Tag: Willing

32.m. “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God”

 

Matthew 11:20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

 Jude 1:11   Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.

 Ezekiel 3:6-7   not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you.  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart

 Hebrews 10:26-31    For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

“Unresponsiveness to the voice of God is the characteristic of this generation, and will be its downfall.” (France)

It is not only western industrial nations that have had access to the gospel. Technology, computers, internet, websites, translations, radio, TV, etc…. leave no room for excuse. No other society has had access to God’s Word, (Scripture, Gospel of Jesus Christ) at their fingertips, yet they reject and deny it of any value for their soul.

“The people in the cities listed above did not attack Jesus Christ; they did not drive him from their gates; they did not seek to crucify him; they simply disregarded him. In the end, neglect will kill much more than persecution ever did.” (Barclay)

When I read, “But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”, “ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God”, “But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” Here it is implied that there are in fact different degrees of judgment. Some will be punished more severely in the final judgment than others. In fact, those who were living out sin and doing all kinds of fleshly and worldly sinful things will be judged to some lesser degree than those who flat out know the offer of redemption and salvation but not only reject it they deny it any room in their heart for it.  God has opened their heart to the Gospel and they neglect, reject, and deny any need for it. 

It is not hard for me to understand and believe in heaven and hell. What is hard for me to understand is how a person whose heart and mind have been open to the need of salvation and have heard the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have an understanding of heaven and hell and choose hell. Lost on us is an understanding of eternity. Eternal life or eternal hell. Separated from the love of God forever.  The busyness of life needs to be slowed down in most lives. Being too busy for giving thought to eternity just doesn’t make sense now and for sure will not in the future.

31.p. “O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you”

 

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

 Deuteronomy 10:12-13   “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?

 Hosea 6:6   For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

 Hosea 12:6   “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”

 Zephaniah 2:3    Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

 Proverbs 21:3   To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

 Isaiah 1:16-19    Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

 2 Peter 1:5-8   For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Psalms 73:28    But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

The want to do good needs a foundation. It needs to be based on something firm, lasting, and true. “Doing Good” needs definition. Where are we to find this foundation and definition? What are we to base “good” and “doing good” on? This all depends on where you look and where you are seeking answers from. Worldly good has some benefit but this secular good has little to no eternal foundation. If doing good is for the benefit of another this is good but what is the reason behind the act of goodness? Was it because you feel good after doing it? Was it done because of empathy? Was it a combination of both? Was it done so it could be seen by others and thereby you receive some sort of recognition? The foundation upon which good acts are done is more important. If I do good acts of kindness what is the reason and purpose behind the intentional choice to do them? 

The foundation of all good acts should be grounded in the desire to obey and honor and glorify Jesus Christ. It is when this foundation is present in the heart, soul, and mind that the good we do will be for something heavenly and lasting. There is so much to say about being able to discern the leading and being willing led by the Holy Spirit in acts of goodness, but the foundation of all our thoughts, speech, and acts needs to be from a humble and pure heart that believes, trusts, relies, obeys, and follows God’s Word for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.

18.k. “Not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 14:13   Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 15:7   If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Luke 22:44   “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Psalms 40:8    I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

John 6:38    For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Can you imagine what it would be like to know the exact day and time that you were going to die an agonizing death with immense pain and suffering?  As the day approaches every waking moment is consumed with what is coming.  Wouldn’t you do everything within your power to advert this from happening?  Wouldn’t you seek help and intervention from your family and close friends?    What makes the willing surrender of Jesus to suffer immensely and die on the cross so amazing is that He did not say no.  He certainly did not want to go through this but out of His love for us He willingly obeyed, willingly submitted, willingly suffered, willingly listened to the mocking, and willingly died.  He willingly paid the price for OUR sin

Prayer is not about bending God’s will to get what we want. The purpose of prayer is to seek God’s will and then align our desires with His.  Alignment with God’s will.  Do you ever wonder how this happens?  How do we know God’s will? Jesus said “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do”.  Some may say this verse confirms Jesus’ will because He said to ask and He will do.  Do you ever wonder how many prayers seek personal will over the will of God?  

When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favorite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners from whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled.  (Matthew Henry)

54. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Deuteronomy 28:1   “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 11:13    “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul

Exodus 15:26    saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Psalms 111:10    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Isaiah 1:19     If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isaiah 55:2-3    Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Listen diligently to Me, willing and obedient, do what is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, serve Him with all your heart and soul.  How can these words from scripture be taken any other way than how they are presented.

Listen diligently – is a choice to want to hear God speak into your heart, soul, mind, life.

Be willing and obedient – is a choice to act on what God is speaking into your life.

Doing what is right in His eyes – is a choice that actively searches God’s word with a desire to grow in understanding and knowledge so that your life honors and glorifies God.

Serve Him – is a choice that recognizes worldly stuff and self and chooses to serve Jesus Christ for His honor and glory.

It is all a choice of the heart, mind, and soul.  Don’t be neglectful or complacent with choices of serving and honoring God.

I will harden his heart

Exodus 4:21  And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Deuteronomy 2:30-33     But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

Joshua 11:20     For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Psalms 105:25    He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

Isaiah 6:10     Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand wit

Isaiah 63:17     O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.

Romans 1:28    And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Romans 9:18    So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Romans 11:8-10     as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12     and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 Peter 2:8    and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Ezekiel 3:6-11     not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.  Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

One of the more difficult biblical concepts to understand is that of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain people. What are we to make of texts like these, which explicitly or implicitly speak of God hardening the hearts of people? These questions involve very deep mysteries, mysteries about God’s sovereignty and how it interacts with our freedom.

There was a time when people thought that God was at the center of all things and they instinctively saw the hand of God in everything—even terrible things. Job said, The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised … if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? (Job 1:21; 2:10) Thus the ancients would commonly attribute everything as coming from the hand of God, for He was the “first cause” of everything that happened.

The ancients were thus much more comfortable attributing things to God than we are. In speaking like this, they were not being superstitious or primitive in their thinking; rather, they were emphasizing that God was sovereign, omnipotent, and omnipresent, and that nothing happened apart from His sovereign will. They believed that God was the primary cause of all that existed.

We need to understand that the ancient biblical texts, while often speaking of God as hardening the hearts of sinners, do not mean to say that man had no role, no responsibility. Neither do they mean to say that God acts in a merely arbitrary way. Rather, the emphasis is on God’s sovereign power as the first cause of all that is. Hence He is often called the cause of all things and His hand is seen in everything.

 In man’s enlightened, superior, highly educated, and self-reliance, man moved himself to the center and God was gradually “escorted” to the periphery. Man’s manner of thinking and speaking began to shift to focusing on secondary causes (those related to man and nature). If something happens we look to natural causes, or in human situations, to the humans who caused it.

We are dealing with the mysterious interrelationship between God and Man, between God’s sovereignty and our freedom – Mysteries.   In the face of such mysteries we have to be very humble. We ought not to think more about the details than is proper for us, because, frankly, they are largely hidden from us.

Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

None of us can demand an absolute account from God for what He does. Even if He were to tell us, could our small, worldly minds ever really comprehend it? My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, says the Lord. Yet we try to put God in a box we can humanly understand.

We should be careful to admit the limits of our knowledge when it comes to interpreting “hardening texts,” in which God hardens the hearts of certain people. These must be approached carefully, humbly, and with proper distinctions as to God’s sovereignty, our freedom, His mercy, His justice, His plans, and His purposes. (Charles Pope)

We do well to put God in the center of all things and man’s existence totally subjective to His sovereignty.

You were not willing

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

“So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Psalms 46:1   God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,  though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Psalms 62:7  On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Psalms 91:1  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.  You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,  nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—

Psalms 142:5   I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Proverbs 14:26    In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

Proverbs 18:10   The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Hebrews 6:18    so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

Deuteronomy 4:7   For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

2 Samuel 22:17  “He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.  He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.  They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.  He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

It is easy to say that God is my strength, refuge, rock, and ever present in time of trouble but do we believe it with all of our heart, soul and mind?  In the heat of the terror, trial, issue, burden do we confidently say “God is my rock, my fortress, my strength, ever present, faithful, unchangeable, Almighty strong confidence?”  In Luke Jesus tells of gathering people into a place of comfort under the wings of God and those to whom this was intended it was rejected for they were not willing to accept it.  In Psalms it is just the opposite where David says “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge”.  There is a difference in the lives of those who humbly server, honor, follow, and obey God.  They are willing because they have stayed in His word, they choose to keep their focus on Him, they trust in, cling to, and rely on Him and His promises.  They seek to be lead by God.  Their ears are open to hear the quiet voice of His leading.  They fill their mind with His word.  Spend time in His word, think about it, and ask God to give you wisdom and understanding.  He wants your whole heart, mind, and soul everyday, every minute.  Choose to give it to Him.

They Returned

“They do not cry to me from the heart”

“They return, but not upward;

 

Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
They return, but not upward;
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.

Jeremiah 14:10
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.”

Ezekiel 34:9
“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock.

Matthew 23:37
how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.

It does not take much reading in scripture to see God’s warning to mankind.  Warning of not tending to His flock, not willing to be gathered to Him, not listening for His leading, Not thinking they were accountable, wandering away from God, not restraining where they go or what they do, not acknowledging they are living in sin, speaking lies, not looking upward toward God, not crying out to God from their heart, and rebelling from what they know God is speaking to their heart.  You have to know at some point each of these people being spoken about, chose to stop seeking God and serving Him.  I doubt it was one day they woke up and said I am no longer going to do this.  But at some point they gradually stopped desiring to know His word and apply it in their life.  They lost their ability to hear God’s leading.  Their desire became only for themselves.  Has anything changed over all of these years and generations?  I can’t think of much that has changed.  Obviously since Christ we have the promise of the Holy Spirit.  We have access to the written word at our finger tips and reject the need of it in our lives.  We have blessings beyond any country ever established and deny it to the point of not being content.  I wonder how much more we will be held accountable for such neglect and abandonment.  God forgive me.  Fill me with awe and wonder of who you are.  Search me and see if there is anything offensive to You and lead me on paths that bring honor and glory to You.  Build a desire in my heart for You only. Open my eyes to see Your hand at work all around me.  Open my ears to your leading.