November 1, 2020
Hymn of the Day
(tune: Higher Ground)
I wandered long in my own way,
New depths I reached from day to day,
But by the Shepherd I was found,
And planted safely on high ground.
Chorus
He's lifted up to God's right hand,
And by God's grace, with Him I stand,
No higher plane can e're be found,
I'm satisfied with this high ground.
My Savior came my soul to save,
For me, His precious life He gave;
So, I'm no more by Satan bound,
For Christ has set me on high ground.
They crucified the Savior, Then,
When three days passed, He rose again,
In Joseph's tomb He was not found,
God raised him up to higher ground.
The day will come when He'll return,
The world, with God's own wrath, will burn.
But I'll be safe, for I'll be found,
In Jesus Christ – the Highest Ground!
Today's Hymns: We Would See Jesus #311,
Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty #13, His Matchless Worth #48
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Conmen, Judges, and Worshippers ~Matthew 2:1-12
There is an excellent comparison in this passage of Scripture between followers of religion, conmen who use religion for their own schemes, and followers of God. Matthew 2 begins with Herod, then the three wise men, and then the full Sanhedrin. The short story is that the three wise men come to Jerusalem to ask the Jews where they might find the prophesied "King of the Jews." Herod hears about this, fears for his throne, and convenes the Sanhedrin to find out where the child should be born so that he may kill him. The answer, from the book of Micah, is Bethlehem. Herod tells the three wise men to seek out the child and report back to him so that he may worship the child also.
Herod is a conman. He does not care about the religion of the Jews. All he is concerned with is keeping power. But note that he does not send a platoon of soldiers to Bethlehem when he learns of the location of the child's birth. Instead, he cloaks his murderous intentions in religion, stating that he merely wants to know the child's location so that he, too, can worship this "King of the Jews." The world will never be free of religious conmen—we see many even in our day—but none of their machinations will hinder God's plans.
Then there are the members of the Sanhedrin. These would be elders, scribes, and chief priests, all learned men whose job it was to record civil and judicial events, and to know the Old Testament. They were very good at their job and could quote any verse in Scripture, but they had no heart to follow God. Unlike the three wise men, they were not pursuing the child of prophesy. One old writer said of them, "But where were ye, O Jewish ecclesiastics, ye chief priests and scribes of the people? Ye could tell Herod where Christ should be born, and could hear of these strangers from the far East that the Desire of all nations had actually come; but I do not see you trooping to Bethlehem—I find these devout strangers journeying thither all alone." This is further proof that you can know every word in the Bible and have correct doctrine, yet still not have faith.
Finally, there are the three wise men. By implication they were not Jews themselves, but their origins are otherwise unknown. What we do know is that they saw a sign--a star--and from this they determined to find this child who would be a sovereign. These men were not travelling for a mere civil visit. The Greek word used here meant that they desired to meet a child with the intent to offer religious worship. When they came to Jesus' house, they rejoiced and were glad. But when they saw the child Jesus, they worshiped.
In like manner, we do not worship the signs that point us to Jesus, but Jesus we do worship. We are glad for guideposts that tell us what paths to take on the road to our Christ, and likewise we rejoice when we meet others on the same journey. But we do not worship the guideposts nor our fellow travelers. The time for worship is only when we are in the presence of Jesus, when we have met Him. Let us be more as these three wise men and follow the way to our savior -Nathan Terrell
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See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc. No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me," declares the Lord. -Isaiah 54.16, 17
Many are the enemies of the LORD's people in this world. The people of the world are held captive to the devil's will, and he makes use of their rebellious hearts to make them strike out against Christ by striking out against His people. Our Teacher said that the world hated Him, so we should expect that the world will hate us.
Such hatred will not be idle. These haters continually devise weapons and strategies to trouble God's people. The testimony of the child of God, though full of compassion, is an irritation to the hearts of the children of wrath, and since they are unable to believe the gospel, their only hope of inner peace is to silence the testimony of God's people.
The comfort given to God's people sounds strange. As we are confronted by these enemies, God says to us, "I created them, and I created the one who arms them." Where is the comfort in that? When we are faced by fierce enemies, our Lord tells us that He is the one who created them, and we are supposed to take comfort in that? That sounds more like the LORD has joined the ranks of our enemies. Why would he create craftsmen and destroyers against His people?
But if we thought along those lines, we would be missing the point. God assures us that these weapons and the destroyers who use them cannot defeat us for they are His creation, and He would never create weapons and destroyers that could defeat us. God brings us challenges by these persecutors, but He shall never create one strong enough or cunning enough that it can prevail against us. Even if God allows them to kill us, they have not defeated us, for our faithfulness unto death is victory over the world.
This is the heritage of God's people: God shall never create a successful weapon or enemy. -Joe