Day: March 14, 2007

The Price of Security

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Matthew 4:1-11 continuing…

“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” Matthew 4:5-7.

This the second temptation. How secure was the Lord Jesus in who He was/is? Did He have to prove it? Jesus had all the basic desires that all humanity has. He had one thing going for Him which we did not, and that is that He was/is Deity, yet He did not boast of it. He boasted of His Father. When an individual is secure they do not need to prove themselves before, mocking, hateful, envious, despising crowds, or individuals.

Jesus Christ had the desire for security. Again, I want you to remember these disires are God-given and no sin in them unless they become perverted, and outside God’s purview. People today have desire for financial security, health security, retirement security, home security, and family and marriage security. Many times these items can become a source of worry and fear, and that shows a lack of faith and trust in the Lord.

Security, or obtaining security can become a source of self dependence, and not so much depending upon the Lord and His provisions. People spend hours per day laboring extra long and hard to be sure their job is secure. Many labor, to the point of being afraid of their job – meaning they are afraid if they do not work the extra hours, do all the boss ask them to do above and beyond the call of duty, they could lose their position. Anyone who must do that is not secure. If you are fearful of these things; not having them, losing them, or maybe of never having them; you are not secure.

When a man or woman has obtained these or reached a point where they feel they are secure they have fallen into an open door to temptation. There has been many a Lottery winner who when they had won their million or millions, or maybe a little less, believed they were “Secure” now. They had it made. Then, something happened, they lost it, security was gone.

The devil tried to get Jesus to throw Himself over the edge. “If you are the Son of God, the angels will catch you, and no harm will happen to you” was his words. If you are secure in your own mind, and you feel you must prove it; you are the least secure person there is. The one who is secure needs not depend upon any proof, but upon the peace only God can give, then you will presume nothing. When the time comes all will be exposed.

Jesus would go to the cross, be lifted up before all to see, He would ask the Father to forgive their sins, He would finish what the Father sent Him to do, and three days later He would rise from the grave alive. He went all the way to death – the death of the cross – and He arose. He was secure in the Father’s will.

The Voice of God

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

AND GOD SAID…Genesis 1:3-13

 

“In the beginning God…” clearly refutes all things which exalt themselves against God. “Pantheism” says all things are god and god is all things, but this is clearly refuted because if ‘all things are god’ then, how did they come to be? If God is all things, then, why create?

“Atheism” is repudiated by the Bible’s declaration of God.

“Materialism” is refuted because God’s material creation are distinguished as being separate by Scripture.

In these first few words God is seen as the All-Powerful (Omnipotent) One who is before all things and holds all things in His hand. It is declared that “…He is infinite and omnipotent, for no finite being possesses the power to ‘create’, and none but an Omnipotent Being could create ‘the heaven and the earth’.” A. W. PINK, From Gleanings In Genesis.

If we are to find the answers to the questions of life we must begin with God, as has been stated in the previous message. We must begin with Him, because it all began when He spoke things; seen and unseen; into existence.

There are those who follow the C. I. Scofield belief of a “Gap theory” between verses one and two. They believe this was the time of the dinosaurs, and gives allowance for the seeming contradiction of earth’s age, and other things, between science and Scripture. A look at Revelation 21:1, without question disputes the ‘gap theory’. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea”.

The earth ‘without form and void’ would be much like a painters canvas. The artist has a picture in his mind, but no one else can see it until the work is almost finished. This was a creation which was only beginning. The painter had not yet began His work.

There does seem to be Scriptural evidence which supports the existence of large dinosaurs on earth, even during the time of Job. In Job chapter 40 we see a creature called ‘Behemoth’ beginning in verse 15 – “Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron” Job 40:15-18. Some commentators say this is speaking of something like a hippopotamus. The description sounds to me to be much more than a hippo. In chapter 41 another creature call “Leviathan” is seen as a “fire breathing” creature, “By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth” Job 41:18-21. The Bible teachers of a few years ago declared that this was a crocodile. “Flame goeth out of his mouth…” a crocodile? Now, come on. Job must have lived sometime after the flood. This would have been when these creatures died off, because of the change of environment, after the flood.

At the initial creation the earth was covered with water. There was no light until the Spirit of God “Moved upon the face of the waters”. The Holy Spirit brooded, like a hen sits on her eggs bringing forth the desired result. PLEASE NOTE – God did nothing without the work of the Holy Spirit, or His Word which became flesh (John1:1, 14). This is so of individuals who find their lives void, and without purpose or meaning. God was not pleased with the darkness on the ‘deep’, and He is not pleased when our hearts are dark and void. God’s Spirit broods, and stirs our hearts to move us to God.

Without the moving of the Spirit there would be no light. NOTICE THE TRINITY AT WORK IN CREATION – 1. “God created…; 2. The Spirit moved…; and 3. God said…”; the Word went forth. When the Word went forth there was light.

Just as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were at work in the first creation, they are also fully at work in the New Creation bringing purpose, meaning and light into every life who is drawn to God’s grace and salvation.