"Thou hast made summer and winter." — Psalm 74:17
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?
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)
“Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” - God (Gen 15:5)
Yahweh the God of hosts,Yahweh is his renowned name! (Hos 12:5)
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.
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,
Job 4:17 Can a human being be more righteous than God,or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
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 )
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
