Beyond Us

Job 39:26 KJV

Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?

The so called instincts of the animals (in this case, the hawk) is here claimed by God to be His own wisdom. The instincts of

• Hunting
• Soaring upon air thermals, even
• Migration

are more than evolutionary education but the very wisdom of God imparted to those creatures He has made.

Proving his own sovereignty over that of man, God speaks of high things beyond the capability of men:

• The nature of the beasts
• The instincts of the creatures and even
• The rain in places where no man dwells

Science sometimes claims understanding of why these things are but can never make these things as they are.

Man in his wisest and strongest state is below God so far as cannot be measured.

Jesus taught again.

Mark 4:1 KJV

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

The process of teaching isn't something that is accomplished in a moment or through some brief explanation of a thing. Teaching, by its very nature, requires patience in repetition of a subject, review of material already presented, an explanation relating to those questions that come up and then building another layer upon what has been grasped. The process of teaching requires not only a degree of mastery but a kind of spirit willing to rehearse the one thing again and again until it is mastered by the student.

We sometimes forget this in the field of teaching the spiritual. We are so anxious to have success in our work that we often move on to new subjects spiritually before the student has gotten hold of the subjects we have previously given.

Bible teaching is line upon line precept upon precept here a little there a little. It might sometimes appear that we have gotten nowhere. Truth be told, it might sometimes seem like we have gone in reverse. But slow, steady growth creates strong, consistent faith.

Teach again.

Blind Tradition

Mark 3:2 KJV

And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

The Pharisees had no concern for the crippled man. It may even have been that they brought him to the synagogue in order to set Jesus up. They don't care about him. They don't care about his condition. These things have no matter to them.

Neither do they care whether Jesus is of God or not. They do not question His ability to heal. They almost assume it. There is some question as to where His ability comes from for they attribute it (in other places) as from Beelzebub, but there is no question in their minds that He can heal.

Their only real concern was for their law. They had elevated the traditions of their own creation so far above anything else that they were blind to the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah. Those miracles Jesus did were all done as a witness that He was and is God in the flesh. Every one of them is in some way a reflection of His power over the Law God had given the Jews. The only reason they could not see that was because they were blinded by their own traditions.

If this was true of them it can surely be true of us. We can make so much of our own ideas that we are incapable of seeing God through them. The evolutionist is proof of that. Though there is no evidence to support his theories, except those he has concocted, he insists his theories are in fact, fact. Religionists do the same. Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims Protestants and Catholics all cling to their religious teachings rather than trusting the Christ of heaven.

God grant us eyes to see Jesus through our traditions.

He Can Make Good

Mark 2:10-11 KJV

But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

Jesus' first response when He saw the man sick of the palsy was to forgive his sin. His friends brought him for physical healing but he got so much more. The passage reads like Jesus was not going to heal him. His interest was in the man's sin. His interest was in the man's eternal need.

That being dealt with it appears Jesus would have moved on except for the reasoning of the scribes. One eternal need met, the forgiveness of the man's sins, gave rise to opportunity for another eternal need to be fulfilled; the meaning of Christ's miracles to be taught. Jesus healed the man of the palsy, not because that was his most pressing need but so the scribes, the Pharisees and indeed so we these thousands of years later could know with certainty that the Christ who claimed to forgive sins could make good on His word.

Come ye after me

Mark 1:17 KJV

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Matthew's version reads "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." There is no conflict here but the dynamic of the truth being in both. For my purpose I wish to focus on the specifics of Mark's version; “Come ye after me”

It means virtually the same as follow but accents key aspects:

Come- this isn't passive. It requires action. One thing must be left. A new thing must be achieved.

Ye-It is a personal thing. It can't be done vicariously or through proxy. Each one of us must come. We are taught do it as a unit, the part of the body which is a local church, but we must each do it.

After- Jesus has gone before. We come up to where He is.  Christianity is a direction. It is not a shotgun life where we scatter our own ways and God collects it into something that makes sense. It is a rifle shot where we each are aimed at the bull’s-eye of God's will.

I will make you to become- A process is implied; a process which I believe lasts a lifetime. It may be we never fully believe we have become "fishers of men" but that we somewhere in the process of becoming fisher, we have caught men.

They Saw Instead

Matthew 28:1-9 KJV

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came early to see a sepulcher. They had no ambitions of seeing anything other. They were coming to remember what once was but what was no more. A sepulcher us a place of memories, not prospects. It looks to the past and not the future.  It is a place of loss and not of hope. They saw instead

An empty tomb

The stone was rolled away and the body of Jesus was gone. The keepers were fainted and some of the watch had fled.

An angel speaking to them

The angel confirmed in fact that Jesus as not there because He had risen from the grave. He was not there just as He had told them. They had destroyed His Temple but He had raised it again on the third day.

A risen Saviour

Jesus did not leave them with mere suspicions or even angelic testimony. Jesus showed Himself alive to them. They heard His voice. They saw His person. They held His feet.

This was more than fantasy. Jesus Christ, the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world,” was alive as He said.

Come see the place then,

Go tell others

Even Balances

Job 31:6 KJV

Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

The balances of God are "even" (just and righteous) a believe need never fear being given a the short end of things with God.

• His hand is just
• His judgments are righteous
• His determinations are always gracious

God is no "hanging judge" as the old westerns used to call some outback justices. His ways do not always appear to be fair but that is because we only see as men. God sees things from a view far beyond our own. God can be trusted. To place ourselves in His balance is always a safe place to be. 

The Good Old Days

Job 30:1 KJV

But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

It seems like it's the nature of man to always dream of how it was in the past. Job is no exception to this. In the midst of his affliction, he cries for days gone by. Of course, he wishes for the health he once knew and pines for those days when his children sat about him; what man doesn't look back with fondness it those times when he possessed the strength if youthfulness and owned the joy of his children laughing and playing about his feet?

Now in my Middle Ages, with children grown and with families of their own, I can only watch them and reflect when it was me in their place. I do not look at my sons without seeing in them the little boys they once were.

But Job's circumstance was much more extreme than mine. His children were taken from him in violent death. His case was worse than simply struggling with the pains of advancing years. Job also recognized a difference in society; in culture in general. Young men did not possess the same respect that they once had. He saw more than a test upon his own person; he saw his society as a whole being tested.

I am old enough now that I think I see these same tests on the society and culture in which I have lived.

The morals George Washington lived his life around, the code of manners that in no small part made him the great leader he was, are mocked and laughed at today. Few care to practice good manners of any sort, let alone manners kept with the strict discipline of a man like Washington. The strength if youth today is elevated above the wisdom of age. Young men force their will upon large groups and the groups, it would seem, like it that way. The wisdom of Solomon's counselors is cast aside in favor of the brashness of the inexperienced.

Indeed there is nothing new under the sun.

The Way of the Lord

Job 28:7 KJV

There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

Job 28:23 KJV

God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

I am reminded of Isaiah 55:5-8. The way of the Lord is higher than man.

• It has never been seen by the fowl or trodden by the beasts
• It cannot be purchased with the riches of this world
• It cannot it be located with much education and learning

It is a wisdom that belongs only to God and can be gotten only by coming to God.

Oh that men would seek the Lord rather than the things of the world! 

If Only He Had Known.

Matthew 24:43 KJV

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

If only he had known.

So often is this true:

• If only the man had known, he wouldn't have run that red light
• If only henbane known he wouldn't have gone to that bar
• If only he had known he would have taken his kids to church
• If only he had known he would have paid more attention to his wife

On and on we could go with the list of what people would or would not have done if only they had known the negative consequences to their actions, or lack thereof.

The thing is, we do know.

• We know running a red light is dangerous
• We know drinking alcohol leads to no good
• We know children (adults too) do better if they are seriously involved in church
• We know marriages require time and attention

We know. We just deny that we need to worry about them for ourselves.

We know right. We just don't want to do it.

We know wrong. We just don't like rules. 

Gold

Job 23:10 KJV

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

I marvel at the faith Job demonstrates. In the midst of such terrible affliction he testifies he can't seem to find God:

• He is not before him
• He is not behind him
• He is not at the left hand
• He is not at the right hand

This is a time of terrible darkness. He wishes he had never been born.

But then he declares this affirmation; "He knoweth the path that I take. …"

Job could not see God but he was sure God saw him.  That really is the more important part. It is the difference between a child holding his father's hand versus the father holding the child's hand.

"When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

That would have been a tough truth to cling to right about then. But Job was settled on it. This trial would end. He would come forth from it. It would not last for ever. And when it was finished he would be far better because of it.

We know the end of this story and we know that this is exactly the way he ends. 

The Subtle Error of Job's Friends

Job 21:34 KJV

How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

The thought occurs to me that Job's friends answered Job much like Eve answered the serpent. Her words were not necessarily opposed to the words of God, but they weren't accurate either. One can find God's Word in her response but, when careful examination is made, we find that she both added to God's Word and injected a measure of judgmentalism that wasn't intended by God.

Job's friends spoke basic truth. Sometimes we read their words and have trouble seeing anything other than the truth in them. But Job insists there is falsehood in them, and he would know better than us. The falsehood exists:

In the attitude in which their words are given

These were meant to

• Accuse
• Demean and
• Judge

Job. Though they had no evidence of wrongdoing or sin in the life of Job, their arrogance could not conceive of any other explanation for his suffering.

In the lack of balance in their words

Like Eve, they added to what was known of God a harshness that doesn't exist in the Word of God.

We must be careful that we are not guilty of the same error. When we apply God's Word in a tone of harshness and judgmentalism we turn the truth of God's Word into a lie.

Comfort Trap

Matthew 21:15 KJV

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

The word wonderful is used slightly different in our day than is was here. We think of wonderful as being extraordinarily good. In this case the word refers to the wonders or miracles that Jesus did. The chief priests could call them wonders, using the term to refer to His miraculous deeds, but they did not view them as good. 

But we live in this present generation and we think of the term, wonderful, differently. Without detracting from the original meaning, and the teaching it brings to us, I can see value in reading this word with our present understanding. After all, the God who declares the end from the beginning knew how we would come to think of the term. 

Now consider this then; Jesus did many extraordinarily good things. Even owing to the difference in word usage, we cannot look at His ministry that day and not see it was extraordinarily good. It was so good that the children were crying out and praising God because of it. It was extraordinarily good. But the chief priests and scribes ignored the goodness of these deeds to focus only on the impact they would have on their own religion.

It is too easy for us to get into that same trap.

• We have made plans. 
• We have established patterns. 
• We have assumed positions we are comfortable with

And Jesus, even if He does extraordinarily good things, sometimes threatens to demolish what we have come to depend upon. 

We must learn to depend upon the Lord and not those things we are familiar and comfortable with. Let us go forth, without the comfort of the camp, to follow Christ. 

No Need to Stand Idle

Matthew 20:2 KJV

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Matthew 20:4 KJV

And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

Matthew 20:7 KJV

They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

There is no need for any Christian to stand idle. The Lord calls us all into His service and fields. There is work for each of us to do as witnesses in the harvest fields of Christ. We can be sure that He will reward us with whatsoever is right. The only ones who were disappointed were:

• The ones who had an expectation before they began
• The ones who negotiated with rather than simply trusting the Lord
• The ones who watched what others were getting rather than focusing on what God was giving them

What Do We Get?

Matthew 19:27 KJV

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

Peter's question is directly related to the previous teaching that salvation is an impossible thing. Jesus said that the rich hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven and that it is easier for a camel to through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Astonished, the disciples could not reckon how any man could be saved.  Jesus' response was that it is impossible for men to be saved, but God does the impossible. 

Peter picks up on this and asks, in the light of the God who does the impossible, what shall be the reward of these who had left all and followed Him? (Remember that was His instruction to the rich young ruler - he had left sorrowful, they had not.) The implication is that the stipend for forsaking all to follow Jesus is a treasure of impossible proportions:

• There is a throne
• There is authority
• There is a reward and
• There is everlasting life

What a Question!

Matthew 18:1 KJV

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

What a question!

These are the men who will one day be the foundation for the Lord's church. These are the men who walked with God every day and yet, in personal times together their concern was which one got to be the greatest. 

That this was an obviously errant concern becomes apparent by the Lord's teachings that follow. And that the spirit of much of today's Christians is off track, concerned about greatness and who has it is obvious from the offerings of most Christian periodicals. 

The issues that ought to concern us and those the Lord offered to them in response to their question are much different:

• Child like faith
• Avoiding offences
• Seeking the lost and
• Forgiving others

Worth Standing For

Matthew 17:27 KJV

Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

There are some things not worth standing for. 

Concerning the Temple Tax the Lord emphatically said that He was free from paying it (and implied the same for Peter- they were not strangers to God but children). But then Jesus instructed Peter to pay the tax "lest we should offend them".  He did not have to pay the tax but this was not an issue worth standing for. 

Sometimes we get the idea that every issue of right is an issue worth living, dying, going to jail or offending others. After all right is right; anytime, every time. That is true. But to offend, to do battle to take a stand over some issues tends to distort what is the more important issue which is the soul of lost men. 

• To fight over a political issue
• To fight over an authoritative issue
• To fight over a tax issue, is some cases
• To fight a moral issue

is to lose sight of the soul issue. 

To seek and to save the lost; to glorify God by preaching clearly His Word. These are the issues worth standing for. 

Talk Show Faith

Job 17:12 KJV

They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.

This passage reminds me of those who call evil good and good evil. Job says that his friends claim that daylight and prosperity and good things are just around the corner when in truth the darkness of God's judgment is coming on fast. 

They remind me of the talk show hosts who claim that hard work, capitalism, and conservative politics can make everyone in the United States prosperous. I realize they are merely entertainers. Their particular brand of entertainment is to tell their audience what they want to hear; namely that liberals are evil and America is still the land of opportunity and promise. But the fact is America, like the rest of the world, is dangling over the precipice of the judgment and wrath of Almighty God. We may have a few more hours of daylight. There might be another wave of prosperity and opportunity. But we should never lose sight of the Bible teaching that the wrath of God "abideth" upon men who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness. Judgment is nearing. Repentance is necessary. We don't need to change our politics; we need to change our minds and hearts about God. 

Job's friends would have had him believe the dawn of daylight was near them. He knew that darkness was fast approaching. 

A Father Never Stops Caring

Job 15:10 KJV

With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

We know that Job was a concerned and involved father. His grown children mattered to him to the extent that he offered sacrifices for them daily. His interest in their spiritual well being compounded the pain of his loss at their death. 

Here we learn that Job's own father, though aged, was still alive. Supposing that the time of Job's life was the same as that of Abraham's, it is reasonable to think of Job's father as living upwards of 120-150 years. If job had learned, as most people do, his parenting skills from his father, then it is also reasonable to assume his father was concerned for Job in his time of suffering and pain. The absence of his father from the narrative is no essential indication that his father was unaware but only that he was incapable of solving his son's tribulations. The Biblical example keeps families, especially in this era, tightly connected under the patriarchal influence of the

• Father
• Grandfather and in some cases
• Great grandfather

The spiritual father never stops praying for his children. He never ceases his concern and never quits his spiritual influence over his children. He may not have the capability to protect his children from mishaps and prevent them from trials. But he offers his prayers, care and spiritual wisdom as long as he has breath on earth.

The Lord Loves the Whole

Matthew 14:15 KJV

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

Matthew 14:22-23 KJV

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

In another demonstration of how the ways of man and God are different, here we find what is a request of the disciples contrasted with what is the action of the Lord. 

The context is the death and burial of John the Baptist. It would be difficult to miss the importance of the connection between the two:

• They are cousins
• John baptized Jesus
• John prepared the way fir Jesus ministry
• John pointed out Jesus as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"
• John began the very ministry of preaching and baptizing that Jesus took up

Yet when John was killed and buried, they told Jesus about it. He did not even attend the funeral.[1]

After hearing of John's death and burial, Jesus took the disciples apart but they were followed by this multitude. Jesus ministered to them but when evening began to wear on the disciples, supposing they had an opportunity here to be alone with the Lord, asked Him to send them away for food, lest they be hungry. It backfired. Jesus told the disciples to give to the multitude what they needed to eat. 

And then Jesus did the polar opposite of their request; He sent His disciples away first and was then left alone with the multitude. What He said and did we will never know this side of heaven. It seems that it was personal enough that He dismissed all of those who would be commissioned to record the life story of Christ before this last bit of ministry to the multitude.

Especially when we have been hurt in some way, we can start to think that God's concern should be all about we who are His closest followers. Here we learn that, even when we are in our most painful experiences, the Lord loves the whole:

• Those who are only shallow followers
• Those who only follow for what they can get
• Those who will never leave a mark on the world, even
• Those who will in the end reject Jesus Christ and send Him to the Cross

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[1] They did have funerals and people did attend them.