Inspirational

[Garland-Green]

The Very Good Wine
November 25, 2011

"When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, . . . |he| called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:9-10)

The Lord Jesus performed many miracles during His brief ministry on earth, and it seems rather surprising that the beginning of miracles (John 2:11) in His earthly ministry was to transform water into wine at a wedding feast in Galilee. It was quite a large amount of wine--six large waterpots full, "containing two or three firkins apiece" (John 2:6). Since a firkin is about ten gallons, Jesus created approximately 150 gallons of wine to give to a group of celebrants who already had "well drunk" (John 2:10)--that is, literally, were drunk.

But would Jesus really do something to increase the intoxication of a crowd of people who were already drunk? Would He really disregard such Scriptures as Habakkuk 2:15: "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, . . . and makest him drunken also" (among many others). He Himself had rebuked drunkenness (e.g., Luke 21:34), so this would be completely out of character.

But wine never becomes intoxicating until the decay process of fermentation has done its work. The wine He created was probably the same as "the fruit of the vine" that we shall drink "new" with Him in His "Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). The Greek word oinos can apply either to the decayed, fermented liquid that intoxicates or to the healthful juice fresh off the grape vine, depending on context. And this wine He made was good wine, just as everything He had created was "very good" (Genesis 1:31) in that ultimate beginning of miracles when first He "created all things" (Revelation 4:11). HMM  

[Garland-Green]

I Am Christ's Friend
November 26, 2011

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (John 15:15)

Some things in Scripture are harder to understand and believe than others. Christ, the Sovereign Creator of all things, the offended Judge who declared the penalty for sin to be death, the One who willingly died to pay that penalty and redeem us from bondage to sin, now calls us His friends. Certainly we would like to consider Him our friend; but are we really His friends? If He were telling someone about His friends, would He include us? Somehow this seems too much--too good to be true; but He insists it is.

Actually, Christ said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). We are His friends by conscious choice on His part, even though He knows more about our inward nature than we will admit to ourselves. He has demonstrated His friendship by the greatest act of love imaginable, when He voluntarily died to save us from our sins. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (v. 13). Furthermore, for His friends He promises, "Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (v. 16).

His love for us surpasses human love. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love" (v. 9) "that your joy might be full" (v. 11). He has "ordained" us as friends so that we "should go and bring forth fruit, and that |our| fruit should remain" (v. 16). What joy!

There should be a response on our part to His friendship. Almost as a self-evident fact, He states, "Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you" (v. 14), among other things, "that ye love one another" (v. 17). How can we do less? JDM  

[Garland-Green]

The Devil Never Rests
November 27, 2011

"And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:7)

This remarkable scene in heaven provides us a striking picture of Satanic activity. The devil, in his opposition to God and His program of salvation, evidently never rests. He is not omnipresent, like God, because he is a finite (though very powerful and brilliant) created being. To accomplish his goal, therefore, he is never at rest, but keeps going from place to place and working deception after deception, bringing everyone he can under his influence.

Therefore, God urgently warns us: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" [1 Peter 5:8].

The same is true of the demonic spirits who have followed the devil in his rebellion against God. They never rest until they can take possession of some person's body and mind and then control that person's behavior. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out" (Matthew 12:43-44).

This restlessness that characterizes the devil and his demons often also manifests itself in the unsaved, and this will be the ultimate state of those who yield to the pressures of these evil spirits. "They have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11).

True rest of soul is found only in Christ, with His forgiveness and cleansing and guidance. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," Jesus says, "and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). HMM  

[Garland-Green]

The Intercessor
November 28, 2011

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

When we pray for others, we not only are helping to assure a good life for ourselves--as our text indicates--but, more importantly, we are thereby becoming more like Christ. On the cross itself, "he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). Since His return to heaven, He has been continually occupied with His ministry of intercession. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Romans 8:34).

Not only is our resurrected, glorified Savior perpetually interceding for us in heaven, but also, the indwelling Holy Spirit is praying for us here. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit |Himself| maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).

Now if both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are always interceding for us before God the Father, we surely ought to be willing to spend time in prayer for others down here--not only for our loved ones, but even for those who have hurt us. Jesus said, "Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44).

May God help us to be faithful in this vital ministry of intercession. HMM  

[Garland-Green]

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God  

[Garland-Green]

Ephesians 5:11

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.  

[Garland-Green]

Works of Darkness
November 29, 2011

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)

What are these "works of darkness" which we must avoid? Some of these works are enumerated in Romans 13:12-13: "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, . . . not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying." A Christian is thus to "cast off" all such works of darkness from his or her own life, to "have no fellowship" with those who practice them, and even to openly "reprove them."

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:17-19). Such works of darkness stem directly from a denial of God as sovereign: "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, . . . and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21). This darkening of the heart is soon followed by a darkening of the life: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness. . . . Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" [Romans 1:24, 28].

In these days of moral confusion, with attitudes and actions once outlawed by society now being defended and favored (e.g., sexual promiscuity and perversion), and with once-honored attributes now ridiculed (e.g., chastity, spirituality), there are great pressures on Christians to compromise with these works of darkness. God and His standards do not change, however, and He still expects us to shun and reprove them. HMM  

[Garland-Green]

The People Said, 'Amen'
November 30, 2011

"Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD." [Psalm 106:48]

Many is the speaker who, after he has made some point which he considers especially good, will then say: "And all the people said, 'Amen'" (meaning "that's right!").

It is interesting to note the biblical examples of such a demonstration. There are sixteen times in which this or a similar statement occurs in the Bible--all in the Old Testament. Twelve of these are found in Deuteronomy 27:14-26 with the people so responding after the pronouncement of a "curse" on those who commit various sins. The last curse is as follows: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen" (v. 26) in agreement with the judgment.

King David described his thanksgiving for the return of the Ark of the Covenant with, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD" (1 Chronicles 16:36). When Jerusalem's wall restoration was being delayed and Nehemiah had to rebuke some of his people for their covetousness, threatening God's judgment on them if they did not repent, then "all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise" (Nehemiah 5:13). After the wall was finished, as Ezra read the Scriptures to the people, "Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen" (Nehemiah 8:6). The final such reference is in our text.

If we follow biblical precedent, therefore, whenever God's Word is read to a congregation, either in denunciation of sin or thanksgiving for blessing and revival, or simply in praising the Lord for His eternal goodness, it is appropriate for the people to respond with a heartfelt "Amen!" HMM  

[Garland-Green]

1 John 2:17

The world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever  

[Garland-Green]

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.  

[Garland-Green]

The Sin Unto Death
December 5, 2011

"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." (1 John 5:16)

The "sin unto death" is, in context, a sin committed by a Christian "brother," not an unbeliever, and so is not the socalled "unforgivable sin," the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Christ said the latter sin cannot be forgiven, "neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matthew 12:32). It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers "of sin, because they believe not on me" (John 16:9). If a person irrevocably rejects Christ, even after he fully understands the evidences of His deity, His substitutionary death with its offer of salvation, and the awful consequences of eternity without Him, then he "hath done despite to the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29). In effect, he has put his faith in Satan rather than Christ, and there is nothing more that God's Holy Spirit can--or will--do. This is the truly unforgivable sin.

The Christian can persist in some known sin, though not the sin of total unbelief or willful apostasy (a true Christian will not commit that kind of sin). If he deliberately continues to practice ungodliness in life or doctrine, however, refusing to repent, not even responding to God's chastening discipline (note Hebrews 12:5-11), then the only recourse of the Lord may be to send physical death, although not eternal spiritual death, for such a person is delivered "unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5).

This is a fearful prospect even for the believer and should be a sober warning against persistence in any known sin. "He shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15). HMM  

[Garland-Green]

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.  

[Garland-Green]

Little Children
December 6, 2011

"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-3)

Many adult Christians have the mistaken notion that little children are too young to understand the gospel and so should not be allowed to decide for Christ until they are much older. The problem, however, is not the children; it is the adults who find it hard to understand! They must become like little children before they can really comprehend the way of salvation and be converted. Jesus said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. . . . Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein" (Luke 18:16-17).

After all, what is there to understand? A very young child, instructed in the Scriptures from infancy as God has commanded his parents (note 2 Timothy 3:15, which uses the Greek word for "baby" as the state in which young Timothy began to know the Bible), can surely comprehend that the God to whom his parents pray made him, that he has sinned against God when he does wrong, that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for his sins, and that Jesus can save him and take him to heaven. An adult may require much explanation and may imagine many difficulties, but a child will simply believe--and that's enough!

The word for "little child" or "little children" actually means children who are not much more than toddlers. It is the same word rendered "young child" when the wise men came to find Jesus in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:8, etc.). Little children should, by all means, be taught the gospel, and should be encouraged to come to Christ before they grow too old to understand with their hearts! HMM  

[Garland-Green]

James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another,
that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.  

[Garland-Green]

Naming Names
December 8, 2011

"Their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some." [2 Timothy 2:17-18]

Many Christians decry the citing of actual names of those Christian leaders who teach heretical doctrines, saying that such an act is "unloving." Paul, however, considered it an important evidence of true love to warn against those who would "overthrow the faith of some," realizing that generalities would be useless.

Not only did Hymenaeus and Philetus make Paul's list, but so did Demas (2 Timothy 4:10), Alexander the coppersmith (2 Timothy 4:14), the Cretians (Titus 1:12), another Alexander (1 Timothy 1:20), and even Peter (Galatians 2:11-14) when he began to teach legalism. Likewise, the apostle John warned against Diotrephes (3 John 9) and the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6).

On the other hand, Paul was much more generous with name recognition when he was giving out commendations (e.g., Romans 16:1-15; Colossians 4:7-17). We undoubtedly need to follow his example in appreciating by name those who are faithful in teaching and living the truth.

Likewise, we need to be ready and willing to name those individuals, churches, schools, and other organizations that are denying biblical inerrant authority, compromising the doctrine of special creation, requiring humanistic works for salvation, or bringing in other heretical doctrines. We obviously need to be sure of our facts when we do this and also to bring such charges only if motivated by genuine concern for those apt to be led astray if we don't speak out. But then we must, indeed, "mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Romans 16:17). HMM