Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #11
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you. The Portrait of the Pastor (I Peter 5:1-4) I Peter 5:1-4, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” Notice some things that these verses say to the Man of God.
2. The Man of God Must Fight the Foes (I Peter 5:2b-3) Peter continues to share the mission of the pastor. He is to take "oversight." means "to inspect, care for, to look after carefully, or to oversee." "Not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind." The pastor is to serve the Lord willingly, not by constraint. This word "constraint" means "by force, torture; a state of distress, trouble, calamity, or pressure." The pastor's heart, however, needs to be in his ministry. This word "willingly" doesn't suggest that a pastor is never discouraged or that he does not have days when he is not enthusiastic about ministry. A man is not to enter the ministry for the purpose of having a financial career or making money. We are not to pastor for the money, but because God has called us to pastor. We are to feed the flock, not fleece the flock. A pastor is not to be greedy for money. Making money and getting all the money he can out of the people is not to be his motive for ministry. This issue of filthy lucre, however, does not mean that a pastor should never be paid. On the contrary, Paul taught that the pastor should be financially taken care of by the church. He is not in the ministry for money, but the church is to take care of his financial needs. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. Peter addresses an important point here about pastoring. The pastor is not to lord over God's heritage. We are to be overseers, not overlords. Paul spoke about this same issue of domination. The phrase "lords over" means "to bring under one's power, to subdue, to dominate, to be master of someone, to put into subjection, to control." Lording over the congregation is not the same as leading the congregation. The word "example" carries the idea of the pattern for which something is made, an example to be imitated." Your life is to leave a good mark on others. It is to be an example, a pattern that others can follow to serve the Lord. Sheep are animals that are led, and the same is true of the church. Lead by example. This is what Paul did with his life (I Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7; I Corinthians 1:11). NOTICE: The life of the preaching will be determined by the life of the preacher!
3. The Man of God Must Face the Father (I Peter 5:4) The Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return and appear again. When this happens, the labors of the pastor, the under-shepherd of the church, will be rewarded. Keeping your eye on the return of Christ will help you in the ministry. It will give you hope that the Lord is returning soon, perhaps today. It will motivate you to be faithful.
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Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #10
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you. Partnering with Your Pastor We are one body made up of many members (I Corinthians 12). God's plan is that God's pastor and people work together. Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Exodus 17:9-13, “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” In Exodus 17, Moses had his hands lifted toward Heaven, no doubt holding that staff in his hands, and the children of Israel prevailed in battle. When his arms would lower due to fatigue, the Amalekites gained the advantage. However, Aaron and Hur stepped forth and held the hands of Moses up until the battle was won. The task Hur accomplished that day may not sound like a lot, however, had it not been for the work of this man, Moses would not have had the strength to do his job and Joshua would never have been able to lead Israel to victory in the battle. Had they not been there, the battle would have been lost and Israel would have been defeated! 1. Members like Hur are Absolutely Precious. Preachers spend hours praying about and preparing their sermons. Meanwhile, the congregation spends hours before the Lord in their prayer closets lifting up the hands of God’s men. In the church, there is a number of people who are praying, fasting, and carrying the load. No price could ever be placed on what people like Hur are worth to the church! 2. Members like Hur are Always Participating. Hur wasn't a great leader like Moses. He wasn't a great General like Joshua. He wasn't a great High Priest like Aaron. He wasn't a warrior like those in the army. He was just Hur. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Hur, however, what he did he did willingly, actively, and faithfully. He could hold up hands and he did the best job he could! By holding his hands up to the Lord, Moses showed his dependence on God. Israel’s strength and victory depended on their faith in God. They showed this by prayer and obedience. In this situation, when Moses stopped praying, God’s power stopped flowing (Hebrews 7:25). Our only hope of victory comes from relying on God. We should embrace the privilege we have to “therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy”. (Hebrews 4:16). 3. Members like Hur are Advocating Prayer. R. A. Torrey used to say that “the chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer. If you can't pray like you want to, pray as you can. God knows what you mean. And you have good help—the Advocate who is God's Son and the Paraclete who is God's Spirit. They will take your feeblest prayer and make it perfect. The devil is in constant conspiracy against a preacher who really prays, for it has been said that what a minister is in his prayer closet is what he is, no more, no less. Prayer may not get us what we want, but it will teach us to want what we need. God is not impressed by length or loudness in our prayer. He sees the heart and when we have prayed our hearts into acceptance of His will and our wills into obedience to it, we may calmly wait for the answer. The thermometer of a church is its prayer meeting.” We are all essential to the proper functioning of the body of Christ! There is a great work to do and there is room for all who want to be involved in the Lord's work. Although we can’t do everything, remember, that the Lord has placed us in His body in the place that pleased Him (I Corinthians 12:4-27). It isn’t important if you can’t do what others can do, it is important that you do what you can do. Thank God for those people who know they can't do everything but are determined to do something! When the enemy strikes, our only hope is the LORD. Daily, dependable prayer is the fundamental foundation of the successful Christian life. The measure of any Christian is their prayer life. The lifting of Moses’ raised hands was a sign of intercession. “Moses’ hands grew heavy” (Exodus 17:12). Jesus never gets tired of interceding for us “He ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25). While we fight the good fight of faith (I Timothy 6:12), He intercedes for us (Romans 8:34)! In our battles, we also must go to the throne of God holding up our hands and saying, “LORD, this is out of my control. I need Your help” We all need to be held up. We all need our arms or our faith supported up by the arms or faith of another. Like Moses, Aaron, and Hur, we are all part of the great “cloud of witnesses” and it is our responsibility to point others to Christ, while at the same time, keeping your eyes on the LORD (Hebrews 12:1-2). Nothing means as much to we minister’s as the Hur’s within the congregation who are holding our hands up in prayer. We are a Team working for the same Goal, to see: Sinners Saved Saints Strengthened Scriptures Spread-out Saviour Satisfied Questions to Consider: Who can you lift up today? What is something you can you today to lift the burdens of another? Points to Ponder: You can start lifting up those around you right now by encouragement and edification. You’ll find that while you are lifting others up, you will in turn find yourself being lifted! If this post has blessed you in any way, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #9
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you. The Pastor and His Sermon Preparation God is a God of order. The Scriptures tells us “Let all things be done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40).” Everything that is said or done in a worship service is important. However, it is the sermon, the preaching of the Word of God that is the most important part of the worship service. The pastor is fully aware of this; therefore, he must always take his sermon preparation very serious. The preacher who is Spirit driven, Spirit led, and Spirit dependent will also be Spirit empowered! Preaching is truly the Spirit's ministry. What the Holy Spirit illumines in the study, He will empower in the pulpit. True, we need to prepare for what we have studied, but Oswald Chambers said, “The thing to prepare is not the sermon, but the preacher.” In preparing a message I prescribe the following pattern:
1. The Example of Jesus If time alone with the Father was important to Jesus it should be of the utmost importance to each of us as men of God. In meditating Jesus would come apart from the crowd and often even His disciples. The Lord needed this time to discern the voice of God in His every movement. 2. The Experience of Jesus. In coming apart from the crowd Jesus would often be found praying to His heavenly father. In watching His movements, we find Him praying in the garden, on top of the mountain, He even spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying to His Heavenly Father. If time alone with God was important to Him, we must ask ourselves if it is important to our lives. In meditating we allow the voice of God to talk to us.
Every message must have three things:
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October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you. The Plight of the Pastor A true God-called pastor will continue to preach, teach, and lead God’s flock even when he never receives any thanks, recognition, or compliments. It is amazing how many church members are misinformed of the responsibilities a pastor. When a church seeks a pastor, they often want one who has: The strength of an eagle, The grace of a swan, The gentleness of a dove, The friendliness of a cat-bird, The cheerfulness of a robin, The assurance of a barnyard fowl, The industry of a sparrow, The patience of turkey-buzzards, The night hours of an owl, And when they catch that bird, They expect him to live on the food of a canary. How to Discourage Your Pastor: 1) Never attend a Sunday evening service or prayer meeting. 2) Go to church when its “convenient”. 3) Always come late, and leave before he closes in prayer. 4) While he preachers, never give him your attention, but always whisper. 5) Acts cold to show your dignity. 6) Never appreciate his efforts. 7) Tell him what wonderful messages you have heard at other churches. 8) Criticize him before your family and children. 9) Don’t make him feel welcome in your home. 10) Accuse his wife of running things. 11) Never pray for him and never offer him help. 12) Always do the opposite of what he suggests. 13) Gather your support group together to oppose him during business meetings. 14) Never take your Sunday guests to hear him. How to Get Rid of Your Pastor: 1) Look him straight in the eye when he is preaching and say “AMEN Preacher…Preach ON!”. He will preach himself to death in a few weeks. 2) Shake his hand and hug his neck and brag on his good points. He will soon work himself to death! 3) Increase your giving to the church so much that the Pastor will get a raise and a month’s vacation paid, your Pastor will go into shock and die. 4) Rededicate your life to Christ and ask your pastor if you can assist him in any way from now own. He will probably have a heart attack! 5) Have the church to unite in prayer for the preacher. He will soon become so effective that some larger church will soon take him off your hands. If this post has blessed you in any way, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com God Leads Us Along (Isaiah 43:2)
Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Robert Morrison was the first Protestant missionary to China, sent out by the London Missionary Society in 1807. Arriving in Canton, he moved into a cellar and was rarely seen in public, pouring himself into a study of the language. He made such good progress that he was hired by the East India Company as an interpreter and spent the next 25 years thus employed. This arrangement allowed him the opportunity of translating the Bible, tracts, hymnbooks, and prayer books from English into Chinese. He prepared an Anglo-Chinese dictionary and a Chinese grammar book. During his lifetime, Morrison saw but three or four conversions, but his work paved the way for all the missionaries who followed. He found Isaiah 43:2 as a young man on a voyage from Newcastle to London. He was on his way to school, and the seas were rough. Morrison suffered a bout of seasickness, but he nonetheless managed his daily intake of Scripture. He wrote his father: “I was happily surprised, when lying sick in the state room, by hearing a number of persons sing psalms in the cabin; and every night when the weather would permit, we had prayers and reading of Scriptures. The passage was very rough, in some parts of it; one night they let the ship drive, and another night pitched away her bowsprit, which last occurrence was very serious, as it endangered the loss of our masts. I mention these circumstances to excite thankfulness to God, who brought us safely through. I pleaded the promise, in its literal sense, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee,’ and blessed by God, it was fulfilled. It was a promise he was to claim many times to come.” In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along; Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet, God leads His dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, Some through the fire, but all through the blood; Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, In the night season and all the day long. In Isaiah’s description, the waters symbolize a trial. Some trials can be likened to walking through a valley, while others can feel like facing a flash flood in that valley. The water level rises rapidly. Deep waters assail, currents swirling, and you may fear going under. God has not promised to keep our lives free from times of distress, but He has promised to be with us through them and to use them to bring about our ultimate sanctification. PRAYER: Father, I am Yours. I choose to believe this powerful truth. You are with me, so I will keep going. I hold onto You and Your Word. I will not avoid or escape my trial, but by faith and with You, I will go through it and come across on the other side. Please use the trials in my life for my good and for Your glory. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen. If this post in any way, has blessed you, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com Kindness Returned with Kindness (Galatians 6:7)
Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Lewis and Clark's famous expedition to the Pacific Northwest in 1804 almost came to an untimely and deadly end. Half starved and almost frozen, the men staggered out of Idaho's snowy Bitterroot Mountains and into the camp of the Nez Perce Indians. Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns tell the story in Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery: Lewis and Clark were the first white men ever to reach their homeland. In the absence of more prominent leaders, who were out on a war party, a chief named Twisted Hair had to decide what to do with the weak but wealthy strangers suddenly in their midst. According to the tribe's oral tradition, some of the Nez Perce proposed killing the white men and confiscating their boxes of manufactured goods and weapons. The expedition's rifles and ammunition, in particular, would have instantly made the Nez Perce the region's richest and most powerful tribe. But... an Indian woman came to the Corps of Discovery's aid. As a young girl, she had been captured by an enemy tribe on the plains, who in turn sold her to another tribe farther to the east. Eventually she had been befriended and treated kindly by white people in Canada before escaping and making her way back to her own people. They called her Watkuweis—"Returned from a Faraway Country"—and for years she had told them stories about the fair-skinned people who lived toward the rising sun. She was aged and dying by the time the explorers arrived. When she learned about possible plans to destroy the expedition, tribal tradition says, she intervened. "These are the people who helped me,"she said. "Do them no hurt." A stranger's simple act of kindness—years before—saved the lives of an entire expedition. A little kindness can have amazing and unexpected results. In this section Paul introduces the spiritual way of sowing and reaping. This passage is often applied to the lost to warn them about their wickedness and their day judgment. While that application can be made, we must realize that the passage was written to God's people. God's people do not escape the consequences of their sin. A day of reckoning is coming and the Christian who thinks that he can play with sin and sow to the flesh will answer to God. Paul's admonitions are serious. There is a twofold instruction here. 1) The instruction about sowing. "Whatsoever a man soweth." Many are not sowing and still look to reap a harvest. If the farmer wants to reap, he must sow. If you want to reap a good report card, you must sow a lot of study. If you want to be a great pianist, you must sow a lot of practice time. If you want to achieve wins in sports, you must sow practice and preparation for the game. If you want to reap privileges, you must sow responsibilities. If you want to reap a good salary, you must get off your duff and sow some hard labor. Our text is not only about evil sowing but also about good sowing. 2) The instruction about reaping. You reap what you sow. We try to beat that principle but fail every time. If you sow an immoral life, you will reap the harvest of immoral living. You reap what you sow. That is God's principle! Sowing and Reaping in the Bible. The law of sowing and reaping is seen all throughout the Bible. Here are a number of examples of people who reaped what they sowed and the situations that surrounded the reaping.
2. Deadly stones: Saul stood by at the stoning of Stephen. He reaped stoning when he was stoned by the Jews at Lystra (Acts 14:19). 3. Dangling: Haman constructed gallows for Mordecai and reaped his intentions by hanging on those same gallows himself (Esther 7:10). 4. Disease: The prophet was put in the stocks by King Asa. Asa reaped his actions by being punished by God with disease of the feet (II Chronicles 16:10; I Kings 15:23). 5. Dogs: The dogs licked Naboth's blood after King Ahab had him slain (I Kings 21:19). When Ahab died, the dogs licked his blood (I Kings 22:38). 6. Disjoining: Adoni-bezek cut the thumbs and toes off of conquered kings. He reaped this same treatment in his life (Judges 1:6-7). 7. Division: Korah created division in the nation of Israel and reaped division when God divided the earth to swallow him up (Numbers 16). 8. Drowning: A Pharaoh commanded that the Hebrew baby boys be drowned. A Pharaoh was drowned by the Lord in the Red Sea (Exodus 1:22; 14:28). The sowing of seeds applies to every area of life. If you constantly and habitually:
Like it or not, this is just the way it is! It is the law of God, and there is not one thing you can do to change it. So rather than challenge the system and fail, don’t you think it’s time that you wise up and get with the program? If you’re going to reap what you sow, maybe you ought to figure out what you want to reap. Then you can start planting those same kinds of seeds to assure that you’ll get the harvest of your dreams. If this post in any way, has blessed you, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com LORD, Will You Forgive Me? (Genesis 3:15)
Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Everyone’s conscience has a different setting. Some of us are more sensitive and don’t have to do much before we are deeply upset with ourselves. Others of us are more hardened and need more in order to convict us that we’re out of line. There is one thing that you have done, regardless of how long ago you did it, that creeps into your mind at the oddest times, when your guard is down. Something you just can’t let go of—that you think about far more often than you’d like. Something that you find unforgivable. No one needs to point it out to you because your conscience points it out. And because it lingers there in your conscience, you start to wonder, “If I can’t forgive myself, how can God forgive me?” Genesis 3:15 is the first hope of God’s plan to defeat evil and restore His relationship with people. It predicts the full victory of God over Satan. It is the prophecy of a spiritual conflict between the woman’s offspring, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Satan’s evil forces. God promised that Christ would be born of a woman (Isaiah 7:14) and would be “struck” by His unjust death on the cross. Yet, He would rise from the dead to completely “crush” Satan, sin, and death in order to save the human race. Let’s go back to the garden and look at the first human sin. The results of that sin were catastrophic: Man has lost everything that God gave him in the garden. He lost everything from his fellowship with God to his dominion over the earth and his hope. It plunged all of humanity into sin, so that we’re each born separated from the God in whose image we are made (Ephesians 2:1-3). It bound every one of our race to an inescapable death (Romans 5:12-14). It subjected the entire universe to the curse of frustration and decay, so that nothing works or lasts the way that it should (Romans 8:20-21). Nothing you have done, or ever will do, can begin to compare with the tragedy that Adam and Eve wrote for the rest of their descendants. Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” When all is lost and the days are dark, even when there appears to be no hope, God steps in. Here we are under the curse of sin and subject to eternal death and damnation, but God stepped in. God often uses this little word “but” to turn our attention from the despair of sinfulness to the delight of the Saviour. He turns our minds from the awfulness of hell to the availability of hope. Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Redemption was not needed until mankind had sinned and violated God's law. But God didn’t sit back and watch the story unfold to its logical conclusion. He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, into the world to pay the penalty for sin, to redeem mankind so we could be reconciled back to God. He didn’t abandon Adam and Eve, which gives you confidence that He won’t abandon you. He doesn’t simply forgive; He involves Himself in the plan. And he does this not just for humanity as a whole, but for you, as an individual, as well. About 4,000 years later this promise would be fulfilled by Jesus. In the Old Testament they looked forward by faith to what Jesus would do and in the New Testament we look back by faith to what Jesus did do. Anyone who gets to heaven will do so because they exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as there is no other way to heaven. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The question has never been “How good are you at being good?” It has always been “How good is God at being good when you are not?” Let yourself be captured then, not only by the depth of His goodness, but also by its breadth. Watch as His grace is greater than our sin, and your confidence will grow in how he responds to you personally. Questions to Consider: Think about the thing that most haunts your conscience. How does its result compare in size or scope to that of the first human sin? Points to Ponder: While it is true that we have the ability to ruin our own life, God’s ability to rescue and restore it is far greater. If this post in any way, has blessed you, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com Spiritual Blindness (Luke 18:11)
Luke 18:11, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” The Pharisee assumed his acceptance with God based on his own actions rather than his need of Christ’s righteousness. Today, we typically call these modern-day Pharisees the “self-righteous”. The self-righteous possess a pharisaical attitude. The root of their problem, as we so often find in our day, was in their pride. They are confident in their own righteousness and believe they can produce within themselves a righteousness that will be acceptable to God. All the time, they fail to realize how far short of His perfection they fall. The Pharisees only wanted to look at the surface issues. They never sought to go deeper to the heart of the matter. They suffered from spiritual blindness; particularly in the area of depth perception. Unfortunately, in spiritual matters, seeing falsely is worse than being blind. The blind at least know they cannot see. The Pharisees were quick to condemn others and justify themselves, even though they were guilty of the same sins that they were condemning in others. Before the seventeenth century, when people looked at a lake, pond, or a glass of water, they judged it clean if they could see through it. But in 1674 the Dutchman, Leeuwenhoek, filled a glass vial with water, began curiously looking at it through his newly acquired microscope lens, and saw, as he quaintly put it, "very many small animalcules." He then examined a drop of water and jotted down his findings: “I now saw very plainly that these were little eels, or worms, lying all huddled up together and wriggling; just as if you saw, with the naked eye, a whole tubful of very little eels and water, with the eels a-squirming among one another: and the whole water seemed to be alive with these multifarious animalcules.” When we turn the magnifying glass of God's Word onto what is inside us, we find a house full of squirming critters and realize our own unworthiness. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The great problem concerning a pharisaical attitude is that they are strangers to themselves. They look at the errors of others through a microscope and see all the squirming animalcules, but they look at their own sins through the wrong end of a telescope and fail to spot the hideous sins lurking it their own soul. They live with an unpleasant unconsciousness of their own sin. Self-righteousness is a very difficult sin to get carnal people to see and, as a result, they tend to justify themselves by blaming others. No Biblically sound, Spirit-filled Christian should ever look self-righteously upon an unbeliever because the believer understands his own humanity and heart—his proneness to wander. Any mature Christian would recognize the error of this knowing they too possess a sin nature. God’s remedy concerning sin is to get right and be real about sin. Come to Christ and confess your sins and turn from them and He will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). PRAYER: Father, You are a loving God and so full of mercy! Thank You for accepting me as Your child. I ask that you erase my sense that I have to follow a set of rules to impress You. Cleanse my mind of all that would cause me to sin. Create in me such a love for You and Your Word that my thoughts remain pure and full of the things of You. In Jesus’ name, Amen. If this post in any way, has blessed you, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com Isaac: A Type of Christ (Genesis 22)
It is interesting that when we look at Isaac here in Genesis 22, we find that he was a type or a picture of Jesus Christ. This is seen by comparing them both. There are a number of similarities between the binding of Isaac and the crucifixion of Christ. 1. Both were offered or given by their fathers. Abraham gave his son and God the Father gave His Son to be a sacrifice. Genesis 22:2, “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Hebrews 11:17, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son”. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 2. Both Jesus and Isaac took a donkey to the place where they were to be sacrificed. Genesis 22:3, “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” Matthew 21:2, “Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.” 3. Both Jesus and Isaac carried wood on their back up a hill to the sacrifice. Genesis 22:6, “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” John 19:17, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha”. 4. God provided for Himself the lamb to be sacrificed. God provided the lamb for the sacrifice. The Lamb was provided by God for it had to be acceptable to Him. The Lamb had to meet God's requirements. It had to satisfy Him. That is why Christ was the only One who could die for the sins of mankind. Genesis 22:8, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 5. Both Jesus and Isaac were fastened and placed on the wood to be sacrificed. Genesis 22:9, “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” Luke 23:33, “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” 6. Both Isaac and Jesus were obedient to their father even unto death. Abraham laid Isaac down and Isaac stayed there. He did not try to get away or fight his father. He laid down in submission to His father's will. Christ laid down His life for us, too. Genesis 22:9, “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” John 10:17-18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” 7. Both men were released from death on the third day. To Abraham, Isaac was as good as dead. Yet, Isaac was released from death on the third day. Jesus was released from death on the third day as well. Jesus had conquered death and Hell. Genesis 22:4, “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.” Luke 9:22, “Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.” In Genesis 22, we see the offering of Isaac at Mt. Moriah. Isaac was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ being offered up by His own Father. He is also a type of a sinner being punished for his sins, but finds substitute in the Lord Jesus Christ, represented by the ram caught in the thicket. The journey to the mount was a three-day walk. Jesus was in the tomb for three days. What is also interesting is that in order for there to be worship to the Lord, there needed to be a sacrifice offered (Genesis 22:6). We find he carried wood. In this we see the cross of Calvary. He carried a knife, the sacrifice had to be killed and offered. Jesus had to die. He carried the fire for the offering of the sacrifice. This was God’s judgment on sin. Isaac asked Abraham a very important question. Where is the lamb for the sacrifice? Abraham’s answer was God Himself will provide a lamb. Isaac was taught since childhood that the innocent had to die in the place of the guilty in order for God to save them. Isaac asked his father why they were trying to worship without a lamb. You can’t come into the house of God and worship God without the Lamb of God. When we worship Him, we must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24). When the God of the universe is rightly worshipped, powerful things happen. When Jesus is passionately adored without shame or charade, without entertainment or needless comedy, God shows up. We were created and saved for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God. True worship recognizes that I am for Him. I breathe for Him. I live for Him. I spend my life for Him. The essence of worship is proclaiming God’s rightful worth and position. God leads us to the place of worship because that is the place where we rightly belong. The word worship in the Old Testament means “to bow before.” It’s the picture of pressing your forehead to the ground in extreme humility and recognition of the infinite superiority of the one who is worshipped. That is our rightful place. The amazing thing is not that God invites our worship, it’s that He would care about what we as sinful people would say about Him at all, and even more, that He would seek it. Prayer: You are so worthy of all my worship and praise, yet I rarely take the time to allow myself to ponder all You have done for me. Help me to live constantly in a spirit of adoration, praise, and worship. In Jesus’ mighty and precious name, Amen. If this post in any way, has blessed you, please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com Honestly and Heartily (Colossians 3:23-24)
Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Behind every successful leader is a handful of people who are working together to make his vision a reality. Theo Epstein is a great example of a successful leader. At 28 years old in 2002, he was the youngest General Manager in professional baseball. But in just over one year, he turned the Boston Red Sox into Major League champions. In 2004, the Red Sox won their first World Series championship in 86 years. During the eight years when he managed the Boston Red Sox, the team won the Major League Championship twice. He would then go on to work with the Chicago Cubs in 2011. In 2016, the Cubs won their first World Series championship in 108 years. While working for both teams, Epstein became notable for helping to end two of the longest World Series droughts in the history of Major League Baseball. Theo’s success earned him several impressive awards. In 2007, he was honored by the United States Sports Academy with its Carl Maddox Sport Management Award. In 2008, Baseball America named Epstein “Major League Executive of the Year.” In 2009, Sporting News honored him with the title, “Executive of the Decade,” while his team was honored as the “Team of the Decade.” He was also named Number 3 on Sports Illustrated’s list of the Top 10 GMs/Executives of the Decade (in all sports). With all of Theo’s success, you might think he would be a proud person. But the truth is, it takes humility to learn the art of getting people to work together. Someone once asked Theo what was behind his success, and he said, “It’s not me; it’s everybody.” He understood that everybody had to do their part for the team to succeed. This is an important principle in sports, but it’s just as important in the Christian life. There aren’t any big “I’s” or little “you’s” as we serve Christ. Each of us has to do our part to help the Body of Christ work. And each of us will have to answer to God, not for what we did, but how we did it. This makes everybody’s work important in the big picture. Whether you’re out front in a position of leadership, or you’re working behind the scenes, never forget the importance of your work and the importance of each person involved. It’s been said that “Teamwork makes the dream work” - this is real success. If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. The Bible is full of models of hard workers: David, the shepherd; Amos, the fig farmer; Paul, the tentmaker; Lydia, seller of purple; Jesus, the carpenter. At the end of the day, it’s a good thing to exhaust yourself with meaningful work. Work honestly and heartily everywhere, and on everything. The attitude of the Christian worker is that the energy and effort that he or she puts into their job is important to the Lord. 1. The Christian worker is not to work with eyeservice, as a man pleaser; that is, he or she is not to work only when the boss is watching or standing around. The Christian worker is to work diligently all the time, doing exactly what he or she has been instructed and expected of him or her and more. 2. The Christian worker is to work in singleness of heart. We are instructed to perform such duties with “singleness of heart;” that is, with sincerity of heart, realizing our ultimate service is to God. We ought to serve even men in the fear of God. Our testimony of Him is at stake. 3. The Christian worker is to work fearing the Lord. Every man is to be judged for what they do upon this earth, judged for the kind of things they do and judged for how diligently they did the good things. The Christian worker knows that God is watching their diligence that God is going to reward them for their diligence. 4. The Christian worker is to work heartily as to the Lord and not to men. He or she is not working for the men of this earth, but for the Lord. Diligent work will be rewarded by Christ. On earth, the workman may be mistreated, used, misused, abused, cheated, by-passed, and taken advantage of; but the Lord knows, and He is going to abundantly reward the diligent worker. Paul encourages Christians to consider all of their efforts and labor as a service directly to the Lord. We must work as though Christ is our employer, knowing that all work performed “for the Lord” will someday be rewarded (Ephesians 6:6-8). The earthly master may give compensation for one's work, but those who do their work as unto the Lord will also receive compensation from God. The reward is called an "inheritance" which means payday is down the road a way. But if you have to wait awhile for payday, it will be worth it when God does the paying. Prayer, Father, thank You for the work You’ve given me to do. Help me to see it as a commission straight from You. Remind me to work with all my heart as if I’m working directly for the Lord Jesus Christ, not for human supervisors. Forgive me for fixating too much on how I feel about my job, whether it fulfills me and makes me happy. Instead, help me to embrace the dignity of my work. I want to work hard on everything for Your glory. In the name of Your Son, whom I want to please, amen. If this post has blessed you in any way please share this website and its articles with others: www.fellowshipbaptistcarrabelle.com |
AuthorDr. Blackman is passionate about helping others grow in the grace of the Lord. His devotions are centered on how to grow closer to the Lord through a personal relationship with Christ. Archives
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