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Matthew 11:28-30, Various

God Is The Heavyweight

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 26, 2024

In his book, “God in the Wasteland,” David Wells coins an interesting phrase describing a current condition in society with reference to the importance of God. He calls this condition “the weightlessness of God.” This is what he says, “It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness.”

Commenting on this phrase, Philip Ryken says, “We have become children of a lightweight God.” Reading this about the “weight” of God reminded me of my Hebrew vocabulary. The word for “glory” comes from the same root as the word for “heavy.” Sometimes, the word appears to refer to something that’s physically heavy (Eli the priest in 1 Samuel 4:18), and sometimes, it was used to refer to someone who was “heavy” with material possessions. Genesis 13:2 says, “Abram had become very wealthy (actually “heavy”) in livestock and in silver and gold.” But primarily, the word referred to those who deserved honor and was used for warriors, princes, merchants, priests, and, of course, kings. In our vernacular today, we might call such people “heavyweights.”

The true “heavyweight” should be God. To glorify God is to recognize His grandeur, his majesty, His Omniscience, His Omnipotence, and His Omnipresence. Ryken goes on to say “The Creator God is so heavy that he has left his imprint on the universe like a work boot in wet cement.” When we read the Psalms, we get a glimpse of the “heaviness” of God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 57:11 says, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” God is the true heavyweight in all ways and deserves glory and honor. Making God “heavy” makes all the struggles in life light. Jesus calls those who are carrying “heavy burdens” to come to Him in Matthew 11:28-30. He promises to give us rest for our souls because his burden is not heaven; it’s light!

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Ephesians 1:13-14, Various

Signed, Sealed, And Delivered

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 25, 2024

The Holy Spirit plays a large role with respect to our eternal security. Paul teaches us this truth in Ephesians 1:13-14. He writes, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Yes, through the Holy Spirit, we are signed, sealed, and delivered into our inheritance, and we’re just waiting for the acquisition.  Eugene Peterson, in The Message, translates these two verses like this: “It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.” The primary understanding of the “sealing” work of the Holy Spirit is eternal security.

As the third person of the God Head, one primary function of the Holy Spirit is our sealing.  Fruchtenbaum says, “The Holy Spirit does seal, and the purpose of the sealing is to seal up the believer in Christ so that he can never fall out. The clear emphasis is that the believer has been sealed, not just temporarily, not just until he no longer believes, but has been sealed unto the day of redemption. Having been sealed, the final redemption is guaranteed. Perhaps the sealing ministry of the Spirit is the most vital one, emphasizing eternal security.”  Later in Ephesians 4:30, Paul exhorts us to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in our lives, “… by whom (The Holy Spirit) you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

A. W. Tozer writes, “Upon God’s faithfulness rests our whole hope of future blessedness. Only as He is faithful will His covenants stand, and His promises be honored. Only as we have complete assurance that He is faithful may we live in peace and look forward with assurance to the life to come.” Knofel Staton adds to Tozer’s thinking. He writes, “Our future rests upon God’s faithfulness. God is always dependable, while we may not be at times. While the Corinthians were not being trustworthy, God kept His trustworthiness. When we face setbacks, God is faithful. When we face guilt, God is faithful. When the bank account goes, God is faithful. When a loved one dies, God is faithful. When we know we have been faithless, God is faithful.”

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1 Corinthians 12:12-13

The Comforter

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 24, 2024

The Holy Spirit’s indwelling work of regeneration is a guarantee of our eternal security. Our destiny is certain! Another facet of the Spirit’s work in our lives that provides confidence in our eternal destiny is the Spirit’s Baptism. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit, we are placed into the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body…” When we come to faith in Christ, the scriptures teach us that we are baptized into the Holy Spirit. We are vitally joined to the Messiah. We become members of His body. It is absurd to think a part of Christ’s body could ever possibly fall off of His Body.

Jesus promised us in John 14:16 to send a comforter, another helper, who would abide with us “forever.” Earlier, Jesus said of those who believed in Him, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).  A believer cannot be snatched out of the Father’s hand because the believer, through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, is part of Jesus’ body. He is the hand, or the foot, or the eye, etc. We can resist the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and that always elicits doubts and fears. Surrendering to the Spirit brings peace, assurance, and joy. Appropriating the truth of our security in Christ is submitting to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

One of the primary names of the Holy Spirit is our “Comforter.” His work in guaranteeing our destiny in a sin-soaked world is true comfort. Again quoting Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s Messianic Bible Study, “Eternal security means that once a person has undergone the real experience of salvation, has undergone a true regenerational experience, that person cannot lose his salvation, either by committing a specific sin or by ceasing to believe. That which keeps the believer safe and secure is the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of God on his behalf, not his own works. That is the basic meaning of eternal security.” We need to let the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives! Let Him be what He is: our comforter. The most controversial part of Fruchtenbaum’s quote is the part that suggests a born-again individual who once professes genuine faith in Jesus cannot lose the salvation that Jesus promises even if he stops believing. I don’t know if one can actually do that. I’ve heard people profess to have stopped believing, but only God knows their hearts. Further, Paul talks about each of us being a part of the body, and if one part, say the toe, says it’s no longer part of the body, Paul says that this assertion does not make it any less a part of the body. I have heard it preached that we cannot lose our salvation like a set of car keys, but we can turn our backs on it or walk away from it, and thereby one’s salvation is gone. I find comfort not in my strength to hold on to God but in God’s strength to hold on to me, regardless of my feelings and statements. There is only true comfort in this if it’s on God, not on us!

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1 Corinthians 6:19, Various

Holy Spirit Security

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 23, 2024

When we come to faith in Jesus, God sends the Holy Spirit to live within us. That Spirit takes up residence and claims our bodies as His sanctuary. Paul tells us that  “… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God…” (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Spirit, living within us, begins His work of regeneration.  We are declared to have new life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states that all things have become new; Galatians 6:15 declares the believer to be a new creature or creation; Ephesians 2:10 teaches that believers have been spiritually created in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration makes one a new creation, a new creature.

When we are born into the physical world by natural birth, it brings us to a state which cannot be reversed. We cannot enter into our mother’s womb again, we cannot be “un-conceived” we cannot be “un-born.” We might destroy our lives, make some bad choices, or even be cut off at an early age, but the fact, the reality, of our birth and our life cannot be reversed. Once we’re out of the womb, we’re out of it permanently. It’s not a work that can be undone.  Even if we say, along with Job, the world would be better off if I hadn’t ever been born, it doesn’t change the fact that we were born and we exist. So it is with our regeneration through our faith in Christ and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Once we are born again, it cannot be undone.  The Holy Spirit is responsible in many respects for our eternal security.

After Jesus informed His disciples of His imminent departure, he promised that the Father would send them another helper. Jesus referred to this helper as the “Spirit of truth.” In John 14:16, Jesus says that the helper will “be with you forever.” In his Messianic Bible Study Collection, Arnold Fruchtenbaum says, “When the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling the believer, it emphasizes that once He comes to indwell that believer, He indwells him permanently, eternally, and forever (Jn. 14:16–17; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; 1 Jn. 2:27). The Holy Spirit abides in the believer forever. If He is not there forever, then it was not forever; it was only temporary.”  The Spirit’s work secures our destiny, yet many believers don’t feel secure. J. Vernon McGee says, “Every believer is eternally secure. But it is possible for a person to be saved and not have the assurance of it. May I say that a believer who is saved and does not have assurance is a subnormal or an unnatural believer? Certainly, he can be a believer, but God does want us to have the assurance of our salvation.” Ryrie says, “Eternal security is the work of God that guarantees that the gift of salvation, once received, is forever and cannot be lost. The concept of eternal security emphasizes God’s activity in guaranteeing the eternal possession of the gift of eternal life. It relates to those the Holy Spirit regenerates, and its veracity does not rest on feelings or experiences.”

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John 14:1f, Various

Our God Is One!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 22, 2024

When Jesus was discussing His departure with His disciples, he made a promise to them. It’s a promise to us as well.  First He said in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled…” Then, in John 14:16, He told them that the Father would send someone to them who would fill the void of His absence.  He would petition the Father, and the Father would “give you another Helper, who will abide with you forever.” Jesus did not want his disciples to despair because He was leaving them. He assured them that He would come and take them to be with Him. In the meantime, the Father is sending “another” helper. This helper will stay with you forever.

The preciousness of this promise comes home as we understand the meaning of the Greek word translated “another.” In Greek, there are two words that are translated as “another.” One of those words is “heteros.” It means another of a different kind. If I had a pen that didn’t write, I’d ask for “another” pen of a different kind. I would want one that worked instead of one that didn’t. When heteros is used, it always refers to another of a different kind.  I want a different one because the one I have doesn’t function as it should. The other word is “allos.” It, too, is translated as “another.” It means another of the same kind. If I had a pen that worked well and asked for “another” one, I’d want one of the same kind.  As Jack Hayford observes, “Jesus’ use of allos for sending another Comforter equals ‘one besides Me and in addition to Me but one just like Me. He will do in My absence what I would do if I were physically present with you.’ The Spirit’s coming assures continuity with what Jesus did and taught. ‘Continuity of what Jesus did and taught!’ No wonder Luke presents Acts as a continuation through the Holy Spirit’s fullness ‘of all that Jesus began both to do and teach’ (1:1).”

The three persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are of the very same essence. They are all involved in the redemptive work of man. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from Heaven, saying that He was “well-pleased” with the Son, and the Spirit joined them in the form of a dove. They are of the same kind. All three are consistent in all they do and all they say. Jesus said he speaks only what the Father tells Him. The Holy Spirit does nothing outside the will of the Father and the Son. The essential oneness, likeness, retains the idea of “one” God, yet is revealed to us in three persons. When Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthians, he does so with a blessing from this consistent, triune God. He says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

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Hebrews 9:14, Various

The Holy Spirit

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 21, 2024

Of all the controversial subjects in the church over the years, as well as today, is the subject of the Holy Spirit. Some overemphasize its presence and work. There are some modern preachers today who abuse it and use it to make themselves rich by claiming to have supernatural healing powers and other gifts that draw hurting people to them. Others minimize it or simply ignore it. Both of those approaches are wrong. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, “Because of certain exaggerations, excesses and freak manifestations, and the crossing of the border line from the spiritual to the scientific, the political and the merely emotional, there are many people who are afraid of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, afraid of being too subjective. So they neglect it altogether. I would also suggest that others have neglected the doctrine because they have false ideas with regard to the actual teaching concerning the person of the Holy Spirit.”

There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are the only persons in the Godhead. They all are omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. These characteristics of divinity soundly establish their character and nature.  A quick look at various passages in the bible demonstrates that they all have these divine characteristics. All three are Omnipotent, which means “all-powerful.” Only three Persons have the attribute of omnipotence. God the Father is omnipotent in 1 Peter 1:5. The Son is omnipotent in Hebrews 1:3. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent in Romans 15:19. All three are omniscient. That means “all-knowing.” The Father is omniscient in Jeremiah 17:10. The Son is omniscient in John 16:30; 21:17, and Revelation 2:23. The Holy Spirit is omniscient in 1 Corinthians 2:10–11. All three are omnipresent, meaning that “God is everywhere.” The Father is omnipresent according to Jeremiah 23:24. The Son is omnipresent according to Matthew 18:20 and 28:20. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent according to Psalm 139:7–10.

A fourth characteristic that all three persons in the Godhead share is eternality. This is another divine attribute that the Scriptures ascribe to all three of the persons of the Godhead. Hebrews 9:14 establishes this trait for the Holy Spirit. It says, “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Only three persons possess all four of these attributes of God.  John Owen, the renowned Puritan theologian, tells us (according to Stephen Olford) that if the sin of Old Testament times was the rejection of God the Father, and the sin of New Testament times was the rejection of God the Son, then the sin of our times is the rejection of God the Holy Spirit.”

We are instructed by the Bible to worship God only. Since we are Trinitarians in our faith, we worship the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Letham says, “We worship the Holy Spirit, who gives life and breath to all, who grants us the gift of faith, who sustains us through the difficulties of life as Christians in a world set in hostility to God, and who testifies of the Son. And we worship with one act of adoration the one undivided trinity, for as we cast our minds and hearts before the three persons of the holy trinity, we acknowledge the one indivisible God.”[1]

[1] Letham, Robert. 2013. “How the Triune God Transforms Worship.” Credo: The Trinity & The Christian Life (April 2013), 2013.

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John 17:5, Various

The Eternal Son

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 20, 2024

Jesus claimed to have existed before he was born in the flesh. In his great prayer to the Father in John 17:5, he says, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” This doctrine is often called the “Pre-existence of Christ.” Morey says, “While the concept of the pre-existence of Christ does not require the deity of Christ, the deity of Christ does require the pre-existence of Christ. If His pre-existence is eternal, then His deity is established.” The Jews rejected Jesus on the basis of His claims, but they should have noted that the Messiah of the Old Testament was supposed to have been pre-existent. We all know the Christmas passage in Micah 5:2 regarding Bethlehem. It says, “But as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be the ruler of Israel. His going forth is from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

This Messianic prophecy not only says Jesus will be born in Bethlehem, but it also claims that he existed before, from the days of old. Although in his humanity, Jesus was born in Bethlehem according to the prophecy, the passage also teaches that as to His deity, he eternally existed.  Commenting on John 1:1, “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God,” Fruchtenbaum, a Messianic Jew, points out, “According to this verse, the Son existed in the beginning with God the Father. In other words, as long as God has existed, so also the Son has existed. Since God the Father has existed for all eternity, therefore, the Son must have existed for all eternity as well. John 1:1 is clear evidence that some of the cultic teachings, which claim that the Son was created by God the Father, are wrong. The point of John 1:1 is that as long as the Father has existed, which has been for all eternity, that is how long the Son has existed.”

The eternality of Jesus is one of the lofty theological issues that seem irrelevant to our daily lives. The church councils and even some cultic sects today are divided over this issue, and many looking at the professors of faith see only silly disagreements. Yet, the eternality of Christ is a central theme that is the only basis of hope for the true believer. Not only did Jesus exist throughout the past ages, but His eternality assures us that he will exist in all future ages as well. Morgan says, “Jesus Has Changed the Way We Look at the Future. Humans have been made for hope. Death always appears as an enemy. The prospect of life that ends is alien to us because we were designed for eternity. Hope is, therefore, a part of our makeup. But the Christian alone has reason to believe in a blissful future. The reason is Jesus Christ.” As J. I. Packer puts it, “Every major religion in the world has claimed that its “founder” had a unique insight into the eternal truths of life. But Christians claim far more, for Jesus Himself told us that He is the Truth, not just a teacher of the Truth (John 14:6). First-century Christians rejected the pagan religions and philosophies of their day to accept God’s Word in the flesh.”[1]

[1] Packer, J.I., Merrill Chapin Tenney, and William White Jr. 1997. Nelson’s Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

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Mark 6:2-3, Various

Much More Than A Carpenter

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 19, 2024

One of the first things we like to find out about people is what they do for a living. When we think about people, we think about them professionally or occupationally.  We like to put people in boxes that we can understand. Jesus was a carpenter. Robert Morey writes, “Those who grew up with Jesus in Nazareth assumed that He was, like his ‘father’ Joseph, a carpenter. And, of course, for most of His life, Jesus was a carpenter by trade.” In Mark 6:2-3, the religious leaders were astounded by Jesus’ teachings and miracles, and they said, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” Carpenters don’t teach like that or perform miracles.

Their assumption that Jesus was like his father was correct, except that they were speaking of the wrong father. He is of the same nature as God the Father. He is God the Son. Morey continues his observations, “If, as some modern secularists assert, Jesus did not claim to be anything more than a carpenter, if He did not do any miracles, and if He did not speak those sermons attributed to Him in the Gospels, then why did people get so upset? Why all the opposition? Obviously, He was more than a mere carpenter.” Everyone seems to acknowledge this truth. Jesus was more than a carpenter. As Morey points out, “Despite his abysmal ignorance of the Bible, even Muhammad understood that Jesus was a great prophet (Sura. 19:30). But while Muhammad correctly believed that Jesus was more than a carpenter, he failed to understand that Jesus was more than a mere prophet.”[1] Jesus was way more than a carpenter!

Peter and some of the other apostles were fishermen. They knew how to fish. Yet, one evening, when they had fished all day, they had caught nothing. Jesus instructed them to let down their nets to fish. Peter protested but did as he was told. They caught so many fish that the nets wouldn’t hold them all. Luke 5:8 tells us that Peter did a very strange thing, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” Jesus didn’t say anything about Peter’s sin. Jesus didn’t give any call for worship. I guess when a carpenter shows a fisherman how to fish, the fisherman recognizes there’s something different happening here. Ryken says, “Peter realized the vast distance that lay between him and Jesus. It was the distance between an unholy man and the holy God.”

Peter was to understand that Jesus was not only more than a Carpenter and more than a prophet. He was the savior of the world. Peter even called Him the Messiah when asked to identify him. He might not have understood exactly what that meant at the time, but we see from his later epistles that he did understand how Jesus was the savior of the world. “In his book More Than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell uses a simple illustration to show what God was doing for us at the cross of Christ. He wrote: An incident that took place several years ago in California illuminates what Jesus did on the cross.… A young woman was picked up for speeding. She was ticketed and taken before the judge. The judge read off the citation and said, “Guilty or not guilty?” The woman replied, “Guilty.” The judge brought down the gavel and fined her $100 or ten days. Then, an amazing thing took place. The judge stood up, took off his robe, walked down around in front, took out his billfold, and paid the fine. What’s the explanation of this? The judge was her father. He loved his daughter, yet he was a just judge. His daughter had broken the law, and he couldn’t just say to her, “Because I love you so much, I forgive you. You may leave.” If he had done that, he wouldn’t have been a righteous judge.… But he loved his daughter so much he was willing to take off his judicial robe and come down in front and represent her as her father and pay the fine.”[2]

[1] Morey, Robert A. 1996. The Trinity: Evidence and Issues. Iowa Falls, IA: World Pub.

[2] Morgan, Robert J. 2000. Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. Electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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