Fellowship in the Gospel - Day 278 Through the Bible

 Upcoming Event:  Dig In! Yancey Empty Bowl Benefit in Burnsville, NC

This international non-profit was begun by local artists, John Hartom and his wife, Lisa Blackburn, to demonstrate the power of one, at a grassroots level, to stop world hunger.  Millions of dollars have been raised through the worldwide events with funds going to beneficiaries chosen by the local sponsoring organization.  Dig In! Community Garden, Reconciliation House, and Good Eats Soup Kitchen will benefit from proceeds at this one - October 18, 2013 from 5:00 to 7:00 at Higgins Memorial United Methodist Church.  Cost $25 -includes handcrafted soup bowl (to take home as a reminder of world hunger), homemade soup, bread and drink.

My Lessons and Applications from Today’s Readings

(Ellipses are mine and are used for contemplation.)

The Lone Avenger and Savior of a Humbled, Desperate People – Isaiah 63 and 64 – (Facts:  What It Says – Summarized) “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save….I have trodden the winepress alone…and from the peoples no one was with Me…for the day of vengeance is in My heart…and the year of My redeemed has come…I looked, but there was no one to help…and I wondered that there was no one to uphold…THEREFORE…My own arm brought salvation for Me.  For He said, ‘Surely they are My people…children who will not lie…’, so He became their Savior.  In all their affliction, He was afflicted…and the Angel of His Presence saved…redeemed…bore them…carried them all their days…to make for Himself an everlasting name…a glorious name.”  BUT the people rebelled against Him…forgot His mighty deeds for them.  In their oppression by enemies, in the destruction of their land, the sanctuary, and in God’s silence…His people cried out to Him…”to rend the heavens…come down…make His name known to their adversaries.”  And now…in this pit of despair, hopelessness, and helplessness…they remember God and their history with Him.  “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.  You meet him who rejoices…and does righteousness…who remembers You…in Your ways…You are indeed angry, for we have sinned and in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved.  We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; and there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you.” Principle:  God has done all for us – from creation to salvation.  We must call on Him, turn to Him, put away our sins, wait for Him, love Him, praise and glorify Him as our God and Father.

A Prayer for You During Our Year Through the Bible Together– Psalm 115: 14 -15 and Philippians 1 – (Facts:  What It Says – Summarized) “May the LORD give you increase more and more…you…and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD…who made heaven and earth. Grace to you…and peace…from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I thank my God upon every remembrance of you…always…in every prayer of mine…making request for you all…with joy…for your fellowship in the gospel…from the first day until now…being confident of this very thing…that He…who has begun a good work in you…will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.  This I pray…that your love may abound still more and more…in knowledge…and all discernment…that you may approve the things that are excellent…that you may be sincere…and without offense…until the day of Christ…being filled…with the fruits of righteousness…which are by Jesus Christ…to the glory and praise of God.”  Principle:  And they will know us by our love…for the Lord Jesus Christ…for His Word…for each other…all for the glory of God.

“To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain” – Philippians 1 – (Facts:  What It Says – Summarized – after the prayer above)The Apostle Paul has learned what it is to share in the sufferings of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:21-33) and in His glory (Romans 8:17).  Paul now vacillates between a strong desire to be at home with the Lord and the necessity of “finishing the race”, to fulfill his mission, which is to take to the Jews and the Gentiles the mystery of the gospel – which is the salvation of both the Jews and the Gentile into a “new man.”  He has exhorted the churches to have no tolerance for false teachers or doctrine.  He now deals with a new controversy: those who preach Jesus Christ “out of envy and strife as opposed to those who preach Christ out of good will.”  The Apostle’s final determination:  “What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.”  Then he gives the church at Philippi – and us – these exhortations:  “only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ…stand fast…in one spirit…with one mind…striving together…for the faith of the gospel…not in any way terrified by your adversaries…FOR…to you it has been granted…on behalf of Christ…not only to believe in Him…but also to suffer for His sake…having the same conflict which you saw in me…and now hear is in me.”  Principle:  This is one of the most neglected doctrines in pulpit preaching, but we have seen that it is taught throughout the New Testament.  Believers will share in Christ’s sufferings and His glory.  We as believers must consider how the world treated Christ to understand how it will treat Christ within us. (John15:18-27)  This is the high cost of discipleship.

My Lessons and Applications:  A careful study of the New Testament will underscore the reason that devout Christians hold the things of this world so lightly, and – like Paul – look forward to and often long for our eternity at home with the LORD.  Like the Psalmist and Paul we learn that the fellowship of true believers in His Word, through the leading of His Holy Spirit within us, is one of the most sacred gifts that Christ has given us, along with our priestly and kingly role and exaltation as intercessors before His throne “in the heavenly places” while we still walk this earth (Ephesians). How can we neglect these gifts that are ours through the sacrificial blood offering of Jesus Christ and so dishonor our Lord and Savior and God?  The readings from Isaiah today remind us of the great cost of forgetting what God has done for us – of our history with Him.

Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. — 1 Peter 2:24

The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The whole meaning of the Incarnation is the Cross. Beware of separating God manifest in the flesh from the Son becoming sin. The Incarnation was for the purpose of Redemption. God became incarnate for the purpose of putting away sin; not for the purpose of Self-realization. The Cross is the center of Time and of Eternity, the answer to the enigmas of both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man but the Cross of God, and the Cross of God can never be realized in human experience. The Cross is the exhibition of the nature of God, the gateway whereby any individual of the human race can enter into union with God. When we get to the Cross, we do not go through it; we abide in the life to which the Cross is the gateway.

The center of salvation is the Cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much. The Cross is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way to life is opened – but the crash is on the heart of God. (Oswald Chambers:  My Utmost for His Highest)