Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

I’ve been meditating on the “kingdom of heaven” this morning. Specifically, how the kingdom of heaven is very different than the kingdoms of this world (could be grouped into the word ‘politics’ perhaps).

Things I notice about this particular verse (Matthew 13:44):

1. The treasure was found by a passerby.  This perhaps was a person walking through someone else’s property.  It was not a ‘treasure hunt’ as it were.  The kingdom of heaven ‘just comes’ to an individual by the sovereignty of God.  This person COULD  have been looking, I suppose, but nonetheless, the point is still valid – the kingdom of heaven was placed in the field by another (God).

2. The kingdom of heaven is NOT morality, and in fact, is opposite of morality in SOME instances.   Why did the man cover the treasure up with the intent to deceive the landowner?  This is the most surprising part of this passage.  If this story were told in any children’s story book, we would say that the main character is morally corrupt – that he made the ‘wrong decision’.  After all, it IS unfair to the landowner, right?  He doesn’t know about the treasure.  This point is interesting.  This is along the same vein as when Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence” (Matthew 11:12).  This is the concept that truly born again people will do anything and everything for their master, and for His glory.  They will hide spies (Rahab), defy the government (midwives, Peter, etc.), even kill people (read Numbers 25 about Phinehas) for the glory of God.  This passage is very different from your average children’s Sunday School lesson.

3.  The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this earth are mutually exclusive.  He sold everything he had.  If it was his call to lose his life to gain the kingdom of heaven*, he would have gladly done so.  This is a man who has seen the worth of Jesus.  He knows that everything else cannot compare.  He gives his everything – it may have not been a lot by our standards, but it was 100% of everything he owned.

Would we be like this man!!! Why can’t we see this dichotomy of kingdoms this plainly?  I wish we did (starting with me).  I get so fed up with so much that I see in the news, in politics, in the schools – but to know that there is an invisible kingdom that is more real than this physical one!  Lord, give me the eyes to see this!

* NOTE: It WAS his call (and IS ours) to lose our lives daily in the sense of “take up your cross and follow me” and “crucified with Christ”.  In this parable, however, the man did not die in the literal sense of the word.

31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—

(Here David is describing the Covenental God of Israel, the chosen people of God.)

40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

What? There was no God to save them? Why not? Did they not call to Him? How does this square with New Testament doctrinal distinctives of certain churches / denominations? Some would perhaps say that their “cry for help” was not sincere? That they didn’t truly mean it? How does this work itself out in the context of today’s church? Is God not the same yesterday as He is today, and forevermore?

My answer? Let God be God. Let man shut his mouth.

Here’s the entire Psalm for context:

18:1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

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

20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his rules were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?—
32 the God who equipped me with strength
and made my way blameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.
36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You delivered me from strife with the people;
you made me the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.

46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,
48 who delivered me from my enemies;
yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
you rescued me from the man of violence.

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing to your name.
50 Great salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his offspring forever.

61:1 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.

4 Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

My heart is indeed faint in this season.  I am so glad that even with the faintness of heart and the waning of heat spiritually, that the reality of redemption is clear.  There IS a Rock higher than I, and the psalmist knows it all too well.  I am like the psalmist in this verse – pleading with the Redeemer to take me higher….place my feet upon the Rock that does not change.

The desire to be “Home” with the Lord is mine as well – the need for a refuge, as an eaglet to its Eagle, may God bless me with this “parental protection”.

The heritage that He has given is a great Salvation that has been wrought from above.  Praise the mighty name of God this day, oh my soul.  

View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies;
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?

Wow…such good theology packed in this one verse. However – the part that really “hooked” me was the phrase, “Sinner, will this not suffice?”

What a question! So many things we fill our lives up with – and yet the question is still asked, “sinner, will the Savior not suffice”? So many things lead us away from the bloody cross. I’m thankful for good, rich words that can come back with full force after over 170 years or so of being sung at countless worship services. How many times I have sung this song without REALLY hearing the words! Wow.

Here’s the song in its entirety:

1. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and pow’r.

* Refrain:
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

2. Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

3. Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.

4. View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies;
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?

5. Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.

6. Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

Interesting quote from Spurgeon:

And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.

This is from his famous work, “A Defense of Calvinism”.

It’s the same Jesus that saves – To those who are faithful in America (and everywhere else for that matter) to preach the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ – that man is desperately lost and dead in sin, and that only by the mighty blood of Jesus can one be brought from death to life – to you I say “press on”.  It’s the same Jesus that saves in Indonesia that it is in America.

It’s the same sin – The sin in Indonesia is no different than America – the same lusts, the same envy, the same idolatry, the same false religions.  Praise be to God that our Jesus is Mighty To Save.

It’s the same “secularization” - Muslems here are no different than the ones who call themselves Christians back home, but are not saved.  Calls to prayers come out of the mosques – people walk by without a care.  They care not about their own religion for the most part – they are “cultural muslems” – STRANGE.  These are ones that are not fanatical for their religion - they just “go with the flow”.  I see a strange similarity with those who say they are Christians in America, but are actually unbelievers. Bizarre.

It’s the same devil – The devil is alive and well.  He is here, and his influence is great.  I felt the “oppressiveness” of this darkness when stepping into the courtyard of the largest mosque in Java and opening my Bible to John 14:6 and pointing it at the building.  There was nobody who saw me – but never-the-less, I believe in the supernatural nature of the Word of God – so I opened it to the exclusiveness of Jesus and pointed it at the darkness.

It’s the same materialism – Materialism is great here – this is why America is idolized – 80’s music is filtered through the stores, advertisements everywhere, etc.

It’s the same salvation – Jude 3 makes this clear. I am encouraged by the brethren here.  It costs much to be “fanatical” about Jesus in this place.  I’ve seen a stage 3 Cervical Cancer lady shaking and weeping with pain point to the sky and say “Yesus” (Jesus).  He is her only hope.  I’ve seen a Christian man who is faithful to His Lord being married to a Muslem wife, praying for her salvation, but also faithful to her in the marriage.  I’ve seen the Spirit of Christ in the ones who sacrificially gave to us gifts and lavished upon us the blessings of Christ Jesus.  We are saved the same way – all of us – to the person.  The road is low to the cross – you MUST be on your face in humility and repentance.  I’ve seen these qualities in the brethren, and I am SO thankful for this common salvation that we share.

Well – the day has arrived.  This is the first day of a two week mission trip to Indonesia to preach the Gospel.  There are 19 of us, and we will be serving a total of 15 or so churches.  8 of them will be focused on in the first week, with multiple opportunities to preach the Gospel to not only church folks, but their family and friends. 

There are several emotions that are in the air:

• excitement – It’s not every day that one has the opportunity to go around the world for the cause of Christ; to have great delight in His Word because of its sufficiency to save.  The fact that HE goes before and prepares the hearts of men is a comforting and exciting thing.
• nervousness - Plane travel can be a nerve-wracking thing.  Did I get everything?  Have I got my passport?  Copies of my passport?  Gifts to bring the pastors? Have I left phone numbers / contact info?
• humility - There is an over-arching feeling of inadequecy to the task given.  I CANNOT preach Christ as He deserves to be preached.  At best, my feeble efforts are a drop in the bucket of what He deserves.

 I was reading in several places this morning – two of which I will mention here:  Acts 19:13-16, and John 15:7-8

Acts 19:13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

In this text, we see those “pretenders” of the faith.  This really was convicting to me today, in light of the endeavor that we will be attempting.  It calls me to examine myself, to “see if I am in the faith”.  By what power do I go?  Whose authority?  My own?  Christ’s?  The enemy knows good and well that Jesus has authority over all things – but will the servants of the most high prove to be genuine?  There is great rest in this next text in 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. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

This is comforting meditation – the fruit of God by way of the vine and branches only occurs in the abiding in the vine.  He says a wonderful thing here in this text: “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.“  Powerful.  The context in this verse is one of eternal fruit bearing.  We are attempting to do something grand – to preach a Gospel from dying men to dying men.  It is of eternal significance.  What then do I wish (vs. 7)?

• The Word will run free course among all those who hear.
• The Word will have great power to be received as the voice of the Lord.
• We will recognize divine appointments to share the Gospel.
• We will handle the Gospel VERY carefully, not in a trite, trivial manner.
• We promote the greatness of our God and the depravity of man.
• That the eyes of our faith will behold Christ as more precious than we’ve ever seen before.

There are many other things to pray for that are great things to pray for – but these are things that I see that are directly related to fruit bearing in light of this trip.

 Will we go in the power of Christ?  I pray that we do.  And when we preach in this manner (produce fruit in this manner), we prove to be His disciples.  AMEN!

I ask that you pray that this team does go in the power of Christ.  I will attempt to update this blog regularly to keep those interested informed of our progress.

vs. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 

• “common salvation” – Everyone who is saved is saved the same way – through Christ alone.
• “contend for the faith” – fight for, struggle for, contend
• “once for all delivered” – (Gr. “hapax paradotheise”) – literally this means “once for all (and no more – because it was already done) transmitted (or locked up, delivered, intrust, commit, delivered up).

Vs. 3 is indeed interesting.  The idea here is that the revelation of God to man concerning salvation has been once for all times (at the time of Jude and the apostolic ministry) delivered to the people of God.  This means that extra biblical sources such as “Book of Mormon”, “Pearl of Great Price”, church tradition, church decrees, etc. mean NOTHING to the doctrines of God’s grace as delivered in the scriptures.  Jude is effectively saying, “What you know to be true today – there is NO OTHER truth to be known. DO NOT go down the road of the gnostics!”

Wow. What application this is.  This is a statement saying that this faith is complete and total – and all found within the canon of Scripture.

vs. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

• certain (Gr. “tines” Stng: 5100): means “certain, specific”
• designated (Gr. “progegrammenoi” Stng: 4270): write previously,  to announce, prescribe, before ordain, evidently set forth. 
• condemnation (Gr. “krima” Stng: 2917): condemnation, damnation, judgement
• sensuality (Gr. “aselgeian” Stng: 768): wantonness, filthiness, immoderation, arrogance, debauchery, perversion

Verse 4 is difficult for our “western minds” to understand.  The verse is literally saying that there are certain, specific people, who were ordained and set apart by God from long before they were even born, to “creep in” to the fellowship of believers, and twist the grace of God into sensuality (or perverted doctrine), to be “tares among the wheat”, and by their teaching against the grace of God – they deny the only one who is Lord of all Lords.  These certain people are condemned already, by virtue of them being “designated”.

I’ve been on the fence for some time concerning infra-lapsarianism and supra-lapsarianism.  This scripture seems to indicate that our predestination is a “supralapsarianism” model.   This is indeed a hard teaching to bear with our “rights driven” society.

I’m wondering how those who disagree with God’s predestinating prerogative and the doctrine of election can explain this verse.  If man’s freewill trumps God’s “election”, the following questions MUST be answered in regards to this verse.

•  Does the one that God marked out for “this condemnation” – does his free will supercede God’s judgement against him?   (Can he choose not to pervert the Gospel?)
• Does the one that is in this way condemned have the ABILITY to choose to love God?
• Is man’s free will so powerful as to SEE the glory and worth of Christ  - and therefore turn to Christ without God’s help in revealing that?

Wow….let God be God, and let man shut his mouth!

1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.  To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:  2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Went digging in my interlinear Greek and coupled with Strongs, and got the following interesting things:

• Jude is short for “Judas” which is Greek for “Judah” which means “praised”
• servant is “doulon/doulos” in Greek which means bond-slave, metaphorically spoken as volunteering as a slave (cf. Ex 21:1-6 on 7th year freedom…very interesting)
• called is “kletois” – same as invited, appointed. 
• beloved is a form of Greek “agape” – meaning unconditional love.
• kept is Greek “teteremenois” which means to guard from loss or injury; to keep the eye upon; to withold, figuratively to keep unmarried, to keep safe

It’s this last bullet that is so interesting to me.  The phrase “kept for Jesus Christ” has been beckoning me like a blinking neon sign.  Looking at the definition (to keep unmarried), coupled with what Jude indicates we’re “kept for” (Jesus) – I see that there is a betrothal relationship in view.  WOW.  

We can see here that those who are called, are beloved by the Father, and KEPT FOR JESUS CHRIST.  We are the Bride of Christ.  That is what Jude is setting up the letter with.  I’ve never seen that before.

Take vs 2:  You have three things that Jude lists that are “blessings” upon us:  mercy, peace, and love.  What’s so interesting about these three?  Well – let’s compare in parallel to vs. 1:

• vs. 1 Those who are called  ( vs. 2 mercy – as in the mercy of God to even elect SOME out of His creation)
• vs. 1 Beloved in God the Father ( vs. 2 peace – as in having peace with God – being Justified)
• vs. 1 Kept for Jesus Christ (vs. 2 love – as in a betrothed bride and bridegroom)

Wow. Never saw the connection before between vs. 1 and 2 in that way.  God definitely has an order and purpose by which He frames His revealed Word to us.

• I was leaning to far to my left/forward/right/back.
• I must have pushed on the towel rack to make the numbers go up.
• The scale HAS to be wrong – it’s measuring some new-fangled pounds, not the American pounds that we’re accustomed to.

When going out of the bathroom, our hostess assured me that the scale was indeed correct, much to my chagrin.

I went walking this morning, praying as I was going – thinking about the sin of gluttony.  How much do I trivialize this particular sin?  We kind of wink at it, and go about stuffing our faces with more and more of “the kings delicacies”.  A quick trip through Nave’s Topical gives me the following passages on the subject of gluttony:

Proverbs 23:20-21 warns us, “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”  (WAIT – haven’t I been tired a lot lately???)
Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.”
Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”  (What?  PUT A KNIFE TO YOUR THROAT!!!!!!)

Wow…convicting.  How much time do we spend on dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, and yet neglect this very sin.  It’s been my personal experience to wink at this particular sin of mine, and let it go rampant.  I’m reminded that through my belly my lusts are fulfilled.  When I can’t control my food intake, my self-control in other areas are indeed stunted.

What God has called good (food, wine, sex), man always seems to get out of whack.  Where moderation is the key – we either go overboard into gluttony or drunkenness, or call it evil.  Too many Christians will call drinking a glass of wine (and yes, enjoying it) a sin, then turn and go to a buffet and actually COMMIT the sin of gluttony while looking down their noses at those who aren’t even sinning!!  We are indeed an evil bunch.

I need much cleansing spiritually and physically.  May the God of heaven give me the motivation to do so in preparation for this Indonesia mission trip.  Let me not hold back the kingdom’s advancement!  Let me not deny my Christ by winking at my sin, and calling evil “good”.