The Word Is Very Near You (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Beginning with the Gospel of Luke Chapter 16 through 17, we have studied the Book of Joshua Chapter 1 through 6, the Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 1 through 8, the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18, the Epistle to the First Corinthians Chapter 9 through Chapter 10 Verse 13,, the Book of 1 Samuel Chapter 1 through 2 Verse 10, and the series of searching the mind of God from the Book of Job, the Prophecy of Habakkuk, the Book of Ruth, the Book of Numbers Chapter 13 through 14, Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 13 through 14, the Prophecy of Isiah Chapter 42 Verse 1 through 9, and Joshua Chapter 24, and the Epistle to the Colossians Chapter 1 Verse 26 through 27 and Chapter 3 Verse 1 through 17. In addition, the survey study of the Scriptures like Isaiah, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Hebrews were studied. Also, the study of the Book of Genesis Chapter 9 through 22 and the Book of Revelation Chapter 9 through 12 were done. In two occasions, a lecture on the New Testament Pentateuch – the Four Gospels and Acts with the title, “The Presentation of Life” and another on Apostles’ Epistles with the title, “Life Heard, Seen, Touched, Witnessed, and Explained” were served. A sermon in a Sunday evening service at a church in my hometown with the title, “Why Must We Leave from Our Home Country, People and Father’s Household?” was preached.

Surely, all Scripture is written by the inspiration of God and is most effectively useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (1 Timothy 3:16-17). My bible student told me that he didn’t want to research on the Scriptures because only he needed was the general knowledge like Christ saved him from sin and he became a Christian. Not so. Our God is the Eternal Being in whom we’re growing in the knowledge of him and being thoroughly equipped for every good work. Furthermore, there is an enemy, the devil, lurking behind the invisible curtain and looking for a chance to devour us like a roaring lion at any moment. For example, after a long day of work, we are tired and desire of rest which mostly deprives the mind of opening the Scripture. That’s how cunning and crafty the devil is. So, the psalmist says that there is a prerequisite for meditating the law of the Lord day and night, which is not to walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers (Psalm 1:1-2). This is the age of confusion and delusion and deception. But the word of God is light, shining to see the right and wrong out in the darkness. That’s the reason the psalmist says, “but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)

However, Christianity is not merely adding one knowledge another, but transforming people, the church of Christ. It’s not making a religious person, but a man that God intended man to be before the creation of the universe. “…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13) A mature man is what God intended man to be. That man is whole, holy, blameless in the sight of God, not because he did something credited for but because he was washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ Jesus through the faith in him. A transformed man in Christ is now capable of being like our Lord Jesus Christ even in the midst of daily and normal living on this earth. That’s the good news. Our Lord Jesus has demonstrated a life not as God but as man in whom the Father indwells. Being born again in Christ Jesus through his blood shed on the rugged cross of Calvary means just that. It’s not at all an automatic cruise-like life though. The transformation is a life-long progress but guaranteed in the promise of God because Christ died for our sins in our place once for all and because God’s call is irrevocable. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)

Growing in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ is the two step process—first, put to death our old self and second, put on the new self in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). Moses and Joshua fully understood the way to be continuously blessed by the Jehovah God. The way is to obey all the laws and decrees given through Moses blamelessly and denounce the useless and worthless idols of the foreigners like the Amorites and the Canaanites. They could have entered the promised land of Canaan without having been wandered in the wilderness for forty years if they obeyed the Lord who commanded them to enter into the land and take possession of it. Instead of taking the land by faith in obedience to the Lord, they grumbled against God because they feared of the death of their wives and children by the hands of the Canaanites and the Amalekites (Numbers 14:1-3). They rebelled against the Lord who brought them out of Egypt and decided to go back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4). After the long forty years of dreary and wearisome and void life in the wilderness, the new generation of Israel crossed the Jordan River led by Joshua and conquered the whole land beginning with the city of Jericho. It is not by their hands but by the hand of God that they conquered the land and its people. They followed and obeyed the command of the Lord, which led them a great victory one after another. Entering the land of promise is the symbol of entering God’s rest, which means the complete and total reliance on the Lord God from the beginning to the end because there is nothing for them to depend upon. To choose to obey God is always required for us not to follow and worship the idol first as our Lord Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Where does power come from to obey all the laws and decrees of the Lord blamelessly? The motivation is not enough. The determination is not enough. The dedicated heart and mind will soon be drained because it is not the source of authentic power. Crying and enduring in the flesh are not either. Whatever depending on our flesh is no avail in fulfilling life, which comes only through the perfect obedience to the law of God. Robert Lowry wrote a hymn entitled, “Working will not save me.” “Working will not save me; Purest deeds that I can do, Holiest thoughts and feelings too, Cannot form my soul anew; Working will not save me.” The power is our Lord Jesus Christ who lives within us. Our flesh has no value at all no matter what and who. It is hostile to God and contrary to the Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit are in conflict each other. The flesh doesn’t work but Christ is our all power. Apostle Paul prays for the saints in Colossae to be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that they may have great endurance and patience (Colossians 1:11). This is the resurrection power of God who raised Jesus from the dead on the third day in that quiet resurrection morning. This power has no rivals for it is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:21). Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him.” (John 14:6) The way is the crucifixion on a cross. The truth is the death to sin. The life is to all who believes in him. In Christ, we’ve been clothed with the resurrection power for we died to sin with him and rose again from the dead with him. That’s what we are in Christ. Remind the facts what’s happened in Christ and take hold of it by faith in the midst of troubles and difficulties. Our God demands us to obey him in perfection and at the same time provides all power to do it. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

How do we do it? Moses answers that it is not too difficult or beyond our reach because the word of God is near us in our mouth and in our heart so we may obey it. Apostle Paul quotes Moses in the Epistle to the Romans Chapter 10 Verse 6 through 8 regarding the righteousness by faith. Paul continues, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) Jesus is our Lord and Master and we are his servants. So, we fix our eyes on Jesus in our daily routine lives now and forevermore. The mystery of God is this: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We are his temple bought at a price, so we are not our own but the chosen vessel for every good work. Whenever the Father opens the door, we may offer our body as the living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). This we will do in the year to come. May God bless us through the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ!

“Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

December 29, 2016

© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved. 

Christ Is All Power for Great Patience and Endurance (Colossians 1:9-14)

What in the world is going on these days? One newspaper titles an article, “Fear as terrorism becomes ‘Our new normal.’” Another opinion’s titled, “Congratulations, Trump. Welcome to hell.” Yet another is titled, “Europe’s grim future could be terrorism as a fact of life.” Killings, suicide bombings, opioids, violence, injustice, unrighteousness, brutality are visibly and widely manifested more often ever. It’s just happening as Apostle Paul tells in the Epistle to Timothy. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Our society is ever deeply divided and separated in wealth, social status, race and culture. It’s just like savage jungles where the stronger animals devours the weaker ones. Millions of refugees are struggling to find the right passages to a free and better place, fleeing from the hellish homes in agony and desperation. What’s happening in the world have long before been foretold to our ears by the Prophets of God. As Jesus our Lord told his disciples that there will be great distress and tribulation, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—never to be equaled again (Matthew 24:21). The human history is heading toward to the Day of the Lord in full speed and force. There won’t be any mistakes or failures in God’s calendar. It’s on its due course set even before the world was made. That’s the enough motivation to endure and be patient in the hope of the coming of the Lord. That’s the assurance of our faith that the Lord will return in glory and honor with the great sound of trumpet and great hosts of angels. Until then, in this troubled and challenging world, how can Christians live, maintaining serenity, calmness, peace, joy in the midst? How can it be possible? What’s the strength for the saints to endure patiently till his appearing? What’s the source of power for Christians to bear the sufferings and difficulties of lives and rejoice in the midst? What’s the secret of life? Apostle Paul reveals the mighty truth on the power of God, mystery of life.

Human beings know what is right and what is wrong. Stealing is not right but wrong, even babies know. Lying is not right but wrong, even children know. Hurting others is not right but wrong, even youngsters know. Adultery is not right but wrong, man knows. Any parent teaches their children not to steal, not to lie, not to hurt others, but not the other way around. Nor does any teacher their students. What we are told to do over and over again is to do good, helping the needy and being kind to others. All is focused on what to do. But the question is how to do all that. In Christ, we have been given urges and desires to serve God just as he commands us to do. God’s grace and mercy is so enormously and convincingly being poured out upon the ones whom God has delivered through the blood of the Son Jesus Christ. We’ve been united with him, so now in Christ we always want to do good and do not want to do evil. Our will is strongly wanting but our body is weak. Jesus told three disciples in the mount of Gethsemane when they were sleeping while he was praying. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38) Apostle Paul reveals the truth on what we really need to do what we are told to do. The truth is that we’ve been given all power to obey God and his commandments.  

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14)

This is the Apostle Paul’s mighty prayer for the saints in Colossae where he had never visited. The man named Epaphras planted a church there and brought the news and told the apostle who was chained in the hired house guarded day and night in Rome. Paul is saying that he has not stopped prayer for them, asking God to fill them with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. In Christ, we’ve been made alive and died to sin, so now we live to God. We no longer live by the flesh and its desires, but by the Spirit. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9) The Spirit of truth knows the mind of God in his all wisdom and understanding and teaches and inspires us to be filled with the knowledge of his will. So that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. That’s what we’ve been called and justified and glorified even before the creation of the universe. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3) That’s the will of God for the elect.

Apostle Paul continues to pray for the saints in Christ that they may bear fruit in every good work, grow in the knowledge of God, be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, and give joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. That’s a life worthy of the Lord. Being fruitful in bearing the Spirit’s fruits—love, joy, and peace. This is the one of the most significant measuring lines that helps every Christian to examine themselves on whether to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing the fruits of the Spirit is the mark of obedience by giving our body as the living sacrifice to God who opens the door of opportunity for us to exercise our faith. I believe God opens the door of opportunity through the sufferings and challenges of lives. That’s why the Scriptures repeatedly say to rejoice in the sufferings of lives, not to grumble or murmur. It is really the time of challenges and troubles for all of us to live in this sex-saturated society and material-driven and competitive world. But the sufferings and troubles are not random and unfortunate to humanity but full of meaning and purpose in them though they are not pleasant at all. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Next, growing in the knowledge of God is our prayerful life. This is related to bearing the fruits of the Spirit because God gradually reveals himself who he is and what he is to those who obey him by faith as Abraham went to a country although he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Jesus teaches his disciples the importance of knowing and understanding the truth through obedience. “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” (Matthew 13:11-12) When we obey a God’s open door and take it by faith, submitting ourselves to Christ, we are given and revealed the knowledge of him and he will open another and another. This way, God is molding and shaping up his children to grow in knowing the Eternal Person.

Apostle Paul’s prayer for the saints, the most significant one, is to be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have good endurance and patience. This is the secret how to do what we are told to do. Since we’ve been rescued from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light, we have come to have desires and urges to obey God and his commandments. The desire to serve him is coming from heaven above, not from the earth. It’s his graceful gift for his children in the kingdom of light. That’s our confidence and motivation in the Lord who paid and bought us with a price. But we need power to exercise the desire and will of wanting good in the eyes of God. Wanting good is one thing and doing good is quite another. So, the apostle prays for the saints to be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might. This power is the power of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. The power of resurrection has been gloriously and faithfully demonstrated in the cold tomb of death. This power has no rivals in heaven and on earth and under the earth because it surpasses all power and rule and authority. Humanity is utterly powerless before death and no matter what they try to overcome death it is no avail. The resurrection power not only breaks down even the death barrier but also makes it available to those who are in Christ.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:18-21)

This is the gospel of God that the saints in Christ have access to the throne of grace and be filled with all power according to his glorious might, so that we may have great endurance and patience. Why do we need of great endurance and patience? What we’ve been given as the greatest gift is the hope stored up for us in heaven (Colossians 1:5). The works of faith and the labors of love spring from that hope. The hope stored up in heaven is described as the inheritance which never perish, spoil or fade by Apostle Peter. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by Godʼs power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) The hope in heaven is the assurance and reward of our faith. The Lord’s second coming is at hand and we’re eagarly awaiting for the victorious day appearing. But no one knows the time and the seasons, but we do know it could be tonight, tomorrow, or anytime. We don’t want to be found ashamed when he appears all of sudden. “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28) With the sure hope stored up for us in heaven, we wait in great endurance and patience in the midst. What’s the hindrance and obstacle not to be patient and enduring? Sufferings and difficulties in our daily lives are. Where do they come from? Life itself is full of troubles and challenges, one after another till the last breath of life like waking up in the morning, having breakfast, going to work, driving back home from work, fixing dinner, doing some chores, and going to bed. A long years of schooling, getting a job, maintaining the relationships at work, church, and community, getting married, raising kids, vacation travels are all challenges and struggles in our lives. This is the fate of all man even to the redeemed just as God has pronounced to the man Adam.

“To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,”

‘Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Well, some might say there is a strong human will they can endure patiently. But this is not true and easily can be proven by simply putting to the test yourself that you try to love someone who bothers you. The will to do good will soon be drained and instead be filled with hatred and anger and bitterness and the like. To be enduring and patient in our daily living, we need all power according to his glorious might, the resurrection power. With all power in Christ, we endure and be patient to the end until the Lord appears in glory and honor and power. We need all power whatever we do from waking up in the morning, going to work, working all day, coming home, watching TV, to going to bed. We need all power in helping others and studying and understanding the Scriptures. We need all power in doing the chores like washing dishes and cleaning the house. We need all power in loving our neighbors as our Lord Jesus loved us first. That’s what we’re made to live even before the time began. God never intended man to live by himself without him. We don’t have what it takes in the flesh because the desire of the flesh is hostile to the desire of the Spirit (Romans 8:7). No matter how strong the will is in the flesh, it doesn’t work ever. But we have what it takes in the Spirit. That’s the reason all power is given through the faith in Christ and available at every moment of situation and circumstance in our midst.

And the prayer of Paul is obviously to give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. Giving thanks to the Father is what we ought to do in all circumstance. Because he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). The redemption, the forgiveness of sins has come not cheaply but with a price, the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans the powerful statement, saying “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) While we were still sinners Christ died in our place. While we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-8). This is how God has demonstrated his unfailing love for us. How much will he not give us graciously all things? It indicates the Holy Spirit, the promised gift of God for Abraham and his descendants in the faith. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)

So, we now live a life worthy of the Lord and forever because all power is always available wherever and whenever in all circumstance, being completely humble and gentle; being patient, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. The most important command of the Lord is to love one another as he first loved us. “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:3-4)

December 25, 2016

© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.