Alexander the Not-So-Very-Great

 

 "Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."

Proverbs 16:32

 

Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world in a very short time. His empire extended from Greece to Egypt to India. Many kings and kingdoms fell before his skill as a general. Yet it was no army that conquered Alexander. It was Alexander who conquered Alexander. His lack of self control destroyed him. One way this lack of self control was expressed was in his uncontrollable anger. One example of this is when He quarreled with one of his friends who had saved his life in battle. During this heated exchange of words, Alexander killed him with a spear. Afterwards, Alexander was filled with grief and  he even tried to kill himself. The world calls Alexander the Great, but he does not deserve the title. Anyone who can conquer his temper is better than a man who can conquer many kingdoms. We'll look at a few reasons why one who can conquer his anger is better than one who conquers a city.

 

It is more difficult to conquer our sins, especially anger, than it is to conquer a whole kingdom. In fact it is impossible. True victory over sin can only begin with being born again by the Holy Spirit. Even after this great event, sin dies hard. It is a most stubborn enemy. When you think it is subdued, it attacks again in a most unlikely place. The Christian must wage a constant, bitter war with sin. This war is more difficult than wars against nations and people. But by the power of the Holy Spirit and the use of the means of grace, such as prayer, Bible study, and listening to the Word being preached, we can begin the conquest of such a terrible enemy. I say 'begin to' because no sin is truly conquered until we die and are glorified.  Alexander won some small victories in his lifetime, but failed against the strongest enemy; his sinful nature.

 

It is better to conquer our anger than to conquer a city because our anger is a more destructive foe. Anger ruins families, marriages, churches, and countries. Anger breeds more anger and violence. A little spark of  anger can became a wild, out of control fire. Anger makes people do foolish things. Anger clouds our mind in a heavy fog. We say words we wish we could take back. We may even injure and kill some one in anger. Uncontrollable anger ruins the one with the temper and those around them. An angry person is defenceless against temptation. Anger destroys much more than wars and battles. It is, therefore, much better to conquer our anger because it is so destructive.

 

It is better to conquer our tempers than to conquer a city, because it bring a much greater benefit. Patience can calm quarrels and strife. Self control can prevent a war. Being slow to anger can bless and heal friendships, families, and nations. Patience can overlook an offence. Thinking before we speak in anger can rescue us from all sorts of sin. Conquering our tempers will bring us peace in our hearts as we walk with God and trust Him to deal with the sins of others. Being slow to anger is a quality of God. When we are slow to anger, we are acting like our Father in heaven. Conquering our tempers will give us assurance that we are children of our Heavenly Father, for such a virtue is impossible to obtain on our own. The benefits of conquering our tempers are so great. Conquering a city has very few benefits and many negative impacts.

 

The conquerors of sin are the truly great people in the eyes of God.

 

-Brad-

 



A God of Seeing

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good."

Proverbs 15:3

 

God sees all things. God can see all things because He is everywhere at the same time. Every thing that is done on this earth is seen by God. No one can escape from the gaze of the Lord. Every good deed done is seen by God. Every evil deed done is seen by God. Even if no one ever sees and knows your deeds, be assured, God sees them. God will punish the evil that is done and will reward the good that is done. How can sinners escape from a Judge that sees all their crimes? "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand?" Psalm 130:3  There is no hope of escape from the God who sees all but ,thankfully, the next verse give us hope. "But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared." verse 4. God's omniscience is not just a warning and terror to sinners, but a comfort for his people who are washed in the blood of Jesus. God sees their good deeds done in love and for His glory. They may toil alone for the Lord, without the praise of people. They may suffer for Jesus' sake forgotten by this world. They may have unknown sorrows and pains. God sees. He knows. He cares. He is a comfort and will reward in His good time. This is what Hagar found when God met her in the wilderness. She said, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me." Genesis 16:13

 

"Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; how much more the hearts of the children of man!"

Proverbs 15:9

 

This proverbs continues the truth found in verse 3. But it goes beyond the external actions, to the internal motives and thoughts of the inner person. Sheol is the place of the dead. The word Abaddon means destruction. It refers to the torments of hell. The Lord's gaze on us doesn't end when we die. Those who have died and gone into Hell are still seen by God. Even death will not hide us from God. And if God can see the spirits of those who have died, then surely He can see the every thought and desire of the heart. We cannot fool God. He sees through our hypocrisy. He knows when we don't mean the prayers we offer up. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and God knows and sees the depths of that wickedness. God also sees the broken heart which grieves over sin. God sees the heart that is sad because of its struggle to walk godly. God understands us better than we understand ourselves. This is be a great comfort to us who belong to Jesus Christ by faith. 

 

These two proverbs show how a knowledge of the Lord will bring wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Knowing that God can see all things--even our hearts and that He is every where present can produce a holy fear and reverence in a sinner that can lead to his conversion. After we are converted we must continue to grow in our knowledge of the Holy One. As we do so, we will increase in wisdom.  Knowing we are under the eyes of the Holy God will keep us from sin and encourage us to do good. It will be a source of comfort and encouragement. We need to cry out for more faith so we can see the invisible God as we go about our day to day activities. If we should desire wisdom, then seek to know more of the attributes of God. Study them diligently. Study them frequently. When you come to know your God better, you will find that you will increase in wisdom.

 

-Brad-

Eschatology and Sanctification Part 4

While this will be the last post on this topic, much more could be said. But I hope that these posts will help to see the importance of eschatology and lead you to give  more time to study and meditate on this truth.

We should study eschatology so that we will be discerning when it comes to unbiblical ideas about the last things and so that we will have a proper perspective on the events that go on around us. Knowing what the Bible teaches concerning the end times is important so when you come across end time errors, you will be able to spot them. It was end time errors that lead Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Thessalonians 2 to teach the truth about the end times. Often false teachers and cults have wild and strange understandings of the last things. Think of Jehovah Witnesses or Seventh Day Adventists or the latest false teacher who predicts when Jesus shall return. Jesus warned us that many false christs would come in his name to lead people astray. Matthew 24:4. So we must be on our guard and one way we do that is to know from the scripture what the coming of Christ and the events around that time will look like. These truths will give us a proper perspective on current events. In Matthew 24, Jesus teaches us this world will get worse. He tells us what to expect in this age. Wars, famines, earthquakes, false prophets and lawlessness will increase. Paul warns of the increase in the wickedness of men and of times of difficulty in the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The Bible clearly teaches not to hope for a golden era of the church before the coming of our Lord. This world will increase in wickedness. Things will get worse. But the fact that God knows this, means He is in control of the future and He will use it to do what is best.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed. 

 The study of the end times will bring comfort. We are comforted in death, persecution and trials of various sorts. Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 about the coming of the Lord and our  being caught up to Him in the air for the purpose of comforting them when someone died. All Christians will  rise together and meet the Lord in the air. Then we will always be with the Lord. At Christian funerals, people often read from Revelation 21-22 concerning the new heaven and the new earth. For those in Christ, death is only a door to a glorious future with the Lord and His people. We are comforted in persecution. God will judge our enemies. We leave vengeance to Him and do good to them that hurt us. In Hebrews 11:35 it says that "some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life." We can endure persecution knowing that this is only for a short time and that we will rise again from the dead and receive our reward for having stood firm till the end. Revelation 3:10-12 and Matthew 5:12.  Connected to this is the comfort we will have in trials. We can persevere in trials by fixing our eyes of faith on the things to come. This the great heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 did. Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."  We must pray that God may increase our faith so we see the unseen world and find strength and comfort in all our trials.

Finally, the study of Eschatology will lead to worship. We will worship God for His grace and mercy to us in Christ. How unworthy we are of the honours and glories of the world to come. How thankful we should be to be saved from eternal punishment in Hell. We will see more clearly the glorious salvation we have. What a Saviour we have. What a King we have as we see Him, by faith, destroy all His enemies and reign forever as King. We will worship God for His perfect justice, His patience and wisdom. We will praise Him for being faithful to His promises to Israel His people as He brings them as a nation into the New Covenant; providing them with new hearts in the land He promised to give them. Thousands of years do not change God's promises. Nothing can prevent them from coming to pass. We will see the importance of worship. One day, only God will be honoured and glorified. His glory will cover the earth. If it will be so in eternity, we should strive to bring glory to God alone here on earth. Eschatology is all about worship. Faith sees the things to come as certain as if they have already happened. See what the result of prophecy is in Revelation 19:1-10. Hallelujah! The multitudes in heaven worship God for what He will do. They and we can and will worship Him for His judgement on this wicked world, for His avenging His people, for His future reign on this earth, for the future blest communion God will have with His people. This is a good ending to this series. This is the greatest motivation for the study of eschatology.

In order to help you begin to study eschatology, I provide this link to an old free book on the subject.

-Brad-

Eschatology and Sanctification Part 3

I have been trying to show that a healthy eschatology is important for our sanctification. There seems to be two extremes when it come to the study of last things. There are those who spend most of their time studying what will happen in the end times. They give too much time to this study and neglect the rest of the truths of scripture. Then there are those who only have vague ideas of what will happen in the end. They know Jesus will return and they will be resurrected. They know there will be a heaven and hell. They don't really have a clear and deep understanding of what the Bible teaches about the end of this world. This is such a shame. There are really so many ways in which a deeper understanding of eschatology benefits our souls that it would take a book to explain them all. These posts are to encourage us all to study eschatology so it can benefit our souls.

 Eschatology leads to holy, purposeful living. It leads us to flee from sin and pursue righteousness. It will keep us from worldliness.  This is seen through-out the Bible. There are too many verses to list, but here are just a few.
1 John 2:28 "And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him at His coming."
1 John 3:2-3 "Beloved we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself as He is pure."
2 Peter 3:11-14 "Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace."
    Consider how the coming of the Lord Jesus will lead to holy living with this example. Suppose the parents of five children leave the house for a number of hours. They tell their children to behave and they will be back soon. Once the parents leave, chaos erupts in the house. Four children run around eating cookies and chips. They fight and leave a trail of destruction in the house. One child sits quietly and reads. The parents come home. What will happen? Discipline will be swiftly dealt out to four children, while one will be commended and praise. Read Matthew 24:45-51. Do you want a rebuke from our Lord when He comes? Do we want to be ashamed before His glorious face? Wouldn't we rather be commended by Him. So the coming of Jesus and other truths of eschatology will motivate us to holy living.
  Clearly seeing by faith the return of the Lord, the destruction of the world, the new heavens and the new earth and eternity will change how we use our time, resources, gifts and energy. We will live with eternity in our eyes. We will live with a razor sharp focus. We won't be distracted by the cheap toys of this world. We won't live for our own petty kingdom or the kingdoms of this age. Our time, resources and gifts will be used for God's kingdom which will never pass away. We have eternity ahead of us. This life is so short. What will Jesus say to us at the end of our life? There is much work to be done in God's kingdom. Sinners are dying in their sins and going to hell. Who will go and tell them the good news?  How many Christians are weak, immature, and undiscerning? They need to be taught the scriptures. They need to exhorted, rebuked, and encouraged. They need to be equipped to live lives that please God.  Who will be as Apollos, a man mighty in the scriptures, to explain the word of God to them? The time for working for God's kingdom is now. Soon there will come a day when the time for working will be over. Soon will come a day when the day of salvation is over. Soon the day for judgement will come. Soon we shall stand before Christ and our life work will be tested and what is done for Christ's will remain. Then we shall receive our rewards. A deeper understanding of the things to come will help us to live with intense focus as we seek to make God's name great.

-Brad-

Eschatology and Sanctification Part 2

In my last post I wrote that it is important for our sanctification to study what God has revealed concerning the end times. This post I would like to begin to show how this study will benefit us.

In the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, the characters never know what the end will be. In the darkest days, they have no idea if they will triumph over their enemies. Will the Evil Sauron prevail? Are they doomed to fail in their quest to destroy the One Ring?  They have no confident answer to these questions. Their hope rests upon the thinnest of threads. All they can do is to bravely press on, and if all fails, they can at least make a courageous last stand.
 Imagine if this was the case with Christians in this world. We are a small and weak people. Our task is great. Our opponents are strong. The devil is powerful and cunning. We are no match for him. The church is assaulted by false teachers and teaching. The world tempts and seduces the church to embrace her lies and sins. The devil and world seem to be winning. We die and seem to be no more. If we look at what we can see with our eyes, we can grow weary and hopeless. It seems to be a lost cause. But as we study the end times as God has revealed them, we see by faith a different picture. God reveals to us the He will raise us from the dead in a new and glorious body. God will bring  defeat to the devil and all those who follow his ways. None will escape the Lord Jesus Christ, the great King of Kings. God will persevere His church, no matter what her enemies can and will throw at her. The truth will prevail. We may lose some battles, but the war is won. We fight a defeated foe. It may not seem like this is the case, but God's words reveals a different situation. Romans 16:20 says, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." The clearer our views of the end times, the greater our confidence, our hope and our courage.  In Psalm 73, the psalmist is gloomy because the wicked seem to have it good. He laments that it is of no use to be good and godly.  A godly life is vain. God doesn't seem to care about the good I do and the wicked that the ungodly do. But the psalmist's mood changes when he goes into the temple and remembers what will be the end of the wicked. In the end God will punish them and sweep them away forever. He and all the righteous will enjoy God  and live with Him forever. Here in this psalm we see an example of how a right and clear understanding of last events will bring clarity, hope, joy, peace and confidence.  This is what is seen in 1 Cor 15:57-58, which comes after Paul's explanation of the resurrection of believers. There Paul ends with this practical encouragement, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." This is a good benefit to those who diligently study eschatology.

-brad-

Eschatology and Sanctification

In the next couple posts I would like to show how a good understanding of eschatology plays a part in our sanctification. I would like to answer the question, "why should someone put time into the study of eschatology." To begin, for those who have little idea of the meaning of eschatology, I will define the term. Eschatology is the study of last things. What things? Things like the resurrection of the dead, the return of Jesus Christ, the Antichrist, the events surrounding the end of this world, the judgement to come, hell and the new heavens and the new earth. These are some of what are the last things. God has revealed to us in the Bible the events that will come at the end of the this world. There is so much written in the Bible concerning the end times. In almost every book of the Bible there is something revealed to us concerning what will happen in the end. It is clear that God considers this to be important of us. 2 Tim 3:16 and 17 says, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." This includes the scriptures that deal with future events. These are useful for our growth in Christ-likeness. In fact, the book of Revelation, which is primarily about the end times, is the only book that has a blessing attached to the reading, hearing and obeying of it. Rev 1:3. To not study eschatology is to say that what God says about the end times doesn't matter; that it is not worth even looking at it. Some may object to this study and say it is too hard. This is to put the blame on God. Yes, eschatology is difficult. Yes, there are many different view points. But it is worth the hard work. God will bless us when we carefully study future prophecy with a  honest heart that desires to know the truth. Not everything may became clear, but what God does reveal to us will benefit our souls much.  What God reveals to us in His word, must be seen with the eyes of faith to have any benefit. The greater our faith, the clearer views we will have of the glorious future that God has ordained. We must cry for faith, for all study is in vain with out faith to hold fast to the truth.
So I encourage you to not skip over the hard prophetic passages. Study carefully to see what God will do in the future. Study to see the glory of Jesus Christ and of our eternal home. Over the next couple posts I will try to show how eschatology will be used to sanctify us.