“Be Ye Therefore…” – Ready

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Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Introduction

This is the fifth in the “Be Ye Therefore…” series.  Christ had just told His followers not to seek after the riches of this world which are temporal but to seek the kingdom first and then says “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Then the parable starts with blessed are the servants whom, when their lord returns, he finds them watching or ready for him.  (By the way these two thoughts are related, for earthly treasure often keeps us from watching or even loving His appearing)  He goes on to say that if the good man of a house knew exactly what hour the thief would come, he would have prevented him from breaking into the house.  He would have been waiting in that specific hour to catch the thief.

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1 Peter – Hope 1 Peter 1:3-5

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Scripture Text

1Pe 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Introduction

Why did Peter go to such lengths in addressing these believers?  In verse 1 Peter addressed the strangers scattered abroad referring to Jews in other countries.  We also see references that cause us to believe he is also addressing Gentiles.  God is not regional, only reigning in Jerusalem.  God is not partial, being only the God of the Jews.  God calls all people everywhere to repent.  Today God is not only worshipped in the church houses, Jesus said “Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

 

The Book of James – Godly State of Mind James 1:9-11

Introduction

So far James has told us that there will be times of testing.  This is when God allows the road ahead to be challenging so we will trust in Him and grow stronger.  We have also seen where God is just waiting for us to ask for wisdom so that we can conduct ourselves in a manner pleasing to Him.  Now James, as he continues to talk about patience, is going to cover our state of mind.

 

Give Me That Man-Made Religion – Acts 7:40b-41

Introduction

The title of my post is a play on words of an old song entitled “Give me that old-time religion”.  Our scripture text is taken from Acts chapter 7 covering the events leading up to the stoning of Stephen.  Before they stoned him Stephen recounted a history of the nation of Israel.  We will focus on one event in that history, the making of the golden calf.  The original account of the story Stephen mentions is in Exodus chapter 32.

In Acts 7:40 the children of Israel told Aaron, Moses’ brother…“Make us gods to go before us”.  Moses, as commanded, had ascended the mountain to meet with God.  He had been gone, in the estimation of some, too long and his return was called into question.  They saw an opportunity to make some changes due to the fact that they were already questioning Moses’ leadership.  They had decided to create a god in their image and to their own liking.

You might be thinking “that’s insane”, you can’t create a god.  First off I would agree, that is insane, but you don’t have to be a history major to know that since the beginning of recorded time our history is full of such efforts.  In my years on this earth I have personally witnessed the birth of new man-made gods.

Why does man seek to create their own god?  Clearly, in the case of Israel, they wanted a god they could see.  Over and over again the children of Israel desired to be like the nations around them who served rocks, trees, crafted precious metals and even the sun and moon.  An inanimate object, like the golden calf, is not going to deliver any laws.  This is man’s effort to tell God how things are going to work from now on. How great is this?  Decide what your god will look like and how it will act.  You can then make up your own rituals and rules to fit your lifestyle.