ResponsiveReiding

From Matthew 8:18-22 / Walking in Truth – Just why it is Jesus decided to go to the other side of the Lake upon seeing the crowds isn’t clear. Perhaps He was already perceiving a hint of their wanting to promote and follow Him simply as a miracle worker or leader. When in John 6 He saw that some wanted to take Him and make Him king, He did a similar thing by immediately withdrawing. He was clear on His mission even if those around Him were not. And He would not be used for purposes other than why He came – to fulfill the Father’s redemptive plan culminating in the Cross. He would not allow Himself to be deterred. He knew and stuck to the truth about Himself and His mission.

This is a lesson that we as His redeemed need to take in well.

Do we have a Biblically informed sense of who we are and why we are here? Do we know HIs purpose for us? The mission He has assigned to us? Are we living as light and salt in the midst of this crooked generation? Are we about the business of making His glories known to the World, by both our lips and our lives? How do we contribute to the mission of the Church at large in making disciples of men in all the nations?

Not everyone preaches. Not everyone teaches. Not everyone is a gifted evangelist. But all can study to know and live in the truth. And all can find a place of service in the Church so that those with their varying gifts are supported and enabled. Each of us has a sphere of influence we can touch. We can give. We can pray. We can comfort. We can encourage. We can bless according to our resources and opportunities. We can weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. We can take the mundane duties of life and consciously enter into them so as to offer them up as service to our King with integrity, honesty, industry and humility. We can walk in truth.

Then we see how Matthew includes two short vignettes to follow in which Jesus calls to men to face and live in the truth.

When the Scribe comes to Him, He wants the man to know just what following Jesus is NOT. Following Christ is not to be seen or sold as the pathway to gain earthly advantages. And woe to us when we present or believe the Gospel that way. We are not walking in truth, but in a wretched illusion.

In 1 Tim. 6, Paul inveighs heavily against those who imagine “that godliness is a means of gain.” Godliness with contentment IS great gain, but godliness is not a way to gain earthly advantages. And those who promote the Gospel in such a way are “people who

are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.”

They are not walking in the truth.

Strong words indeed. And Jesus disabused this Scribe of that foolishness right out of the gate.

Christ is not the means to earthly advantages.

And lastly, we see the truth that the call to follow Christ is urgent. This is the truth.

When we have come to know something of Him and heard His call, we must act and make our decision to separate from the mere ordinariness of life to be His – now. Not down the road. Not when it is more convenient. Not when those who might disapprove are gone out of the way. Not when we have more time or better circumstances. Now.

Living in the truth requires that we reckon with the reality of Christ’s demands right now, right this hour. For not one more minute is promised to any of us. And eternity hangs in the balance.

Maybe you are one who has hesitated today. You’ve said in your hear that you’ll get “serious” about spiritual things at some point down the road. But this man was faced with the reality right before His eyes – Jesus was about to get into a boat and leave. And either he went with Him now, or he might never.

And so if that is you today, I would plead with you, make the decision. Do not hesitate. Now is the day of grace. Who knows what might befall you or the world in the next 30 minutes let alone the next 30 years. Come to Jesus now. For the truth is, you are condemned in your sins right now, and only He can redeem you from your lost condition.

Come now.

From Matthew 8:14-17 / Healing in The Atonement

This passage is turned to by many to establish that as part and parcel of the atonement, physical healing is promised to all Believers. Of course then the question remains, if physical healing is the automatic extension of our salvation, then why aren’t all God’s people perpetually healed? Some would answer, that such healing (like salvation itself) is dependent upon our faith. So if we do not have faith to be healed, we will not be. But the 3 healings in this chapter seem to militate against that conclusion.

Note in the first case, the Leper’s faith only extended to Jesus’ ability to heal, “if you will”, and not that he had confidence Jesus would heal him. In the second case, the ill person’s faith is totally irrelevant, it was the Centurion that believed Jesus could heal. And once again, he only believed Christ COULD, not that He would. And in the 3rd case, we read nothing of Peter’s mother-in-law’s faith at all. Jesus simply healed her. So the faith theory does not seem to hold up – here at least.

But what do we do with the quote from Isa. 53? How does what happened here filfill the prophecy that “he took our illnesses and bore our diseases?”

In the first place we note that whatever it means, it happed prior to the Cross, not as an effect of the Cross. Such healing seems to be connected with the atonement in 2 main ways. 1 – In the atonement, Jesus would do all that was needed to reverse sin’s effects. So there is the promise of total physical healing for all who are His – to be realized fully in the resurrection. 2 – The healing we need above all others, is that of our souls. To be delivered from sin’s effects there. Many commentators locate the entire weight of the healing in Isaiah’s prophecy then only in the spiritual sense. But even there, we have to reckon with the reality of the remnants of indwelling sin. The old adage that we have at present been delivered from the penalty of sin, are in the process of being delivered from the power of sin, and in the end will be delivered from the very presence of sin is true.

In regard to both of the above, what we see is that there are parts of the fullness of Christ’s “healing” both physically and spiritually now, but there is a fullness yet to come. We indeed ought to pray for one another in terms of healing (physically AND for one another’s souls) because God is merciful and gracious and countless times we have seen Him heal and deliver from sins. These are indeed privileges of the saved. What we cannot do is assume a stance of “healing on demand.” We have many gracious foretates of what is to come by His grace.

Lastly, and perhaps most overlooked in this passage, is that in all 3 healings, they share the common thread that each was ceremonially unclean, and yet 2 cases, Jesus still touched them. In Judaic thought, to touch and unclean person, was to make oneself unclean – in a manner to take their uncleanness upon oneself. Only Christ could take on our uncleanness, and not become unclean Himself. Instead, He makes us clean and righteous with His rightouesness. A total reversal of how it worked prior to His incarnation.

W.G.T. Shedd said that as a sunbeam can shine on the most putrid substances, warming them and affecting them, but the beam itself is never soiled. So it is with the Son of God – the Light of the World – He can shine on us, touch us, have the most profound effects upon us in our defilement, and yet remain in His perfect, unsullied holiness. What a Savior!

From Matthew 8:5-13 / Jesus Marveled. It is noted only twice in the Gospels that Jesus is said to marvel at anything, here, at the Centurian’s faith, and in Mark 9 at the unbelief of those in His hometown of Nazareth.

Now what makes the Centurian’s faith something for Jesus to marvel at, is not that as a Gentile he HAD faith at all.

It is true that if any should have had faith it should have been His fellow Jews. Afterall, He was fulfilling prophecy, preaching powerfully and performing miracles one after another. In our parlance we would say that believing in Him would be a no-brainer. Obvious. So obvious in fact, that Jesus Himself looks at their unbelief as something not even credible – especially in the face of the flimsy reasons Mark gives for their rejecting Him. In truth, the reasons for those who reject Him today remain just as flimsy. The main one being, if He is who He said and demonstrated He is, then we would need to cast ourselves upon Him for mercy and to be reconciled to God the Father. And we don’t want to give up our personal righteousness nor submit to anyone else but self.

But what of this Gentile? Why is His faith as marvelous as the Jews’ unbelief? The text reveals it. It was more than that Jesus had the ability to perform the miracles and healings that had been reported – it was rather that the Centurian grasped something of who Jesus really was over and above what He could do.

The Centurian lets the cat out of the bag when he says that it is obvious Jesus is a man of authority even as he is. And that Jesus was “under” authority – acting on someone else’s behalf. In other words, the man recognized Jesus was acting at God’s behest. Jesus was God’s true agent. And even Jesus’ closest allies at this moment hadn’t gotten that far in their own thinking about Him. The Centurian’s faith was for all intents and purposes already more mature than that of His own disciples. More mature than many self-confessed Christians even today. Marvelous indeed.

Here then is something of great importance for us. Where we tend to desire power, the ability to do things, make things happen – Jesus’ power, like His Father’s, rests not in brute strength, but in His absolute authority. He need only “speak the word” and whatever He speaks will come to pass. It takes us back to Genesis, where in creating the heavens and the earth, it required only that “God said.”

Indeed, we can take that a step further. For God, as we know, has no body like ours. He has no lips, no vocal cords. He didn’t have to verbally articulate the words “let there be” for all to come to pass. He merely needed to will it so. With His absolute authority, that’s all it took. And so it is in our passage. Jesus never says: “servant – be healed!” He just says to the man, go, it’s done. He willed it so, and it happened.

This then is where our faith is to rest if we are to truly grow in grace. What do we rest in? That the One who saved us by His grace and substitutionary atonement, has all authority in Heaven and on earth, and therefore, every one of His promises to us HAS to come to pass. It will be as He promised that we will remain His until He comes, that sin and death will be overcome, and that we will one day fully bear His image. Because He has willed it. And He has the authority to bring it to pass, irrespective of any resistance, opposition, lack of cooperation or attack by the Enemy. Beloved, He cannot fail you.

From Matthew 8:1-4 / “I Will!”

One wonders, what was it this man heard in this great sermon, that sparked faith in him to ask for healing? Jesus didn’t speak of healing, nor do we have some miracle immediately before this. Either here in Matt. nor in Luke.

I think it is best understood that it was Jesus Himself which impressed him. As ch. 7 closes noting that Jesus was teaching them with unprecedented authority – it seems this man grasped that Jesus had the authority to cleanse leprosy as well.

Note then that an absolute act of His will is all that is necessary to heal – just as in creation. “God said” is the simple equivalent to “God willed”. It does not require something audible.

Sin:

Disables from working for the kingdom

Disfigures from the image of Christ

Deadens the conscience

Defines one by its most prominent feature

Defiles from purity

Is incurable by man

Is systemic – it defiles the whole

The Cure:

Not a method

Not a program – 12 step or otherwise

Not a philosophy

Not a creed

Not a religion

Not by an act of the will

Not by personal merit

Not by personal effort

Only: “Lod, if you are willing.”

How gracious our Savior is. Let it be noted that He never turned one away who came in such a manner. Even the Syro-Phoenician woman who came for her daughter, found her need met when she sued by faith. And her situation we see was prior to the church being charged to take this message to all nations and peoples. Her’s was a unique circumstance in time and place. The Gospel now is sent to all indeed.

When Jesus says “I will”

No pow’r can intervene

Even hopeless lepers

Are instantly made clean

The blind, the deaf, the lame

In body, soul and mind

In Christ the Son of God

The fullest cure do find

No remnants of The Fall

Abide outside His pow’r

Though poisoned by our sin

He’ll cure us in His hour

When Jesus says “I will”

The heart may hope and rest

That when we’ve sought Him out

He’ll grant us Heaven’s best

So seek in Him dear soul

The cure for sin’s disease

He loves to say “I will”

To humble sinner’s pleas

When Jesus says “I will”

Because His blood was shed

The Father joys to raise

Foul sinners from the dead

Don’t wait a moment more

With all your guilty stain

Cry out to Christ the Lord

He’ll say “I will”, again.

Perhaps it is just our culture, and then again, perhaps not – but I cannot ever recall being preached to about the blessedness of meekness. I think that for most, meekness is automatically confused with or equated to – weakness. They sound too much alike. And yet, here is Christ enjoining meekness such that its possession is tied to the eternal inheritance of the saints.

I will gladly own that Christians must be bold and uncompromising. Many of us are far too possessed of a spirit of cowardice today. On the other hand, bravery and boldness are not to be confused with brashness and harshness any more than meekness is to be confused with weakness.

In Alexander MacLaren’s sermon of meekness in his series on the beatitudes – he makes so many powerful comments on meekness, that I feel compelled to share just some of them.

What is below are just a few snippets from that sermon. I pray you will consider them, especially in the context of the present combativeness of some Church leadership and Christians striving for their way – whether it is God’s or no, and the tenor of public discourse in our land.

And if you do not have time to peruse them all – PLEASE, read except 6. It is as powerful as it is timely.

1 – Now, the ordinary use of the word is to describe an attitude, or more properly a disposition, in regard to men, especially in regard to those who depreciate, or wrong, or harm us. But the Christian conception of meekness, whilst it includes that, goes far deeper; and, primarily, has reference to our attitude, or rather our disposition, towards God. And in that aspect, what is it? Meek endurance and meek obedience, the accepting of His dealings, of whatever complexion they are, and however they may tear or desolate our hearts, without murmuring, without sulking, without rebellion or resistance, is the deepest conception of the meekness which Christ pronounces blessed.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, pp. 126–27.

2 – The ox that kicks against the goads only does two things thereby; it does not get away from them, but it wounds its own hocks, and it drives the sharp points deeper into the ragged wounds. Let Him strike, dear friend, for when He strikes He cuts clean; and there is no poison on the edge of His knife. Meekness towards God is, first, patient endurance of His Will.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, p. 127.

3 – And, in reference to Him, it is, next, unquestioning docility and obedience. Its seat is in the will. When the will is bowed, a man is far on his road to perfection; and the meaning of all that God does with us—joys and sorrows, light and darkness, when His hand gives, and when His hand withdraws, as when His authoritative voice commands, and the sweet impulses of His love graciously constrain—is that our wills may be made plastic and flexible, like a piece of wrought leather, to every touch of His hand. True meekness goes far deeper down than any attitude towards men. It lays hold on the sovereign will of God as our supreme good, and delights in absolutely and perfectly conforming itself thereto.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, pp. 127–28.

4 – The truly meek heart remains unprovoked amidst all provocation. Most men are like dogs that answer bark for bark, and only make night hideous and themselves hoarse thereby. But it is our business to meet evil with good; and the more we are depreciated, the more we are harmed, the more we are circled about by malice and by scorn, the more patiently and persistently to love on.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, p. 128.

5 – sure I am that the one thing that puts out the fire of antagonism and wrath and malice in those who dislike or would harm us is that we should persistently shine upon, and perchance overcome, evil with good. Provoked, we remain, if we are truly meek, masters of ourselves and calm and equable, and so are blessed in ourselves. Meekness makes no claims upon others. Plenty of people are sore all over with the irritation caused by not getting what they consider due respect. They howl and whine because they are not appreciated. Do not expect much of men. Make no demands, if for no better reason than because the more you demand the less you will get; and the less you seem to think to be your due, the more likely you are to receive what you desire.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, pp. 128–29.

6 – But there is another thing to be taken into account in the description of meekness. That grace, as the example of our Lord shows, harmonises with undaunted bravery and strenuous resistance to the evil in the world. On our own personal account, there are to be no bounds to our patient acceptance of personal wrong; on the world’s account, there are to be no bounds to our militant attitude against public evils. Only let us remember that ‘the wrath of men worketh not the righteousness of God.’ If contending theologians, and angry philanthropists, and social reformers, that are ready to fly at each other’s throats for the sacred cause of humanity, would only remember that there is no good to be done except in this spirit, there would be more likelihood of the errors and miseries of mankind being redressed than, alas! there is to-day. Gentleness is the strongest force in the world, and the soldiers of Christ are to be priests, and to fight the battles of the Kingdom, robed, not in jingling, shining armour or with sharp swords, nor with fierce and eager bitterness of controversy, but in the meekness which overcomes. You may take all the steam-hammers that ever were forged and batter at an iceberg, and, except for the comparatively little heat that is developed by the blows and melts some small portion, it will be ice still, though pulverised instead of whole. But let it get into the silent drift of the Arctic current, and let it move quietly down to the southward, then the sunbeams smite its coldness to death, and it is dissipated in the warm ocean. Meekness is conqueror. ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, pp. 129–30.

7 – Now, there is a sharp test for us Christian people.

If I have learned myself, and have penitently received God’s pardon, I shall be meek with God and with man. If I am not meek with God and with man, have I received God’s pardon? One great reason why so many of you Christian people have so little consciousness of God’s forgiving mercy, as a constant joy in your lives, is because you have so little obeyed the commandment, ‘Be ye imitators of God, and walk in love, as God hath forgiven and loved us.’¹

¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, pp. 131–32.

8 – There is a present inheritance of the earth which goes, as certainly as the shadow with the sunshine, with the meekness spoken of in our text. Not literal, of course, for it is not true that this Christian grace has in it any tendency whatever to draw to itself material good of any sort. The world in outward possession belongs to the strong men, to the men of faculty, of force and push and ambition. If you want to get through a crowd, make your elbows as sharp, and your feet upon the toes of your neighbours as heavy as you can, and a road will be made for you; but, in the majority of eases, the meek man on the edge of the crowd will stop there.¹¹ MacLaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew 1–8. Logos Bible Software, 2009, p. 133.

From Matthew 7:24-29 / Hearing the Word of The Lord – As we come to the end of this glorious and most important sermon, Jesus Himself leaves us with the closing admonitions.

And might I say at the outset, that if you are one who seeks to “hear the word of the Lord” – start here. Until you have mastered what He HAS said and preserved for us in His Word, do not occupy your time with trying to hear some esoteric, ethereal or mystical “word.” Know this. Imbibe this. Dwell on this. Ask the Spirit to illuminate this – His Word. Pour over, meditate on, study and steep yourself in the Bible. And you will hear His voice on every page, His breath in every syllable. You will hear more from Him than you will be able to fully digest and live on. You will be full in hearing the Lord.

Note first, true faith, saving faith always has these aspects to it:

a. WHAT is believed. In this case, “these words of mine”. Faith must always and only rest in what we can verify God has actually said, and in His character. Faith is not faith when it is based upon mere desires, hopes, false or imagined information. We must know what God has said.

b. True saving faith is belief that terminates in ACTION – “everyone one who hears these words of mine and DOES them”. Action that is in obedience to “these words of mine” – not whatever they please. It is from this that James can write later: “faith apart from works is dead.” If we truly believe what He has said, then we order our thoughts and actions accordingly. The signal proof of the false professor is the claim of belief without a lifestyle that accords with it.

Note secondly, how hopeless those are who simply have a raw belief which is not connected to their lives. Life will eventually destroy them. According to Jesus, whoever lives today in preparation for the coming judgment and the Kingdom is the wise man. The one who ignores this dynamic, which is the underlying thread in all – will be swept away. Keep your eye on the coming Kingdom, and live today as on a trajectory toward that day. This is the only way to hear and do His words. Living only for today without the reality that Christ is returning and each of us will have to give and answer for our lives – is the height of foolishness. It is like building a house on sand. And when the winds of adversity and indeed, final judgment come, it will not stand.

Note lastly, how secure those are who set their hope in Christ. No matter what comes, they can and will endure. They will endure the same storms that destroy others. And most importantly, they will endure the day of His great wrath – for Christ has already endured it for them; on the cross. With what joy and confidence the one who is in Christ by faith faces the trials and tribulations of life. For we know that all these things are – in comparison to what is the be ours at His return – truly light and momentary afflictions. Circumstances do not define us – Christ defines us, as His, purchased with His blood, and destined for glory in His presence of all eternity.

And all this, He has said with His divine authority to seal it.

O what a great Savior he is!

From Matthew 7:15-2 / Beware of False Prophets. As Jesus nears the end of this momentous sermon,. He must issue a dire warning which is vital in every generation – beware of false prophets.

Now we must note these key things:

1 – In recognizing and avoiding false prophets, the chief issue is not what they might preach or teach – though that is vital too – but Jesus’ focus here is on their fruit. What fruit? Not their signs or miracles. Their character.

A common misunderstanding in this passage, comes from something which in fact does not exist – that there is some sort of generic “tree” (which people are), and that this tree can produce either good fruit or bad or corrupt fruit. But this is not true either to Jesus’ simile nor to the thought. The comparison is between fruit trees, and thorn bushes. It is one of ontology – nature. One would’t expect a pear from a thorn bush under ANY conditions. His point isn’t about what people do or do not do, as much as it is regarding what people are or are not. We need to become new creatures. We come into this world thorn bushes. And we need to be transformed into fruit trees. Something which can only be done by His amazing grace and power. It cannot be done by the reformation of actions.

This is what the following account of coming judgment reveals. So what if they did this or that miracle or great work? Were they His? Were they – are we – other than how we were born. And, as per vs. 23 – what is the nature of their “lawlessness”? Is it not simply that they are not Christ’s servants? That He is not their Lord? They serve self. Not Him, and not the interests of His kingdom.

You will not get sweet things from sour people. They are not showing the fruit of pursuing the kingdom – but of pursuing self and the world. True fruit is in accord with the nature of the tree.

Thorns & Thistles: Can attach themselves to you easily. Always make their presence known. Stimulate action, but not by persuasion to higher things.

Fruit: Nourishes. Refreshes. Sustains life.

2 – Giftedness is not the same as grace. This is truly vital for us to learn. Someone prophesies, and what they say comes to pass. So what? Demons may be genuinely cast out. So what? Mighty works might be done in His name. So what? So they can preach like Spurgeon and sway the masses. So what? None of these say a single thing about the actual spiritual state of the individual.

As Paul would argue later in 2 Cor. 11 – if they do not come in the Spirit of Christ – in His sacrificial love, joy, engendering peace with God and one another, longsuffering, gentleness – especially toward detractors, uprightness in character, faithfulness to the truth, kind and self-controlled – refuse them. If they come in greediness and sensuality – reject them.

3 – When all is said and done, false prophets will inevitably camp on refusing Christ as the true Lord of their lives, so as to live according to their own dreams, visions and new revelations. The WORD, will never be enough. Ultimately they are – lawless. (See 2 Peter and Jude).

Watch out for such. If their character cannot be observed and tested, so as to manifest the character of Christ – look elsewhere. Don’t be fooled by supernatural manifestations. Look for the Spirit of Christ in holiness, humility, and what is best for men’s souls before God.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is here at this moment, guarding His sheep. Protecting us. Warning us. O how we need to listen to Him! Look for His Spirit lived out.

From Matthew 7:13-14 / The Narrow Gate – We must bear in mind that this entire discourse is all about Christ’s Kingdom. When we refer to His Kingdom, not many today consider it in terms of His absolute rulership, His personal dominion.

To recap this Kingdom emphasis, consider: 5:1-12 / The Citizens of the Kingdom; 5:13-16 / The Role of the Citizens of the Kingdom in this present; 5:17-48 / The Character of the Kingdom and its Citizens; 6:1-24 / The Life of Service in the Kingdom; 6:25-34 / The Sufficiency of the Kingdom; 7: 1-5 / The Humility of the Kingdom; 7:6 / The Otherness of the Kingdom; 7:7-12 / The Privilege of the Kingdom; 7:13, 14 / The Entrance to the Kingdom; 7:15-27 / The Integrity of the Kingdom.

And so when we arrive at these 2 verses, we are confronted with something quite counter to the underlying assumption of so much so-called Gospel preaching today: That the way into the Kingdom is broad, and that the life of the Kingdom is easy. In truth, it is narrow and hard.

Verse 13 is a clear is a call to a very narrow focus in life. Believers are to be given over to the kingdom and not be distracted by the rest of life. Only then can you life in peace and joy unencumbered from this world. It is not that we are unmindful of the rest of the World and life around us, it is that we bring everything else into the context of the Kingdom of which we are now a part in Christ. We are Kingdom people now, living in the prospect of Christ’s full Kingdom due to dawn at any time. This colors and informs all we think, feel, say, do and purpose. We are His people, living under His Lordship now, waiting for His return, to serve Him in fidelity until He makes His rule manifest over all the earth.

But more, this very narrow focus is due to the exclusivity of Christ.

One must be in Christ by faith. There is no other entrance to the Kingdom of God but through He who is “The Door.” And the World hates that it is so restrictive. But Christ tells us that it is so. All roads do not lead to God. All religions are not basically the same. There are not many paths to the Kingdom. There is no other name under Heaven, given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). So Jesus Himself tells us in Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” And then in John 5:22-23 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” Those who does not honor Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and the one to whom all are accountable, also fail to honor the Father. Period.

Secondly, not only is the gate narrow, the way is hard. American Christianity has not just failed to think of the Christian life as hard, but actually opposes the very notion of it. Our preaching and teaching is all about how to make the walk easier rather than preparing Believers for a “difficult” road. We greatly err here.

In Acts 14, read about Paul and Barnabas, that “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Dying to self is hard. Denying the flesh is hard. Resisting the devil is hard. Holding to a Christianity the World that contradicts and mocks is hard. Challenging sin and prosecuting an ongoing war against its indwelling remnants is hard. Learning to walk in the Spirit is hard. Growing in grace takes effort. The soldier, the athlete and the farmer of 2 Tim. 2 are each noted for the suffering, rigor and sacrifice they involve. Keeping the mind set on spiritual things when all else distracts is hard. Forgiveness can be hard. Seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as our first priority is hard. Fixing our hope completely on the grace that is to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ as opposed to earthly joys is hard. The Christian life is complex. Jesus didn’t die to make life easier, but to give an eternal life which far outstrips this one.

And Christ endured all this hardness and more, that He might ransom us from our sin.

From Matthew 7:12 / The Golden Rule – No one argues that this simple statement originated with Jesus. As Don Carson notes, it is found in a variety of contexts and times. He cites a story (legend or not) that the Rabbi Hillel around 20 AD was challenged by a plucky Gentile to summarize the teaching of the Law so succinctly that he could recite it while his interlocutor was standing on one leg. The story goes the Hillel replied: ““What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it” _{Carson, D. A.. Matthew (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary) (p. 452). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.}  And that is the way we ordinarily read it. Jesus however does not cast it in the negative, but in the positive. His is not simply – don’t do what you wouldn’t want someone else to do – but DO what you WOULD want others to do you.

This is a much higher and narrower call; to truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The implication being that we really do love ourselves – at the bottom of everything. Even those who claim to hate themselves show their anger and disappointment in not seeing themselves more favorably; which is what they desperately want.

J.C. Ryle writes insightfully here: “This is a golden rule indeed! It does not merely forbid all petty malice and revenge, all cheating and overreaching. It does much more. It settles a hundred difficult points, which in a world like this are continually arising between man and man. It prevents the necessity of laying down endless little rules for our conduct in specific cases. It sweeps the whole debateable ground with one mighty principle. It shows us a balance and measure, by which every one may see at once what is his duty.—Is there a thing we would not like our neighbor to do to us? Then let us always remember, that this is the thing we ought not to do to him. Is there a thing we would like him to do to us? Then this is the very thing we ought to do to him.—How many intricate questions would be decided at once, if this rule were honestly used!” _{Ryle, J. C. Expository Thoughts on Matthew. Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860, p. 66.}

What we can miss in the way Jesus articulates it is how it is meant to establish Believers as grace based, not Law based. We are to be a blessing people, not merely non-retaliatory. For this is the heart of the Father – giving to, providing for and blessing even His enemies. All of which calls us to greater and greater dependence upon the indwelling Spirit of Christ. If we attempt such love out of our own resources, we would quickly find them woefully inadequate.

And what a call this is to go back constantly and plumb the depths of His great love for us, so that we have a bottomless reservoir to draw from. A call to drink deeply and constantly at that fountain. For one who is full finds it easy to give. One who is thirsty themselves will resent giving of what little they perceive they have.

Christian, as Jude had to remind his readers when tested by the influx false teachers and their impact on the local assembly – “keep yourselves in the love of God.” For if we are not constantly refreshed there, not absolutely certain of the depths of His great love for us in Christ, we will either constantly be found trying to earn it somehow, or secretly fret over whether or not it is true, or grow to doubt it altogether and resent its absence. Fix your heart on the Cross. There, is limitless love placarded to all who put their trust in Jesus.

From Matthew 7:7-11 / Ask, Seek & Knock – We are all familiar with this passage. But unfortunately, it seems most often applied with the idea that if I want something from God, I must simply dun Him for it in prayer until I receive it. But I do not believe that is what Jesus is really after here. The context is the key.

Connected with Jesus’ train of thought so far, I cannot help but think this admonition refers especially to coming to know our Father so as to have Him hallowed in our own hearts and minds…etc.. In other words – its main application is in encouraging us to trust that the petitions taught to us in the prayer of 6:9-13 – will indeed be ours if we set ourselves unswervingly upon them.

But why ask (and keep on asking), seek (and keep on seeking), knock (and keep on knocking)? Why the perpetuation of these three? Because we tend to think that God’s graces come to us as a once-for-all bestowment, rather than a continual supply which must be continually looked for in ongoing dependence upon Him.

So for instance, one cannot just ask and seek and knock for deliverance from some sin – thinking all the while that someday (in this life), we’ll just have absolute freedom from that temptation and not have to face it any longer. This is not the reality of the Christian life. I must ask continually, because I will face the same challenge continually. I must seek Him continually because each day brings distractions from Him. I must knock continually because sin closes up my heart and mind and spiritual eyes and ears continually. I must rely on His grace continually that I might experience the ongoing supply of that grace.

We want once-for-all solutions. But the once-for-all, is realizing that He is the once-for-all source and fountain – which must nevertheless be appealed to and relied upon constantly.

And this too, is explained yet more in Luke’s rendition of this portion. For where vs. 11 here says that the Father knows how to give “good things”, Luke 11:13 has it: “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” All the “good things” He desires and delights to give His children, is wrapped up in His giving of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who illumines the person and work of Christ. The Spirit who abides with us and is continually working in us to bring to the image of Christ. The Spirit of holiness and of prayer. The Spirit of Christ.

This dynamic remains the reality regarding every grace from God we desire. Victory over sin, and the receipt and manifestation of every fruit of the Spirit. No one has a “gift” of longsuffering. We can only be sustained in it by the Spirit.

Keep seeking Him Christian. Ask for His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come and His will to be done in this earth as it is in Heaven. Keep looking to Him and Him alone for your daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, repentance, a forgiving heart and deliverance from the Devil’s schemes. For it all and always rest in Him and Him alone. The best “things” He can possibly give us, are increasing wonders of Himself. What a great and glorious God we serve.