John 12:41 - Glory and Purity

John 12:41 - These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

Message: Glory and Purity

Time: Throughout church history, Christians have consistently attributed this gospel to Jesus' disciple John, the brother of James, the son of Zebedee. John was one of the inner circle of Jesus' most trusted companions. It's most likely that John wrote his gospel while he was in Ephesus, and that he wrote it for an audience that lived outside Palestine, perhaps in Asia Minor. John appears to have had in mind members of a Jewish community who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but who had continued to worship in the synagogue. John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing he was to confirm the belief that Jesus was both the Christ and the Son of God.

What the Lord is Saying: I continue my study of God's glory, how all of life is for His glory. It is a bright, shining light, it is divine, and there is an eternal weight or value to it. There is nothing more important than it. And there are also attributes that we share as humans while also attributes that are set apart. 

In today's verse, Isaiah saw His glory, Jesus' glory. Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Christ. Isaiah 6:1, "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord (Yahweh) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple." Isaiah saw the pre-incarnate Christ. How do we know this? Well, let's follow the process as this is a rather bold statement in John (a book that has many bold statements linking more directly Jesus as God). This is the only time in Scripture in which someone sees Yahweh and Jewish tradition is that Isaiah was put to death in support of Exodus 33:20, "But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”" John connects Isaiah's seeing of God with Isaiah seeing Jesus. In John 12:38, John quotes from Isaiah 53:1, "Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" leading him to make the statement in verse 41 referencing Isaiah 6:1. In Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah proclaims the Lord Yahweh whom He saw as Holy -- “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

As such our lesson today is this, that God's glory is Holy. God's glory is Holy and separate. Holiness is separating from what is common. Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another." In this context of His salvation, His glory is not to be shared. Glory is connected with God's holiness and in His holiness there is also purity. I John 1:5 mentions, "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Our God is perfectly pure. There is no darkness, no sin in Him at all. God cannot be tempted by evil -- James 1:13 -- Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone."

This is why Jesus came into the World. John 3:19, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil." Jesus, the Light, the pure light, came into the world, to expose people's Sin. Darkness cannot live with Light. Men loved darkness. Men love their evil and their evil ways. Jesus is separate. He is holy. 

And we circle back to Isaiah 6 again and what happens to Isaiah. His sin is atoned for. Isaiah 6:6-7, "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The only way we see the Lord is through sanctification - Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."

It is all connected. Scripture connects Jesus with the Lord Yahweh, His holiness, being separate, being pure, with no darkness at all. Only light. Jesus is the Light of the World, exposing the darkness in every person, in order to bring that person before the presence of God. We cannot be with the Lord unless we are sanctified. Bold statements. 

This is the Gospel message. God redeems man in his sinful state, and restores Him to be with God for all eternity. 

Summary: In God's glory is holiness and purity or light. God is light. Jesus is light. Light exposes darkness. Jesus is holy and pure. 

Promise: From Tabletalk, "We will not love what is holy if God does not make us holy, and in Christ the Lord not only declares us righteous in our justification but He purifies us in our sanctification."

Prayer: Lord God, your scripture is rich. It is powerful and Lord in it you speak life to us and give us understanding of who You are. We have so much to discover in it. It is bold. Help me to be bold in my life to people. Jesus, You are the Light of the World, exposing in us the sin that we love. You are Holy and separate and pure. 

Mark 1:40-45 - The Disobedient Leper

Mark 1:40-45
40 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Message: The Disobedient Leper

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying: 

At first glance, when I look at this passage, I see that on the heels of Mark mentioning that Jesus' purpose in ministry is to preach the gospel, the next scene Mark gives us is of a man being healed. The man comes to Jesus basically begging to be healed, believing that Jesus can heal. He doesn't give Jesus his sob story, but simply states that If you are willing (or I believe you have the power), you can make me clean. Jesus obliges I am willing; be cleansed, and the man is healed. And then in response Jesus gives him a command. Now, isn't this similar to what Jesus asks of each of us. Each person comes to Jesus and believes in him and then Jesus blesses them. Jesus doesn't ask each person to do something first and then he blessed, but Jesus simply blesses. But, afterwards he does ask something of this man and asks something of us, his followers.

He tells him to: (1) say nothing to anyone, (2) go to the priest, (3) make an offering. But instead the man goes and spreads the news. And Jesus has to retreat to smaller villages to continue his mission. Jesus loves people. He has a compassion to heal them, but he also has a mission and he understands that many will not approve of him.

Old Testament Law had very specific rules about lepers. Lepers had to take precautions to prevent the spread of their disease. They had live outside the camp, away from God's special presence. The leper could only re-enter the camp once healed - but this re-entry was preceded by the priest conducting a close investigation of the leprous man or woman and offer sacrifices to restore the person to ritual purity. In Old Testament law, purity was obtained through sacrifices. It is interesting that this is the command that Jesus gives. The priests could not heal, but their intent was to confirm the healing and restore them to purity. So while Jesus healed this man, he intended the man to go the priest ready to be restored, not mentioning how he had been cleaned, but to take the proper procedures to re-enter the city. He wanted the man to follow the correct procedures and keep his healing a secret, in a way.

Thus, Mark does communicate here that Jesus does continue to have a mission, but he also brings to the attention that people are enthralled and amazed and see the potential of saving their ailments at the hands of the healing master Jesus. But, Jesus is still about his purpose and thus, everything he continues to do is to preserve that purpose.

Promise: Jesus hates what sin has done to his creation, and He is full of compassion for those who suffer the effects of the fall. Despite knowing what this man will do, the Lord heals him anyway, which is a remarkable display of His patience, compassion, and grace to undeserving sinners.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being about compassion. Thank you for loving your people. And thank you for having a purpose. Lord, there will be different times that I am sidetracked throughout my day, but keep me focused on You and Your purposes and Your plans in my life. I am on mission to proclaim You, but I also have responsibilities in life. Keep me focused. Thank you for your example and showing me the way.

Psalm 12:6 - Inspiration, Infallibility, Inerrancy

Psalm 12:6 - The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

Message: The words of the Lord are the highest and greatest words we can read

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

Psalm 12 is a Psalm that is said to have definitely been written by David. 

Man's Words
The predominant theme of the Psalm is the calling out of man as being fallible and a man of iniquity. There is almost a sense of surprise that not even the Godly man cannot remain without sin. Psalm 12:1 says, "the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." 

Their isn't specific wickedness that is mentioned and it isn't saying that their is no good in man and that Godly man does not ever do good, but throughout life not even man can be counted on in all circumstances, in all ways. 

Verse 2 remarks, "They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart, do they speak." Verse 1 is a general statement and verse 2, then is an example of that failing. It is not the only failing, but simply one that is mentioned here as an example. Man's speaking words were often in vain and couldn't be relied upon. And man's words could convey a double meaning, they could have selfish motives, they could be deceptive. And man can have a double heart meaning they say one thing and then do another. Man's talk will often not be backed up with his walk. Overall, man if fallible.  

God's Words
Then God's words are spoken. "The words of the Lord are pure words." In contrast to man, the Lord's words are pure. God's words can always be relied upon. All His words are true and faithful. It needs to be clearly stated and clearly received and revered and known that the Lord's words are pure. 

The Psalmist describes how pure those words are. The commodity silver is used and the commodity is is taken to a place where it is tried and purified, not once or twice, but very often, seven times through the fire. The word seven in the Scriptures denotes a complete or perfect number. So, the process of it going through fire was repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated, seven times. It was complete and His words are pure. 

While men, and even those who professed to be good men failed and no complete reliance could be placed on their statements, the most perfect trust could be reposed on all the statements of God. 

Application
This is a reminder to me that God's words needs to always be my chief source of guidance and wisdom. How quickly do I often go to man's words instead for guidance and wisdom. But, I need to be trained by God. 

I live in a culture that doesn't uphold God's words or even his name in a great manner. Even in the church, God's words are being spliced and diced so that the ways of the culture will not be compromised. It is a tough time because being a Christian is getting to be more and more unpopular and people who hold up the word of God are being laughed at more and more. 

But, I just need that reminder to my life that God's words are in fact the most complete and greatest words I could ever hope to read and know. I don't believe this says that I only read the "red letters" in the Bible or only the words that are said to only come from God for the Word says that "All scripture is inspired by God." And so I am to uphold all of its words, but my reliance on the words of God are indeed the greatest. And from that standpoint, I must be very careful to uphold those words. 

This is a process that grates against man and his ways. Just looking at the words of the 10 commandments is a chore to us and goes against our thinking. But, I must be careful. As I have seen from passages, like in Ecclesiastes, life is to be enjoyed. God has provided an abundance and goodness in life to eat, enjoy each others company and live life to the fullest. But, still I must be careful throughout that enjoyment that my enjoyment is based on God's providence and his words are always upheld in my life, for they are the pure words. 

It is not that man can never be relied upon. It is not to say that there aren't good words found in man. But, I must remember that man's words can be fallible while God's words are never fallible. So, I don't think this means I never listen to man, but I always must think about what I'm hearing and not always take it as complete.


Promise: While men, and even those who professed to be good men failed and no complete reliance could be placed on their statements, the most perfect trust could be reposed on all the statements of God.