BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

The world is shaking and many are cowering in fear. Paul's letter of 1st Thessalonians was written to a church in a similar situation that is faced by Christians today - lots of affliction, and Paul and the leaders of the church could not see the people face to face. And yet, the young church STOOD FIRM in the midst of affliction. How? How do you and I stand firm in the midst of an affliction that is shaking the whole world now?

Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever!

Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11.

5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn't seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ's apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God's gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:5-11

Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:

Tell Daughter Zion, "See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Matthew 21:5

15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. 21 The nations will put their hope in his name.

Matthew 12:15-21

Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery:

Today we're going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul's famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I'm going to show you why … Even though it's a worse word, it's a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it's called meekness.

Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek." Why? Why didn't he say, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted"? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, "Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.' " No. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, "Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden." He says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls." When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, "You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek.

There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me." So let's do it. We'd better do it.

Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don't even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn't even the way it fits in our minds. We don't even have a good definition of it. So let's go, and let's see a place where Jesus Christ's own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)...

What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn't tell us. Therefore, there's only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." "I am meek and lowly of heart."

It's the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you'll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, "Hey, would you like to cry for joy?" "Yeah, let's do that."

So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that's called "The Black," and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let's face it. If they're going to have a battle, who's going to win? This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don't understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He's a moral beauty. He says, "I can command angels right now to come down and do this."

He still has his power. He still has his glory. He's not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he's receptive to us (we're the riders), to her, and even (as we're going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn't. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up. Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you're gentle, but you're also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don't know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I'll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he's being so gentle. He doesn't say, "Oh dear, who the heck am I?" Jesus never talks like that.

This is the thing that's so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, "I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am." He makes these incredible claims. "I'm judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins." He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, "Oh, I'm nothing." He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he's not.

See, that's the exact opposite of the world's understanding of humility. In fact, that's the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Jesus was the King of Kings, and yet He was meek. Paul also describes himself as having the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Most people misunderstand meekness to to be very similar to weakness, but pastor Tim Keller is going to set us straight today about the power of meekness and the importance of every leader and minister walking in the meekness of Jesus.

Happy Saturday, friends! Here in sunny and cold California, our shelter in place order has turned into a STAY HOME order, which is a little more restrictive. We've been sheltering in place now since March 18 and STAYING HOME starts today. We're still allowed to go to the store for essential needs, and we can go for walks while maintaining #socialdistancing, so it doesn't change things a ton for us. Today we took a nice family walk on a trail through rolling hills near our house, and had a good old time playing in trees and dry river beds and such. Normally, we would focus on 1st Thessalonians for today's pod, but it just so happens I'm preaching on 1st Thessalonians this Sunday, so I didn't want things to be redundant for our church family, many of whom listen to this pod. Which brings us to a fascinating passage in Psalms 7:

My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day. 12 If anyone does not repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and made it ready. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he tips his arrows with fire.

Psalms 7:10-13

That's kind of terrifying, right? I have a pretty nice bow, but I'm not a bow hunter. I also have a few nice swords, a couple of which are pretty deadly, but I am not a knight or Samurai warrior. If you got word that I was coming after you with my bow, I guess you should be pretty nervous, but honestly, I'm no Robin Hood, and you'd probably be fine, especially if you are moving. I'm a little better with the sword, but one time I chopped off the tip of my own toe with a sword, so you might escape from that situation pretty well too. However...to have God stringing His bow? That's just terrifying. Not only that, but He apparently has other DEADLY weapons and HE TIPS HIS ARROWS WITH FIRE? What in the world is going on here?! Let's read our Psalms passages and then come back and talk about what is going on.

So - really scary stuff. Those who do not repent, God sharpens His sword, strings His bow (and those fiery arrows), and gets His other deadly weapons ready. Let's talk about repenting first. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is שׁוּב/Shub and it means to turn back or return. In the New Testament, the Greek word is Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) and it is the FIRST word out of Peter's mouth when people respond to his message at Pentecost in Acts 2:

37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: "Brothers, what should we do?"38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Acts 2:37-39

The word there means to change your mind. So both the Old Testament and New Testament words for repentance essentially mean to turn away from one direction and turn towards another direction - in the context of Psalms 7, to turn your mind and thinking away from sinful ways or human ways and to turn towards God's ways. As John Piper notes, the Greek word for "repent" refers to "a change of the mind's perceptions and dispositions and purposes. . . . Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience." Let's consider some other explanations of repentance from various pastors and theologians:

The first principle we see [in learning about repentance] is the putting off and the putting on. We touched on it, but we have to hit it. The putting off and the putting on. Putting off means stop doing something, and putting on means start doing something. Everybody knows that change is two-factored, right? Everybody knows that in order to turn, metanoia (repentance means to turn), you can't turn toward unless you turn away. You can't turn away without turning toward something else. It's two-factored. That seems so obvious.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved.

Charles Spurgeon

Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.

J.I. Packer

You might have noticed that I am talking about 'repentance' far more in the last 30 days than I did in the first 60 days of this podcast. There's a reason for that. Almost every time I turn to God and His Word and pray in the midst of this pandemic, I get the word to 'repent,' as I've mentioned before. I certainly believe that God is calling me to personally turn away from other things and turn towards Him in this season, I also believe that is call going out to all people in all nations right now, so I am very, very attuned to the call of God in His Word to repent, and I am extremely moved now, more than ever, of the truth of 2nd Chronicles 7:

13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.

2 Chronicles 7:13-15

Ponder that passage and pray it. Listen to the Word of God in this season and respond to the leadings of His Spirit. Allow me to close with a great partial message from John Piper on Jesus' call to repent:

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5)

The first demand of Jesus' public ministry was, "Repent." He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.

Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English "repent" (metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.1 So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind's perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance." Then it gives examples of the fruits: "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise" (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us that leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change.

Why? His answer is that we are sinners. "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus' view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son's sin like this: "He squandered his property in reckless living . . . [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes" (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven—that is, against God. That's the essential nature of sin. It's an assault on God.

We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus' view of sin was that it dishonored God and put us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. That debt is paid by Jesus himself. "The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent.

Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God." Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind.

No one is excluded from Jesus' demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate's massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). In other words, don't think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren't. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born anew because "that which is born of the flesh is [merely] flesh" (John 3:6), so all must repent because all are sinners.

When Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired "to justify himself" (Luke 10:29) while "the tax collector . . . beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' [and] went down to his house justified [by God!]" (Luke 18:13-14).

Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God would fall on those who don't repent. "The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one word for us, "Woe, to you" (Matthew 11:21).

This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message that the kingdom of God is at hand. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The gospel—the good news—is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before it arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive, and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God's judgment.

After he had risen from the dead Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/thoughts-on-jesuss-demand-to-repent

Oh yes, one more question: DOES God shoot people with arrows? I believe this passage is employing poetic language to communicate that God vigorously pursues people and calls them to repent. Does He literally shoot people with arrows?! Let's just say this:

30 For we know the one who has said,

Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,

and again,

The Lord will judge his people.

31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:30-31

n the midst of a pandemic crisis, what is God calling His people to do? One of the most important responses that the people of God can have in any crisis or trial is to REPENT - but what does repentance mean, and why is it so important that the Psalmist sees God taking up deadly weapons against those who refuse to repent?!

Happy Friday, friends! For many of us out there, the days are kind of just running into each other right now. I had two different pastor friends share that same thought with me at different times today. Our current situation is a bit surreal, isn't it? Almost like it is a dream. The world is shaking, but God is our refuge in times of trouble. Isaiah was written to the Israelites, but followers of Christ are also inheritors of the promises of God to Israel, because we have been grafted into the same vine that they are in, according to the Bible. That means that we can rest in the beautiful promise of Isaiah 43:

Now this is what the Lord says— the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel— "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. 2 I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior.

Isaiah 43:1-2

Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 6, Psalms 5-6, Proverbs 21 and Colossians 4. Our focus passage today is Colossians 4, specifically verse 2. Let's read the whole passage and then come back and focus on prayer.

2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Let me admit something to you: Once, twice, three times a day, this coronavirus thing shakes me up. Maybe it is when I'm reading the stats and looking at the graph of the rising cases in America. Earlier it was when I was watching the graphs and rising cases in Italy, and wondering if it would hit the U.S. that hard. Spoiler alert, it appears to be doing just that. Sometimes I get concerned about my children, my wife, our church family and all of the precious saints there. My mom and dad and sister and brother and other family in Alabama, and my church family there. These are troubled times, to be sure, and it gets to me every day.

2008-2009 was an interesting period in my life. I had been in ministry for many years at that point, but I was just beginning a role as the full time senior pastor of a church in my hometown, and I was as excited as I could be, and I came in boldly. Until, that is, a crippling attack of anxiety and fear hit me from out of nowhere. One of the things about Covid 19 is that its novel - new, and our bodies don't have any sort of built up defense against it. I was in a similar place in 2008-2009. Anxiety and fear were new to me, in large part. It was something I had never significantly struggled with in the past (except for my irrational fears of sharks, ghosts and spiders - the unholy trio of things that scare me.) I was completely and utterly unprepared to deal with fear and anxiety, and it just hit me like a Category 5 hurricane hitting an old mobile home. I crumpled, and crumpled for a long time. The ONLY thing that helped - literally - was the Word of God and prayer. I had believed that prayer was important before, but had never had to rely on God like a lifeline until that storm of anxiety hit. I saturated myself in the Word and in prayer, and in due time - gradually, God pulled me out of the miry clay, so to speak.

At this point, I am not at all near where I was in 2008, but the anxiety level has increased. Hurricane 2008 taught me to turn to God in His Word and Prayer at the first sign of rain, and God has graciously led me back to that place again in this pandemic season. Each night when the podcast is done - even if its late - I go out and walk and pray, and God meets me there and that time with Him has been an anchor in a storm that is getting fiercer every day. Many of you are scared. Some more than me, some less than me, and some about that same. Allow me to exhort you: Whether you think this thing is a big deal or not, take heed of the command in God's Word: "Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving."

What does DEVOTE mean? The Greek word there is made up of two Greek words - one means towards, or to, and the other means endure. In other words, the Word of God is calling us to ENDURE TOWARDS or INTO PRAYER. This is a season that I believe the Holy Spirit is waking up the Body of Christ to ENDURING TOWARDS Prayer. Have you heard the call of the Spirit to increased times and devotion to prayer? His command is pointing us that way - we MUST heed that call. This is also a Romans 12:12 hour:

Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.

Romans 12:12

To be clear, it is ALWAYS a Romans 12:12 and Colossians 4:2 season, but this is an hour and season where it is ACUTELY IMPORTANT that the people of Jesus be devoted in prayer, rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction and persistent in prayer. This podcast is listened to in several different countries, and all of them are absolutely up against the ropes right now, and the church of Jesus in every corner of the world should right now be rising up and being DEVOTED TO PRAYER! To help encourage us all in that direction, I'd like to turn to one of my heroes of the faith, George Mueller of Bristol. He was a mighty man of prayer and faith - a pastor and founder of orphanages who never asked for money or provision from humans, but only prayed to God about such matters, and he kept a running tally of the thousands of times God answered his prayers. Here is Mr. Muller teaching us how to pray in the midst of trials and afflictions:

George Muller of Bristol

Matthew 7:7–11: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" If we believe that it will be even as the Lord Jesus said, with what earnestness, perseverance, expecting faith, shall we give ourselves to prayer! Though the answer be long delayed, though, as to sight, the answer to our prayers can never be received; yet, since we believe, walk by faith, we shall continue to expect an answer to our prayers, as assuredly as our petitions are according to the mind of God, are asked in the name of the Lord Jesus, and we exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to help us.

Again, the testimony of God the Holy Ghost, in Romans 8:28, is: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Now, if we lay hold on it by faith, bring to it in faith our greatest trials, difficulties, afflictions, bereavements, etc., our hearts will be comforted, we shall obtain peace to our souls. I have been a believer in the Lord Jesus for forty-four years, but I have invariably found that my greatest trials have proved my greatest blessings; they have worked for my good. But suppose we did not see this to be so, while yet in the body, we have nevertheless to exercise faith concerning what God says; we have to walk by faith, regarding that word of His, "That all things work together for good to them that love God," and then will the heart be comforted and sustained.

Three years ago God allowed two most heavy trials to befall me. They continued month after month. I said to myself, "This too works for my good;" and I continued day by day, while the afflictions lasted, to make known my requests unto God, that He would graciously be pleased to sustain me under them, and, in His own time, deliver me out of them. There was hanging in my bed-room in a frame a text, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Ps. 81:10), upon which my eyes fell as I rose in the morning; and my heart said to my heavenly Father, "I do open my mouth wide; wilt Thou graciously be pleased to do according to Thy word? and wilt Thou fill it!"

I continued patiently, believingly, expectingly, to look to God for help, and He did deliver me out of these two most heavy afflictions, and I have thus become further acquainted with Him. All this I say for the comfort and encouragement of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ. Will you, then, the next time that you are in trial, seek to remember this for your comfort? You may not be able to see how such and such a heavy trial can work for your good; but it will most assuredly, as God has said. And if even in this life you should not see it, you will do so in the world to come; but generally we see it already in this life.

The reason why the children of God are so frequently overpowered by difficulties and trials is, because they attempt to carry their burden themselves, instead of casting it upon God, as He not only graciously allows them to do, but commands them to do; and therefore they lose the promise which is coupled with the command; they find themselves not sustained. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee" (Ps. 55:22). This does not mean simply that we should pray to God in our trials and afflictions, but that we should exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to help us under our trials; and by this we know whether we have only used words in prayer, or whether we have, in believing prayer, exercising faith in God, spoken, to Him about our trials. If the latter was the case, then, though the trial still lasts, the burden thereof is gone, because we have laid it upon God, to bear it for us; but if we have not exercised faith in God, we are still carrying the burden ourselves.

All these matters are so deeply important, because if we do not walk by faith we cannot be happy in God, and therefore cannot bear such a testimony for God as we should bear were we indeed happy. Our very countenances should testify of our peace and joy in God, in order that thus the unconverted may be stirred up to seek for themselves after that which makes the children of God so happy.

George Müller, Jehovah Magnified: Addresses (Bristol, England: The Bible and Tract Depot of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution, 1876), 49–53.

Colossians 4:2 calls Christians to be DEVOTED to prayer. What does that mean, and how important is it that Christians actually devote themselves to prayer. Does it make a difference? We turn today to George Muller, a great man of prayer and faith, to give us guidance on how to pray fruitfully and effectively in the midst of affliction and times of trouble.

Happy Thursday, Friends! Day 16 of shelter in place here in Sunny and windy central California. We have not resorted to cannibalism yet. We have resorted to all sorts of pranks, however, including my daughters pretending to be burglars breaking in last night at 1am and filming me coming outside with a machete to see what was going on. We also had every picture in our house today covered with Shrek faces, and my monitor covered with Kim-Jong-Un pictures, so that is something.

Shout out to my brother or sister in Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday who downloaded a bunch of episodes of the show! Today was actually one of the best days ever for the show, with over 400 downloads in one day, which is awfully nice of you people - I'm glad you are listening and that we are hearing the Word of God together! Shoutout also to KRF78 for her or his most encouraging iTunes/Apple podcasts review!

Excellent podcast for daily Bible study!☆☆☆☆☆I love this podcast. I love the combination of a reading plan with a daily study of pertinent Bible study questions. Highly recommend!Krf78

Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 5, Psalms 3 and 4, Proverbs 20 and Colossians 3. Our focus passage today is derived from Colossians, and is yet again focused more on one verse than the whole passage:

16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Colossians 3:16

Today we are going to talk about how the Body of Christ - the Church - was set up in the New Testament. Before we do, I need to remind you that I am the pastor of a church that you should come visit online at: https://www.facebook.com/VBCsalinas/ I would like you to visit in person also, but I guess it's not yet time for that. #pandemic. Anyway - I am a pastor, have been one for a long time. I like pastors. Some of my best friends are pastors. Some of my spiritual heroes are pastors. Keep that in mind when I say this: Far too often, the modern Western church is way, way too pastor-centric, when you compare it to the way "church" is described in the Bible. I present the above passage as exhibit 1. For exhibit two, I invite you to go and search for how many times the word 'pastor' shows up in the Bible. Go ahead...I'll wait. I'm just kidding. The word pastor appears exactly ONCE in the CSB and the NIV, and ZERO times in the ESV. Yes, it appears 9 times in the KJV, but 8 of those times are in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and they aren't referring to church pastors, because that book was written hundreds of years before the birth of the church in Acts 2.

So - what gives, are pastors illegit? No, I don't believe so. If you search for 'shepherd' and 'elder,' you will find quite a bit more hits, and I believe both of those words are synonymous with pastor when used in the context of the people. You will find that Paul appointed elders (plural) in every church, so they were definitely important - especially those who focused on preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17) Even then, however, you do NOT get the idea from the New Testament that the church was very pastor-centric. Instead, it was very Jesus-centric and very member-centric.

Consider some of these gifts of the Spirit passages:

10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God's words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.

1 Peter 4:10-11

7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, another tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in another tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets' spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33

Putting aside the debate about whether or not some of the gifts mentioned above ceased (I believe they didn't)...but no matter what your view of the gifts, I'm sure you can see in the passages we just read that the early church was anything but a one-man-show. It was a Body of Christ show that pointed everybody to the head of the Body of Christ - JESUS.

Lack of proper biblical emphasis on this topic -the gifts of the Spirit - leads to an immature and stunted Body of Christ that depends on the gifts of 3-5 important people while everybody else is along for the ride. Think of the arm-wrestler who lifts everyday on his right arm, but the rest of his body is atrophied. A church that only has 3-4 people evidently serving/using their gifts is a freak show, not the Body of Christ. Everybody is called to USE their gifts for the building up of others. Everybody plays Ball - when that happens, the church GROWS into maturity and fruitfulness.

YOU have a spiritual gift. You are empowered to minister to people and build up the church. Colossians 3:16 gives us this amazing picture of the whole church, lively and active and ministering to each other in various ways.

1 Corinthians 12:7 7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: Symphero - better for everybody, together-profitable.

Consider - without the Gift of Exhortation - (Parakaleo - called alongside somebody for support) there will be people in the Body who feel crushingly alone, and will despair, suffering far more than they should, and being weakened by it. An Exhorter walks beside those who are suffering - TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE - and fights together with them. GET OFF THE MAT!

Without the gift of giving - many of us would suffer remarkable financial hardships. God, through the gift of giving, provides money through His people at just the right time to fuel the ministries of the church, to provide for the needs of widows, orphans and those who are struggling greatly. My Father in Law has this gift, and I can't tell you how many times it has been such a rich blessing to us.

Without the gift of leadership, there would be little cohesive togetherness. Some projects simply cannot be done by 1-2 people - leaders are needed in those situations. Everybody would go their own way, but a gifted leader (not one who leads by power, or bullying, or strength) is a delight to follow and rally around. A gifted leader does not diminish who you are, or your calling in any way, but enhances it!

Without the gift of mercy, those who are suffering would rarely truly be comforted. The truly wounded - the abused, the suffering, would do so in silence, and ultimately come to believe that the church is unloving, or God Himself is unloving. The Gift of mercy TRUMPETS the LOVE of God and the LOVE of His people to those who need to hear it most. When you are suffering, your ability to hear and perceive love is SMASHED. It takes LOUD examples of love, shown consistently over time. This is the gift of mercy.

Without the Gift of Service, there would be SO many important things undone when we gather. Diapers would not be changed in nursery, trash would not be picked up, coffee wouldn't be made, people wouldn't be helped when they have their hands full. This gift almost cheats, because Jesus' key to greatness is serving. Some are gifted to be GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven eternally.

Without the Gift of Faith Probably several of us would have quit gathering together with other Believers. Many would not have been healed or prayed for. In a group like this, the gift of Faith enhances every ministry, every outreach, every prayer offered. When the odds look terrible, and people want to quit, or not even try, the gift of faith sees the majesty and power of God and says, "Behold the Lamb!"

Rise up gifted members of the church and embrace your role and calling - even if you are 'sheltering in place' let your light (the light of Jesus in you) shine before men so that they will see Jesus and glorify God the Father!

The word 'pastor' only appears ONE time in the Bible, but the modern church in the West seems to have the pastor in front all of the time. Does this mean the church is too pastor-centric? Should the church be a one man show? The Baptist pastor host of the Bible Reading Podcast grapples with this question and the topic of spiritual gifts today.

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today is officially episode 94, but only because I messed up yesterday and skipped a number. Therefore, episode #92 never officially existed. Or maybe it did, and had the 8 secrets of humanity on it, but the Illuminati got a hold of it and deleted it. The illuminati is always messing up things like podcasts, and the world and stuff. Alas. Speaking of numbers, today is day #15 of shelter in place for us central Californians. I heard lots of criticism around the country - some of it extreme and absurd - for that move when it happened, but it actually seems to have kept cases on a lower level here for now, which is actually a blessing. I never thought I'd see the day when I would defend a broad-reaching government order to stay sheltered in place, but the world has gone mad, so there you go.

I had the privilege of talking on the phone today to a first-responder/fire-fighter who is a daily listener to the show. Shout out to you, Rooster. Very interesting conversation! He told me all of the precautions and such that first responders are having to take now in the midst of this coronavirus catastrophe, and it was pretty extreme to hear. These are unnerving times for all of us. Pray for our first responders - our firefighters, medics and police officers. Pray for our nurses and doctors and other medical care and support staff too. Double shout-outs to all of you guys and ladies who are on the front lines of this scary situation. May the Lord bless you and keep you and shine His grace and favor on you! Thank you from the bottom of the hearts from the rest of us.

Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 4, Psalms 1 and 2, Proverbs 19 and Colossians 2. Our focus passage today is actually a focus verse, which is found in Proverbs 19:

The fear of the Lord leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.

Proverbs 19:23

Let's talk about the fear of the Lord, shall we? We haven't focused much on Proverbs so far in the pod, but this is an excellent place for us to begin, and this is an excellent time for us to discuss the fear of the Lord. I suspect that, if you could measure the net amount of fear in the world by some sort of tangible measurement - perhaps a GigaPhobe, than I believe that the amount of fear in the world, and the amount of fear in the United States of America hasn't been higher in my lifetime. People were shook during and shortly after the 911 attacks, but there was also great confidence that our nation's military and leadership would be able to battle back against terroristic attacks, and better defend the country. People are more shook, I perceive, by this coronavirus threat - primarily because our best minds and our best leaders and all of our money has been of no avail to us at this point.

And yet, one of the most common and repeated commands of the Bible is to "fear not." Conversely, one of the most commonly repeated commands of the Bible is also to fear the Lord! In this paradox, we find some important wisdom, that I believe Jesus beautifully, and terrifyingly sums up:

28 Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's consent. 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:28-31

To sum up - don't fear murderers and scary things. Don't fear diseases and illness. DO fear God the Father. But, overall - don't be AFRAID. Interesting advice - and quite paradoxical at first glance. Looking back at our Proverb - it is also a little paradoxical, isn't it? It seems a bit self-contradictory to say that the fear of the Lord will lead to life AND will help you sleep well at night! And yet, that's precisely what the fear of the Lord does! That brings us to our main question - what exactly does it mean to fear the Lord? I'm glad you asked. I've heard preachers and pastors try to explain the fear of the Lord in terms of respect, or obedience, or reverence - and all of those are definitely aspects of the fear of the Lord, but are we actually supposed to be afraid of the Lord?

In answering the question, let's begin with the Hebrew word used: יִרְאָה yirʼâh, yir-aw. It is a noun, but in terms of etymology, it is from a Hebrew verb which means, "to be afraid." Most of the time when this word is used in the Old Testament, it is used in the context of the fear of the Lord, so those passages don't exactly illuminate the type of fear of God that we are to walk in. Psalm 55:5, however does give us a good idea what the word itself means:

My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me. 5 Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me.

Psalm 55:5

Yiraw and trembling grip me, says the Psalmist - horror has overwhelmed me. I'd say that is a pretty good indication that the fear of the Lord means exactly what it sounds like it means. The fear of the Lord is also mentioned several times in the New Testament, such as in these passages:

So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)

Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11)

The Greek word there is phobos, and it is the same word used famously in Luke 2:9 of the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, "The Glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore phobos/afraid." At least grammatically, the word 'fear' in the phrase 'fear of the Lord,' means precisely what it seems to mean. Fear! How can this be a good thing to be afraid of God?! Let's look at some Proverbs on the fear of the Lord and close up by talking about HOW the fear of the Lord is, in fact, a good thing AND a COMFORT to us.

Ten Verses of Wisdom on the Fear of the Lord:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever. Psalm 111:10

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. Psalm 19:9

How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!... Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children, like young olive trees around your table. 4 In this very way the man who fears the Lord will be blessed. Psalm 128:1-4

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. Proverbs 10:27

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and his children have a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death. Proverbs 14:26-27

Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 16:6

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Proverbs 31:30

When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. Ecclesiastes 12:1

That's quite a bit of Scripture - do you notice how often the fear of the Lord is connected with fleeing from evil, and being protected by God?

Here is what I think is going on. Consider these four Proverbs:

11:4 Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.

11:8 The righteous one is rescued from trouble; in his place, the wicked one goes in.

Proverbs 12:7 The wicked are overthrown and perish, but the house of the righteous will stand.

14:11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

There are dozens and dozens and dozens more Proverbs like this. Beyond question, the teaching of the Bible is that God protects the righteous. In Christ, we are not made righteous by our own acts, but by the sinless perfection of Jesus. That doesn't mean, however, as Paul is quick to note, that Christians have a license to sin - God forbid. Old Testament followers of God were called to righteousness and were protected when they obeyed and pursued the Lord. The same is true for New Testament believers. We are not saved by works of righteousness, but by Jesus. That said - SIN is still a deadly danger to Christians - one that modern, Western Christians have not paid nearly enough attention to. James is very stark in his warning:

14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

James 1:14-15

As I have told you before, I do not know why this plague of coronavirus is shaking the world. I am confident, however, in how we should respond to it, and I believe that this is from the Lord. We must REPENT. Turn from our sins large and small. Consider our ways. Ask the Lord to search us and repent from anything He brings to mind. How does the fear of the Lord fit into repenting? Proverbs 16 tells us, "One turns from evil by the fear of the Lord. "Proverbs 16:6 Brothers and sisters, as I've mentioned before, I believe the Lord has His church right now in a place of repentance. Turning away from sin and worldliness and turning to Him. Healing comes when we do that. Healing comes when our leaders do that. Pray for our leaders to repent. Our government leaders and our spiritual leaders. Great protection will come on our cities, states and countries when we and our leaders turn to God in the fear of the Lord.

ISAIAH 2: 5 House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the Lord's light…. 11 The pride of mankind will be humbled, and human loftiness will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.

12 For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled— … 17 The pride of mankind will be brought low, and human loftiness will be humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day. 18 The idols will vanish completely.

19 People will go into caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the Lord and from his majestic splendor, when he rises to terrify the earth. 20 On that day people will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made to worship, to the moles and the bats.