The Gospel Speaks Today

 The Call for Self-control and Level-headedness under Trials and Temptations

“He who is slow to anger is better than he who is mighty, and he who controls his spirit than he who captures a city.” Proverbs 16:32

Self-control is one of the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23. We also read that he who controls his spirit is better than he who captures a city.
In our everyday life, at home or at work, how much self-control do we show when the inevitable pressures and trials come our way? It is all well and good to be in good comportment when all is smooth sailing. How do we respond when the turbulence and waves of trials and temptations assail us?

Our physical reaction to pressure is just one aspect of our comportment, what about our decision making under pressure?  Shall we learn from our Lord’s example in the passage in John 8 : 3- 11 (New King James version).

³ Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, ^[a]this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now ^[b]Moses, in the law, commanded us ^[c]that such should be stoned. But what do You ^[d]say?” ⁶ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, ^[e]as though He did not hear.

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He ^[f]raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Then those who heard it, being^[g] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up ^[h]and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers ^[i]of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go ^[j]and sin no more.”

Comments

There  are many takeaway lessons on self-control which the Lord teaches us in the handling of this episode. Shall we list some of them as follows:

1 Probably the first point that strikes most readers is the clear injustice in their treatment of the woman. There were two persons involved in the act, a man and a woman. Why parade the woman alone?

2. The Lord took His time and did not go on to respond or criticise them. He chose to write on the ground, and waited as He took control of the situation. Shall we learn to think over an issue and not be in a hurry to respond or give an answer.

3. They had to prompt the Lord to remind Him that they were waiting for His reply.

4. In His answer, He gave them a fundamental lesson in ethical behaviour and self-examination in His statement: “He who is without sins should cast the first stone”. At this, they all left, one by one until He was alone with the woman.

5. The Lord advised her that whilst she did not condemn her, she should go and sin no more. Demonstrating that He did not condone her sin.

6. It is relevant to appreciate that the Lord was not against the commandment given by Moses. No, it is necessary to understand the purpose of the Jews in arraigning the woman before Him. It was a trap such that whatever He advised on the law on the incident was implicating.

If he said do not stone her, He would have been seen to be advising against the law of God given through Moses.

If he said, stone her as commanded by the law, He would have been committing a crime against the Romans who ruled the Jews then, and they only had the authority to put anyone to death.

Therefore, He paused, waited and then answered such that His reply not only avoided their trap but also made them leave in self-guilt.

Shall we pause and try to understand a situation or the purpose of a question or an issue before responding to ensure that we provide an appropriate response.

Hebrew 11: 8

Abraham left his people and travelled with his wife and Lot to a place where he did not know.

Paradox

How can an intelligent person abandon all for a strange place because he said that the Lord so instructed him?  Some might argue with him to show them the God who gave him the instructions.

Hebrew 11: 11

Sarah at 90 years of age and Abraham at 100 conceived and gave birth to Isaac.

Paradox

Does this comply with acceptable medical theory? Was Sarah not in the age in which she could no longer have babies?

Hebrew 11: 17 & 18:

Abraham obeyed the Lord and lifted his knife to kill Isaac who was bound to the altar where he was to be burnt as an offering because God told him to offer him as a sacrifice.

Yet, it was the same Isaac that the Lord promised that through him, Abraham was to become a great nation.

Paradox

It appears that there was a contradiction in this command. Abraham should sacrifice his only son through whom the Lord had promised that he would become a great nation.

Yes, by human reasoning, there was. The intelligent pragmatic person would not accept this. How could a dead child become the father of a great nation?

Hebrew 11:19

Abraham obeyed because he reasoned and believed that God was able to raise the dead Isaac back to life and make him a great nation.

Concluding comments

Faith is a complete reliance and obedience to the Lord. In the walk of faith, empirical and quantitative demonstration of the Lord and His ways fall down.

Complete obedience and reliance on God may appear foolish to the thinking person who may choose to disobey God.

We thank the Lord for the faith of Abraham. He demonstrated that faith in the Lord, in complete obedience to Him, sometimes transcends the extremities of human reasoning and calculations. This is because the reasoning man fails to include in his calculations an acknowledgement that the world belongs to the Sovereign Lord who cannot be found by human experimentation. Otherwise, He ceases to be God but a human contraption and invention.

But He can be found, experienced and known by those who faithfully obey His revealed word. Such that to refuse to believe Him is foolishness.

 

Since writing the blog entitled “obedience is pivotal to successful Christian living”, I have felt constrained to write on the importance of obedience.

To start with, it needs to be clearly stated that salvation is by grace through faith. There is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation because it is completely a gift from the Lord based on the merits of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

The question is what is the importance of obedience?

There are two Bible passages that could be used to provide a graphic answer to this question. They are as follows:

1. Encounter of Peter with Cornelius, Acts. 10: 1 – 48
2. The conversion of Saul, Acts 9: 1-19

Starting with the Encounter between Peter and Cornelius

Cornelius was a Roman centurion in Caesarea and a God-fearing man who always prayed to the Lord. During one of his prayer sessions, an angel appeared and advised him to send for Peter who was then in Joppa that he would explain to him the way to relate to the Lord.

At this time, it was not normal for the disciples to travel to non-Jewish areas to preach the gospel message.

While Peter was praying on that day, the Lord spoke to him through a vision of a vessel with all types of animals including those that it was unlawful for the Jews to eat. The Lord invited Peter to kill and eat them but he politely refused, explaining that he would not eat anything unclean. The vision came to him three times, and he rejected the invitation on as many times. The Lord told him not to describe anything God has cleansed as unclean.

Meanwhile, Cornelius had sent three men to Peter inviting him as the angel directed. By the time they got to where Peter at Joppa, the Lord had prepared Peter to be willing and ready to go with them.

The men arrived at where Peter was staying. After the greetings, they explained why they were sent to him by Cornelius. Peter thanked and informed them that they were to travel together the next day to Cornelius.    The next day, they travelled to Caesarea and met with Cornelius. As Peter was preaching they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They believed and were baptised.

In summary, it took the obedience of Peter for Cornelius and his people, Gentiles, to receive the gospel message and be converted. Please recall that it was an angel that advised Cornelius to send for Peter who came and the Lord used him to convert Cornelius and his people. In effect, Peter was used to do a job that an angel could not do.  The obedient Christian is used by the Lord to win converts, do the task of discipleship, and other assignments  here on earth which angels cannot do.      

Summary:

Cornelius, a God-fearing man was sent by an angel to invite Peter to tell him the gospel . It was unusual for Jews to associate with Gentiles but the Lord prepared Peter for the trip. Peter obeyed and travelled with the people sent by Cornelius to Caesarea where Cornelius was.  He gave them the Gospel message and they were converted.

The second is the conversion of Saul. Acts 9: 1-19

As Saul travelled to Damascus from Jerusalem to arrest the Lord’s followers and bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners, a dazzling light from Heaven shone around him and his two companions. He fell down. A voice called him and asked why he was persecuting him. He asked who he was. The Lord answered that it was Him that Saul was persecuting. He asked what He wanted him to do. The Lord told him to get up and go to the city and there he would be told what he must do. As he got up, he discovered that he was blind and was led to where they stayed.

Meanwhile, the Lord spoke to Ananias, a disciple and told him to go and attend to Saul. He explained to the Lord how Saul had been arresting and punishing Christians. Further, his present trip was for the same purpose.  The Lord assured him that it was perfectly safe to go, that Saul had become “a chosen vessel” to spread the gospel message to the Gentiles and he would suffer much doing this.

Ananias went to where Saul was. Prayed for him and he regained his sight.

It took obedient Ananias to pray with Saul at his conversion for him to regain his sight and health. Obedient Ananias obeyed the Lord to go to Saul in spite of the inherent and obvious danger in going to carry out the assignment, given the frightening reputation of Saul as a persecutor of Christians.

Conclusion

The Lord is not interested in the death of a sinner but that the sinner should repent and live. Ezekiel 18:32

⁴ God wants everyone to be saved by understanding the gospel message and believing in Him. ⁵ There is only one God, and there is only one way that people can reach Him. That way is through Christ Jesus, who as a man, ⁶ gave Himself to pay for everyone to be free. This is the message that was given to us at just the right time. 1 Timothy 2: 4-6

The salvation of sinners is a task that is nearest His heart, which is why He sent His Son to die and resurrect to bring persons back to Him.

He says: “Go into the world and preach the gospel”.  The Lord has been using obedient Christians to reach out and win people to Himself. And also uses them to do other good works to bring glory to His Name. This is one of the points that underline the importance of obedience in Christian living.

The crux of this article is that we have to live a life of obedience here and now in this world in order to be successful at the end of our respective life journeys.

Please, try to read through this writeup and consider the challenge at its end.

This article reviews obedience in both the Old and New Testaments. It considers its application in the conversion of Saul to Paul.  It then wraps up with the Challenge.

We start with obedience in a few verses in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ states in John 10: 27-28: “27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”

His sheep follow Him because they hear His voice and obey Him.  They cannot follow Him if they do not hear His voice and obey Him.

In John 15: 14, The Lord says: “ You are My friends if you do what I command”.

These two passages, and many others, emphasise obedience as pivotal in our walk with the Lord.

Going to the Old testament, starting from Genesis: 17: 9 – 11:  Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 

Genesis 17: 23 – 26 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.

How do you rate this on the scale of obedience, a 99 year old man, getting circumcised because God told him to do so?

The first instruction to Joshua as he succeeded Moses in leading the Israelites was, recorded in Joshua 1: 8:  “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful”.

From passages of both the Old and New Testament, it can be seen that obedience is a common thread running through the Bible. The Lord states clearly that we should walk in obedience to Him.  The Lord has not left us in any doubt of what He wants us to do.  In Proverbs 23:26, he says: “ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

Considering the conversion of Saul, I would suggest that we may learn some lessons on the importance of obedience from this review,. Now, let us take a look at Saul who became Paul as we read from Acts, 9: 1- 15:

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street, which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Can we see that statement of repentance and surrender by Saul: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

Saul repented of his former zealous but ill-advised ways and completely surrendered to the Lord,  leading to his conversion.

I suggest we can also learn from  the response of Ananias to the Lord’s instruction to go and minster to Saul.

He told the Lord frankly that it was a dangerous journey to make.  Hear him,  from verse 13 “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name”.

Yes, Ananias was correct. But was he telling the Lord what He, the Lord, did not know?  He was not. He knew a little bit of Saul’s situation but the Lord knew the total picture about what had happened to Saul which Ananias did not know and could not have known of. 

Can we see our problem? We know  a bit and build our actions on that bit. But the Lord knows the whole picture and invites us to trust Him and do what He commands us to do but often we refuse; failing the Lord and ourselves by basing our actions on the little we know. Faith in the Word of God is the basis of obedience.

The Lord greatly used Paul and he trusted the Lord through thick and thin and he could say in I Corinthians 9: 27: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway”.  Philippians 1: 21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Should this statement be strange, it should not. The Lord Jesus warned:

Matthew 7:22-24 (KJV)

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And ever one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The challenge:

Upon what am I building my life? Are you building your life?  Irrespective of how we answer, the Lord knows how each of us is building our lives.

From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that when someone prays: “ Jesus, I know that no matter what I do, you will still accept me.” This is wrong and does not suggest any repentance, surrender and conversion because a converted person will desire to do what the Lord wants all the time. It should not be a case that “since I am a child of God,” I can do whatever I like and be accepted.” I know a church where some people made this statement at the time, I spoke against it but my view was not considered. Sadly, I am not sure of the attendance at fellowship now of some of the persons who were making the statement. Should this be a surprise? No, when people are led to believe that whatever they do, the Lord will accept them, why should it be worrying that they stop attending church service?

It needs to be clearly spelt out that we cannot be children of God if we choose to do what we like and have not repented of the rule we have over ourselves, and surrendered to obey the Lord completely and unconditionally as Saul confessed at his conversion. The Lord requires this of His sheep, who hear His voice and follow Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ warns: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”, Luke 13:3.

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Abhor evil, even if it appears logical, it has its disastrous consequences

The Jewish religious leaders conspired and got the Romans to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ in 33 AD on trumped-up charges, ostensibly to save their nation from being destroyed. On the third day, He rose up in a glorious Easter!!!

In 70 AD, the Romans demolished Jerusalem such that the magnificent temple was so destroyed that there was no stone left on top of the other. Even today, some 1,950 years after, the temple remains not rebuilt.

Yes, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”.  Romans 12: 9

^“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:19. Happy Easter!!!