The Covenant of Peace - Melchizedek/Levitical Covenant

There is covenental nature of God in his relationship with mankind. Many are familiar with the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Davidic covenants in the Old Testament. There is one covenantal relationship that is often neglected in these discussions – the Levitical Covenant. In the Scripture we find the Levitical Covenant running parallel with the Davidic Covenant. In the Davidic Covenant, we see glimpses of the Davidic covenant in Judah and can follow its progression down through to David and through to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. And it is the same with the Levitical Covenant.

For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne. As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and have compassion on them.” (Jeremiah 33:14-26)

God’s covenant with Levi was a covenant of peace. Malachi 2:4-7, says,

“So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

We see similar language when God proclaimed a blessing on Phinehas,

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to this descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numbers 25:10-13).

God’s covenant with the Levites was a covenant of peace. And like the Davidic covenant we see it playing out both before and after Phinehas. Just as we see glimpses of the Davidic covenant with Judah, when Jacob was pronouncing blessings on his sons, his blessing for Levi had the sounds of a curse rather than a blessing.

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)

Yet in a profound action of God, for Levi, this curse became a blessing. Yes, Levi was divided and scattered among Israel. And they were not allowed to have an inheritance in the land. Jacobs words were fulfilled. Yet the Levites gained something far greater –

And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. (Numbers 18:20)

God set Levi apart from the rest of Israel to serve the Lord.

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” (Exodus 32:25-29)

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him. (Deuteronomy 10:8-9)

And among the Levites, Aaron and his descendants as priests.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever. (1 Chronicles 23:13)

It is with Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, that we get the specific wording that the covenant of Levi is a covenant of peace. But after this the son’s of Ithamar serve in the High Priest role, not Phinehas’s sons, but we soon find Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, whose sons have profaned the temple and God. Through Samuel God tells Eli that his house will decline. In Solomon’s reign this is fulfilled and Zadok a descendent of Phineas becomes high priest. God again confirms the Levitical Covenant with Zadok.

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals. (Ezekiel 44:15-31)

Israel went into decline and turned away from the Lord and were sent into Babylon and the temple was destroyed. However, God brought his people back to Jerusalem where the temple was rebuilt. The High Priest during this time was a man named Jeshua or Joshua. God sent Zechariah with a message concerning Joshua,

The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, “Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.

And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Behold, a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. 13Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two of them.

The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hene son of Zephaniah. Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Zechariah 6:9-15)

In this prophesy we get elements of both the Davidic and Levitical Covenants. A crown is set on Joshua’s head and then Zechariah cries out, “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch”. These are symbols of the Davidic covenant.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. 6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

But Joshua was a Levite and not a descendant of David, so what is going on? The prophesy then goes on and describes both a king and a priest being on a throne, and that “the counsel of peace will be between the two”, echoing the covenant of peace that God made with Phinehas.

And then the New Testament opens up and Mary and Joseph are told they are going to have a baby, who was a descendant of David, and they are to name this baby Jeshua or Joshua, the same name of the High Priest that Zechariah prophesied that both the Levitical and Davidic covenants would come together. We also learn of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist a descendant of Aaron and born to a man named Zechariah, the same name as the prophet.

And then in the wilderness (where the Levites were set apart), John the Baptist, a priest (descended from Aaron) and a prophet, calls Israel to prepare the way for the Lord. And Jesus comes to John to be baptized. John the Baptist at first relents, saying he is not worthy to baptize Jesus. But Jesus asks John to do this to fulfill all righteousness. On hearing this John obeys and baptizes Jesus. This moment is significant.

For someone to become a priest, according to the law of Moses they had to fulfill certain requirements.

1.       A Priest could not begin their ministry and service till they were 30 years of age. Jesus was 30 when he came to be baptized by John.

2.       They had to be called by God. Aaron and his descendants were called by God. God says of Jesus, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek”

3.       They had to be without physical defect. Jesus was without spot or blemish. He had no sin.

4.       They had to be male. Jesus was male.

5.       They had to be washed in the water of ordination and then clothed in priestly garments. Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on him.

6.       They had to be ordained by someone who was already a priest. John was a descendant of Aaron and rightly could ordain Jesus into the priesthood.

7.       They began ministering after the ordination. Jesus’ ministry began after his baptism.

In this Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law for becoming a priest and in doing so “fulfilled all righteousness. “

When John, an Aaronite priest and whose name means “God is gracious”, baptized Jesus, he was transferring the Levitical covenant to Jesus. John could do this because there was a covenant of peace before God’s promise to Phineas. Jesus was able to become a priest under the order of Melchizedek, who also was under the covenant of peace, whom the scripture states Levi in the loins of Abraham served. Milchizedek means “king of righteousness” and he was the king of Salem which means “peace”, and this covenant was rightly his.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 7:1-10)

And the priesthood rightly belongs to Jesus as Hebrews continues to argue,

Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,

    after the order of Melchizedek.”

For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

    and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever.’”

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:11-28)

In Zechariah’s prophesy to Joshua, he says, “Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD.” Peter says, “As you come to [Jesus], the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4,5). As Jesus, when we are baptized, under Christ’s headship, Zecharia’s prophecy is fulfilled and we are brought into the Covenant of peace under the order of Milchizedek.

[For] you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Interestingly when the Bible speaks of Levi’s name it says,

Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. (Genesis 29:34)

Through the Gospel, we become attached to our husband. Peter goes on to say, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  (1 Peter 2:10) Hosea prophesies, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'” (Hosea 2:23) We are not only a royal priesthood, we are the bride of Jesus.

Emanuel

God has not called us to attain some super ethereal spiritual enlightenment. No new age mystical, science fiction, or gnostic experience will attain fullness of life or ultimate good. No, God lives in reality, with us. We see this in a baby lying in a manger and in Jesus battered on a cross and God on his throne declaring, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” . . . Jesus comes into the reality of our lives and calls out, "Come, all who are weary and heavy laden. Come sinners. Come and live in reality, and be held in my embrace. Stop seeking other ways that offer a false reality, for there is no other way. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life . . . I am Emanuel"

Speak the truth in love

Legalism demands perfection from others. The Gospel enjoys calling others to delight with them in the journey toward God.

the Gospel pursues beauty, Legalism holds back

The Gospel pursues beauty, wisdom, growth, and the best in life knowing that it is accepted. Legalism pursues only those measures seen as obtainable and is ruled by fear and anxiety and a desire to be accepted.

Obtaining Perfection

God has called us to perfection and to be holy (beauty and joy). Fortunately, perfection and holiness has been fully accomplished in Jesus and not in our own works or efforts. Through Jesus, we have the freedom to pursue what He has obtained, perfection (beauty and joy), without fear of reprisal when we fail.

We don't owe God

I cannot live a life of "Christ died for me, so what will I do for God". We don't owe God anything, Christ paid it all.

The comfort of the devestating message of sin

If we fail to make sin devastating in order to sooth someones ego, we fail to comfort the soul. For when we flatter and pamper, we give a sense of self-ability and self-worth, an attitude that we can measure up, that we are ok in of ourselves. We start looking to and relying on ourselves. Yes, that is insane, because the fact is we can't measure up. We can never attain self worth, not truly and fully. We know this in the deepest parts of who we are, that we are not totally ok.

The comfort is that sin is devastating and we are helpless and worthless. There is nothing we can do. . . . And we don't have to. .. . .Jesus has done it all. Through the work and worth of Jesus, we gain more for more than self-worth when we come to Him. We gain the love of God.

So let us not be shocked or devastated by the depths of our messed-upness, nor make light of sin, for we have a glorious Gospel that is bigger than the deepest depths of sin. Let that depth be apart of our speech.

Come . . .

Have you ever wanted to be punished when you’ve done something wrong? Let’s say you’ve sinned against God, and then go to prayer and confess, and then there is nothing, your just forgiven. Or you have greatly and significantly hurt a relationship and they respond with your forgiven and that’s it, everything is back to normal. And then we feel awkward and feel like we need to do something. We need to make it right or at least suffer a little. We want to feel like we have paid for our wrongs. We have this sense of justice that nags us. We know justice needs to be met.

In Isaiah 58, God says,

And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.
⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

God calls us to come as we are, filthy sinners, and to enjoy the richest of fare. We don’t pay for it with our own pecuniary resources of holiness. We cannot make things right or bring justice. We cannot pay for our wrongs. But through Jesus Christ, God calls . . .

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
² “Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.

Cease striving, know that Jesus Christ is God, and behold the works of the Lord. Justice was met through the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus took on the punishment we deserved. He filled both our need for justice as well as God's justice. He has reconciled us to God. He makes wars to cease. And He calls out to us, "Come all who are weary and burdened, come find the justice you are looking for, come find rest from you labor." He will be exalted and bring a people to Himself among the nations

Psalm 31, is a song describing God's reaction to the sinner. He states that in the midst of our sin, we should, "Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you." Often in our sin, we don't want to come to Him, we are like a stubborn mule. But in His tender love, He cries out, while it is called Today, "Come."

The duty of joy

Not pursuing goodness with all our might do to fear of legalism keeps us from God’s riches just as does finding our worth in pursuing law and perfectionism. Both come from trying to find our worth in ourselves. Both are dangerous because they come from a lack of faith in the worth and work of Jesus.

Come those who are heavy laden

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

God doesn't want us to come to Him all sorted, figured out, fixed. He wants us to come to Him broken, heavy laden, tired, and messed up. We come to Him as sinners. Stop laboring in your own ways to fix your self or pursue false rest and joy. Come as you are. And allow Him to give you a yoke that will give the deepest rest for your soul.

It is a comfort knowing I can come to Him with all my heavy ladeness and insanity, because that I am.

Riches

When God says that He will not give His glory to another, this means there is no glory, no goodness we have to offer. There is nothing I have to offer. This is awesome news. I don't get the riches and beauty of myself (which is honestly less then muck), instead in Jesus I am offered the riches of God. Oh! It is grand that I am nothing, that I might gain Christ!

Only the Richteousness of Christ

Here is an amazing song written by a friend of mine:

ONLY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Of CHRIST
A song of Sonship, K. Emborsky, Romans, 2011

1.There is no deed my hands have done  
No human effort that’s enough  
No right living have I attained  
To bring me hope for righteousness  
For when I trust in my will to obey  
Then I have fallen away from grace  
There is no room left in my heart  
For Jesus’ finished work on the cross
 
(chorus)  
There is nothing else  
There is only Jesus
Only the righteousness of Christ
There’s only the blood to justify
To cover my sin before the Divine  
And only the Spirit  
Brings me to surrender  
There is nothing else-only Jesus  
Only the righteousness of Christ

2.So by the Spirit I’ll lay down  
All the resolve I think I’ve found  
All of my zeal to do what’s right  
Will never stand in the presence of Christ  
Only by faith that comes from God  
And by believing in His Son
I will accept the gift He gives  
And let my holiness come from Him

What will death destroy?

"Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?" -- Leo Tolstoy

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

(Hebrews 12:18-29 ESV)

Ministry to the Poor

Ministry to the poor

1. God has ordained that there be the poor
2. The Gospel, The Kingdom breaking through
3. Commanded
4. In daily life
5. Engaging people
6. Motivation
7. Blessing
8. Practical

Part 1: God has ordained that there be the poor

Part 1: God has ordained that there be the poor

Definition of the Poor

                Don’t think of the poor as just those who have little. In the scripture the idea of the poor can be extend to the orphan, the widow, the sojourner, the broken and destitute, someone taken advantage of, the low paid worker, etc. Basically it involves social justice. So as you read this don’t just think of the person who is in financial straits, but think deeper to those in need of the gifts God has placed in the church, people God has placed in your life who need you to intervene on their behalf and whom you need to be a part of your life.

God has ordained that there would be the poor

Questions:

Why do you think there are poor in this world?

Can we get rid of poverty?

What does the fact that there are poor in this world mean?

Reading:

“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You will freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”

--Deuteronomy 15:11

                God is about to take his people, Israel, into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land and a nation that was supposed to represent God’s Kingdom breaking through on earth, and they are told something startling and seemingly out of place, “the poor will never cease to be in the land.” Why in this nation that is called the Promised Land, and is supposed to represent the best of all nations, are they told there would always be poor in their land? This promise is given with no condition on whether or not they followed the Lord or not. It was to be. God in His providence and mercy ordained that in this great nation there would be poor. The scripture show that God has an intimate concern for the poor. So what is God doing here? Why is this so? Let’s explore this. . . .

Scripture reading:

Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to ministering to the poor.

Matthew 26:11

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

Proverbs 19:17

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Matthew 25:41-46

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Questions:

Do you believe that God has ordained that there will always be the needy and the poor in the land?

What do you think God is doing here, when He tells Israel that “the poor will never cease to be in the land”?

Church's response to divorce

The scripture is very hard on divorce. God understands the destructive power it has. When you take the image of Christ and the church and destroy it, devastation will occur. And in his love for us, God is hard on divorce in order to protect us. And we can’t be light with it. The Bible teaches that in most cases, excommunication is required for the offending party. And if we love the person, we need to follow through with church discipline and strong teaching. However, in my heart, my primary blame for divorce is not with those couples who get a divorce, for them my heart is broken. I believe the primary promoter of divorce in the church is often the church (at least in general). There are some churches that do an amazing job in this area, but in general the church is not teaching enough on how divorce is an affront to the Gospel. And in general, the church has lost a proper fear of God when it comes to divorce. And more importantly the church is not being gospel oriented in meeting the needs of those struggling in marriage. Marriage is hard. There must be church discipline, but if you sit in judgment on those who are going through a divorce, be aware, you are sitting in judgment because you don’t understand your own heart. Staying married is difficult. As a church we should have compassion on marriages that are struggling. The church should be a place where a couple can come, be honest with where they are at, and say, “We don't want to stay married. We don’t see any other way out, but divorce” and be surrounded by people who will run to them with open arms, love them, and say, “You are right, you cannot do it, but this is what the Gospel is for, and we are here for you and will love you through this”. We must be hard on divorce, in love, the scripture demands it. But it also demands that we take the plank out of our own eyes, that we don’t sit in judgment, and that we strongly present the Gospel in these situations. We walk alongside them, and we pray for God to deliver them. The scripture calls us to compassion and charity. The church should be a place where the struggling, the weary, the broken, and the downtrodden are met with the Gospel. God is Holy and God is patient with us. With divorce we must have a proper fear of God, a fear that does not allow us to back down on the horridness of divorce and a fear that drives us to compassion for those who are struggling, because except for the grace of God, I also would be going down a horrible path. If divorce is prevalent in the church, it is because as a church we need to understand the Gospel more and the fear and amazing love that come with it.

Shades of grey

You say that you see things in shades of grey and not in black and whites . . . you have missed the point.

Well, the Kingdom of God is in vivid colors. . .

It is other. It is Holy. It is commanding. It causes you to tremble and engages the whole of who you are. It cuts soul and spirit and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And the Door of the Kingdom is open to those who surrender and come through faith in the worth and work of Jesus Christ.

God's love sanctifies us by Jason Gray

John Piper - The Gospel Saves Kids

God will give us more than we can handle

There is a saying, "God will not give you more than we can handle". This is not true. The fact is He will. But God will not give us anything He can't handle.