1 John 3:16-18; 4:9-10, Love (5)

The definitions of love.

Already we have encountered some great descriptions of love.  Love fulfills the Law.  Love binds together all the attributes of Christ (Col. 3:12-14).  Love encapsulates the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  Love completes the growth of the Christians into Christlikeness (2 Peter 1:5-7).  All of these, and more, help to “define” love from the Bible’s point of view.  As Vine indicated, it’s not that the world does not talk about love a lot; it is that the world is always, ultimately wrong about love.  So with that in mind, here are a few brief, yet huge, descriptive statements of “love.”

·       1 John 4:8: We began a few days ago noting that the entire Bible is filled with love and that we could study every page, every chapter and always be learning about the love of God.  Well, here’s another, similar statement: GOD IS LOVE!  Want to define love?  Just define God.  Which is, of course, a silly statement, other than it tells us that whatever God is saying, doing, planning, it is marked by love.  For Christians we know that even the trials of life are the love of a heavenly Father for His beloved children (Heb. 12:5-6).

·       2 John 1:6: This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.  Jesus made a statement to His disciples based in this description of love: If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).  Is this egotism on Jesus’ part?  Is this the pride of a dictator?  No!  This is love from God as described in Ex. 34:6-7:

The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.

·       1 Corinthians 13: Here is another description of “love” in a listing of its many facets.  It reiterates what Vine said, that love can only be known from the actions it prompts.  We have written several posts on this chapter and will encourage you to review these (8/21-9/14, 2018 at Matthew 6:33 (ronandcindy.blogspot.com).

·       John 15:13: And now we come to “love personified”: Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  Again, we cannot even begin to reach the end of this, for the cross itself is the center of The Mystery of God, the work that God has been doing, is doing, and will do until it is fulfilled in the exaltation of Christ.  Nevertheless, in our next post, we will pick up on this theme.

As the hymn declares,

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

Vast unmeasured, boundless, free.

1 Corinthians 13, Love (4)

The definitions of love.

·       It’s almost a waste of time being academic in the discussion of love, but we’re going to do just that, briefly.  Here are four Greek terms that the Greeks might use as terms of love.  With each term we will note the basis of this form of love, give the best possible illustration, and make a statement that expresses this love.

Term for love	Basis of this love	Illustration	Expression
Stergos	Human nature	Parent/Child	“Of course I love you; you’re my child.”
Eros	Passion	Husband/Wife (physically)	“I want you”
Phileo	Pleasurableness	Friend/friend	“I like you”
Agapao	Preciousness	God/world	“I give myself to you”

We said these four terms were used by the Greeks.  Now let us note, that only two of these terms are used in the NT: phileo and agapao.  For “eros” the Bible might use the term “lust” or “desire”.  And if it’s talking about the physical love of husband and wife, the OT uses the term “knew” (e.g. Gen. 4:1, Now Adam knew Eve his wife.) 

On the other hand, the OT term for “love” (Heb. ahav) is less distinctive, applying it to many different situations.  The most notorious use of the term, in my view, is 2 Sam. 13:1, where David’s son Amnon “loved” his half-sister Tamar, loved her enough to rape her.

“Agapao” is the term in Gal. 5:22 and the one we are concerned with.  I want to share a few select statements from W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words.

Agapao and the corresponding noun agape present the characteristic word of Christianity, and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown, enquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the NT.
Love can only be known from the actions it prompts. 
Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian. 
Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments.  Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God. 
Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. 

Col. 3:12-14; 1 Peter 1:2-9, Love (3)

The importance of love.

·       1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  A true understanding of the value of “love” in this passage requires a study of the immediate context, chapters 12 and 14.  Briefly, Paul is dealing with a somewhat volatile doctrinal issue at Corinth, having to do with spirituals (12:1) and speaking in tongues (14:2).  This issue, a divisive one, needed to be handled with love.  Read 13:1-3 again.  If I speak in amazing tongues, if I know it all and have great faith, if I make myself poor so as to care for the poor, but have not love I’m a clanging cymbal, I am nothing, and it profits me nothing.  This is an amazing comparison.  No question.  Faith is crucial; and there is no patience without hope.  But the greatest is love.  It’s larger, older, greater.

·       Gal. 5:22: Of the fruit of the Spirit, love is first.  And as we have suggested, is likely the inclusion of all the others combined.  Enough said as to the importance of love.

·       Colossians 3:14:  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  All what things?  It’s in v12-13: tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.  That is a rather significant list of Christ-like affections.  And here, it’s not so much that love is greater than all; rather love binds them all together.  Except, to be precise, it is the bond of perfection.  Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time in Hebrews where “perfection” is one of the most significant terms in the letter.  I will repeat a definition we used of “perfection,” from Kenneth Wuest.

The fundamental idea in this word is the bringing of a person or thing to the goal fixed by God. The word speaks here of Messiah having reached the end which was contemplated in His divinely appointed discipline for the priesthood. This consummation was reached in His substitutionary death on the Cross.

Thus, in Col. 3:14, when we have come to the place of reaching the goal God fixed for us, we will find two things.  First, we have put on love.  And second, we will be conformed to the image of Christ.  The cross is the perfection of love.  More on that in a later post.

·       2 Peter 1:5-7: Again, we see the importance of love in conjunction with other qualities.  Perhaps this is like the “perfection” we just spoke about.  As you go through life as a Christian, you start with faith; but then you must continue to add: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness until you have added the last: love.  The last two are “philadelphia” (love for your brother) and then “agape,” this love we are talking about.

Exodus 20:1-17, Love (2)

The importance of love.

·       Matt. 22:37-39/Mark 12:28-34:

o   Jesus answered, not only with the greatest but also with the second greatest.  It is the same word for love, agapao.  Our heart attitude toward our neighbor is to be the same as toward God.  How can this be?  Certainly, God is more important than fellow humans.  The answer to this question might be found in the words of John in 1 John 4:20 concerning relationships in the Body of Christ: If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen.  Jesus includes the second command, even though the scribe did not ask for it, to give meaning and substance to the first.  We likely have a tendency to “mystify” or spiritualize love for God since we can’t see Him.

o   Jesus is quoting from the Law of Moses in these two commands.  The first comes from Deut. 6:4-5; the second from Lev. 19:18. Again, the word for “love” is the same, the Hebrew ahab.  The Hebrew word at its root has the idea of “longing” after someone or something.  The first use of this term in the OT (i.e. the defining use of the term) is in Gen. 22:2, when God said to Abraham, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there is a burnt offering.  God said these words.  And Abraham’s love for Isaac is a picture of God’s love for His own Son (Mt. 3:17).

o   In Matthew’s passage he adds, on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.  This is instructive.  In Matt. 7:12 Jesus tells us to do to others as we would have them do to us; for this is the Law and the Prophets.  Rom. 13:8-10 says he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and then Paul notes the second group of the Ten Commandments, those relating to others.  All these laws, he says, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  James 2:8-11 makes the same point, that to love your neighbor as yourself fulfills the royal law according to Scripture.  These passages agree, that obedience to the second command fulfills the Law.  Yet, Jesus correctly says on both commandments hang all the Law and Prophets.  The Ten Commandments clearly show this.  The first four relate to our love for God; the last six to our love for those around us. 

o   In the same way that all the Law is fulfilled in love for God and one’s neighbor, we can say that #2-9 in the list of the fruit of the Spirit is a description of love, the first fruit.  What we are saying is that a practical description of “love” will take us all across Scripture.  Ultimately it will come down to a person: Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Mark 12:28-34, Love (1)

When you think about it, the entire Bible speaks of the love of God.  Actually, from the Bible’s point of view, there is no quality of life more important to humanity than “love.”  That is where we want to begin in what will be just a few posts on this “fruit of the Spirit.”  We don’t intend to be exhaustive.  We intend, rather, to highlight certain truths about love, beginning with its importance.

The importance of love.

·       Matt. 22:37-39/Mark 12:28-34: During the “passion week” Jesus was asked many questions by people who were seeking to discredit Him.  This story seems to involve a question from one of the scribes who spoke with integrity.  The question was, “what is the greatest commandment?”  According to the Jews there were 613 commands.  The scribe asked which one was the greatest (Mt. 22:36), meaning which was first in rank and importance (Mk. 12:28).

o   Jesus’ answer was to speak of the two greatest commands and both had to do with love.  Love is the fundamental characteristic of a person who desires to worship God.  Before stating the commandment Jesus quotes the “Shema,” a creed quoted daily by religious Jews.  The truth that “the LORD is one” is the reason why the love of humans for God must be total.  The word “all” (22:29) which is four times in Mark (three in Matthew) simply means wholly or completely.  We shall allow Albert Barnes to bless us with this kind of devotion.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart - The meaning of this is, thou shalt love him with all thy faculties or powers. Thou shalt love him supremely, more than all other beings and things, and with all the ardor possible. To love him with all the heart is to fix the affections supremely on him, more strongly than on anything else, and to be willing to give up all that we hold dear at his command.

With all thy soul - Or, with all thy "life." This means, to be willing to give up the life to him, and to devote it all to his service; to live to him, and to be willing to die at his command.

With all thy mind - To submit the "intellect" to his will. To love his law and gospel more than we do the decisions of our own minds. To be willing to submit all our faculties to his teaching and guidance, and to devote to him all our intellectual attainments and all the results of our intellectual efforts.

"With all thy strength" (Mark). With all the faculties of soul and body. To labor and toil for his glory, and to make that the great object of all our efforts.

This is enough to chew on (meditate on) today, to ask God to help us with such love.

Psalm 8

What a great Psalm of praise we have before us today.  In it we see God exalted through a meditation on His works of creation, both those in the heavens and those on earth.  Consider a few notes but not without reflecting on where we personally fit in this Psalm. 

·         v1a, 9: The Psalm begins and ends with the same refrain.  Don’t overlook the two uses of the term “Lord” … LORD (all caps) to speak of the self-proclaimed name of the one true God (YAHWEH or Jehovah, the self-existent One) and Lord (Adonai, Master).  God’s name is “excellent” or great in all the earth.  This is the context of this Psalm, how great God is on earth. Yet …

·         v1b: He has set His glory above the heavens, “as if earth were too small a theater for it’s display” (JFB). 

·         v2: Yet even on earth God’s glory is on display in the way He uses the smallest and weakest of things to silence those who deny His glory.  Perhaps David is reminded of how he, as a young man, was enabled by God to kill the giant.  The greatest Son of David referred to these words as He rode into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:16).  The small children got it right while the enemies of Messiah missed the point of that eventful day.

·         v3-8: Having established the premise, that the greatness and excellence of the “LORD our Lord” wherever you look in the universe, he now reflects on the place of man in the mind and heart of the Creator.

·         v3: Who has not had this experience?  You step outside on a dark, clear night and see the magnificent display of stars visible to the naked eye.  Or, perhaps, you magnify it with a telescope.  Maybe you have seen some of those amazing pictures from the Hubble telescope of not only our galaxy but the neighboring galaxies. 

·         v4: If you “consider” (observe with some thought) what you are seeing does it not make you feel somewhat small?  You might wonder why God would give man a thought (remember him, given all the great things in creation that must occupy His attention) or even “visit” him (pay attention, a more involved term of the two synonyms).  Whether or not David understands this as involving the incarnation, he is saying that his God has not gone off and forgotten about what He made; He is a God closely involved. 

·         v5: Vs. 3-4 have parallel lines that are synonymous; v6 has parallel lines that contrast.  The point is that man was made lower than the angels (Elohim, mighty ones, used of God but also of angels and of mighty ones on earth) in the sense of not being as powerful; and yet man, not angels,is crowned with glory and honor. 

·         v6-8: Man is in the prominent position on earth, being the only being created in God’s image and given dominion over the rest (Gen. 1:27f).  The point is emphasized by the listing of the various living things.

This Psalm takes on great significance in the New Testament, not only in the triumphal entry quoting of v2 but in the way that it anticipates our Lord, Jesus Christ.  In Christ God’s greatest “visitation” of mankind took place.  Zecharias used this term in referring to the coming of Messiah (Luke 1:68) as did Christ of His offering of Himself to Israel (Lk. 19:44).  When Christ returns it will again be a great “visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).

But perhaps the greatest use of this Psalm in the New Testament is in Heb. 2:5-9 where the writer seeks to make clear that Jesus was not an angel who came to earth to do God’s will but was fully human.  In fact He is “Man” in the fullest sense of Psalm 8:5.  The first Adam failed in the task of “dominion” because of his prideful sin.  And since then mankind has struggled with the God-given task.  Man even seeks to exalt himself by suppressing the truth about the Creator (Rom. 1:18ff).  But Jesus became man, the lowest of men who are lower than the angels; He bore our sins in His body on the tree.  But His humiliation is now being followed by His exaltation which will conclude when He rules over all.

When we consider creation AND Christ, truly we must say, “Oh LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth.”

Num. 6:1-4; Lev. 10:8-11, Prov. 31:4-5, Abstinence

We have not talked about the matter of “abstaining” from alcoholic beverages.  We do not believe the Bible requires this as part of a normal Christian life.  We are called to walk in the Spirit, meaning that we are not to be under the control of any other person or substance or habit. Thus, the primary issue is drunkenness.  Having said that, we should note certain situations where the Bible does call for abstinence.

·       Numbers 6:3-4: Nazarites.  A Nazarite made a vow for a specific time and a reason, having to do with the person’s devotion to God.  There were three lifestyle issues: the person did not have his hair cut, could not be in the proximity of a dead body, and abstained from anything produced from the grapevine.  We are not told the reason for this last rule, but there are two possibilities.  It may have been depriving one of pleasure while desiring to increase one’s devotion to God.  But that does not really fit our God, that He get joy from our misery.  Or it may have been to prevent any possibility of being controlled by what is produced by the vine.  Even in moderation, wine has an effect on a person, bringing relaxation at the end of a day, and so forth.  That seems to make sense.

·       Lev. 10:8-11: Priests when on duty.  The priest, when on duty at the tabernacle, was under a death sentence for certain missteps.  These missteps involved, for Israel’s worship, making clear distinctions in what was or was not holy and clean.  In addition, he was a teacher of the children of Israel, so needed to always be in his right mind.  The prophets in Isaiah’s day erred in speaking for God because of drunkenness (Isa. 28:7).  John the Baptist was an abstainer (Lk. 1:15).    

·       Prov. 31:4-5: Kings.  For a similar reason, kings, at least when carrying out their law-keeping duties, are advised not to drink wine or intoxicating drink.  The issues are so important it is required to go to an extreme in being careful not to become unjust.  The Syrian king illustrates this in 1 Kings 20:16-21.

The Rechabites (Jer. 35), who by family tradition were abstainers, do not tell us that abstinence is to be normal.  But they do tell us that wine is not essential to the normal life of the godly person.  In other words, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

In the NT church leaders are to be men “not given to wine.”  Again, this is not abstinence; it describes a man who is under the control of the Spirit, not alcohol.  However, it allows for abstinence, which a man might choose to make his rule of life, for the same reasons as Nazarites, priests and kings.  He might also choose abstinence so as not to be a stumbling block to those who have come to Christ out of a background of excess (Rom. 14:21).  The bottom line is never our rights, but rather is that we serve one another with love.

John 15:9-11; 16:20-24, Joy vs. the sins of excess (4)

Since the issue is spiritual, the solution to the “sins of excess” begins with confession (Prov. 28:13) and repentance.  There must be a recognition of the issue.  Even the most popular means of dealing with drunkenness (Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12 steps) understands this, beginning with the need to admit my powerlessness and then to entrust myself into the care of God (as I understand Him). 

We are not advocating or rejecting the popular approach.  We are seeking to understand the Bible.  When we confess, our repentance must be a turning from the sins of excess to God.  The first priority is not to get dry; it is to come into a relationship with God.  The fruit of the Spirit is, in this case, JOY.  A great working definition of “joy” is: inner delight, resulting from harmony with God.  If I seek to gain control over excess/dissipation without a relationship with God, I am doomed to repeated failure.  It’s not that I might not be able to refrain from the excess; it is that I cannot have the fruit of the Spirit without the Spirit living within. 

We have talked about being filled with the Spirit, and how this means we have become filled with Christ.  Look at these examples of how a relationship with God, through Christ, brings joy.

·       John 3:29: as Christ increased in His ministry, this brought joy to John the Baptist, even though it meant his ministry was decreasing.

·       John 15:9-11: an ongoing (abiding) relationship with Christ leads to obedience which results in His joy remaining in us and our joy being full.

·       1 John 1:1-4: John’s writing in this letter was about Christ, and was given that we might have joy.

·       John 16:20-24: Prayer, coming to God in Jesus name, is God’s means of bringing us into the fullness of joy.

·       1 Thess. 2:19-20; Phil. 4:1-2; 2 Cor. 7:13; 2 John 1:12: The fellowship of believers, in the body of Christ, produces joy.  It is fellowship with those who know Christ.

·       Acts 8:8: Those believers who came into Samaria, witnessing to and proclaiming Christ, brought joy to the people of Samaria.

You should have noted in some of these passages (Jn. 15:11; 16:24; 1 John 1:3-4; 2 John 1:12) the emphasis on “fullness of joy.”  Joy is not simply “happiness” (pleasurable satisfaction, absence of tribulation) or “fun” (amusement).  Christ’s joy is a deep sense of delight resulting from our relationship with God.  Christ’s joy is present, not only in the absence of trials, but in the midst of trials (e.g. Jas. 1:3-5; Rom. 5:3-5).  That alone should help us understand: joy is not being tickled or laughing at a joke.  It is the experience of those who walk in the Spirit, who are abiding in Christ.

1 Cor. 6:7-12,19-20, Joy vs. the sins of excess (3)

Here are definitions of the two terms used in Gal. 5:21.

·       Drunkenness is methai.  It involves excessive use of alcoholic beverages.  We are talking “excess,” without question. 

·       Revelries is komoi.  It involves excessive feasting.  Synonyms include orgies, carousing and revelry.

What we have sought to establish to this point is that these actions are an attempt to bring the sense of “joy” into one’s life.  This attempt fails because it only addresses physical feelings; it cannot bring joy to the soul.  The sins of excess seek to satisfy the soul apart from God.  The Bible, God’s word to us, says “let all those rejoice who put their trust in You” (Ps. 5:11). 

This includes the excess of “drunkenness.”  The Bible uses that term (Ecc. 10:17; Luke 21:34).  The first use of the Hebrew word (Gen. 9:21) makes it clear what the Bible is talking about.  Then he (Noah) drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered in his tent (Gen. 9:21).  There is drinking of wine, which becomes excessive so that a person is controlled by the wine rather than the other way around.  The result is that the person does things that are harmful, that they would not normally do.

The NT has the same thought, as you see in Eph. 5:18: Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (excess); but be filled (controlled, overcome) with the Spirit. The word “dissipation” is used two other times in the NT, in Titus 1:6 where an elder is not to be accused of dissipation; and in 1 Peter 4:4, where the former friends of a believer think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation. 

The prevailing attitude today is that “drunkenness” is not a sin but a disease.  Thus, the treatments tend to be oriented that way.  But Scripture is clear, that drunkenness is a sin.  In 1 Cor. 5:11 a “drunkard” is classified with other evil persons: the sexually immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers and extortioners.  Thus, the Bible’s hope for someone who is a drunkard is spiritual; it is found in Christ.  In other words, the Bible acknowledges that a person might have an inbred tendency towards drunkenness; but that does not provide an excuse.  1 Cor. 6:9-10 says that drunkards, among others, will not inherit the kingdom of God.   But it goes on to say in v11: And such were some of you.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 

The problem, as we have indicated from Eph. 5:18, is seen in 1 Cor. 6:12: All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.  The question is, who is in control of my life?  Is it the wine or the Holy Spirit?  As God told Cain: sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it (Gen. 4:7). 

Prov. 23:29-35, Joy vs. the sins of excess (2)

Let’s consider the OT and “joy vs. the sins of excess.”  In the OT “joy” is not the same as “sensual pleasure.”  It certainly involves a sense of pleasure, but it has a righteous and holy cause and it expresses itself properly.  Consider …

Psalm 5:11: But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.

1 Samuel 2:1: And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD.  I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation."

Isaiah 65:19: I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

David put his trust in the LORD and thus found Him to be his defender; this caused great joy and joyfulness.  Hannah found her joy in the salvation of the LORD; she had been delivered from barrenness when Samuel was born, and she could barely contain herself.  God Himself will be overcome by His people when they are saved; His blessing will eliminate weeping and crying. 

But this was not always the case.  The OT if full of the sins of excess among God’s people.

·       Ex. 32:5-6: Idolatry was often associated with orgies and drunkenness.  Such was the case in the incident of the golden calf. 

·       1 Sam. 25:36-38: Nabal was known to be a drunk (according to his wife Abigail).  His excessive partying at the time of shearing the sheep almost got him killed by David; and likely contributed to the weakness of his heart that did kill him.

·       2 Sam. 13:28-29: Ammon, one of David’s sons, was killed while drunk, being too weak and silly to fight.

·       1 Ki. 20:16ff: Ben Hadad, the Syrian king, made a rash decision while drunk.  He was unable to think clearly.

·       Esther 1:10-11: King Ahasuerus, during a time of excessive feasting, called for his wife to come show off her beauty, likely in a way that would cause her shame.

·       Dan. 5:1-6: The Babylonian King Belshazzar partied the night away on the very night the Medes and Persians entered and took the city and his kingdom.

Today’s passage from Proverbs shows how drunkenness affects the senses (the eyes), the intellect, balance, one’s perspective of reality, and the ability to make good choices.  In order to produce and experience joy, the fruit of the Spirit, we must be willing to recognize that the sins of excess are just that: sins.  And the wages of sin is still death.

1 Peter 4:1-6, Joy vs. the sins of excess (1)

Here are some statistics of problems caused by alcohol in the USA, from 1992:

·       18 million problem drinkers

·       9 million alcoholics who require help

·       $15 billion spent annually

·       30,000 vehicle deaths annually

·       Early death (average 10-12 years earlier)

·       Broken homes (no numbers; just a known fact)

·       Occupational loss (which results in higher prices).

Obviously, I could have updated this.  But what I really want to call attention to is that the sins of excess are not simply statistics.  Sin always brings sorrow, sadness and difficulty (all these are aspects of the “death culture” we live in because of sin).  Statistics actually separate us from the personal destruction brought on by sin.  A statistic can be dealt with politically.  Pass some laws, or fund some programs and we deal with the numbers.  But what we need, always, is to have the need of our hearts met.  That requires a Savior, and there is only One.

What we are dealing with for the most part is the “lust of the flesh,” the desire to feel good.  We find something that brings happiness and then we repeat it again and again.  When it no longer brings the same feeling then we take it to an extreme or move to some other excess.  I understand this because I have experienced it.  It is a temptation that is common to all.

The Greek word for this was pronounced “hedonay” and it is translated “pleasure.”  We get the word “hedonistic” from this term.  In the NT the word is describing the past world out of which we have been saved, the world of “unsanctified carnality, which strive against the work of God and His Spirit and which drag man back again into the kingdom of evil” (from Theological Dictionary of the New Testament).  It helps to know the history of this term in the Greek world, especially in relationship to chara, the Greek term for “joy.”

·       “Hedonay” refers to sensual pleasure.  It has to do with how a person feels.

·       In Plato chara and hedonay are barely distinguished.  In Aristotle, chara is almost completely replaced by hedonay.  Joy is equated with sensual pleasure.

·       Among the Stoics chara is a special instance of hedonay, which is one of the four basic affections.  The Stoics did not trust the emotions, so chara is viewed negatively.  Thus, they developed a system of “good moods” of the soul that were distinct from the affections.

Now if you follow me, you might note that our society is very “Greek” in it’s concept of “joy.”  They are much more concerned with sensuality.  Perhaps we understand how much we need to have our minds renewed when we follow Christ.

1 Tim. 6:6-12, Peace/Patience vs Sins of Selfish Ambition (8)

Are some people just naturally more “content” than others?  Does contentment depend on my economic status?  Or is it possible to learn contentment regardless of my bank account?  For those who walk in the Spirit, contentment can and must be learned.  That is what Paul said in Phil. 4:11: I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.  What must we learn?

·       By the grace of God, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must learn to find satisfaction in God, the All Sufficient One.  I am always so encouraged by Abraham.  He went from pleading with God to let Ishmael be the “son of promise” (Gen. 17:17-18) to being willing to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God (Gen. 22).  Certainly, a key to this journey of faith was God’s revelation to Abraham in Gen. 17:1: I am Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before Me and be blameless.  To walk faithfully before God is only possible with God’s daily provision.

o   Finding satisfaction in God is a faith issue, of course.  It is seen in our prayer life.  Anxiety is a symptom of selfish ambition, and Phil. 4:6-7 tells us that praying about everything brings peace in place of anxiety.

·       Learning contentment involves learning to guard our eyes.  Remember how Eve “saw” that the fruit was good?  Like Job, we need to make a covenant with our eyes (Job 31:1).  Several years ago I came across the following questions to ask before you buy (it was in the Alliance Witness magazine, July 14, 1976). 

o   Can I afford it? (It’s an issue of needs vs. wants; 1 Tim. 5:8).

o   Can I be content without it?

o   Will I still be able to be generous (1 Tim. 6:17f; Prov. 3:9)?

o   Will I still love God?

o   Will it make me anxious?

o   Am I being greedy or proud?

o   Is it a necessary debt (Rom. 13:8)?

o   Do I have all the facts?  Have I sought advice?

o   Have I prayed about it?

o   Will it honor God?

o   Have I asked God to provide it?

·       Lastly, we need to learn to serve others, especially with our possessions.  This actually brings us back to the central idea of “the fruit of the Spirit.”  The context of Gal. 5 is “by love serve one another” (5:13).  Consider what a difference this would make in the illustrations we noted in our previous post.  The wandering Israelites, Lot, King Saul and Jesus’ disciples would have been so God-honoring.  In fact, that is what Jesus told His disciples and they, by the power of the Spirit and the grace of God, did learn that lesson.  Let’s ask the Lord to make us servants to our family, people in our neighborhood or workplace, and so forth. 

Psalm 7

In this Psalm we again see David struggling with antagonistic people around him.  According to the title it is someone named “Cush” who was from the tribe of Benjamin. 

Having seen in the first few Psalms this type of prayer and knowing there will be many more in this “hymnal” one wonders why the Psalmists had so many enemies.  The answer to that question certainly involves the reality of God’s people living in the midst of a world that is generally antagonistic.  It is a recognition of the spiritual battle in which we find ourselves.

In addition, these Psalms also reflect differing kinds of circumstances.  In some the writer includes recognition of his own sin (e.g. Ps. 6).  In Psalm 7 David maintains his integrity.  It is not a prideful maintaining of innocence; he sees the possibility of his own fault and is willing to accept God’s judgment in that case (v3-5).  But it is a situation in which he is “persecuted” (v1); he thinks the treatment he is receiving is not just.

To study this Psalm let us consider 4 key words.

·         v1: “persecute.”  The word means to pursue and is also used in v5.  Cush is putting David to flight, chasing him.  The word itself also fits the need of God’s people to “pursue” righteousness, and of God’s people pursuing the wicked in battle.  But in this case it is David who is being persecuted.  (By the way, this is the same word in Ps. 23:6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all of my life.)

·         v8: “integrity.”  The root idea of this word is “completeness, fullness”.  According to God, David had this quality in the overall view of his life (1 Kings 9:4).  Think about this as you remember David was not sinless.  Rather, he handled his sin appropriately.  God also applied this term to Abimelech when he had taken Sarah into his palace after Abraham had lied about her being his sister (Gen. 20:5-6).  Even though Abimelech would not be a man of integrity in the overall picture of life, he had it in that particular situation.  Integrity requires right motives, the things that can’t be seen by anyone but God.  Integrity also means being right in your home, where others will not always know how you act (Ps. 101:2).  While David maintains his integrity in this situation, Job’s friends were wrong when they thought the confidence of his prayer should be his integrity (Job 4:6).  So note in this Psalm that David’s confidence is in the righteousness of God; God will do what is right.

·         v10: “defense.”  The Hebrew term (magen) means specifically a shield.  This is the defense for the individual.  The first use of this term in Scripture is important, when God promised Abraham to be his shield (Gen. 15:1).  What David asks for was promised to father Abraham.  David has already claimed God to be his shield (Ps. 3:3).  Note that God’s word is a critical aspect to His shield (Ps. 18:30; Prov. 30:5).  As our shield God is also a sun (Ps. 84:11), our strength (Ps. 28:7), our help (Ps. 115:9-11), and our hiding place (Ps. 119:114).  For all these reasons, our shield is the shield of salvation (Ps. 18:35).

·         v11: “just.”  This is from the family of words that speak of “righteousness” which appear several times in this Psalm (v7,8,9,11,17).  The idea is simply that God will do what is right.  It is “right” according to His standards, His law.  So in maintaining his integrity this is what David asks for, in essence, to be vindicated. 

So what is of interest in this Psalm is what is not said.  Unlike Ps. 5 and 6, David does not base his plea on the mercy of God.  Rather it is in God’s justice or righteousness.  The plea for mercy came when David knew he was part of the problem.  His sin contributed to the issue.  Here he maintains his integrity. 

There is an important thought about prayer that we need to learn and remember.  We come to God with hearts that are open to His scrutiny; thus we need to come honestly.  If we have contributed to our problem we need to pray accordingly, for mercy.  If we can see no wrong on our part and believe we are being “persecuted” let us come to God for vindication.  But let us come with an open heart that says, “If I have been at fault let me be judged accordingly.”  Let us come with the humble and contrite attitude of those who seek God in truth.

Phil. 4:11-19, Peace/Patience vs Sins of Selfish Ambition (7)

Let us continue to think of God’s people who did, and sometimes did not, learn what it meant to have a God who is El Shaddai.

§  Balaam claimed to be a mouthpiece for Shaddai (Num. 24:4,16).  Yet, in the end, his greed kept him from actually trusting the “All-sufficient One.”

§  Naomi initially seemed to “blame” the Almighty for her sad situation (Ruth 1:20-21) but by the end of the story she knew His faithfulness (Ruth 4:

§  Job: The name El Shaddai is thirty-one times in the story of Job, used both by Job and his friends.  They are trying to reconcile Job’s desperate state with the fact of the Almighty God.  But as always, God is faithful. 

§  Paul knew God as his provider: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:5-6).

o   There are others we can speak of whose failure to trust in God as their Portion or as El Shaddai reveal “symptoms” of selfish ambition.  Notice that each of these were characterized by dissension.

§  The Israelites showed discontent by their critical spirit (Ex. 16:2-3).

§  Lot, Abraham’s nephew, showed he did not trust God as his provider by choosing to live among the wicked people of Sodom.  He valued the good land and abundance of water, and yet suffered tragically for this choice (Gen. 13:5-13).  For selfish ambition he put himself in a position of temptation.

§  King Saul’s jealousy and envy showed he did not trust God as his Portion, which led to his ruin and loss of the kingdom (1 Sam. 18:6-9).

§  The Twelve Disciples exhibited personal ambition, seeking fame rather than to be servants of God (Mk. 10:35-45).

We noted in a previous post that the issue of “selfish ambition” is all over the Scriptures.  We have given several examples, and some of the symptoms that reveal its presence in our lives.  This is an important matter.  Lack of contentment can destroy us financially (Prov. 3:31), lead to sexual immorality (Prov. 5:18), cause our marriage (1 Cor. 7:12-13) or health (Prov. 25:16) to fail, and lead us into ruinous relationships (Prov. 24:1-2).   Thus, we should consider our lives, priorities and habits.  Are we manifesting the symptoms of selfish ambition, such as a critical spirit?

We should also look for manifestations that God truly is our Portion.  El Shaddai satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness (Ps. 107:9).  From Him we receive grace for every good work (2 Cor. 9:8), supply for every need (Phil. 4:19) and power for every task (Phil. 4:13). 

Lord willing we will conclude our look at contentment in the next post.