women are not worthy of their origin when they degrade their dignity. A wife is not a real companion if she is a field wife like Dinah, a street wife like Tamar, a widow wife like Jezebel, a nagging wife like Job’s wife, a worldly wife like Lot’s wife, a cruel and vicious wife like the mother of Herodias. Is it not sad to realize that Adam fell through the one he loved? Has not this story been repeated thousand of times in human history? Affection for earthly friends must always be subordinate to what the Lord demands. If we do not love Him supremely, we cannot love Him at all. Giving Him the first place means the enrichment of our love to others.
“He That Loveth Father or Mother...Son or Daughter More Than Me is Not Worthy of Me,” Matthew 10:37As to romantic courtship, it is somewhat refreshing to read the Bible’s unsullied, charming stories of the wooing for the affection of another with a view to a companionship for life. The Song of Solomon, a much misunderstood Book, is devoted to the art of, and the right kind of mind for the making of love. The Song of Solomon is a Book of the expression of pure marital love as ordained of the Lord in creation. And the vindication of that love as against both asceticism and lust, the two profanations of the holiness of marriage. An application of the Song of Solomon would be that of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Beloved Son and His heavenly bride, the Church. 2 Cor 11:1-4.
A Question Has Arisen as to How the Book the Song of Solomon Became a Part of the Holy ScripturesJewish scholars thought of it designed by God to give a right apprehension of conjugal love. The thought of it as the glorification of wedded life, and if we conceive of it from no higher standpoint than this, it would mean that it had a right place in the Canon. Wedded life in Israel represented the very highest, fullest, and deepest affection of a time when, in the nations surrounding Israel, a woman was looked upon as mere chattel, as a slave or as the object of a man’s pleasure to be discarded when and as he pleased. (This still exists today in the Mid-East.) But it was otherwise in Israel. The Jewish home was a place where love and tenderness reigned, and no doubt this little Book, Song of Solomon, had a great deal to do with lifting it in to that glorious height.
Another Beautiful Courtship is Between Isaac and RebekahWith these two like-minded souls, it was another case of “love at first sight.” As soon as Isaac saw Rebekah, “He loved her,” Gen 24:67. Guidance to the right kind of person by Abraham’s son had been promised. The servant of Abraham, entrusted with the mission to find a wife for Isaac, Gen 24:7 and relying upon the Divine Promise of guidance, he succeeded in his task. “He shall send his angel.” The earthly messenger was guided by the Heavenly Messenger and the servant contacted Rebekah, “which thing preceded from the Lord,” Gen 24:50. Some matrimonial matches have been described as “Lucifer matches.” But here, at all events, was a marriage that was made in Heaven. There would be more angels in our homes if young people looking for husbands and wives, were more careful to seek the guidance of the angel by whom the servant of Abraham was led.
Abraham’s Servant Prayed for Good Speed, and He Got itGod’s Promise for Isaac had been fulfilled. And the relatives of Rebekah saw the leading of the Lord in the mission of Abraham’s servant. And they gave their consent to the proposed marriage, Gen 24. How all young people who are attracted to one another ought to read and to reread the story of the bride sought and won by the servant, and guided and protected by him across the desert until she met the one she was meant for. It was soon after his mother’s death that Isaac found great consolation in Rebekah’s companionship. Their united life deserves close study by those who are wooed and won. Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac was to be a link in the chain of events resulting in the fulfillment of the Promise that secured blessing for all nations of the Earth through the seed of Abraham. Abraham was really looking for the “Seed of the woman,” Gen 3:15, the Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom.
The Union of Isaac and Rebekah Was Brought About by PrayerIt was a Divinely-ordered alliance. What early shipwrecks in many marriages today would be prevented if only those drawn to each other had sought and obtained the guidance and benediction of Heaven. After 20 years of marriage, Rebekah was still childless, which must have been a trial of faith for both souls. So Isaac made this a matter of care and of prayer, and as the prayer was in the line of God’s purpose, it was sure of an answer. “Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren,” Gen 25:21, 22. “If we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us,” 1 John 5:14. Those long years of waiting prove that the Lord is never before His time, or after it. He knows just when to perform His Promise.
Thought for the Day!Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for his son Isaac. God the Father sent His Messenger, the Holy Spirit, into the world to find a bride for His Beloved Son. The Holy Spirit says, “Will you take this Man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” And when you said, “I do,” you become the bride of Christ.
“Jacob Have I Loved, But Esau Have I Hated,” Romans 9:13Here are two boys born with the same parents and under the same influences and in the same environment. But one turns out good and the other turns out bad. Environment is not the answer to man’s problems, but regeneration is. Man can never solve man’s problems. The Lord is the only One who solves man’s problems.
“Jacob Have I Loved, But Esau Have I Hated,” Romans 9:13The family life of Isaac and Rebekah and their twin sons, Jacob and Esau, sounds a warning about the folly and the tragedy of favoritism in a family. Isaac’s love for Esau was somewhat sensual. He loved Esau because “He did eat of the venison.” Such an aspect of love was of a carnal nature. Highest love has not so much regard in what the loved one gives us as to what he or she is. “Rebekah loved Jacob.” That she had a good deal of influence over her son but used it for a bad purpose, is seen in the command, “My son obey my voice,” Gen 27:8. See 2 Chr 22:3. Evidently God had a preference for Jacob. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
On the human level, when parents do not treat their children equally and dote on one child to the indifference of the other, homelife as God meant it to be is seriously impaired, as later experiences in the home cycle of Isaac and Rebekah prove.Was it out of spite that Esau grieved his parents by aligning himself in marriage with two ungodly Hittite women? Gen 26:26, 34. And later on he married his half cousin, the daughter of Ishmael. Gen 28:9. As Esau was around 40 years of age, he knew his own mind, and he should have sought a companion in keeping with Hebrew requirements. A sin sometimes is aggravated by the age of the sinner.
“Jacob Served Seven Years for Rachel and it Seemed Unto Him But a Few Days, For the Love He Had to Her,” Genesis 29:20Jacob and his beloved Rachel provide us with one of the sweetest stories of courtship in the Bible. Here is another illustration of a praying man being Divinely led to a good woman who was to share his life. How incomparable in the realm of literature is this soul gripping statement, “Jacob served seven years for Rachel and it seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her,” Gen 29:20.
When a soul by choice and conscience doth
Thought for the Day!When the Lord Jesus Christ is out of focus, all your relationships in life are out of focus. When the Lord Jesus Christ is in focus, then all your relationships in life are in focus. “Looking unto Jesus.”
Saturday, November 3, 2001Having met God, Jacob was now on his way. “Jacob lifted up his feet,” Gen 29:1, which implies a light-hearted alacrity. He continued the journey to the woman who was to capture his love. The promise of Divine companionship and protection inspired him with good courage. “I am with thee, and will keep thee in all the places whither thou goest,” Gen 28:15. Jacob’s first sight of Haran, where he was to live for more than 20 years of his life – the same length of time his parents had to wait for his birth (Gen 27:23, 32:29) – must have cheered his heart. Incidents leading up to meeting the love of his life are dealt with in the narrative. There was the well, the gathered flocks, the shepherds Jacob called “brethren,” and finally the apparent unpremeditated meeting of Jacob and Rachel. The moment he looked at her beautiful face he knew that this woman was to be his.
The union of Jacob and Rachel was like that of Isaac and Rebekah and it was of God, Whose providence ordered things so that they should meet at the well.Divinely directed lives are often shaped by circumstances which human prescience could not have foreseen. What a fascinating record it would make if only we could have a group of stories of how men and women first met before entering into a matrimonial alliance. Jacob’s instant love for Rachel prompted him to come to her aid in the removal of the great stone at the well. Love nerved him into new energy. 2 Cor 5:14, and when “Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept,” that kiss remained an unforgotten one.
The unfolding story of Jacob’s introduction to Rachel’s family and of his covenant with Laban, her father, can be briefly told. Jacob manifested his love for Rachel by agreeing to serve seven years for her.He loved, not in word only, but in deed and truth. And because love brightens labor, those seven years of service must have been bright for Jacob. Do we not have a parable and Promise here of the Lord Jesus Christ and His love for the Church? “He loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”
Jacob was faithful to his promise and at the end of seven years he went to Laban to claim his much-loved Rachel as his own.But what deception Laban practiced! After the wedding feast, in the light of the next morning, Jacob discovered that Leah, and not her sister, Rachel, was his wife. Gen 29:21-30. Laban tried to condone his unrighteous, cruel act by pleading the custom that the younger could not be given in marriage before the first-born. He was a deceiver and should have thought of this custom seven years before when he made a covenant with Jacob. True love was not to be daunted or discouraged, so for another seven years Jacob bravely served on. Polygamy, in which Jacob became involved, was practiced before his time and after. But his experience with his two wives and their families reveals polygamy as a disgraceful crime against a serene home life. Rachel’s envy over Leah’s children was a part of the evil fruitage of polygamy, which is a sin against the Divine arrangement.
Rachel’s Spirit of Envy Led to a Wicked Request, “Give Me Children.”Rachel made the common mistake of looking to man rather than to God, Who alone can give life. Rachel’s request aroused the anger of Jacob. But such anger over the one he loved so truly and tenderly was a source of bitterness. Perhaps Jacob had not considered the bitterness or Rachel’s disappointment over her barrenness as he might have done. Rachel however was not forgotten of God. “He remembered her,” Gen 30:22, 23 and Joseph, who was to become the Saviour of Egypt, was born. How full of God Rachel’s life became. He heard her prayer and added unto her another son, Benjamin, whose birth cost Rachel her life. How often the brightest anticipations of life are clouded by the gloom of the grave.
In the Promise of Rachel’s Second Son, Benjamin, There is the Larger Promise of “Another Son,” Even the Lord Jesus ChristThe Son of Mary, like the son of Rachel, was both the son of sorrow, “BEN-ONI,” Isa 53:3-4, and the son of the right hand, “Benjamin,” Heb 1:2-3. Doubtless Rachel praised God for answered prayer in the birth of Benjamin, the son of my right hand. But such an answer was a crushing burden and she sank beneath the weight of it. Yet to her there came that sweet Promise, “Fear not.”
It Must Have Been a Heavy Hand That Raised the Pillar Over the Grave of the Beloved RachelEarlier he had dug another grave in which Jacob buried the images Rachel had brought over from Haran. He had no regret over rearing a pillar over that grave. But this pillar at Bethel was a sad memento of a broken heart. What loneliness overtakes a true lover when half of his soul is taken to Heaven.
Courtship of a Sensual, Debased Sort, Was That of Amnon When He Fell Madly in Love With His Half-Sister, TamarAfter seducing the virgin girl, love turned to hate, and what hate! “Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her,” 2 Sam 13:15. What a tragic story is unfolded in this chapter. What solemn lessons it teaches. One evident lesson is that when sensual desires are stirred, they are only sinful when they result in a union outside the bound of marriage, and become fornication or adultery. Ex 20:14, 17, 1 Cor 6:13-20. Promise of Divine blessing is only for those who woo and marry in the Lord.
Absalom, Tamar’s Brother, Was Determined to Have Revenge on Amnon for the Release of His Ungoverned Passion Upon His SisterHe waited two full years, 2 Sam 13:23, to punish Amnon. Sheep shearing was a time of feasting, and cunningly Absalom begged his father, David, to allow all his sons to attend the feast. Amnon was David’s oldest son, and heir apparent, which coupled with the memory of his own sin with Bathsheba, was the reason for David’s guilty leniency toward Amnon’s crime. David finally allowed Amnon to go to the feast as his representative, but it was to be a feast of death, for drunken Amnon was slain at Absalom’s behest. What an evil brood one sin can beget. Sin sins in clusters.
The Sin and Shame of Judah Offers Another Warning to Those Who Contemplate a Love Union, Genesis 38He sinned against an explicit Divine command when he consorted with Hirah, and then with Shuah. Hebrews were forbidden to marry heathen of surrounding countries. Does this not illustrate the New Testament about “being unequally yoked together with unbelievers?” Judah’s son of Shuah, Onan, was slain for his perversion of a sexual act. And Tamar, his widow, had vengeance upon her father-in-law for his breach of promise. She played the harlot and involved Judah, who became the father of her twin sons. And the miracle of Grace is that Judah, Tamar, and her sons found a place in the greatest of all genealogies, Matt 1:3. Grace finds them in the line of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Foregoing Preamble Prepares Us for a Closer Examination of Those Precepts and Promises Associated With:
You may want to tune in. It is never too late for you or your children.
Sunday, November 4, 2001Promises for Marriage!In these days in extreme laxity in marriage ties, it is imperative to go back to the Bible in order to find out how God views such a solemn ordinance.
There are one or two conclusions drawn from the consistent witness of the Scriptures as to the sacredness and blessedness of marriage tie. How sweet the mutual yoke of man and wife “The flame of JEHOVAH.”
One or Two Conclusions Drawn From the Consistent Witness of Scripture as to the Sacredness and Blessedness of the Marriage Tie
The sad and lamentable increase of divorce would be greatly curbed if only professed lovers would remember the old promises for marriage.
Promises for Marriage“In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths,” Prov 3:6. “All thy ways,” include “the way of a man with a woman,” Prov 30:19, and vice versa. When two fall in love they should seek Divine wisdom enabling them to make sound judgments, and to discover whether they are truly mated. If they are not, then there will be disillusionment and disaster ahead. There is no disgrace nor dishonor if the engagement is broken, if a happy life cannot be envisioned. Because love is like a delicate blossom which can so easily be stifled and marriage a bond of deep affection, a thorough knowledge beforehand of each other’s different backgrounds, habits, ideas, and ideals is imperative. But if there is no forethought or foresight, and marriage is drifted into, then a holy wedlock will become an unholy deadlock. It is far better to remain single and happy than be married and unhappy. Is it not preferable to be happily single than unhappily married?
A Striking Illustration of Thoughtlessness Before Marriage is That of Samson and DelilahIgnorance of the Sorek woman’s treacherous character cost Samson his sight, his liberty, and his life. So another necessary consideration if marriage is not to become a lottery, a game of chance, is that of previous instruction. In other responsibilities of life there are deliberation and instruction. Why not training for marriage? Mothers should realize their sacred duty of talking thoughtfully to their daughters about the significance of marriage and on principles which shall guide them and what will be expected of them when they become wives. Fathers should have quiet conversations with their sons on how they can make a satisfactory marriage. Just think of 14- and 15-year-old girls and boys with appalling promiscuous activity – the root of such irresponsible behavior is from the lack of or inadequate parental guidance and example. “Older woman teach the younger women how to love their husbands and their children.”
Marriage Promises
There are so many precious Promises connected with true marriages, but they can only be fulfilled on behalf of those who decide to unite only after deliberately and prayerfully examining their love and all that a permanent lovebond involves. It is only then they can experience a God-ordained marriage.
How to Claim the Promises of God!“Then Elisha said, Hear ye the Word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria,” 2 Lings 7:1.
Thought for the Day!Since the terrorists’ bombings, all our signs read, “America united!” How come we are still so divided by so many “hyphenated-Americans”? Don’t you think it is time for us to drop our hyphens? As Theodore Roosevelt said, who was of German origin, and Barbara Jordan, a Houston congresswoman with a Afro-American origin, “I don’t care for the color or the race or the creed of a man as long as he is an American and nothing else but American.” Or do we have to wait till the Lord Jesus Christ returns?
Assuming a couple drawn to each other, having calmly and prayerfully considered their growing love for each other, and ultimately marry in the Lord.Has the Bible Any Advice and Guidance to Offer the Newlyweds?Are there any Promises for them to claim as they stand together at the portal of their united life? There are, and it is a wonderful insight into the Divine character that those who have just plighted their troth are remembered by the Almighty One. Male Israelites were liable for military service from 20 years and upward. Num 1:3. But God made a merciful exception in the case of those who were newlywed. “What man is there who hath betrothed a wife and hath not taken her? Let him go and return to his house lest he die in the battle and another man take her,” Deut 20:7. “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither will he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home for one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken,” Deut 24:5.
How considerate the Lord is. The Mosaic Law and the regulations were Divine commands. And this one relative to the newly married man carried with it a Promise of a year’s uninterrupted bliss when both man and wife would have time to adjust themselves to their life together.What a thoughtful practical God we have!
What a blessed Promise that is to make as a home is commenced. To have a perfect heart means without blemish or defect, as used by our Lord. Perfect implies imitation of God in doing good to the unworthy. Matt 5:48. David was a man after God’s own heart.
The best home is one with God at its center and circumference. It is profitable to fashion a home on spiritual principles. Setting out together to journey through life as companions, bride and bridegroom can mould a beautiful home as they endeavor to walk with the Lord. It is He alone who can enable them to have an honor where His honor dwelleth. Trying to walk with the Lord outside the house will avail little if it does not correspond to one’s walk within the house. To be a saint away from home and a devil at home is hypocrisy. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” Joshua 24:15. Oh Lovers cling together! the old world
Monday, November 5, 2001“As For Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord,” Joshua 24:15Are you thinking of setting up house? Or are you recently married or entered a marriage, have foresight, wise expenditure, and friends who have provided you with all that is necessary in the way of utensils and furniture? Wedding gifts? But can it be that in all your preparation and provision you have omitted to establish a family altar? Have you not learned that family life can only become beautiful and preserved from disaster, as those who form it to give God His due? What Joshua meant by his declaration was that idolatry would not be tolerated by any within his house. All within were bound together by a solemn vow to worship and serve the Lord and the Lord only. Has this been your decision?
“Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and All These Other Things Will be Added Unto You,” Matthew 6:33“Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God,” Colossians 3:1What constitutes the kingdom of God and those things which are above? Are they not conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ and faithfulness in His service, and faith which trusts His Word, and love which has God for its Author? And the Lord Jesus Christ for its principle Object and spiritual things for its chosen subjects? These are the things which are above, which saints enjoy and rejoice in.
As life is faced together, there may be anxiety now and again as to food and clothing. There will be practical problems confronting you.But the cure for all anxiety is to trust in the Lord’s knowledge and care. His Promise is that all that is necessary will be added (thrown in) as a bargain, so to speak, if He is given the first place in your life and home. When the Lord Jesus Christ tells you to take no thought for the morrow, He does not mean that you are to be careless or negligent regarding the future. Anyone failing to make all justifiable provision for his own is worse than an infidel. What the Lord Jesus Christ warns against is unbelieving anxiety. Putting the Lord first, seeking the things above, result in the Lord taking over our present and future needs. If in your recently established home life, the Lord’s interests are being placed first, then your interest will become His first concern.
“Be Ye Kind One to Another, Tenderhearted, Forgiving One Another,” Ephesians 4:32What precious advice this is to follow, whether newly married, or more firmly established in the ways of home! It is not long before desires and personalities have a tendency to clash. What sorrow ensues when if one or the other insists on his will being done. What differing characteristics and inclinations. There can only be harmony as both husband and wife deal in the commodity of kindness. There must be a give-and-take situation. “Two lovely bears” – “bear and forbear” – must always be present when purposes cross and conflicts arise. God knows that far too many homes are wrecked simply because one insisted on his or her rights and wishes. When selfishness rides roughshod over what the other purposes, it ruins the peace of home. Mutual kindness, consideration, and forbearance keep a home intact. Grace is promised to make us gracious and kind. So why not appropriate what the Lord offers? The kindest and the happiest pair,
The Happiness and Perfection of Both Husband and Wife Depends on Each Asking and Receiving From the Other What the Other Only Can Give
What a sweeter, purer home life our nation would have if only newly-wed couples would make this appealing promise the motto of their united life. The young husband, for example, would learn that his partner is not to be his slave or his drudge, but his equal and companion. He would also learn his wife’s limitations as the weaker vessel and not overburden her accordingly. Surely Peter’s phrase “heirs together” is one of the most expressive terms of the union and communion existing between husband and wife. How precious a sight it must be for the eyes of the Lord to gaze down upon two blissful souls united in Grace as well as in marriage, bowing together at the family altar, committing all that concerns their life and home to His tender care. Being heirs together implies that there is mutual understanding in all things. May the Lord grant our country many more homes like the one Peter predicts.
“Two Are Better Than One...the One Will Lift Up His Fellow,” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10Together, two trusting souls, can prevail against any intruder – especially when the Lord is the Third Party, and forms the three-fold cord that cannot be broken. In any companionship formed, God must be the unseen Partner. Instead of a bi-unity, it must be a trinity. Each of you will require the other, and both of you will certainly need the Lord before you travel far along the highway of your wedded life. As multitudinous cares, trials, and sorrows arise, may you remember that two with God is always a majority. Let prayer, faith, and holiness produce that dual companionship which is ever the bulwark of a good home.
“Wives, Husbands...as is Fit in the Lord,” Colossians 3:18The fitness Paul writes about is not according to the accepted and accustomed standards of society, but according to Divine standards. “As it is fit in the Lord.” A thoroughly Christian home will not be characterized by unwarranted demands. Forceful and unloving husbands, bitter and inconsiderate wives, who act as a God-enlightened conscience, are certainly not “in the Lord.” How many loving couples started out with high and happy hopes, but who met with sad disappointment at the bend of the road where unreasonable demands were made? Are these lines being read by two young souls who have recently promised to love and cherish each other until parted by death? Well take Paul’s words and have them ever before you. “As is fit in the Lord.” Such an arrestive motto will safeguard as well as sweeten your whole marital relationship as you turn the motto into a motive for living.
“Make My Speech Nothing Worth,” Job 24:25
Home should inspire every tongue to speak the most loving words. Yet in many families there is a great dearth of kind, affectionate speech. A stranger might mistake the home for a deaf and dumb institution, or for a hotel where strangers were together only for a passing moment. Home conversation should be devoid of all sharp, angry, or unloving words. Speech must be governed as James reminds us when he speaks of having a bridle on our tongue, so that no one will fly into a temper and utter bitter words at the smallest irritations. How many Christians know that some of the worst sins in the Bible are sins of the tongue which need to be confessed? Otherwise when it comes to marriage, it is shot down. It is said of the Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture that “Grace is poured from His lips” and that is our Bridegroom. “Kiss the Son lest He be angry.”
“I Know Him That He Will Command His Children and His Household After Him, and They Shall Keep the Way of the Lord,” Genesis 18:19There can be no true family life without family Christianity. And family Christianity is best sustained by family worship. A proverb has it that a home without prayer is like a house without a roof. Manifold Promises are for those whose home life is permeated with prayer. A family that prays together stays together. Family prayer is the bond of family love and the cement of domestic amity and the sweetener of home life. A home which puts the Lord Jesus Christ first and is bathed in prayer never breaks apart. When the first family was formed, family prayer began with the head of the family as the priest.
We now come to examine the component parts of a good Christian home. We begin with the husband to whom many Promises are given and Scripture makes it clear that husbands:
Good husbands are exemplified in Isaac and Elkanah. Gen 24:67, 1 Sam 1:4-5. While bad husbands are portrayed by Solomon and Ahasuerus. 1 Kings 11:1, Esther 1:10-11.
In His Marvelous Condescension, God Offers Himself as a “Husband” to His Believing People“Thy Maker is thine Husband,” Isaiah 54:5What a precious Promise that is! He is our nearest and dearest One, Who loves us more than any other. As a husband is united to his wife and they become one, so God is closely united to us. And more deeply interested in us than any earthy relative could be. He has espoused us to Himself, has made full provisions for all our needs, and has prepared a home for us above. May we be found confiding in Him and ardently longing for our union with Him in Heaven. As our Divine Husband, having loved us, He will love us to the end.
Wives Also Receive Much Notice in the BibleAnd have Promises they can claim as the husband’s helpmeet. Precepts regarding wives are clear and explicit.
Tuesday, November 6, 2001As to the Numerous Duties, Obligations, and Responsibilities of “Wives,” There Are Many Scriptures to Guide Them as They Function as Wives
Rachel and Leah, the Wives of Jacob, Were Conscious That God Must be Obeyed and Said to Jacob “Whatsoever God Hath Said Unto Thee, Do,” Genesis 31:16What can be nobler than that of a good wife seeking to strengthen a purpose the Lord hath kindled in her husband? Would that we had more of such a noble order. Ruled in her own house and was her husband’s pride, stood by him when his heart sank down with grief, and sang into his soul a melody she only knew.
Portraits of “Good Wives” Are Before us in the Wife of Manoah, Ruth, Abigail, Elizabeth, Mary, Priscilla, and Sarah“Bad wives” are exemplified in Delilah, Michal, Zeresh, Job’s wife, Herodias, and Sapphira.
As Time Goes by, by the Grace of God, Husbands Become “Fathers” and “Wives” and “Mothers”Thus we approach further home relationships and the Promises related to them. First of all, let us consider the “fathers” who occupy considerable space in the Bible. All we can do at this point is to select a few “father verses” to emphasize required fatherly qualities and the Promises connected thereto. “Honor thy father,” Exodus 20:12, Matt 15:4, 19:19, Mark 7:10. Parental respect – sadly decadent in modern life, it is strictly enforced throughout the Bible. Physical and material blessings are promised those who duly respect their parents. Needless to say, some fathers are unworthy of any honor because of their Godlessness, and lack of any spiritual influence in the home. They fail in the true function of fatherhood. They are fathers in name only. Yet the Mosaic command does not carry any condition. It does not say, “Honor thy father if he be a good moral man.” Whether good or bad, we are to be Christian in our treatment of those who gave us birth.
“Honor Thy Father”Can it be that we have been a little lax or thoughtless in our obligations towards our parents? Is there a heart somewhere starved for a word of appreciation? When your father is dead and gone, it will be too late then to say “Thank you.” Say it now, and send him a token of your gratitude. Let today be your Father’s Day when you let your Dad know how deeply indebted you are to him for all he has been to you.
God’s Faithfulness!“Know therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him,” Deut 7:9. “Faithful” like most Hebrew words has a picture in it. It means, “something that we can lean on” or “to build on.” This leads to a double signification, which is “trustworthy” and that because of “being rigidly observant of obligations.” So the word applies to a steward, or friend, or witness. Its most wonderful and sublime application is to God. It presents to our adoring love:
The Faithfulness of God – Part Two!
God Faithfulness – Part Three!The conception of a covenant is the negation of caprice, or arbitrary sovereignty, or mystery. We know the principles of His government. His majestic “I wills” cover the whole ground of human life and needs for the present and the future. We can go into no region of life but we find that God has defined His conduct to us there by some Word spoken in our heart and binding Him. Obligations from His new covenant, and His highest Word in the Lord Jesus Christ. “He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.”
The Faithfulness of God – Part Four!God as recognizing and discharging these obligations.With Him there is no change of disposition, no emergence of unseen circumstances, no failure or exhaustion of power. That He does so is matter of fact. Moses pointed out the facts of history on which He built the “know therefore” of the text. On the broad scale the whole world’s history is full of illustrations of God’s faithfulness to His Promises and His threats. The history of Judaism and the sorrows of nations and the complications of national events all illustrate these facts. The personal history of each of us, the experience of all Christian souls. No man ever trusted in Him and was ashamed. He wills that we should put Him to the proof.
God’s Faithfulness – Part Five!God as claiming our trust!Faith is our attitude corresponding to His faithfulness. Faith is the germ of all that He requires from us, how much we need it, how firm it might be, how blessed it would make us. The thought of God as “faithful” is like a precious stone turned in many directions in Scripture, and wherever turned it flashes light. Sometimes it is laid as the foundation for the confidence that even our weakness will be upheld to the end. As when Paul tells the Corinthians that they will be confirmed to the end, because, “God is faithful through Whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son,” 1 Cor 1:9. Sometimes there is built on it the assurance of complete sanctification as when he prays for the Thessalonians that their “whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord.” And finds it in his heart to pray this because, “faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it,” 1 Thess 5:24.
God’s Faithfulness – Part Six!God as claiming our trust!Sometimes it is presented as the steadfast stay grasping which faith can expect apparent impossibilities, as when Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised,” Heb 11:11. Sometimes it is adduced as bringing strong consolation to souls conscious of their own feeble and fluctuating faith, as when Paul tells Timothy that “If we are faithless, He abideth faithful, for He cannot deny Himself,” 2 Tim 2:13. Sometimes it is presented as an anodyne to souls disturbed by experience of man’s unreliableness as when the apostle heartens the Thessalonians and himself to bear human untrustworthiness by the thought that though men are faithless, “God is faithful who will establish you and keep you from evil,” 2 Thess 3:2-3.
God’s Faithfulness – Part Seven!God as claiming our trust!Sometimes it is laid as a firm foundation for our assurance of pardon as when John tells us that, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9. And sometimes that great attribute of the Divine nature is proposed as holding forth a pattern for us to follow, and the faith in it as tending to make us in a measure steadfast like Himself. As when Paul indignantly rebuts his enemies, charge of levity of purpose and vacillation and avers that, “As God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay,” 2 Cor 1:18.
Wednesday, November 7, 2001“We Had Our Fathers of Our Flesh Which Corrected Us,” Hebrews 12:9Necessary correction is never brutal, but always beneficial. Sparing the rod does not save the child. Faults unrebuked and unpunished develop into gross sins. We have far too many spoiled children in these days of a false reasoning about repression of the young, both in our homes and in our schools. The central point of the context dealing with our heavenly Father’s chastening is that such correction never reaches a Christian by chance. God’s correction always has a special, beneficial objective, namely, the perfecting of His children in holiness. That is why we must not forget the loving exhortation, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.”
As Our Children Profit by Discipline, They Come to Reverence a Loving Father Who Has the Highest Welfare of His Chastened Child at HeartIn like manner we are to act to the “Father of spirits” and live. He would be unkind if He did not correct us in measure. Is Divine correction yours? Then let it yield the promised, “peaceable fruits of righteousness.” “The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” Jer 31:29, Ezek 18:2. This repeated dictum emphasizes the importance of individuality. While a great deal of sinning may be laid at the door of heredity, the Bible reveals that individuality has its message not only of awful responsibility, but also of glorious promise and undying blessedness. Everyone is free to break with a saddening and miserable past. Grace can overcome inherited tendencies. “Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.” Wrapped up in the mystery of natural generation is the communication to others of desires and appetites, good or bad.
“The Fathers Have Eaten a Sour Grape and the Children’s Teeth Are Set on Edge,” Jeremiah 31:29, Ezekiel 18:2At the back of the descriptive saying, both of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, is the idea, “Like father, like son.” This is one reason why young married men should be urged to keep their record clean. Unborn generations are to be influenced by their godliness and chastity. As they are today, so will their offspring be tomorrow. The stream will correspond to its source. As a father, Lot failed miserably in the mission of shaping the character of his children after righteousness. He was a weak man and he chose to dwell in Sodom only because it was a wealthy city. He aimed at prosperity and position and his children married into the world and they were ruined. When Lot saw disaster ahead, he tried to act the father’s part in warning his children, but it was too late. “He seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law,” Gen 19:14.
“I Was a Father to the Poor,” Job 29:16Job, affected by the miseries of the poor, and willing to provide for their wants, is here self-styled “a father of the poor.” In Church history the term “father” is applied to Christian leaders of the first centuries. Roman Catholic priests are called holy father, which is somewhat sacrilegious, since the designation occurs but once in the Bible and it is then applied only to God. John 17:11. There is a sense in which all of us can manifest the fatherly qualities of love and compassion. In Scripture “fathers” are depicted as mature believers, not babes in Christ – suggesting growth and maturity.
“Ye Are of Your Father the Devil,” John 8:44Our Lord Jesus Christ had no hesitation in naming the devil as the parent of a numerous, evil brood. In His discourse after the feast, the Lord Jesus Christ had some stern things to say to the Pharisees, who wanted to know who His Father was, John 8:18-19. They professed to have God as their father, John 8:11. His Fatherhood is clearly taught both in this chapter and throughout John’s Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ also spoke of the “fatherhood of the devil,” naming him as the father of lust, murder, and lies. Without apology He told the religious people, the Pharisees, that they were the offspring of such a “hellish father.” No wonder these enraged “children of the devil” took up stones to kill Him. Religion kills. And it is quite obvious this is true in our day.
God the Father! Satan a Father!Satan has been an ape of God.
When earthly fathers follow the hellish fathers, their own children are robbed of those holy influences leading to the loving Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is what religion does – blinds.
“I Will be a Father Unto You,” 2 Corinthians 6:18Here we have one of those conditional Promises common to Scripture. To lay claim to God the Father’s fatherly provision and protection, we must be prepared to break off all carnal connections. For carnality and spirituality cannot be reconciled. If our separation from worldly persons and pursuits bring with it persecution and isolation, God is as near as a father to comfort and to protect. And wilt Thou, Lord, a Father be,
That God Holds a Sacred Estimation of Fatherhood is Evidenced by the Fact That He Often Uses Such a Relationship to Illustrate His Feelings Toward His Own“Abba Father,” Gal 4:5-7. Our Lord Jesus Christ was particularly fond of the word “Father” as He addressed God or spoke about Him. As His “Only Begotten Son,” the Lord Jesus Christ lived near to His Father’s heart and always sought to do those things pleasing to His Father. When an “earthly father” dies, God offers to take his place and care for those who are left behind. And thus He speaks of Himself as “the Father of the fatherless,” Psa 68:5. The best fathers in the world are those who are separated from the world and who are endeavoring to be free from an unequal yoke with unbelievers, and know what it is to have the Lord God Almighty as a Father.
Life is ever fragrant in a home when “a father, loving his Heavenly Father” and striving to please Him in all his ways, so orders his home life as to give his children a beautiful conception of the love, compassion, and protection of the Father above.The greatest responsibility of any father is to reflect the character of God the Father. As to children, they should remember that they can only expect the full Promise of God as they heed the words of Solomon, “Hear thou, my son, and be wise...and hearken unto thy father that begat thee,” Prov 23:19. Only a dad, but he gives his all,
The Eating of the Peace Offering“But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thy hands unto,” Deut 12:18. There are three bloody sacrifices – the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. In all three, expiation was the first idea, but in the second of them the act of burning symbolized a further thought namely, that of offering to God. While in the third, “the peace offering,” there was added to both of these the still further thought of the offerer’s participation with God, as symbolized by the eating of the sacrifice. So we have great Truths which are the most spiritual, depicted for us in these external rites.
The Peace Offering – Part Two – Depicts for Us
The Peace Offering – Part ThreeIt is blessedly true as to all that we lay on God’s altar – it is far more ours than it ever was or could be while we kept it for ourselves. And our enjoyment and our nourishment from our good things, when offered as sacrifices, are greater than when we eat our morsel alone. If we make earthly joys and possessions the materials of our sacrifice, they will not only become means of closer union with the Lord instead of parting us from Him, as they do when used in selfish disregard of Him. Nor must we forget the wonderful thought also mirrored in this piece of ancient ritual, that God delights in men’s sacrifices and surrenders and service.
Peace Offering –Part Four“If I was hungry, I would not tell thee” said the psalmist in God’s Name in regard to outward sacrifices. “Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” But He does “eat” the better sacrifices that loving souls or obedient wills lay on His altar. He seeks for those and delights when they are offered to Him. “He hungered, and seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He came to it.” He still hungers for the fruit that we can yield to Him. And if we will, He will enter in and sup with us, not disdaining to sit at the poor table which we can spread for Him, not to partake of the humble fare which we lay upon it, but mending the banquet by what He brings for our nourishment, and hallowing the hour by His presence.
“If Any Man Lack Wisdom, Let Him Ask of God,” James 1:5The verb is “AITEO.” It is used four times in James 1:5, 6, 4:3. It is distinguished from the verb to “ask,” “EROTAO,” which means the petitioner is on a footing of equality or familiarity with the person whom he requests. It is used of a king making a request of another king. Luke 14:32. But the verb “AITEO” is the petition of one who is lesser in position than to whom the petition is made. Of men asking something of God, Matt 7:7. Or child from a parent, Matt 7:9-10. Or a subject from a king, Acts 12:20. So the uniqueness of the New Testament Greek again brings out the accuracy and the distinction when we ask God for wisdom, recognizing His superiority and our inferiority.
Another Indication of How Important the Original Languages Are in Our Interpretation and Explanation of the Scriptures“Babbler” and “babblings” – the word is “SPERMOLOGOS.” A babbler is used in Acts 17:18, which is primarily an adjective. It came to be used as a noun signifying a “crow” or some other bird picking up seeds. “SPERMA,” a seed, and “LEGO,” to collect. Then it was used of a certain man accustomed to hang around the streets and markets picking up scraps which fall from the loads. Hence, a parasite who lives at the expense of others, a hanger on. Metaphorically it became used of a man who picks up scraps of information and retails them second-hand. A plagiarist or of those who make a show in unscientific style of knowledge obtained from misunderstanding lectures. “KENOPHONIA” babbling, from “KENOS,” empty and “PHONE” a sound. Signifies empty discussion, discussion on useless subjects. 1 Tim 6:20, 2 Tim 2:16. They called Paul a seed picker...
Thursday, November 8, 2001Mothers!When a wife has the added relationship of mother, what added responsibilities and joys become hers. The Bible has much to say about mothers. And it records Promises of all the strengths, Grace, and wisdom necessary for the exercise of true motherhood. “Honour thy mother,” Deut 5:16. Some of the greatest characters in the Bible and of history have testified to what they owe to their godly mothers. Abraham Lincoln said, “God bless my mother. All I am or hope to be I owe to her.” What a different nation ours would be if only we had more Christian mothers. It is fitting that one of the most celebrated national events is Mother’s Day. Inaugurated to recall with gratitude a mother’s love, sacrifice, and influence, and to express our love and thankfulness to the one giving us birth and influencing our life. Home is a home of peace, and wherever a true mother comes, the home is always around her. Home is wherever she is.
“A Foolish Son Despiseth His Mother,” Proverbs 15:30
King Lemuel had a good mother, one he loved and revered. That is why he gives us the most appealing portrait of a perfect mother ever sketched. From her pure lips, Lemuel learned that kings and queens must strive to maintain personal chastity. By her example as well as her exhortations she likewise urged her royal son to honor women. Truly the price of such a wonderful mother is far above rubies. All the works, children, and husband of such a God-fearing wife and mother will praise her. Godliness makes for the enrichment of home life. The finest mothers in the world are those who love the Lord and the Word of God and who amid all the cares, trials, and sorrows of home know how to steal away to the Lord Jesus Christ and confide in Him. Gen 25:22. If a mother is virtuous and has a husband and children who can justly praise her for all she is and does, then they are thrice blessed.
“I Arose a Mother in Israel,” Judges 5:7The distinguished wife of Lapidoth was endowed with a prophetic spirit and was therefore qualified to exercise all the functions of a chief judge in Israel. Judges 4:4. Dwelling between Ramah and Bethel under a palm tree, the Israelites came to her for judgment. It would appear as if she was the first female appointed by the Lord to rule His people. How well she was equipped and how faithfully she discharged the duties of ruler! Her triumphant ode is one of the most solemn in literature. As a war cry, it is most applicable to the dark days in any international conflict. Mothers are always heavy sufferers when war afflicts a nation. What sorrow over separations, suspense, vigils, grief, and heartaches are theirs. In the hour of Israel’s national need, God had His woman ready. And what a true mother she became in all of Israel. As our nation is beset by terrorists within and without, it will be its mothers who will suffer most among our present war.
“Now There Stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother,” John 19:25Faithful mothers never forsake a cross. Born to carry burdens, they shoulder them without complaint. Is there not something arresting about the attitude and position of Mary? The One dying on that cruel Cross was her Son, the Child of her womb. Hers had been the privilege of bearing her Saviour. Now in the moment of His intense agony, where is she? She stood by the Cross, as the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ lighted upon His mother standing by the Cross, His disciples had forsaken. For a moment, the Father had deserted His Son therefore, the poignant cry, “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” But Mary maintained her sorrowful vigil and stood there. Do we not praise God for all the praying, heroic mothers Mary represents? Are you among the number who can thank God for the faithfulness and kindness of a mother who not only stood by the Cross, but never rested until you received the One who died upon the Cross as your personal Saviour?
And when I in Heaven appear,
“Who is My Mother...Behold My Mother,” Matthew 12:48-49The Lord Jesus Christ was ever mindful of His mother who gave Him birth. As He died, His last consideration was that of the future welfare of Mary. That is why in commending her to John He said, “Behold thy mother,” John 19:27. From that moment John’s house sheltered Mary. But in the context before us, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals a new privileged and promised relationship. The Lord Jesus Christ was notified that His mother desired to speak to Him, but He answered, “Who is My mother?” Then stretching forth His hand towards His disciples He said, “Behold My mother...whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My mother.”
“Behold My Mother”Have you as a mother entered this new and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Looking upon you, can the Lord Jesus Christ say, “Behold My mother?” There is no relationship so dear and sacred as that of motherhood. To have those around you and bless you for your motherliness must be a thrill. But such feelings are not comparable to those that pulsate in the soul of one joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you in the family of faith, bound to the Lord Jesus Christ eternally? If so, then your sweet home will be as Heaven’s twin sister.
A Choice of Masters! Under Terrorist Attack! 9-11-01“Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies...in want of all things, and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until He destroy thee,” Deut 28:47-48. The history of Israel is a picture on a large scale of what befalls us.
“Choose this day whom thou wilt serve, but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” “I put before you this day life or death, choose which it shall be to you.”
ServiceWe are all born to obedience, to depend on or follow some person or thing. There is only the choice of services. And he who boasts himself free is but a more abject slave. As the choice for a nation is either the rule of settled order and the sanctities of an established law, or the usurpation of a mob and the intolerable tyranny of unbridled and irresponsible force.
So with us. We have to serve God or enemies, our lusts, our passions, the world, evil habits, in a word, our sins ring us round. God is the only defense against them. The contrast is between the one, and the many, a king or an ochlocracy – the contrast of the living Lord and hostile sins.
Discipline! The Greek Word is “SOPHRONISMOS”From “SOPHRON,” which means “saving the mind;” from “SAOS,” contracted to; “SOS,” safe; “SOZO,” to save; and “PHREN” the mind. Primarily an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, or to self-control, used in 2 Tim 1:17, “a sound mind,” literally, discipline. “SOPHRONEO,” to be of a sound mind; “SOPHRONIZO,” to admonish; “SOPHRONOS,” soberly; and “SOPHRON,” sound mind. That is the purpose of discipline.
Defraud...The Greek Word is “APOSTEREO” – Not to Defraud One AnotherSignifying to rob, despoil, defraud, Mark 10:19, 1 Cor 6:8, 7:5. Of that which is due to the condition of the relationship between a husband and his wife. In the middle voice, to allow oneself to be defrauded, 1 Cor 6:7. In the passive voice, “bereft,” 1 Tim 6:5 with reference to the Truth, with the suggestion of being retributively robbed of the Truth through the corrupt condition of the mind. “PLEONEKTEO” translated “defraud” in 1 Thes 4:6. “Wrong” the reference being to the latter part of the tenth commandment.
“The Mother of Harlots,” Revelation 17:5The awful abominations of Romanism and of Babylon, the fountainhead of all idolatry and corruption, have each been spoken of as “the whore, the harlot.” Whatever or whoever this foul “mother” will be, there is evidence that she is to gather unto herself all forms of false religions. “Sitting upon many waters” implies that she is to acquire to herself a sphere of world influence using them for unholy ends. Here we have the degradation of a sacred term “mother” – “the mother of harlots.” Surely there is nothing as abhorrent as one who has prostituted her functions and privileges. Prov 23:27-28. No wonder John was smitten with wonder as he saw this woman, drunk with the blood of saints and of martyrs. Do we pray and labor as we ought to be for the salvation of those mothers and potential mothers, who are lost and without Christ and without hope? Never despair of the most abandoned and degraded women, because the Lord Jesus Christ is able to lift them from the dunghill and place them among the princesses.
Friday, November 9, 2001“The Mother of Us All,” Galatians 4:26As a figure of speech, “mother” is applied to a variety of subjects such as the earth, queens, cities, and to the Church. As |
