Mark 9:1-13 comments, part 1; seeing the kingdom of God come with power

 

Mark 9:1 ¶  And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. 2  And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3  And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4  And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5  And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 6  For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. 7  And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 8  And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. 9  And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10  And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. 11  And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? 12  And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. 13  But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

 

1 ¶ And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

What happens next, in this paragraph, is the fulfillment of this statement. The kingdom of God comes with power when Jesus is revealed in His glory. They are getting a glimpse of what will happen at the end. This is a picture of what is going to happen as revealed by the following verses from the Old and New Testaments.

Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Revelation 19:11 ¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

Elijah represents the living saints and the prophets as he did not die (2 Kings 2; 11, 12) while Moses represents the dead saints and the Law. Their bodies were searched for but were not found and Satan disputed over the body of Moses. They will return in the Tribulation to come.

Revelation 11:3 ¶ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Regarding Moses’ body;

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Regarding Elijah’s body;

2 Kings 2: 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

He will return in His glory to reign on earth, perhaps at the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of the year. Run all of the verses on the Feast of Tabernacles at the end times.

Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Proverbs 22:11 comments; God's friends

 

Proverbs 22:11 ¶ He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

What does it mean to be pure? Well, for one thing it means to be just. Look to the parallel phrasing.

Job 4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

The pure person is upright. Note the connection between synonyms with “and”.

Job 8:6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

Pure religion is defined which includes charitable actions toward those without power or help and to keep yourself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted (uncontaminated by worldy thinking; see Jude 23 and 1 John 2:15-17) from the world.

We have no king ruling over us but we do have many petty tyrants vying for attention, many of whom seem to have only one goal in mind, to get re-elected. Offer no offense, play to your base, seem as calm and rational as possible, and appear to be impartial which in the days of our nation’s founding was called being ‘disinterested’. Pureness of heart doesn’t seem to be a value that is granted much importance unless it is pretended for a speech or two. Some of them change spouses like a worn out coat, spend the money they’ve extorted from us for themselves, their cronies and backers’ financial interests, and their political base, speak high and mighty things about human rights or personal freedom, and wear their feigned religious beliefs like a magic amulet that is supposed to grant them entry to our approval, yet being pure, just, and upright doesn’t appear to be a thought that ever occurred to the majority of those who seek that power.

Christ is our king and He calls His disciples, those who serve Him with their words and their hearts, His friends.

John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

 

It is with our words, expressing what is in our hearts, that we come to Christ and are made His servant and His friend.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

God longs to have that intimate relationship with us even more so than He did with Moses and Abraham.

Exodus 33:11a And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend…

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

The only way we can count the God who created us, the King of the universe and beyond, as our friend is to become born again in the Spirit, believing and trusting in Him in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), speaking of His grace with our lips to everyone that will hear as well as to those who won’t.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Mark 8, verses 27 to 38, part 6, when Christ returns

 

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Doctrinally, this is a Tribulation statement. When Christ returns in glory, the church will be the holy angels that had already been translated (rapture is not a word found in the Bible) and enjoyed the marriage feast of the lamb, that are come to judge and to reign with Him for a thousand years. But, practically and inspirationally, this is a great statement that should give us all pause. Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ and His Bible? What has the typical person of the world taken in exchange for his soul? A mess of pottage? What has the Christian taken in exchange for God speaking to him through His word? The pleasure to sit as a passive audience in churches across the land being spoon fed lies and distortions while they sit smiling and thinking about yardwork or what the person is wearing in the pew in front of them?

Here, Jesus Christ returns with;

1Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

2Thessalonians 1:7 – 10 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Notice the parallel phrasing in these two letters to the Thessalonians. Unless you believe Christ is returning with two groups of people then you can see that “all his saints” is synonymous with “his mighty angels”.

Remember, an angel is an appearance of something that is somewhere else. It could be likened to a hologram only it is the person, thing, or place, for all intents and purposes with the added ability to exert that person’s power or to receive judgment.

Here is a definition of an angel;

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

An angel can look like a man. Notice the parallel phrasing from Daniel to Luke with angel and man as the key words;

Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Notice in Revelation this measurement;

Revelation 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The angel of the Lord is an appearance of God the Son, the Living WORD who created all things and by whom all things are held together.

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

At the very least, churches and children have angels, appearances, before God in heaven.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Now, the theological twinkies that infest our seminaries and pulpits like devils across the land, corrupting the minds of their congregants so that the Bible is reduced to a complex mess or the Roman Catholics who borrowed their angels from the Persian religion and other various pagan edifices will object.

They will say that the word angel in both Hebrew and Greek means messenger. Well, apparently, the message they’re delivering is “here am I.” Seriously, what message was the Lord Jesus Christ’s angel delivering here?

2Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

No angel in the Bible has wings. An argument against this by the aforementioned theological twinkies is that cherubim and seraphim are “angelic creatures” and they have wings. There is no phrase “angelic creatures” in the Bible, nor is the concept even present. A cherub is a living creature, the obvious pattern from living creatures on earth. It is not a fat, little baby, with tiny wings floating around looking sweet and it is not an angel.

Ezekiel 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

Now, it’s up to you to actually read Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10, and then Revelation 4. Another of the classic mistakes of the non-Bible believing “Christian” is the notion that Satan is a fallen angel. The problem is that Satan is a reptilian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14 and Job 41) who can only appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) to deceive. Note the word “ transformed”.

When Christ returns in glory with his holy angels, who are the spirits of “just men made perfect”, the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:23), Christ will take his vengeance on a wicked world (Revelation 14:10; Revelation 19). The marriage supper of the Lamb takes place first and that is spoken of in Revelation 19 before the return of Christ.

The Bible teaches very clearly, in a number of verses, that the church, which is always the people and never a building or an organization, is to be translated, removed from this present world, partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb with Christ as his wife, and that it will return when Christ returns to take over the kingdoms of the world. That’s what the Bible says and that’s what the early church believed, Pagan Christianity’s protestations and the confusion of so-called Bible scholars notwithstanding.

I am not scholar by the world’s definition. I have no advanced degree in Hebrew or Greek. I am not well-versed in philosophy, evolution, or “new age” religion. But, I can read sixth grade English. I can pray. I can hear. So can you.

Now, what does it mean to be ashamed of Christ and His words? In the Bible shame brings with it sorrow (2 Kings 8:11), people are brought to confusion and dishonor (Psalm 35:26). They are confounded (Psalm 70:2). Peter denied Christ three times. But many times, people who are not ashamed can speak boldly.

Psalm 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

I can remember one time, as a child, having the adult I was with stop me from praying in a restaurant to ask God to bless the food which I always did at home. The person, the adult I was with, was embarrassed that I was praying in public.

I know people today who are ashamed of Christ because the way he teaches us to live and to treat other people makes them feel weak. They don’t want any of that “turn the other cheek” stuff. They don’t trust Christ to protect or avenge them and they’re ashamed of Him.

In verse 35 the implication is that a true follower of Christ is willing to give up his own physical life and all he holds dear and valuable for Christ. That is going to be a hard row to hoe if you are so ashamed of Christ you won’t thank Him for the food He gives you in public.

It would be awfully difficult to be willing to die for Christ if you are always becoming enraged that you don’t get the proper respect from others or think that revenge, “get-backs”, is the price people pay for messing with you.

2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Many Christians are ashamed of Christ, sadly. If you were told you were dying would you praise God in front of the doctor for taking you home? If “the desire of thine eyes” (Ezekiel 24:16-18) goes before you will you still praise God and thank Him? Where does your faith end and your membership in the world begin? At what point will your “Praise God” and your “AMEN!” be silent. Death of a child? When are you ashamed of your faith?

What if, when reading the Bible over and over, you realized your political views were wrong, your enjoyments weren’t pleasing to God, your favorite possessions were in the way of your relationship with Christ, or even that your view of Bible doctrine was wrong in some way? Would you surrender to Christ or be ashamed of Him and just pretend everything was fine so you didn’t rock the boat at church, at work, or in your family?

What is your tipping point? At what point would you be ashamed of Christ? It’d be awfully hard to stand strong in the faith if your child was being tortured in front of your eyes, pleading for your help. This happens in some places in the world today. Would you be willing to suffer anything for Christ when you aren’t even willing to follow Him if it means currying disfavor with your church, your friends, or your family? Losing your job?

1 Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Are you not expressing shame for Christ and His words when your actions, thoughts, and words imply that you don’t really believe they’re true or He’s real?

I know, for us fundamentalists, the usual talk about being ashamed of Christ runs to not being willing to preach on a street corner or knock on someone’s door. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper. In America we’re very fortunate. We’re free to stand for Christ in public. We’re also free to be ashamed of Him in private.

Proverbs 22:9,10 comments; charity, cast out the scorner

 

Proverbs 22:9 ¶ He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

Proverbs 21:13 ¶ Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

God requires Christians to give liberally of their money to help and to feed the poor, particularly the poor in the church.

Romans 15:26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.

Galatians 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Throughout the ages of Christianity there have always been groups who would dissent from the established norm and form churches that they pronounced more fit the New Testament model. The Puritans of the Church of England and many modern Fundamental Baptist churches claim that they are New Testament Churches. But, are they? It is clear by a careful reading of the historical book of Acts and Paul’s letters as well as history itself that the New Testament churches did not surrender their poor to government programs or state sponsored support, of which there was very little.

The early Christian church not only took care of its own poor and the poor of other churches but also of the pagan poor around them that came to them for help. This caused consternation among the Romans due to the shame it heaped on them for not taking care of the poor outside of distributing bread to get political support or to limit social unrest. The modern church doesn’t care to look into the immediate and personal needs of its members as the assumption is there will be some state program they can take advantage of to help.

Looking back into the most early church and forward again into the Tribulation to come the book of James says in the famous passage about putting your money where your mouth is, the ‘faith without works is dead’ passage;

 

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Charity, which one Biblical definition is the active and tangible way that brotherly love in the Christian church is to be expressed;

2Peter 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Is a very fundamental way of manifesting the command that Jesus gave to His disciples;

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

So much so that charity is listed as of more importance than faith and hope.

1Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Voluntary aid to those who are truly poor, willing to work, but unable to sustain themselves, is fundamental to the Christian faith. The church does not have to support you if you have family that can do so in the church, or if you have the capacity to support yourself but by your own choices won’t, or if your need is really just your refusal to give up material possessions in order to meet the circumstances in which you find yourself. But, if there is someone truly in need a Christian must do what is within their power to help, particularly within their own family or church.

It would be interesting to see how many of those people who blast tax supported programs to aid the poor actually give a significant portion of their disposable income to help the poor in Christ’s name We are notorious for doing what James lamented; for writing a check with our tongues that our hearts aren’t willing to cash.

God promises to bless those Hebrews who gave bountifully, not sparingly, but bountifully to those in less favorable circumstances than themselves. Would you think that He would do any less for Christians?

 

Proverbs 22:10 ¶ Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

Let’s review what the scorner is again. He or she doesn’t hear rebuke or correction (Proverbs 13:1) and will be angry at the person who tries to shed light on their error (Proverbs 15:12). They look for wisdom but with their scornful attitude they can’t find it and never will (Proverbs 14:6). 15:12 shows that they won’t even go to the wise to seek their wisdom. 21:24 shows us that scorners are proud and haughty. But what characterizes the scorner’s attitude?

Psalm 1:1 links them with ungodly sinners. They are mockers (2 Chronicles 30:10). Psalms 44:13, 79:4, & Ezekiel 23:32 shows that scorners hold the people of God in derision, which is contempt by the fifteen verses in which it is used. Proverbs 1:22 & 19:29 shows them to be synonymous with fools. We know about fools. The fool has said in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1).

So, in this Proverb, if you get rid of the scorner, you’ll be getting rid of contention, defined in this verse as strife and reproach, and a lot of conflict and division in the church will go with them. Paul even talked about people who actually preached Christ with contention.

Philippians 1:12 ¶ But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; 14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Notice how in this passage contention’s definition is envy and strife (conflict). As the scorner will not humble himself before God or man, is arrogant and haughty, proud and incapable of correction, it is best to turn someone like that out of the congregation before he destroys it. Let God deal with him or her. The only way their heart will be changed is by God, directly by the application of His words to their spiritual heart.

The big question you need to ask is not one you ask by looking around at the other people in the church and trying to figure out who is a scorner, if it’s not obvious. No, the big question is, are you a scorner? Ask yourself. Examine yourself.

 

2Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Are you mocking people who have a simple faith? Do you hold the humble people of God in derision? Do you think their customs quaint and amusing, their faith naïve, their practices not intellectually satisfying to you? Do you hold their convictions in contempt and view their hopes and fears as humorous in a sad way? I remember hearing a young Christian, impressed with the worldly education he was receiving, call the church his parents attended, a bunch of “hicks”. They weren’t sophisticated enough for him. What he didn’t understand is that there are Appalachian farm mothers who can barely read but know that King James Bible forward and backward that know far more about what matters in eternity than the most sophisticated Harvard educated graduate students.

Look to yourself if you be a scorner. The Proverb says the church is better off without you. Repent of your wickedness and turn to Christ.

Mark 8, verses 27to38, part 5, to swap your soul for the world

 

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Here is a classic example of the Bible defining itself. Notice the previous verses. What is the follower of Christ called to deny? Soul is self-identity. It is self; self-awareness, our emotions and intellect.

Luke 9:25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

“Himself” is inserted in Luke for “his own soul” in Mark. I once heard a Biblically illiterate preacher with a PH.D., which means nothing in regard to spiritual discernment by the way, say that spirit and soul were the same thing. These fools are everywhere in Christianity. Make it up as we go along because we have rejected the words of God like Peter has just done. Get thee behind me, Satan.

A human being and the animals are composed of three integral parts; a body, a soul, and a spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Animals, of course, have bodies so I don’t need to show you that self-evident fact. But, the higher animals also have a sense of self-identity, a soul.

Numbers 31:28 And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

I’ll save the spirit of man and of animals and God’s Holy Spirit for a different time.

So, after telling His followers in the last verses that to follow Him they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, and to lose their lives for His sake in order to live, He now asks the rhetorical question. What is the good of worldly wealth, success, prosperity, luxury, approval, enjoyment, pleasure, self-satisfaction, etc. etc. if the end result is that you lose your soul?

What does the world offer you? Why, the very same things Satan offered Eve. She saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was “good for food” (Genesis 3:6) which corresponds with the “lust of the flesh” in 1 John 2:16. She saw that it was “pleasant to the eyes” which corresponds to the “lust of the eyes”. She saw that it was “desired to make one wise” which corresponds to the “pride of life.”

So, Jesus asks them and by extension, you, if you desire to follow Him, what good is it to get all of those things you want, all you can stomach and more, if it means an eternity in agony and pain, without Him?

You stuff your face and your belly because your belly is the god you actually serve.

Phillippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

You look upon things and desire what you do not have.

Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

And you honor things of this earth that have no value in God’s eyes.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

And doing so, what effect do you think this has on your relationship with Christ, if you even have one?

I know people who say they are Christians who don’t eat to live but rather live to eat. They exist to consume. In fact it makes them feel good to eat, drink, shop, consume, that essence of “I’m alive because I can have stuff.” Their idols are their bellies and the junk they can amass in their short, miserable lives.

I know people who call themselves Christians who think nothing of viewing pornography. They would say they weren’t hurting anyone and that it’s a man-thing, you wouldn’t understand. Or they are addicted to television or movies, constantly having to watch some little drama, some theater or they will be forced to examine the insufficiency of their own lives. They are spectators; spectators of sports, of drama, of life in general because, to paraphrase a famous saying, the unexamined life may not be worth living but it is relatively painless. What’s worse is that they watch things as entertainment that it is forbidden for them to do, living sinfully and vicariously through a fictitious person.

I know people who call themselves Christians who admire celebrities, the wealthy, or anyone of any fame that isn’t a notorious figure and, amazingly, even some of those are admired. So-called Christians who worship the government, powerful captains of industry, the lifestyles of the rich and famous or they pay homage to the great generals, the conquerors, the warriors of any rank, no matter how profane, athletes, movie, and music stars. They worship sex, education, status, and wealth. They don’t encourage their children to study the Bible or to serve God but rather to study the ways of the world and to serve themselves. They may even extol the godless; on the left they’ll spit out the bones of the meal that Karl Marx ate and on the right, of Ayn Rand.

You want it? Go ahead. It’s there for the taking. But, are you really a Christian? Do you really believe in Christ, what He said about who He is, and do you trust Him? Or are you merely a philosophical Christian, a misguided fool like many of our Founding Fathers or conservative celebrities like TV commentator, Bill O’Reilley, who believe that buying into a little of Christ’s philosophy is a good thing, and being a Christian gentleman or lady is exemplary but you certainly aren’t going to be superstitious enough to believe all of that stuff about Jesus being God in the flesh!

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Psalm 26 comments; I have walked in mine integrity

 

Psalm 26:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. 2  Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. 3  For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. 4  I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5  I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

 

Here is David declaring his own righteousness, a clear distinction between the Age of the Law and the Age of Grace. No Christian should make this claim although his or her efforts should be toward this. Notice this previous claim.

 

Psalm 7:8  The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

 

This sentiment will be repeated in the next set of verses in this chapter as well.

 

In verse 2 the word reins, which I have discussed before in my commentaries, is about internal organs and even deepest thoughts and emotions.

 

Verse 2 also asks God to examine David. Notice the following;

 

Psalm 7:9  Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

 

Psalm 17:3  Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

 

Psalm 66:10  For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

 

Psalm 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. 24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Job 13:23 ¶  How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

 

Job 31:4  Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? 5  If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 6  Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

 

Verse 3 has David depending on God’s lovingkindness and on David’s declaration that he is walking in God’s truth.

 

In the rest of this passage David makes a declaration that he will not and does not associate with certain types of people; vain persons, dissemblers, evil doers, and the wicked. Dissemblers are hypocrites who distort the truth to hide something, They are a specific type of liar. Here are some other usages.

 

Joshua 7:11  Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

 

Proverbs 26:24  He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;

 

Jeremiah 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

 

Galatians 2:11 ¶  But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

 

What stands out here from David’s perspective is his declaration of his doing right.

 

Prophetically, there is a clear allusion to Christ who ministered to people at all levels of His society but did not venture into their sins at any time. He was there with them but was not tainted by the sin of them.

 

For us, we can see that in order to escape a sinful world we would need to die. But we do not have to partake of the sins of the world in which we live. Paul makes a comment about that, not fellowshipping with someone who engages in willful, defiant sin against God.

 

1Corinthians 5:9 ¶  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

 

Psalm 26:6 ¶  I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD: 7  That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. 8  LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. 9  Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: 10  In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. 11  But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. 12  My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

 

King David is not like Pilate who washed his hands to consider himself free of the taint of executing Christ. This is a different kind of innocence declaration, not declaring yourself unblameable for an action over which you have authority but feel unable to impact due to mob pressure. David is declaring himself righteous. This is his justification for his presence at God’s altar. This again shows the difference in between that time in history where God had created a physical kingdom for Himself out of the Gentile nations through Abraham and called it and His people, Israel. The Law given to Moses made good men declare themselves righteous. I’ll discuss the difference between then and now in a moment.

 

David then goes on to say that what he did in verse 1 allows him to publish his thanksgiving and glorify God. David loves and honors God’s house, the tabernacle. He pleads to not be included with the wicked, in this case in particular mentioning those clever lobbyists of government in whose hand is filthy lucre for bribery. He declares that he will stand in his own righteousness as a reason to plead with God to redeem him and show him mercy. David is reinforcing his “rightness” and blesses God as a righteous man. Wow!

 

 

 

Prophetically and personally, without confusing the dispensations or putting the Christian back under the Law given to Moses, this would be a prophetic and personal in the way we are to act before God and man. While not declaring our own righteousness but Christ’s and asserting that we are not justified or saved by following the Ten Commandments we must make every effort in every situation to act in a righteous manner.

 

Understanding though, that it is Christ who makes us righteous not we ourselves and that we do not just glorify God when things go our way but even in the worst of times we are called to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over us. Notice both Paul and Peter declare;

 

Romans 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

2 Peter 1:1  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

Mark 8:27-38 comments, part 4, to die for Christ

 

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Jesus has just preached that to come after Him, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. What does it mean to take up your cross, or in this case, to lose your life for his sake and for the sake of the gospel? Most of us will never be called upon to physically die for Christ or for the sake of the gospel. Paul explains this concept to us Christians, about our death for Christ and being dead to sin in Romans, chapter 6. It is good to take the time to read that chapter.

A couple verses to note in particular in that chapter are;

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

-(note the symbolic nature of baptism by use of the word “like”), and-

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 8 of Romans teaches us also that sin has no more power over the Christian. A Christian sins against God of his own free will and has no excuse, although even the excuse of an unsaved man won’t help him.

Paul himself says in another set of verses which I’ve mentioned earlier and which bear repeating;

1Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So, in order to have eternal life, we lose our life in Christ and Christ makes us alive.

Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Christianity isn’t merely a Stoic-minded philosophy of good, moral living as many of our country’s Founding Fathers believed nor was or is Jesus a philosopher as former President Bush declared. Christianity is a dying to Self and living for Christ and Christ is God by whom the universe was created and by whom it is sustained as you can see by reading Colossians, chapter one.

In the BBC documentary about the 1900s entitled A Century of Self it was noted how the ideas of Sigmund Freud and his nephew, Ed Bernays, who invented modern advertising and public relations in 20th Century America, turned us inward, and, I would add, encouraged us to worship our flesh and ourselves. Before Bernays’ influence advertising was about what a product would do. After Bernays advertising was how using a product made you feel or what it said about who you were or your status.

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

A century of Self had to do with the things we possess and, in reality, worship in place of God, and are taught are good. There are some idiots who actually think they can judge whether or not a person is saved by how neatly trimmed he keeps his lawn or how clean he keeps his car. I’ve heard that with my own ears.

Being a Christian requires that you die to self and live in Christ. Think about that the next time you look at yourself in the mirror or strut around like a peacock in your new glad-rags. Think about that the next time you get angry for not getting your “propers”. Think about that the next time you are tempted to look at pornography, read a romance novel, buy that bikini, or wear that muscle shirt to the grocery store. Think about that the next time you want to talk about someone else in your family or in the church family or obsess over money or gloat about how righteous you are.

Remember what Christ said about the things of this world that man holds up as good?

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Notice how the apostle John illuminates the things of the world we desire, the very things that Satan in the guise of a serpent tricked Eve over in Genesis 3.

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Inappropriate sexual obsessions, education, wealth, success, athleticism, worldly power, physical beauty, and all of the things that man holds in high esteem are just so much garbage with God. If you live for them, you will lose your life. If you life for Christ, you will live forever.

Instead of trying to make the gospel more acceptable by watering it down so you can enjoy your war, horror, action-adventure, romance, and western bang-bang-shoot-em-up movies, your porno, your violent athletic sporting events, your liquor, your cigarettes, your trips to the beach, your luxuries, and the unnecessary food that feeds your expanding waistline you better start thinking about what it really means to be a Christian. The Bible isn’t Emily Post’s Book of Etiquette and your faith is not here so you can just live a more respectable life in the eyes of the world.