Don't forget the "once saved" part...

A person who is a believer, with God’s Holy Spirit living within them, cannot continually and unrepentantly reject God’s Holiness within them without burning their conscience and departing from the truth.

But what if our desires constantly and consistently deviate from God’s clear and explicit commandments? The Bible and especially Jesus is clear: We must die to those desires. Jesus Himself gave us this example.

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done,” He prayed.

After all, is not the symbol of our faith a cross? A cross at that time stood for death, excruciating death, from which we get the very word “ex-cruc-iating” (“cruc” means “cross”).

What does the cross stand for? Merely that Christ died and we do not have to? No, for if that were the case, why would Jesus explicitly teach otherwise?

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Matt. 10:38.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matt. 16:34.

Shall I go on? I could you know…

If a person claims to be a Christian and utterly refuses to follow His clear commands (see Matt. 7:21-23 below), that person should seriously question his or her faith.

“How dare you say that? Who are you to judge?”

I did not say it. The Bible did in 2 Cor. 13:5. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

“Oh I am not disqualified! I prayed a prayer when I was a kid! I am saved by grace and faith, not by works!”

Where did we first learn about salvation and grace and faith? THE BIBLE. So, can we claim some parts of the Bible as true and other parts false? How is that consistent?

Let’s look how Paul (who wrote the most about salvation through faith and grace) how he tells us to examine and test ourselves. Did he really teach that we can pray a prayer as a kid and then live according to our desires and never feel a twinge of guilt? Never repent? (Jesus’ first sermon was, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.”)

Here is the entire 2 Cor. 13 passage in the New Living Translation. Does this sound like you or I can pray a prayer and then live a life of rebellion or compromise or disobedience and still “pass the test” of true salvation?

5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you (literally “in” you); if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 6 As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.

7 We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. 8 For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 9 We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.

10 I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.

Paul is saying, “Don’t make me pull over the car! Don’t make me come down there and correct you! I would rather appear weak and not have to correct you rather than be the tough guy and demonstrate that your bad behavior will force us to exercise authority. Show that you are in the faith by living to the commands of Christ. If you oppose the truth, the truth won’t conform to you (sorry Os Guinness), you will fail and show yourself as disqualified from the faith!”

We are saved by faith and kept saved by faith and grace, but we prove the validity of our faith by our works, for which God saved us. If we show otherwise, we prove our faith is false. This is not sinless perfection. This is “saved to serve, not saved by serving” theology.

“Once saved always saved” hinges on one very important truth: ONCE SAVED.

If we fail the test of examination here and now or fail to examine ourselves and change, there will be a final test, and it is pass or fail. Jesus will be the examiner. Jesus said to those who practice lawlessness but still called Jesus “Lord, Lord” in Matthew 7:21-23—“I NEVER KNEW YOU.”

The cross of Christianity is not a shiny gold medallion to wear. It is a rough, splintery life to bear.

This is so hard to write because I am writing to a particular loved one whom I greatly love. I see why Paul said, “I would rather be weak than strong, but if you force me I will say some strong things.” And He had apostolic authority. He had the truth. He wrote the majority of the New Testament. 

If you reject what Paul said, you reject the Bible. Without the Bible, how can you pick and choose what is right and what is wrong? You reject the martyred lives who laid their lives down in response to the cross, without which we would not have the Bible at all. You make God in your own sinful image, no longer a Father who loves through disciplining us for our own good and His own glory. 

We submit to Christ, not only for a FREE SALVATION but also for CRUCIFIED LIVING. We follow a crucified Christ, who carried the cross and calls us to go and do likewise.

Warning to a compromised conscience

     How do we go from a compromised, weak conscience to a defiled, contaminated conscience?

     The Bible segues from 1 Corinthians 8:7 to the next digression of the conscience in Titus 1:15. Separated by at nearly decade in authorship, Paul writes these two sentences: “However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled,” and “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” 

     Even though he is writing from a different location to a different audience and in a different time, Paul is carrying forward the same thought: when people stray from what they know is right and wrong and willingly embrace wrong, they can “trick” their conscience. It no longer is just weak and vulnerable, like a computer with no virus protector or a person without a flu shot. Their conscience is open to attack.

     A mind closed asks questions but only to win arguments and satisfy himself. An open mind ask questions listens to the wisdom of the world. But an open mind without being firmly grounded in the faith in God and a firm grasp of morality can be easily swayed from the truth. British author Sir Terry Pratchett said, “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”

     A closed mind which is right is better than an open mind which is open to being contaminated with error.

     Paul goes on to say that those with a defiled, contaminated conscience professes to know God with their lips but deny God in their actions and works. He uses a different word than he did to the Corinthians when he was referring to merely the ethics of a struggling conscience being defiled. In Titus, he uses a word which speaks more to the spiritual foundation, a deeper sense of defilement to the core.

     A conscience which is defiled at the roots can do no other than have defiled actions. It shuns and refuses sound doctrine (the next verse in the following chapter, Titus 2:1). With a deeper departure in the conscience needs a stronger response to turn from such defilement. A sensitive conscience responds to the word of the Lord; a struggling conscience responds to works and examples of others who are stronger in the faith; but a soiled, contaminated conscience needs a warning, a “rebuke” (Titus 1:13).

     The other day a potential school shooting was foiled when someone who heard something, said something to authorities. There comes a point when an intervention needs to occur.

      Jesus used this progression of first go privately, then with one or two witnesses. A defiled conscience needs an intervention. Matthew 18:16-18 says tell it to the entire church for a warning.

Consider this prayer from Psalm 141:15 (NIV)

Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Sin Loves A Party

   How does our conscience go from being sensitive and doing what is right to being totally seared, as seen in 1 Tim. 4:2 “In the last days, some will depart from the faith, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”?

   How do people do things that are unconscionable? Obviously, there are mental issues, but there are also spiritual issues that should not be ignored. There is a spiritual force of evil that the Bible teaches. From Genesis to Revelation, that evil is even personified as more than a force, but conscious, thinking entities of demons and above them all, the devil.

   But let’s not give the mental or spiritual all the blame. Some of the evil that occurs happens from another source: us! We are the source of weakening and compromising our own conscience and also the consciences of others.

   The second passage that speaks of the digression of a sensitive, convicted conscience is found in 1 Cor. 8:7-13 which speaks of a struggling, compromised conscience. “9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

   If misery loves company, sin loves a party. There is something that can lead to calling “evil” good and calling “good” evil and that is seeing it witnessed in others. The old adage of “Bad company corrupts good morals” comes straight from the Bible in 1 Cor. 15:33, translated in the ESV as “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

   That is one of the dangers of allowing the filth that comes in over the television or video games to compromise the clear teachings of the Bible. No, it doesn’t corrupt everyone, but the weak and already compromised conscience that already struggles will see others and join in the crowd. And for some, that first sin is the day they become hooked. Proverbs 22:25 calls it a snare or a trap. See also 2 Peter 2:18-20.

   Not only can evil lead others to stumble, we who are strong believers need to be careful on what we do in front of others that could lead them to stumble. We are free to do some things but if our freedom leads others to sin, we should not participate in those things.

Today’s prayer comes from Hebrews 12:15:

Lord, help me not to fall short of Your grace.
Keep any “root of bitterness” from springing up in me
and cause trouble by my witness to others.

What leads to a convicted conscience?

 

   To have a sensitive, convicted conscience, we must listen to the Word of God.

   I can’t imagine a living in a culture that would stone someone for any crime. And yet such cultures exist today. And they existed in the Bible days. And let’s face it, it was commanded in the Old Testament. The Bible taught judgment for sin to teach the seriousness of sin.

   This story found in John 8:1-11 is not so much about a woman, but about the conviction of sin. This passage does not teach that it is sin to call sin a “sin”. We must know what defines sin for our consciences to be convicted. We also must know about mercy to drop our stones.

   The worst thing the Bible could do is to never point out sin, or else we would feel the right to stone others because we would consider ourselves sinless.

   The worst thing the Church could do is to NEVER point out sin, or else no one would feel the need to surrender to salvation.

   And the worst thing we as humans could do is to never allow God to examine us to “see if there is any wicked way in us” (Ps. 139:24). 

   Those grandstanding with support in the “Me Too” movement today should have been a little less judgmental and more “tolerant”.

   C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man states there must be a standard of right and wrong; otherwise, we will let our abased Nature or “what feels right” to be our guide. Or worse, let someone else’s abased Nature be our guide. If we let Nature or Others or Ourselves be our guide, the result will be “the abolition of humanity”.

   A sensitive, convicted conscience follows the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ. A society that follows its heart as its conscience (or follows money / fame / socially acceptable standards / politically correct standards) will allow sin to go on unabated and without judgment. Until the winds change.

   The Word of God, fortunately, does not change. A sensitive, convicted conscience will also seek mercy for our own sins. And once forgiven, it is much easier to forgive others.

Our Prayer for today comes from Psalm 139:23-24

“23 ​​Search me, O God, and know my heart. ​​Try me, and know my anxieties. 24 ​​And see if there is any wicked way in me, ​​and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Don't they have a conscience?

"Whatsamatayou, don't you have a conscience?!" 

I've been thinking about this for weeks (and, no, I don't know why I've been thinking to myself in the voice of Chico Marx). 

What's wrong with people who don't know what's wrong...and what's right? Not just shootings, but everything.

The Bible talks about a conscience and even the unsaved have one. But for the next few days, spend 500 words or less (today's word count: 250) in a devotional about your conscience, your internal guide to what is right and wrong. And sorry Jiminy Cricket, your conscience should not always be your guide.

And just so you'll be knowing where we're going, here's an outline of the progression or actually digression of a conscience.

1. A sensitive, convicted conscience: John 8:9, "Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience..."

2. A struggling, compromised conscience: 1 Corinthians 8:7-13, "When YOU thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience..."

3. A soiled, contaminated conscience: Titus 1:15, "...to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled."

4. A seared, corrupt conscience: 1 Timothy 4:2, "in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits ...having their own conscience seared with a hot iron."

And finally, the cure:
5. A saved, cleansed conscience (always with faith): 1 Timothy 1:5, 1:19, 3:9, "a good conscience and sincere faith"; "having faith and a good conscience"; "holding the mystery of faith with a pure conscience".

Tune in tomorrow for a devotional on #1 and how the Word can convict and sensitize the conscience.

Our prayer for today:

Heavenly Father, as we study the Word, your Commandments, today, help us to love from a pure heart with a good and cleansed conscience and with a sincere faith. Keep us sensitive to obeying you, so that our faith will be strong and our consciences pure so that we will not sufffer shipwreck. In Jesus's Name, Amen.

23. The Sanctuary of Eternal Blessings: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 23:6b

 

            As I finish the 23^rd psalm, today’s lesson is perhaps among my favorite of this psalm and of all of the Bible. The spiritual need that I had which led me to my salvation was simply this: I wanted to go to Heaven! I still want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I am a little jealous when I go to a funeral and while there is still work to do here on earth, Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain.

            The Persuasion: “I will dwell…” God wants me to be assured of my future dwelling place. 1 John 5:13 says, “These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God.” Yesterday we saw the surety of earthly blessings, but our eternal blessings are equally sure. Eternal life would not be very long if you could lose it. Paul was persuaded than nothing could separate him from the love of God (Rom. 8:38). He told Timothy, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”  The psalmist didn’t say “I hope to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” He knew he would.

            The Place: “…in the house of the Lord…” Wherever Christ is, that will be the house of the Lord. Revelation says that Heaven will come down to earth and Christ will reign here so Heaven is wherever Christ is. Until then, we have a place, and it’s a place that began with the thief on the cross. Jesus assured that criminal who died with Him that he would be in paradise with Christ the same day. Luke 23:43 says, “And Jesus said to him, Verily (most assuredly, truly) I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in paradise.”

No “could”.

No “maybe”.

No “might possibly be with Me.”

            Paul assured us that we would be immediately in Heaven. 2 Cor. 5:6-8 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight). We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

The Permanence: “forever.” We may not permanently be in the heavenlies, but we will permanently be in the house of the Lord, in His presence. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we will ever be with Him: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

What will we be doing there? We will be reigning “forever” and then the Apostle John adds“and ever” in Rev. 22:5. 

Shepherd like a Savior continue to lead me.
Allow mercy and goodness to be what I leave behind.
I so much look forward to dwelling in
Your eternal house, my mansion, forever.
Amen.

22. The Surety of Earthly Blessings: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Ps. 23:6a)

Psalm 23:6a

            The promise. As we finalize the last verse of this short but rich psalm, there is surely a promise of protection of God’s goodness and mercy. This word “surely” is not like our “surely” which we use today. You know, the “Surely, you can’t be serious!” phrase. There is a certainty in this final word of encouragement.

            The protection. The promise of protection is two-fold: goodness, which is the extension of God’s kindness, His righteousness, and bestowing of good things; mercy is the withholding or retraction of God’s punishment and anger. Goodness is revealed when we are obedient. Mercy is revealed when we are disobedient.

           The pursuit. Since the shepherd always leads in front, there must be “sheep dogs” who follow behind. Those two rearguards of goodness and mercy are like the hounds which pursue the fox. In fact, the word “follow” is more often translated as “to pursue” or even “to chase.” The word is literally a dogged word (Please do not groan so loudly). 

           F.B. Meyer in the Shepherd’s Psalm wrote, “In the East the shepherd always goes in front. And our Good Shepherd never puts us forth to the work or warfare of any day without going before us. But His shepherd-dogs bring up the rear. We have a rearguard against the attack of our treacherous foes.”

 Michael Card wrote a song, The Hound of Heaven, based on a poem by an opium addict, Francis Thompson. The song and poem speaks of God’s pursuit of us, likening our Shepherd to a hound. Once the wandering sheep surrenders to God’s pursuit, he hears a voice saying,

“I did not take him for your harm /

I only wanted you to seek them in my arms/

The dark and gloom you said you could no longer stand /

Was, after all, the shadow of My loving hand /

How little worthy of My love could anyone be /

Who else could ever love you, save only … Me”

            There is not only a promise of blessings to me, but a call for these blessings to come through me. Perhaps the writer is saying that goodness and mercy will be my legacy which follows after me. Wouldn’t we all like to have it said of us as our epitaph: “He was a good man,” or “she was always full of mercy.” Jesus said, “A good tree will bear good fruit” and “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

     Since God follows me with such assured goodness and mercy all the days of my lifetime, then while I am here on earth, I should likewise extend goodness and mercy to others.

             

“Bless you Father, for pursuing me with goodness and mercy.

Let me bless others by doing the same. Amen.”

Part 4: Declaring to the World Our Eternal Destination (Psalm 23:6)

Part 4: Declaring to the World (23:6)

     The final section of this psalm is declarative. At first the psalmist, writing in the form of a sheep, was speaking about the Shepherd. Then he was speaking to the Shepherd. Now, I believe, the sheep is speaking to the world, declaring both of this world’s blessing of following the Shepherd, and also in the next world.

     He no longer is telling of whom he is following, but what is following him. He is no longer speaking of the blessings of the here and now but what will be for the rest of his days. He is declaring not only of his residence in green pastures and beside the still waters. No, now he is looking for his eternal home, one that will last forever and ever. His forever home is in the house of the Lord.

     Where is heaven? Can you point to it? Is it above us? If so, it is below those on the opposite side of the world and will be below us in 12 hours! Can it be seen with the Hubble telescope? No I cannot point to you where heaven is and I cannot describe in great detail what it will look like. But when I read in Scripture that it is a house of the Lord, and that the Lord is my Shepherd, I know one thing: It is wherever the Lord is! And wherever the Lord is, that is where I want to be.

     But if that is our eternal destination, what kind of trail are we leaving behind us? The sheep is leaving a trail of goodness and mercy. Are you? Do you have an aftermath of good works that will endure long after we have gone on to the house of the Lord? When you leave this world, will your kind and merciful acts be a part of your legacy? 

      The sheep is not so heavenly minded that he is of no earthly good. No! He is bringing God's kingdom to come HERE and His will to be done NOW on earth, hopefully as close as possible as it is being done in heaven.

     Is this your path? I so very much hope it is. Have you ever seen a trail of a jet stream in the sky? That trail is not determining its direction, it is proclaiming its direction! The "jet stream" of our lives should show where we are going. It is a stream of goodness and loving kindness following after us.

Dear God, let us live with eternity on our hearts. Let us not waste our lives. Let us live as if today was our last day to bring goodness and mercy to this earth, because one day it will be. Amen.

21. The Superabundance of the Spirit: "my cup runneth over" (23:5d)

Psalm 23:5d

    Oftentimes, we as Christians stop at the resurrection and don’t go on to the fullest purpose of our salvation. We are glad enough to go to heaven that we don’t appreciate the ultimate goal of Christianity.

    If eternal life in heaven was our ultimate goal, then why not go there now? What is the point of this life, just to decide where we will spend eternity? No, we have to go back to the fall, and the reason why Adam was banned from the Garden of Eden in the first place. 

“'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.' Therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.”
 

     He didn’t banish us from the Garden to punish us, but to bless us by not allowing us to eat of the tree of life and as a result forever be in a fallen state. We are not to stay separated from God. David longed for those times when his cup overflowed with the anointing. He saw his predecessor and his nemesis, King Saul, as the anointed king and he also saw the Spirit flee from him (1 Samuel 16:4). David pleaded with the Lord not to ever take His Holy Spirit from him (Ps. 51:11). But now thanks to the cross, nothing can separate us from the Lord. (See Lesson 15: Psalm 24:4d)

    You see, God doesn’t want us to live forever in a fallen state and He never wants to be separated from us. If the oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit, then “running over” would surely symbolize the lavish flowing of the Spirit within us out of His mercy. He anoints our head and catches the runoff in a cup and even still, that doesn’t capture it all.

   Because of the cross, our sins were taken away.

    Because of the resurrection, we have eternal life.

      But because of Pentecost, 

        we have God’s Spirit living in us now and forever.

    The words “overflow” and “baptize” and “filled” means to saturate. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit at salvation and filled with the Holy Spirit in our obedience. 

    Jimmy Dean sang a song about drinking from the saucer because my cup has overflowed. It doesn’t exactly apply here, but I sure do like it.

I never made a fortune 

and it's probably too late now

But I don't worry about that much, 

I'm happy anyhow

And as I go along life's journey,
I'm reaping better than I sowed

I'm drinking from my saucer, '

'cause my cup has overflowed.

I ain't got a lot of riches, 

and sometimes the goings tough

but I've got kids who love me 

and that makes me rich enough

I just thank God for his blessings 

and the mercies he's bestowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer, 

'cause my cup has overflowed.

I remember times when things went wrong, 

and my faith got a little thin

but then all at once the dark clouds broke, 

and the sun peeked through again

so Lord help me not to gripe 

about the tough rows I hoed

I'm drinking from my saucer, 

'cause my cup has overflowed.

And if God gives me strength and courage, 

when the way grows steep and rough

I'll not ask for another blessing, 

I'm already blessed enough

And may I never be too busy 

to help another bear his load

I'll keep drinking from my saucer, 

'cause my cup has overflowed.

Amen. 

20. The Sanctification of the Spirit: "Thou anointest my head with oil" (23:5c)

Psalm 23:5c

    Why would a shepherd literally anoint the head of a sheep with oil? For a practical reason, Phillip Keller, who worked as a shepherd, rather graphically explains, “Sheep are especially troubled by the nose fly. They buzz about the sheep’s head, attempting to deposit their eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose. If successful, the eggs will hatch in a few days to form small, slender, worm-like larvae. They work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head, irritating and inflaming their heads. But if the oil is applied to the sheep’s head and nose, the flies never get the chance to implant the irritating eggs.” 

     But beyond literal practicality, there are spiritual and sanctifying (setting apart) applications: 

A.   Spirit: Oil is repeatedly a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

1)    Anointed Servants: Other things also symbolize the Holy Spirit, such as the dove or water, but the anointing with oil physically demonstrated a spiritual reality and prepared the person for God to use them. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” 1 Sam. 16:13. Ask God to anoint His people. 

2)    Anointed Service: Often times the word oil is not used, but anointing is strongly associated with oil, so much so that oil is implied, even if not physically present. “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel…” Luke 4:18 a (see also Isa. 61:1, and Ps. 89:20). Ask God to anoint His Work.

3)    Anointed Son: "Messiah" means anointed one so when I think of the Good Shepherd anointing my head, I need to ask for His power so that I can do good as He did. When He anoints me with His Spirit, I know I have the God of the universe within me.  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38. Ask God to anoint Christ in our lives.

4)    Anointed Leadership: The Jewish people would also take notice that the head specifically was anointed. They would remember than Aaron, the priest, was anointed with oil on his head. Prophets, priests and kings are inaugurated into office with the anointing of oil on their heads (see 1 Kings 19:16, 2 Kings 9:3). 

a.    He has called me to be a prophet to declare His truths. (1 Cor. 14:1)

b.    He has called me to be a priest to present God to the people and to pray for people back to God. (1 Peter 2:9)

c.  He will, in the resurrection prepare me to reign as priest and king in His kingdom (Rev. 5:10). Ask God to anoint leaders of church and state. 

B.   Sanctification: Oil is also a symbol of setting apart, such as a greeting for a very special guest. Oil is often called “holy anointing oil,” (Exod. 30:25, 31; 37:29) with holy meaning “set apart.” Oil is used in praying over the sick

1)   Special: God sets us apart with the Holy Spirit to show we are special to Him.  When Jesus went to Simon’s house, where a woman anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair, Jesus mentioned that Simon did not anoint his head with oil. Elsewhere he was anointed with oil on His head and feet. It was not a common practice, but when it was done, it show extreme honor.

2)    Service: God sanctifies us with the Holy Spirit for service. Oil not only anointed people, but also the tabernacle and its utensils. When Stephen preached before the Council, the Bible says he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Other times the Spirit’s filling gives us boldness, discernment and other ministries for service. When we fast and pray, we are to anoint our heads with oil. We always have the Holy Spirit and He will never leave us, but there are times when we are filled with the Holy Spirit for anointed service.

3)    Sealing: God sets me apart with the Spirit as sealing me as a proof, promise and protection for our salvation and redemption.

a.    2 Corinthians 1:22 - who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

b.    Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

c.    Ephesians 4:30 - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

4)    Symbolism: Anointing with oil is also symbolic for sanctifying with healing. If any are sick, they are to call for the elders to anoint with oil and to pray (James 5:14). The oil reminds us that God has power for healing, whatever method He uses. The greatest healing is the healing from our sins. He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

     “Lord, sanctify me with your Holy Spirit.
Set me apart for your service today.
Keep me safe from Satan's infestation
in my thoughts and actions. Amen.” 

19.The Surrounding of Adversity: "In the presence of mine enemies" (23:5b)

Psalm 23:5b

The Opposition’s Presence - Jesus never promised that this world would be easy. Nor did He say that His sheep would live without the presence of the enemies of God. Why would God allow evil in the world? We are not of this world, but we are to bring light to the darkness, and not the other way around.

     Sometimes THE enemy, that is, Satan, can use our friends, our family, even ourselves. The phrase, “We are our own worst enemy” is not entirely true. Our worst enemy is the devil and he just uses others to get at us.

     Jesus said in John 17:11-21 “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. …I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world….As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. …that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.”

     I felt some genuine evil this week, both in the source and in my reaction which I had. Sometimes our enemies are not really our enemies, but it is the evil force behind the attack. One of the things I kept repeating was “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

The Overcoming Peace – Jesus does not leave us as orphans, nor does He leave us to fend for ourselves alone. That table is prepared for us in the presence of our enemies so that we could have a witness.

     John 16:33 – “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

     We need to be on the guard against the enemy but also remember that God also guards us against our enemy.

     There is a phrase: “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies sometimes to keep us close to Him.

Our Father in Heaven,
and my Shepherd on earth,
lead me not into temptation,
but deliver me from evil.
Amen.

18 (pt. 2). The Supply of Nourishment: "a table before me" (23:5a, pt. 2)

Psalm 23:5a

The Provision: God provides a table of spiritual nourishment. Nowhere in the Old Testament is the word “table” used for a “tableland” of grass. Indeed, most of the grass eaten by the sheep I saw in the Holy Land on both of my visits were mere nubs of barely perceptible blades of grass.

            Clearly the “table” used in Psalm 23:5 is a symbolic parable for spiritual food which the Lord prepared and prepares for me. This “table” is filled with abundant spiritual nourishment. When Peter professed his love for Christ, in his three-fold restoration at the Sea of Galilee found in John 21, Christ responded with one command “Feed My lambs…shepherd My sheep…Feed My sheep.”

             Lambs and sheep need feeding and shepherding so that they can find a table of food. Jesus said that “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." God's will was food for Him, and indeed it is food for us as well. 

            The Apostle Paul also was concerned that the church needed to be protected and fed in Acts 20:28: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of God.”

            And if that were not enough, Peter, perhaps remembering Christ's final command to him (who could ever forget the aforementioned John 21 restoration)  also urged the pastors who read his epistle to “feed the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2). God will feed us through our pastors and spiritual leaders, but most of all, through His Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Place: God places the table in front of His sheep. 

            We already saw that the Shepherd “prepared a table” beforehand, as in time. But this “before me” is not so much of a time but rather a place. It is a dimensional placement of the table. The word before means “In front of my face and before my very eyes,”  It is in this place that the Shepherd shows me the table of nourishment He has prepared for me.

          God demonstrates the place of His provision in the parable of the separation of the sheep and the goats, found in Matthew 25:34 – “Then the King shall say to (the sheep) at His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

            As mentioned yesterday, those who reject Christ, there is another prepared place, but it was prepared for the devil and his demons. “Then He shall say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

            If Heaven is prepared as a place where no evil can enter, and all that remains in our essence is the good that God has supplied within us, what else could Hell be, other than a place prepared where no good can enter, and all that remains there within those souls who have rejected Christ's supply of forgiveness in their essence is the utterly wicked that the devil and his angels has placed within their unforgiven souls? C.S. Lewis said of the unrepentant, 

"What are you asking God to do (for them)? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not to be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does."

The Problem of Pain, chapter 8, "Hell" 

            Then where is that kingdom place for the forgiven? where is the "table before me" which is that spiritual inheritance? God Himself through His Good Shepherd has prepared it “before me” spiritually in front of me, even though I cannot see it with my physical eyes. Jesus said in Luke 17:20-21, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;  nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” 

“Dear Shepherd, before my spiritual eyes,
I see a table of heavenly food prepared.
May I feast at your banqueting table. Amen.”