AKR MINISTRIES

Jesus Commended by His Father

- Dr. John MacArthur (Grace To You)

“‘Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased’” (Matthew 12:18).

Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate Servant, the one and only Son chosen by the Father to die for fallen sinners. The divine commendation here is a modified quotation of Isaiah 42:1–4, one of the most beautiful descriptions of our Lord anywhere in the Bible. The Father’s choice of Jesus to be His Servant was decisive and irrevocable—Christ was the one and only person perfectly qualified for the work of redemption.

As the perfect choice of God, Jesus is also completely pleasing in His Father’s eyes. Although the world hated and rejected Him, Christ is God’s Beloved—and in that role He brings us salvation by divine grace (Eph. 1:6–7).

This is not the only mention in the gospels of God’s approval of His Son. The Father used similar words at Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:17) and at His transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). Jesus Himself elaborates further: “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. . . . And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me” (John 5:31–32, 37).

If we want to be well-pleasing to God as Jesus is, we must come to the Father through His Son, drawn by the Holy Spirit. “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom. 8:8–9).

Ask Yourself

Have you grown “weary and heavy-laden” trying to please God with your best efforts? Will your heart ever find peace and satisfaction in knowing that your faith has been counted as righteousness, that the Father is already satisfied with the Son’s sacrifice in your place?

What Goodness You saw in me?

Insight on Job 25 - Andrew Kingsly Raj (AKR MINISTRIES) on a Brethren Church in Tirunelveli, TamilNadu, India [Dated: 28.11.2021]

Bildad Speaks (Job 25:1-6)

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven.

3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise?

4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?

5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes;

6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”

1->Bildad (the tyrannus, or governor, of the Sauchaens) Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

2-> i) “Dominion and fear are with God; ~ Dominion and fear are not with Man but with God. God is the sovereign Lord of all, and with him is terrible majesty. Dominion and fear are with him, Job 25:2. He that gave being has an incontestable authority to give laws, and can enforce the laws he gives. He that made all has a right to dispose of all according to his own will, with an absolute sovereignty. Whatever he will do he does, and may do; and none can say unto him, What doest thou? or Why doest thou so? Dan 4:35. His having dominion (or being Dominus - Lord) bespeaks him both owner and ruler of all the creatures. They are all his, and they are all under his direction and at his disposal. Hence it follows that he is to be feared (that is, reverenced and obeyed), that he is feared by all that know him (the seraphim cover their faces before him), and that, first or last, all will be made to fear him. Men's dominion is often despicable, often despised, but God is always terrible.

Rom 8:7,8 • because the mindset of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not able to do so, • and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. (LEB)

ii) he makes peace in his high heaven ~ He makes peace in His High Places. He does (according to) His desire in the host of heaven and among the host of heaven and among the dwellers of Earth. He is making war at one place and other a Peace. (Dan 3:35)

3 -> • Is there any number to his armies? ~ His armies in heaven, the heavenly host of angels, which are innumerable; there are more than twelve legions of them, thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand, employed in a military way, for the safety and preservation of the saints; see Gen_32:1; and the sun, moon, and stars, often called the host of heaven, the latter of which cannot be numbered, and which fought in their courses against Sisera, Jdg_5:20; and his armies on earth, all the inhabitants of it; yea, every creature, even the smallest insect in it, which are without number: thus, frogs, lice, flies, and locusts, were the armies of God, with which he fought against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, see Joe_2:11;

“Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” - God (Gen 15:5)

How much more His armies be!

Yahweh the God of hosts,
Yahweh is his renowned name! (Hos 12:5)

• Upon whom does his light not arise? ~ It is God's Benevolent grace all the creature without a difference. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust (Mat 5:45). The light of the Gospel set and shine before all men. Then why do there are unbelievers? The god of this world has blinded the eyes (2 Cor 4:4). So they are incapable of seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of CHRIST.

2 Cor 4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

It is totally by the grace of God, our eyes had been opened to see the marvellous light of the Gospel. The Scripture says, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." - JESUS CHRIST (Mat 13:11). That's what St. Paul reminds in the epistle to Philippians,

Phil 1:29 • because to you has been graciously granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on behalf of him,

4 -> How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? ~ The book of Job is filled with Rhetorical questions which most commonly answers 'No'/'No, we can't'/'impossiple'...

Job 4:17 Can a human being be more righteous than God,
or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

The sin which was caused by Adam, made man seperated from God. God demand's a perfect holiness, perfect heart, perfect submission. Unfortunatly we doesn't have anything. But God who is rich in Mercy had been incarnated in the flesh (100% Man & 100% God) and lived our life, kept all the laws and fulfilled it. The Law is good. But the man has incapacity to fulfil the righteous requirement of the law. Yet CHRIST (GOD) who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He made us alive together with HIM.

in order that ->>the righteous requirement of the law<<- might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:4 )

Am I worth to receive this much Grace?

God is the righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day (Ps 7:11). God shows His wrath to man and to other He shows mercy. Because He bore His curses, iniquities, trespass, etc.,

Rom 9:18 Consequently therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wishes, and he hardens whomever he wishes.

5-> Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; ~ They lose all their lustre and brightness, when compared with the Divine Being. It is darkened, confounded, and ashamed; it hides its beautiful face, and draws in its borrowed and useful light, at the approach of him, who is light itself, and in whom is no darkness at all. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders (Isa 24:23).

If Moon and Star are in this view to God, how much less Man be in the sight of God?

6-> how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” ~

We (sons of men, Wretched men) were unworthy. No worthy. While we were yet sinners, although we never taken any decision to follow Him, God loved us. In order that the purpose of God according to election might remain. And made us sat togather with Him and had prepared a table for us. Let us thank CHRIST with the heartful of Thanks.

The Name of LORD alone be glorified forever.

Sensing the Urgency

- Dr. John MacArthur (Grace To You)

“‘“You have left your first love”’” (Revelation 2:4).

A wise person loves Christ supremely.

Because the days were evil, the apostle Paul wanted the church at Ephesus to make the most of their time and walk wisely (Eph. 5:15-16). A little more than thirty years after Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian church, the apostle John wrote more to them, saying, “You have left your first love. . . . Repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I [Christ] am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2:4-5). But the Ephesians did not repent, and the lampstand was removed. Their time was shorter than they believed, because the evil was so great. Their church fell prey to the time in which they lived and, not sensing the urgency to return to its first love, eventually went out of existence.

I believe we need to have a sense of urgency in the evil days in which we live. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Christianity in America, but I’ve asked God that if it takes persecution to bring us to the place where we get a grip on what we ought to be, then let it happen. In many cases throughout history,the church has thrived better under persecution than it has under affluence. As the church father Tertullian once said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

I’m not specifically asking that the church be persecuted. I’m saying that sometimes we don’t sense the urgency of our evil day because we are sucked into the world’s system, and the lines of conviction aren’t clearly drawn. It’s an evil day in which we live, and the time is short. We need to realize that “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse” (2 Tim. 3:13). The situation is not going to become better. The world is blacker and more expressive of its vices than ever before. We must have a sense of urgency and redeem the time.

Suggestions for Prayer

In Psalm 145, King David expressed his love for the Lord. Make his psalm your prayer and an expression of your love to God.

For Further Study

Read in Revelation 2—3 what the Lord says to the seven churches in Asia, noting what He approves and disapproves.

THE PERILS OF LEGALISM

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. —MATT. 12:14

Sometimes neither the most persuasive arguments nor the most convincing deeds will change someone’s hard-hearted opposition. Such was the case for the Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus in considering the proper significance and use of the Sabbath. He had irrefutably connected the divine virtues of benevolence, kindness, mercy, goodness, and compassion with scriptural Sabbath observance. But the Pharisees stubbornly rejected His exhortations and clung to their legalistic works and self-styled traditions. Not even God’s Word or the powerful demonstration by His Son would change their hard hearts.

Such legalism has always been an implacable enemy of grace. Even the law of Moses, with all its demands, reflected a strong measure of God’s grace in that it pointed men and women toward Christ as the only true hope of salvation. Paul says this about it: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). If the very law of God has this more secondary role, how much less place does human tradition have in pleasing God?

Legalism and man-centered customs are also barriers to faithful, biblical sanctification after we are saved. The apostle again asked the Galatians, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (3:3). We must make sure that we, too, can answer this question rightly, bearing in mind Paul’s later admonition to the Galatian believers: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1).

ASK YOURSELF

What do you plan to do to any remaining vestiges of legalism in your heart? And how do you intend to encourage others to do the same purifying work?

Seizing Opportunities

“Making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

Seize opportunities every day to glorify God.

The apostle Paul is calling for you to take advantage of opportunities by “making the most of your time” (Eph. 5:16). The Greek word translated “time” isn’t the Greek word chronos, which refers to time in terms of a clock or calendar. It’s the word kairos, which means “eras,” “epochs,” or “periods.” Making the most of your time is another way of saying you are to make the most of your opportunities—opportunities that can be grasped for God, for His glory.

The psalmist had the right perspective when he prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Wisdom numbers the days, sees the limited time, and buys the opportunity. Don’t be foolish—shun opportunities for evil, but seize opportunities for good.

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray through Psalm 90:12 and apply it to yourself.

HEAVENLY ALCHEMY

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

John 16:20

Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when He rose from the dead and showed Himself in their midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted; even the worst of them, which look as if they must for ever remain fountains of bitterness.

Then the more sorrow the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord’s power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavor of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.

Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long, I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.

Disciplining Yourself for a Purpose

“Bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).

Godliness should be the believer’s priority in life.

I’m amazed at how devoted people can be to what they believe is important. There are many people outside Christianity who live in rigid conformity to a lot of meaningless rules. People in totalitarian countries, for example, live in rigid conformity to rules predicated on a denial of biblical truth. They walk circumspectly and toe the mark.

Some cultists are so rigid and walk so circumspectly according to the principles dictated to them that if they’re told they can’t get married or can’t be with their spouses, they conform. They’re made to live in abstinence from physical relationships, follow strict diets, fast, and so on. Some attempt to attain spirituality through such self-disciplined acts as lying on a bed of nails or walking through hot coals.

Others, such as athletes, go through tremendous self-discipline through dieting, running, weight training, and other means that involve great sacrifice.

People disciplined in things that are ultimately meaningless may be lax in things that count. I know people who run three miles every day but will not bother to read the Bible regularly. I know other people who cannot discipline themselves to feed on the Word of God but stick rigorously to a diet. Many Christians worship physical fitness and health and are so conformed to the world’s system that they’re careless and lazy about conforming to Christ.

If you are a wise Christian, you’ll be sure to discipline yourself for godliness. You’ll know what pleases God, watch for Satan’s traps, resist the Devil, defeat temptation, and be selective about your behavior. In other words, you’ll not walk as a fool; you’ll walk in wisdom—living by God’s standards.