Posted on

Jesus in the Old Testament

After today’s sermon, several of you asked for this. So here goes. Also please know that I didn’t write this. And regretfully I tried to find where I found it (and could not). If you’re able to search it better than I, please reach out to me.

In Genesis, Jesus is the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent.

In Exodus, Jesus is the Passover lamb who takes away the sins of God’s people.

In Leviticus, Jesus is the great high priest who intercedes for us.

In Numbers, Jesus is the water in the desert. Our living water.

In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the coming prophet who is greater than Moses.

In Joshua, Jesus is the commander of the Lord’s army, defeating our ultimate enemies.

In Judges, Jesus is the true judge, delivering us from evil and injustice.

In Ruth, Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer.

In 1 & 2 Samuel, Jesus is the greater prophet and priest.

In 1 & 2 Kings, Jesus is the greater king.

In 1 & 2 Chronicles, Jesus is the son of David who comes to reign eternally.

In Ezra and Nehemiah, Jesus is the one who restores worship and protects His people.

In Esther, Jesus is our advocate. Putting His life on the line to restore us to royalty.

In Job, Jesus is the mediator between God and man.

In the Psalms, Jesus is the holy one who would never see corruption.

In Proverbs, Jesus is the personified wisdom of God.

In Ecclesiastes, Jesus is our true meaning.

In Song of Solomon, Jesus is our faithful and devoted love.

In Isaiah, Jesus is the suffering servant.

In Jeremiah, Jesus is the weeping Messiah.

In Lamentations, Jesus is the one who assumes the wrath of God on our behalf.

In Ezekiel, Jesus is the Son of Man.

In Daniel, Jesus is the one in the fire with us.

In Hosea, Jesus is the husband who stays faithful to us when we betray Him.

In Joel, Jesus is sending His Spirit to His people.

In Amos, Jesus delivers justice to the oppressed.

In Obadiah, Jesus is the Judge of those who do evil.

In Jonah, Jesus is the greater missionary who pursues the undeserving with mercy.

In Micah, Jesus is the one who casts our sin into the sea of forgetfulness.

In Nahum, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

In Habakkuk, Jesus is the one who crushes injustice.

In Zephaniah, Jesus is the warrior who is mighty to save.

In Haggai, Jesus restores our worship.

In Zechariah, Jesus is the pierced Messiah, pierced for our transgressions.

In Malachi, Jesus is the son of righteousness who brings healing to His people.

Posted on

Teach Us to Number our Days

On Sunday we learned from Jesus’ sermon of how futile anxiety is. Jesus’ primary reason was the brevity of life and the length of eternity. Jesus loved the Psalms. As a matter of fact, our next series is called the Songs of Jesus, Psalms Jesus quoted or leaned on in difficult times in his life. I’m so excited to study the songs Jesus sung, the Psalms he prayed.

I wonder if Jesus was leaning on Psalm 90 when he talked about anxiety.

So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

If you read what precedes this famous quote from Psalm 90, you’ll see that numbering our days requires that we see the brevity of life and the eternality of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass this is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

Psalm 90:1-6

God has always been. And will always be. He is eternally past and eternally present. (Think on that for more than two minutes and you’ll need another cup of coffee.) Compared to eternity, our earthly life is a leaf carried along in the flooding waters, a dream that comes and goes with a night’s sleep, a blade of grass that fades by evening.

Second, if we are to number our days we must remember our sinfulness and God’s holiness.

For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

psalm 90:7-8

God is holy. Without him we are not. As we discovered Sunday, God solved our greatest problem (the one with eternal implications). Every other problem pales in comparison to our sin problem. Our nagging aches and pains have never hurt us like our guilty conscience has.

God sees us as no one else does and loves us like no one else will.

Third, we must remember our frailty and God’s faithfulness, our weakness and his strength.

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Psalm 90:9-11

We toil and trouble. The sin of Adam is your sin and mine. Work is hard. Parenting is hard. Our bodies and minds feel the pain and the weight of sinners living life in a sin-soaked world. Yet, because of the power of God’s answer was poured out on his Son on the cross, the rest of Psalm 90 is our every day reality. Let this sink in.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:12-17

Because Jesus came and fully became one of us, minus the sin, we can be fully satisfied in this life because God is fully satisfied with us. That should calm our nerves, lessen our fears. The favor our Lord can also be interpreted the beauty of our Lord. I pray that today you will see the beauty of the Lord more than the anxiety of the world. And in so doing, this day will be numbered as one where God again made you glad.

Posted on

The Unexpected Elevator Ride

I was on my phone, answering a text, completely unaware that I didn’t even push “Floor 1.” Suddenly the elevator started going up (when I needed to go down) and then I realized what I’d done. We got to the 4th floor in the Pediatric wing at Mission Hospital when Jose got on. I still didn’t notice him (I was still focused on answering that text). Another stop on the 2nd floor and it was just him and me…going to the first floor. I looked at him and his eyes told the story.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Not good,” dropping his head.

“I’m so sorry. What’s going on?”

The elevator stopped, we got off on our floor and stood there. “We’re expecting twins. We lost one heartbeat (and his voice started to break…he looked to be in his late twenties)…”

“What about the other one?” I asked.

“We don’t know. And too…(he paused), the mother, her life is in danger.” He could hardly put words together.

I hope my furrowed brow showed how his words had stopped everything in my world. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “Why? What is going on?”

“Two weeks ago everything was fine. She was good. Our babies (these are their first) were good. Then something happened and we ended up here. I don’t know about our other baby. And my wife is hemorrhaging right now…as we speak.” His head dropped again. By this time we had walked to the front of the hospital. He was meeting Sarah’s (his wife) dad in the cafeteria.

We stopped again, people passing us by. “I’m a pastor,” I said. By now, my heart was breaking for him. It still hadn’t dawned on me that we never would have met if I had pushed the right button on the elevator. “And our church would love to pray for you. Is it okay with you if I ask them? There will be a thousand people on their knees praying for you and Sarah.”

“Yes, yes” he said. And reached out his hand. I grabbed his hand. I assured him we would pray. “Do you mind if I get your name and number? I want to check in on you.” I typed his number in. Again he reached out his hand…and I assured him we would cover him in prayer.

As I drove home in the pouring rain, reflecting on how the day began with Terry and Tony Miller, as Terry bravely waits by his bedside, and the Woodys, whose 11-year-old is battling a hard case of pneumonia, and now Jose and Heather, this song came roaring into my mind. (Same God)

So here’s your call to pray. For Tony and Terry, the Woodys (especially Gunner), Jose and Sarah and those twins. To the Same God.

The God who controlled storms then controls elevators today.

Posted on

“I Have Prayed for You”

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:31-34 ESV)

Jesus sounds like the consummate parent–he calls Simon’s name twice–and Simon was Peter’s formal name. You can tell he wants Peter to hear what he has to say. Notice his language. If anyone knows Satan, it’s Jesus. He was in heaven when Satan was thrown out. Satan demanded. You have to wonder why Satan wanted Peter so badly that he would demand. Never forget that Satan can only do what God allows him to do. The tense of the verb “demanded” suggests that this happened at a particular time. When did Satan show up to Jesus and ask to destroy Peter?

wheatSatan wanted to sift Peter like wheat. I looked up sifting wheat in ancient times. Here’s what ehow.com had to say:

The first step in the process of sifting wheat is to loosen the chaff from the edible grain, which is called threshing. The old-fashioned way to do this is to spread the wheat onto a floor made from stone, concrete or tamped earth and to beat it with a flail. The next step is called winnowing, where the loosened chaff is removed from the grain. The old-fashioned way of doing this is to throw the grain in the air, where the lighter chaff is blown off by even a decent breeze. The heavier grain falls back to the ground below.

In other words Satan wanted to stomp Peter into the ground and throw him in the air while the wind blew through. Satan wanted to destroy Peter. What was Jesus’s response? I have prayed for you. Jesus prayed for Peter. That your faith may not fail. Peter, I have prayed that you will still believe I am who I am after you see me mercilessly beaten by the Romans. I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail after you see the cross on my shoulders. I have prayed that you will still believe when I am laid in the tomb.

Jesus prayed for Peter.

Peter didn’t get it. He was guilty of Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Peter thought he could handle Satan’s attacks. Jesus knew he couldn’t. Jesus prayed for Peter. And Jesus is praying for you too. 

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34 ESV)

If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, He is praying for you now. Tomorrow we will eavesdrop on a conversation between Jesus and Peter on the seashore and learn how God answered Jesus’s prayer for Peter. Until then, rest in the reality that Jesus is praying for you.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4925686_farmers-sift-wheat.html

Posted on

Impostor gods

impostorMouseTherefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 ESV)

Dictionary.com defines impostor as a person who practices deception under an assumed character, identity, or name. The world is filled with idols–gods with a little “g” that wage war against the one true God. Sometimes they masquerade as beneficial, even necessary, parts of life. A career, investment account, car, accomplishments, hobby, body image, or college degree can look, feel and even act like a god. Other times, gods are inherently evil yet subtly deceptive: alcohol, drugs, pornography, workaholism.

Kyle Idleman, in Gods at War says it this way:

Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; rather it’s the one great sin that all others come from. So if you start scratching at whatever struggle you’re dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath it is a false god. Until that god is dethroned, and the Lord God takes his rightful place, you will not have victory. Idolatry isn’t an issue; it is the issue. All roads lead to the dusty, overlooked concept of false gods. Deal with life on the glossy outer layers, and you might never see it; scratch a little beneath the surface, and you begin to see that it’s always there, under some other coat of paint. There are a hundred million different symptoms, but the issue is always idolatry.

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul makes it clear that God is the goal of our existence and Jesus is the means. He describes God as the Father “from whom are all things and for whom we exist.” In a word, God is not only the beginning of our existence, He is the end!

In the same breath Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the means of our existence. Jesus is the one “through whom are all things,” and “through whom we exist.”

Jesus is no impostor.

He is both the creator and the crucified one. In Genesis, he said “let there be,” and in Gethsemane, he cried, “not my will, but yours be done.” In Genesis he started everything; on the cross he cried, “It is finished.” In Genesis he introduced death; on the 3rd day he conquered death!

Jesus is no impostor.

Posted on

Debt Free Living

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

opraiseOnce Wendy and I were having dinner in a nice restaurant, enjoying the meal, enjoying one another’s company. We got ready to leave and there was no bill to pay. The waitress told us someone had paid it. “Wait a minute,” I contested, “who did that?” I wanted to thank them. Part of me wanted to try to pay them back. There was nothing I could do. The bill was paid…in full.

When I was 15 years old I attended a revival service. That night, for the first time, I realized I had a massive sin debt that only Jesus could handle. I had broken God’s law, broken Jesus’s heart, and acted a fool in my pride. As soon as the pastor finished preaching I went forward and received Jesus’s payment in full for my sins. What a sinner I was…what a Savior he is!

In 1865 Elvina Hall penned the words that say, better than I ever could, how I feel about what Jesus has done for me. Sing them as you read them:

I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
and melt the heart of stone.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
Jesus died my soul to save,
my lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow

O praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!

Posted on

Jesus, the Great Equalizer

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. (Luke 19:4 ESV)

sycamore
A sycamore tree in Palestine

Jesus is the great equalizer.

Zacchaeus was short…so short he feared he wouldn’t see Jesus in the crowd. He did what any dignified, wealthy Jewish man would never do. He ran. The elite in Jesus’s day didn’t run–they walked confidently wherever they went. Zacchaeus was rich but when he heard Jesus was coming to town all of a sudden his money didn’t matter. All that mattered was seeing Jesus.

Jesus is the great equalizer.

Football quarterbacks give him credit. Army Generals pray to him. Presidents humble themselves before Him. Billionaires call him Lord. Paupers call him King. All who follow Jesus die to themselves and live for Him.

Jesus is the great equalizer.

Zacchaeus climbed a tree. It wasn’t just any tree, it was a sycamore tree. When we think sycamore tree, we think flaky bark and maple looking leaves. The sycamore tree Zacchaeus climbed was a fig-bearing tree. As a matter of fact, poor people often climbed this tree to pick its fruit. Zacchaeus, the rich (chief) tax collector climbed the tree of the peasant so he could see Jesus.

Jesus is the great equalizer.

Posted on

To Serve or To Be Served

Yesterday Wendy and I took Hannah to Greenville Spartanburg Airport. We sent her off on a one-month trek to Ecuador where she will hang with missionaries, share the Gospel, canoe the Amazon and hike an icy mountain. You can imagine the mixed emotions we had as we left her in the hands of her Intercultural Studies professor and a dozen other students.

When we left we went to a nearby restaurant and sat down to eat. We were a bit tired and emotionally drained. When we walked into the restaurant it never occurred to us to serve. We went there to be served. J. B., our waiter, brought us a menu, asked us what we wanted to drink, brought our ice waters (with lemon of course!) and took our order. He brought our food to us, refilled our waters and graciously waited on us. It never occurred to us that we should serve–we walked in there to be served.

When J. B. walked into that restaurant yesterday, it never occurred to him that he would be served. He came to serve. His sole purpose for coming to work yesterday was to serve.

Jesus can identify with J. B.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 ESV)

Jesus did not walk on planet earth to be served. It never occurred to him to sit down at the table and wait on someone to take his order. No! He entered planet earth to serve. He sat down at the well with the Samaritan woman. He fed thousands with a few loaves and fish. He cried over Lazarus’s death.  He donned a towel and washed the disciples’ feet. He hung humiliated on a wooden cross. He gave his life a ransom for many.

How will you walk into your day today? As a server or a customer?

Posted on

Humble Confidence

Pray this confident in what Christ as done for you. (From The Valley of Vision, a book of Puritan prayers)…

O God, you are very great,

My lot is to approach you with godly fear and humble confidence, for your condescension equals your grandeur, and your goodness is your glory.

I am unworthy, but you do welcome; guilty but you are merciful; indigent, but your riches are unsearchable.

You have shown boundless compassion towards me by not sparing your Son, and by giving me freely all things in him. This is the fountain of my hope, the refuge of my safety, the new and living way to you, the means of that conviction of sin, brokenness of heart, and self-despair, which will endear me to the gospel.

Happy are they who are Christ’s, in him at peace with you, justified from all things, delivered from coming wrath, made heirs of future glory.

Give me such deadness to the world, such love for the Savior, such attachment to his church, such devotion to his service, as proves me a subject of his salvation.

May every part of my character and conduct make a serious and amiable impression on others, and impel them to ask the way to the Master.

Let no incident of life, pleasing or painful, injure the prosperity of my soul, but rather increase it.

Send me your help, for your appointments are not meant to make me independent of you, and the best means will be vain without super-added blessings.

Amen.

Posted on

I Love to Tell the Story

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:33-35 ESV)

There is something about good news that cannot be contained. An engagement requires an announcement. A pregnancy demands telling. So it was with Cleopas and his friend. As soon as Jesus had departed from their presence, they departed from their place. They couldn’t wait any longer. Though it was evening and had grown dark–and the trek back from Emmaus to Jerusalem was dangerous in the dark–they got up that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

This poses a question for you and me: Is the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection that fresh to us? Who have you told this week? Who did you invite to worship with you? Who came to your mind and you got up from where you were and ran as fast as you could (or drove of course!) and said, “I have something to tell you. I’ve seen Jesus and what he said and did changed my life!” Who has heard your story?

Take five minutes, watch and take in this beautiful rendition of Tell Me the Story of Jesus: 

Invite someone to worship tomorrow to hear the story.