Randy Green's Blog, page 397
August 8, 2014
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 4
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” [Revelation 10:10-11]
As Christians we are called to new life. This life begins with justification, but it continues with sanctification. We are to stop being conformed to the world and its thinking. In its place we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This means we are to feed on the Word of God daily, all of it a little each day, while it forms our thinking to that of God Himself.
The Apostle John was a diligent servant of the Lord, as we are to be too. The Lord gave him His Word and told him to proclaim it. The Lord warned John that the Word would be enjoyable in the eating, but not so much in the doing. Still, John remained faithful to His Lord.
The Word of God, you see, contains both sweet and sour, dear friends. When the Apostle John was told to take the scroll and eat it, the symbolism is that he was to feed on the truth of God’s Word. Once he assimilated it into his very being, then he was to go and spread it around to the rest of mankind, to preach it from the rooftops.
John did so in the following chapters of the Book of Revelation. Those chapters contain the sweet promises of God to mankind, and they contain the bitter and sour judgments of God on mankind.
Because of the two classes of people in the world—believers and unbelievers—the Word is both sweet and sour. John would enjoy learning the good Word of God, to be sure. But once he assimilated it into his being and had to follow through with spreading the Word, he would encounter bitterness from the Word. It would turn his stomach sour because it isn’t a pleasant thing to pronounce God’s judgment on sinners…and sinners aren’t exactly appreciative of it either!
Folks, this is spiritual reality. For the spiritual person the Word of God is life itself. He cannot live without it. It brings him such joy and blessing to hear His God speak to him the truths of both time and eternity.
However, some Christians get pleasure out of proclaiming judgment and condemnation on other people. This is a sign of carnality, of pride in the forefront. God desires for all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (cf., 1 Timothy 2:4). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He would rather the wicked turn from their sins and live (cf., Ezekiel 33:11).
Just as it was with the Apostle John in the First Century A.D., so is it with us Christians today. We are given the Word of God to feed on, and we are to assimilate it into our beings. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (cf., Romans 12:2) by means of the Word of God. Then we are to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name to all mankind. The Word today is what is was back in the day. It is both sweet and sour.
Will we draw back at the sour parts and refrain from obeying the Word of God? Or will our failure be in proclaiming God’s judgments with relish and glee? I have a great idea. Let’s refrain from both of those approaches.
Instead, let’s take the good Word of God to all men, savoring the sweetness of the Word while not withholding the sour and bitter portion of the meal. But let us be sure to feed the sour portion with fear and trepidation, receiving no pleasure from the death of the wicked. May Jesus Christ be praised by our obedience!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
August 7, 2014
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 3
God is love (cf., 1 John 4:8). God demonstrated His love for mankind by giving His one and only Son to die for all mankind. Even while we were yet sinners and hating God, Jesus the Son of God died for you and me. The scroll in the angel’s hand contains expressions of the love of God for mankind. God’s offer of salvation and peace is extended in His Word written in the scroll.
However, the righteousness of God cannot be set aside for the sake of love. Both the love of God and the righteousness of God exist simultaneously. Because of this duality, every human being is not saved. All mankind does not go to heaven.
Only those people who personally accept the Lord Jesus as their sin offering receive eternal life. Until I personally acknowledge to God that I am a sinner and deserve eternal death in the lake of fire, I cannot receive Jesus as my Savior from sin.
If I refuse to accept this position, I snub God’s Word and cast aspersion on the death and resurrection of His Son. God’s righteousness cannot brook such impudence from His creatures. Righteousness demands the truth and goes to war against lies.
That is the essence of the angel with a foot on the sea and another on the land, and holding a scroll in his hand. The scroll is the title deed to the earth. Its contents include both God’s love and God’s righteousness. From the standpoint of all mankind this entails both sweet and sour, you see.
For those people who recognize the truth of God’s Word, they come as humble suppliants to the throne of God to acknowledge His claims. They bend the knee to the rulership of the Son and receive Him as their Savior from sin and Lord of their lives. The bitterness of judgment and death has passed for us who do so.
For those people who denounce the claims of God and reject His Son Jesus as Lord, they shake the fist in God’s face and deny they need to be saved from sin. They elevate themselves to the throne of God and insist that the earth belongs to them. They know what to do, thank you very much. They need no interference from God or Jesus.
For suchlike folks the scroll contains a bitter pill to swallow. They are staring death in the face and mocking it. They are dangling over the fires of the lake and thinking they are made of asbestos. They have nothing to fear. Why, there is no such thing as hell anyway! The bitterness of judgment and death is fast upon them, and it lasts eternally. This is sour in the extreme, a bitter pill to swallow.
This is not a pleasant topic at all, is it? I don’t like it! But it is the Word of God and God does no wrong. The disease of sin must be eradicated, in order for the new heavens and earth to exist wherein righteousness doth dwell.
Let this concept simmer on the back burner overnight. We mustn’t take pleasure in it, but we must receive it as the Word of God if we would be found faithful.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” [Revelation 10:10-11]
God is love (cf., 1 John 4:8). God demonstrated His love for mankind by giving His one and only Son to die for all mankind. Even while we were yet sinners and hating God, Jesus the Son of God died for you and me. The scroll in the angel’s hand contains expressions of the love of God for mankind. God’s offer of salvation and peace is extended in His Word written in the scroll.
However, the righteousness of God cannot be set aside for the sake of love. Both the love of God and the righteousness of God exist simultaneously. Because of this duality, every human being is not saved. All mankind does not go to heaven.
Only those people who personally accept the Lord Jesus as their sin offering receive eternal life. Until I personally acknowledge to God that I am a sinner and deserve eternal death in the lake of fire, I cannot receive Jesus as my Savior from sin.
If I refuse to accept this position, I snub God’s Word and cast aspersion on the death and resurrection of His Son. God’s righteousness cannot brook such impudence from His creatures. Righteousness demands the truth and goes to war against lies.
That is the essence of the angel with a foot on the sea and another on the land, and holding a scroll in his hand. The scroll is the title deed to the earth. Its contents include both God’s love and God’s righteousness. From the standpoint of all mankind this entails both sweet and sour, you see.
For those people who recognize the truth of God’s Word, they come as humble suppliants to the throne of God to acknowledge His claims. They bend the knee to the rulership of the Son and receive Him as their Savior from sin and Lord of their lives. The bitterness of judgment and death has passed for us who do so.
For those people who denounce the claims of God and reject His Son Jesus as Lord, they shake the fist in God’s face and deny they need to be saved from sin. They elevate themselves to the throne of God and insist that the earth belongs to them. They know what to do, thank you very much. They need no interference from God or Jesus.
For suchlike folks the scroll contains a bitter pill to swallow. They are staring death in the face and mocking it. They are dangling over the fires of the lake and thinking they are made of asbestos. They have nothing to fear. Why, there is no such thing as hell anyway! The bitterness of judgment and death is fast upon them, and it lasts eternally. This is sour in the extreme, a bitter pill to swallow.
This is not a pleasant topic at all, is it? I don’t like it! But it is the Word of God and God does no wrong. The disease of sin must be eradicated, in order for the new heavens and earth to exist wherein righteousness doth dwell.
Let this concept simmer on the back burner overnight. We mustn’t take pleasure in it, but we must receive it as the Word of God if we would be found faithful.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 2
August 6, 2014
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 2
We paused the last lesson by noting the distinction between Mikeys who eat anything and Randys who are persnickety with their menus. The Mikeys got their attention. Now the Randys get theirs.
One thing they like which I cannot stomach is sweet and sour sauce. I know, the stuff is so common nowadays, that it seems preposterous to many of you for me to identify it as something strange. But meat and potatoes it ain’t (pardon my French).
I like sweets and I like some sour treats—but I don’t want to taste the two flavors together. It ruins the taste! Again, that’s just me. My kids consider it a real treat though. Go figure. It takes all kinds, or so I hear anyway.
I’ll bet you’re wondering what all this talk about sweet and sour sauce has to do with the Bible, aren’t you? Yes you are. I heard you think it. Admit it now. Well, it’s like this. In Revelation 10 we have a case of sweet and sour sauce served with a dish of scroll à la King, only Mikey’s not the guinea pig like in the commercial. The Apostle John is.
The scene is the Book of Revelation. The Lord Jesus is returning to the earth to lay claim to His inheritance. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1). The symbolism in Revelation 10 is graphic indeed.
An angel is standing with one foot on the sea and the other on the land. In his hand is a scroll. The location of his feet is meant to stress that the entire earth is the Lord’s property, both the land and the sea. Hence the angel planted his feet on both surfaces.
The scroll in his hand is meant to serve as a legal deed. The Lord’s claim to the earth and all it contains is enclosed in that legal document. The deed cannot but be in character with the character of God Himself because God both makes the deed and receives its perks.
God’s character is both love and righteousness. His love is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus died on behalf of all mankind, in order to pay the penalty for man’s sins. By doing so God can save men from death, which is the penalty for sin.
Therein lies the love of God. He loves by giving His one and only Son as a sin offering on behalf of mankind. Jesus died our death that we might live His life.
I love the topic “the love of God”! Don’t you? Let’s hie off to spend time alone with Jesus a while. God’s love can be our subject.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 1
There is this silly old TV commercial I always got a kick out of. These three brothers are the center of attention. Two of them appear to be elementary school age, while the third is pre-school age. Well, the two older ones hang together, while the little tyke is kind of off on his own, too young to fit in with his older siblings.
As is common once kids get out of the house, their eyes open up to the world outside the home. They see other kids and feed off of each other’s idiosyncrasies. They develop their own likes and dislikes and start in with the individualistic behaviors.
In that vein the two older kids are finicky about the family meals. The commercial shows them apprehensive about some newfangled cereal mom brought home. Since mom wants them to eat it, you see, they automatically dig in the heels. After all, they’re big kids now. They have their own likes! It didn’t help any that mom insisted the cereal was healthy either.
Anyway, in the commercial the two older siblings have to figure out what to make of this new cereal named “Life”. They bounce some ideas off each other and finally glance at the youngest sibling. He’s too young to be finicky yet. He’ll try anything! The oldest brother tells his buddy brother, “I know. Let’s give it to Mikey. He eats anything!”
I get a kick out of it, but that’s just me. I think part of the reason I enjoy the commercial is because I’ve always been the exact opposite. I’m a meat and potatoes guy. The most ethnic dish I ever eat is pizza, and only sausage pizza will do. All other kinds are not real pizza, if you ask me.
So no, I’m not Mikey by any stretch of the imagination. I won’t try anything, and I’m quite content not to. I am not at all hard to please, unlike some folks I know. If they don’t have a different type of food daily, they think they’re being abused! Me, I can eat sausage pizza everyday and think I died and went to heaven! But that’s just me.
My kids are not meat and potatoes people. They are those weirdo types who need something different all the time. They are Mikeys. Give it to ‘em: they’ll eat anything!
This is an excellent time to pause and ponder the Bible text quoted to kick off this study. John was told to eat, and I’ve descanted on eating a bit today. Do you see the connection yet? We’ll pursue the topic on the morrow. Enjoy time with Jesus now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Categories: Church Age
August 5, 2014
Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 1
August 4, 2014
Church or Disney? – Part 5
Some Israelites were just handed a hall pass, carte blanche, to skip some obligatory religious exercise. They could stay home and watch Walt Disney! What? They had a problem with that? Let’s investigate and see what their problem was.
Here is the wonderful part. They came to Moses and objected to being excluded from worshiping the Lord via the Passover. They didn’t want to stay home and watch Walt Disney on the TV, you see. They were perturbed at being excluded from participation in the Passover.
On the other hand they weren’t perturbed because the Passover was a grandiose public event, an opportunity to socialize and have all you can eat, where festivities flowed profusely. The wilderness Passover was celebrated in each home, in their case in each tent. It wasn’t a social event: it was a family affair.
So these Israelites who were unclean from contact with a corpse didn’t want to skip out on the Lord’s worship (i.e., stay home and watch Disney). Nor did they want to attend in order to socialize and eat a lot. They didn’t care about either of those two extremes, whether extrovert or introvert.
These Israelites were hurt because they weren’t allowed to be with the Lord and worship Him. The Passover was one of those times established by the Lord to do so. They wanted their part in the true worship of the Lord. Hallelujah!
So they marched straightway to Moses and objected, Why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel? See! They didn’t want to get out of attending. They were “restrained” from attending. And they didn’t want to party and have a gala bash. They wanted to “present the offering of the Lord” (i.e., worship Him).
Martha wanted to socialize, but Mary wanted to hear the voice of Jesus proclaim the Word of God. I think we can identify Mary’s genes from our study in Numbers 9. They came from the Israelites of Moses’ day who were restrained from worshiping the Lord, who responded to this with vehement objection.
The Lord appreciated their love for Him and desire to be with Him. The Lord isn’t in the habit of turning away anyone who approaches Him on His terms with the desire to have fellowship with Him. So the Lord allowed them to celebrate the Passover on the second month after they were ritually cleansed, rather than on the first month.
There’s a message for us in this story. Are we living like Martha or like Mary? Are we the Israelites who insisted on participating in the worship of the Lord, or do we prefer to stay home and watch Walt Disney? Or maybe we attend for the festivities and socializing, and for the social recognition of being upstanding and moral church members.
Only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part, and it won’t be taken away from her. If I can be alone with Jesus daily and worship Him in spirit and in truth, it suffices for me. All else pales in the light of His glory.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Church or Disney? – Part 5
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
But there were some men who were unclean because of the dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of the dead person, why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” [Numbers 9:6-7]
Some Israelites were just handed a hall pass, carte blanche, to skip some obligatory religious exercise. They could stay home and watch Walt Disney! What? They had a problem with that? Let’s investigate and see what their problem was.
Here is the wonderful part. They came to Moses and objected to being excluded from worshiping the Lord via the Passover. They didn’t want to stay home and watch Walt Disney on the TV, you see. They were perturbed at being excluded from participation in the Passover.
On the other hand they weren’t perturbed because the Passover was a grandiose public event, an opportunity to socialize and have all you can eat, where festivities flowed profusely. The wilderness Passover was celebrated in each home, in their case in each tent. It wasn’t a social event: it was a family affair.
So these Israelites who were unclean from contact with a corpse didn’t want to skip out on the Lord’s worship (i.e., stay home and watch Disney). Nor did they want to attend in order to socialize and eat a lot. They didn’t care about either of those two extremes, whether extrovert or introvert.
These Israelites were hurt because they weren’t allowed to be with the Lord and worship Him. The Passover was one of those times established by the Lord to do so. They wanted their part in the true worship of the Lord. Hallelujah!
So they marched straightway to Moses and objected, Why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel? See! They didn’t want to get out of attending. They were “restrained” from attending. And they didn’t want to party and have a gala bash. They wanted to “present the offering of the Lord” (i.e., worship Him).
Martha wanted to socialize, but Mary wanted to hear the voice of Jesus proclaim the Word of God. I think we can identify Mary’s genes from our study in Numbers 9. They came from the Israelites of Moses’ day who were restrained from worshiping the Lord, who responded to this with vehement objection.
The Lord appreciated their love for Him and desire to be with Him. The Lord isn’t in the habit of turning away anyone who approaches Him on His terms with the desire to have fellowship with Him. So the Lord allowed them to celebrate the Passover on the second month after they were ritually cleansed, rather than on the first month.
There’s a message for us in this story. Are we living like Martha or like Mary? Are we the Israelites who insisted on participating in the worship of the Lord, or do we prefer to stay home and watch Walt Disney? Or maybe we attend for the festivities and socializing, and for the social recognition of being upstanding and moral church members.
Only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part, and it won’t be taken away from her. If I can be alone with Jesus daily and worship Him in spirit and in truth, it suffices for me. All else pales in the light of His glory.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
August 3, 2014
Church or Disney? – Part 4
The tale of Mary and Martha is right on target for teaching this spiritual truth, dear friends. Salvation is not an organization (church) or activities (service to God). Neither is salvation a set of doctrines or denominational beliefs. Salvation is not even Bible reading, though we dispense with it to our own peril.
Salvation is a person, more accurately the Person of Jesus Christ. If we are born again, it is because we personally took the Person of Jesus Christ up on His offer. Whatever spiritual growth we achieve after being born again will come from personal time alone with the Person of Jesus Christ.
This time consists of prayer and Bible meditation. We talk to Jesus in prayer and He talks to us in the Bible as the Holy Spirit guides us. This time is personal, not social. Studying Sunday School booklets and topical books about the Bible cannot replace God’s personal Word to us, which we acquire in time alone with Jesus and the Bible.
Man’s teachings feed the mind and so we think we’re “smart”, but we’re still the same sinner. God’s teachings feed the heart as well as the mind and change us into the image of Jesus. Man’s words are intellectual, but God’s Word is life.
The story of Martha and Mary illustrates this admirably, but our study today is not about them. There is another story in Numbers 9 which warms my heart, and I just have to share it with you. I’ll begin at the beginning with the context.
The Lord delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery by means of ten plagues on Egypt. The tenth plague was the Passover, where all the firstborn sons in every home throughout Egypt were killed by the destroying angel—all, that is, except those whose front doors were outlined with the blood of the Passover Lamb, as per the Lord’s precise instructions.
The Passover served as the birthday for the nation of Israel. They were to reenact it every year as a memorial of their birth as a nation. One year after the actual Passover event, the first memorial of the Passover was reenacted by the Israelites. They were still under the shadow of Mount Sinai at the time.
Well, the Passover was one of the holidays of Israel, and holidays are “holy days”. Whatever is holy cannot be handled or participated in by what is not holy. And that is where the problem occurred.
Some Israelites came into contact with a corpse at Passover time. They weren’t careless, and they certainly weren’t indifferent when they contacted the corpse. Notwithstanding, contact with a corpse under the Law of Moses ritually defiled a person. Those Israelites were unclean (i.e., not holy but profane) because of it. Ergo, they were prevented from celebrating the Passover with their compatriots.
This didn’t sit too well with them, let me tell you. No, don’t let me tell you. I’ll have to tell you in our next study because we are out of time again. Enjoy our blessed Lord a while, why don’cha.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
