Satan Rebuked – Zechariah 3:1-2

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.  And the LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan!  The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!  Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’”

Zechariah was given a vision of God’s view of Joshua the high priest.  Joshua is standing before the Angel of the LORD, which reveals that Joshua was in service to God.  Satan is never happy when someone is serving the Lord.  The very name, ‘Satan,’ means adversary, one who withstands (Strong’s 07853).  So true is he to his name that he stands at Joshua’s right hand, like a prosecutor, ready to oppose Joshua.   “When we stand before God to minister to him, or stand up for God to serve his interests, we must expect to meet with all the resistance that Satan’s subtlety and malice can give us.”  (Matthew Henry)

But before we see Satan bring an accusation against Joshua, we see the LORD rebuke Satan.  According to Webster’s, to rebuke is ‘to criticize sharply, reprimand.’  “Take note that this rebuke comes at the right season. When Satan accuses, Christ pleads. He does not wait till the case has gone against us and then express his regret, but he is always a very present help in time of trouble. He knows the heart of Satan, being omniscient God, and long before Satan can accuse he puts in the demurrer, the blessed plea on our behalf, and stays the action till he gives an answer which silences for ever every accusation.” (Charles Spurgeon)  Praise be to God that with Jesus as our advocate, the adversary’s case is immediately dismissed.

It is something to note, too, the manner in which Satan is rebuked.  The LORD says, ‘The LORD rebuke you.’  This is the same phrase used by Michael, one of the chief angels in heaven, when he disputes with Satan over the body of Moses.  “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9)  This pattern shows us that we should always put the Lord between us and Satan.  We have no business dealing directly with Satan.  It is not for us to say ‘I rebuke you Satan,’ but rather leave that to our Advocate, to our Master, to our King.  We should speak as the examples given us:  The Lord rebuke you.  Jesus has already defeated Satan.  He makes quick work of the adversary in the courtroom. 

The LORD refers to Joshua as a ‘brand plucked from the fire.’  When wood is in the fire it is on fire.  When it is removed from the fire it becomes black as charcoal.  Did you ever consider yourself in either state?  I have wondered, as a brand plucked from the fire, what good might I possibly be to God?  “So it is with the child of God. What is he at the best? Till he is taken up to heaven, he is nothing but a brand plucked out of the fire. It is his daily moan that he is a sinner; but Christ accepts him as he is: and he shuts the devil’s mouth by telling him, ‘Thou sayest this man is black - of course he is: what did I think he was but that? He is a brand plucked out of the fire. I plucked him out of it. He was burning when he was in it: he is black now he is out of it. He was what I knew he would be; he is not what I mean to make him, but he is what I knew he would be. I have chosen him as a brand plucked out of the fire. What hast thou to say to that?’ Do observe that this plea did not require a single word to be added to it from Joshua.” (Charles Spurgeon)

This passage reminds us of all that Jesus has done and is doing for us.  He has plucked us from the fire and saved us to eternal life.  Although every word of accusation about us from the adversary is true, yes we are all sinners and easy prey when it comes to that, yet Christ stood in our place and died for our sins so that He could be an advocate of our innocence.  Though we are a piece of burnt wood, weakened and useless for anything, He has chosen to save us and to use us in service to Him for His glory. 

Without Jesus, we can do nothing.  “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:5)

And with Jesus, we can do all things.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  (Philippians 4:13)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Departure and Death – 2 Timothy 4:6-7

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

To our knowledge, this is the last letter by the Apostle Paul.  He knew it was the end for him.  Oh that all people who call themselves Christians would live a life that is summarized with these same final words.  Not only that, but to face death with such a lack of fear. 

“With what pleasure he speaks of dying.  He calls it his departure; though it is probable that he saw he must die a violent bloody death, yet he calls it his departure, or his release.  Death to a good man is his release from the imprisonment of this world and his departure to the enjoyments of another world; he does not cease to be, but is only removed from one world to another.”  (Matthew Henry)

Make no mistake, being ‘good’ by the world’s definition does not give this kind of confidence on the death bed.  No, only faith in Jesus Christ brings such reassurance.  As Paul said at the beginning of this, his final letter:

“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”    (2 Timothy 1:12)

In Paul’s thank you letter to the Philippians, he also states that, though he is in chains, he is not ashamed, and wants Christ to be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death.  And that 

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
(Philippians 1:21)

No matter how grand, if you have surrendered to Christ, this life is not as grand as the one to come.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Sacrificial Love – Mark 7:33-34

“And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.””

In this passage, Jesus healed a deaf and dumb man.  This event is unique to the Gospel of Mark.  Further, this manner of healing is unique.  Jesus is most certainly unique and each of us is unique as well.  It is no wonder that Jesus healed in different ways.  “The interesting thing about Jesus is that He did not follow a pattern.  We seem to be so organized; we want everything to work by patterns. We're always looking for the secret formula. We're always trying to find that method. And we're seeking to develop within the church methodologies, "This is the method by which the work of God is wrought." No, there is no method by which the work of God is wrought. God works in many different ways and refuses to be confined to any pattern, because God doesn't want us to develop methodology. So, the Lord has chosen to work as He pleases to work, and often times in different ways.”  (Chuck Smith)

After Jesus put His fingers in his ears, spat and touched the man’s tongue, He looked up to heaven.  Wherever Jesus went He gave praise to God in front of the people.  He was clear that His power came from heaven, that He was one with the Father.  This man, though, was deaf.  Jesus was not just healing the man, He was showing him much, much more.  “He looked up to heaven, to give his Father the praise of what he did; for he sought his praise, and did his will, and, as Mediator, acted in dependence on him, and with an eye to him. Thus he signified that it was by a divine power, a power he had as the Lord from heaven, and brought with him thence, that he did this; for the hearing ear and the seeing eye the Lord has made, and can remake even both of them. He also hereby directed his patient who could see, though he could not hear, to look up to heaven for relief.” (Matthew Henry)

Jesus adapted His way of healing to the particular circumstances of the person being healed.  Sometimes Jesus commented on the faith of the infirmed, sometimes He commented on the faith of their mother, father, friends or boss.  Sometimes He touched them, or they touched Him, or His garment.  Sometimes He just said it was done.  “I am quite convinced if we could perfectly know these men we should discover the reason for the method. In each case Christ adapted Himself to the need of the man.” (Morgan)

OK, so we should not look for a methodology in serving Jesus.  There are, however, a few glaring consistencies in the ministry of Jesus.  One is that Jesus had compassion for people.  He loved them – sacrificially.  Have you ever tried that?  It is impossible in the flesh.  I will testify to that.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to love the unlovable.  But when we die to our flesh and surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit, it is then we can love an individual sacrificially.  It is then that we can see them through the eyes of Jesus.  It is then that God can use us to work His miracles in that person’s life.

Rather than a methodology, it is more like a state of being.  Or better yet, a way of living.  Jesus tells us to live in His love.  “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”  (John 15:9)  “Without making His love our ultimate dwelling, we cannot fully live in faith and hope.”  (Charles Stanley)  God is so gracious.  He will help you along.  Ask Him to show you how to abide in His love.  Then service to Him should be as supernatural as it was for Jesus.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

The Widow’s Son Dies – 1 Kings 17:23

 “And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother.  And Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives!’”

This Gentile widow of Sidon had obeyed the command of God and taken in the prophet Elijah.  As a result, her tin of flour and jar of oil remained full throughout the drought, as God had promised.  But this daily miracle of provision from God did not shield her son from illness or death.  How grievous for this widow to have lost her loved ones: her husband, who had provided for her, and now her son, who would provide for her in the future.  She blames herself, and a little on Elijah, saying “Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” (1 Kings 17:18b)

Previously this widow was experiencing the love of God through His provision.  She was coming to know this God of Elijah.  A new Christian will often times go through many months of the joy of salvation, and then suddenly be brought to remembrance of a horrible sin they had completely forgotten.  God is good.  He has a way of bringing these long forgotten transgressions to mind so that we can agree with God that it was a horrible sin, so that we can repent of it, and that Jesus will cast it away as far as the east is from the west.  Remember, Jesus has not taken away the consequences of our sin, but, glory be to God, He has taken the wrath and punishment for our sin.

Elijah did not even respond to the widow’s accusation.  By his earnest prayer, he himself did not understand the purpose of such affliction brought upon the woman who housed a man of God.  What would be said by others that would discredit God and give pause to those who might be generous to a prophet?  He took her son, whom she was still clutching in her arms.  “Then he cried out to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?’” (1 Kings 17:20)  Elijah could not answer the widow.  He had no answer and had to ask God.

Elijah’s prayer changes to a plea, “And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.’” (1 Kings 17:21)  There is no precedent for Elijah to stretch himself out on the child.  In Elijah’s passion, it seems he would give the child life from his own body if he could.  And he prays for the soul to come back.  This prayer “plainly supposes the existence of the soul in a state of separation from the body, and consequently its immortality, which Grotius thinks God designed by this miracle to give intimation and evidence of, for the encouragement of his suffering people.” (Matthew Henry)  Our soul is eternal, this body is an earthly tabernacle.  It indeed gives us hope to know that this body is not permanent, and it is not the end.  However, if you have not surrendered to Christ, then it should give you at least pause or more likely fear that your soul will live on eternally, and in a place most horrible without God.

Elijah, with great excitement, and possibly relief, shows the widow that her son lives.  Her response is to glorify God.  She has been living with a daily miracle in the provision of flour and oil.  She was new in her faith and then it was sorely tested.  But now she proclaims that Elijah is a man of God and now she claims that the word of the LORD he speaks is indeed the truth.  The purpose of the death of the child then appears to be for the glory of God and the honor of His prophet.  This is what Jesus said about Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead “When Jesus heard that, He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” (John 11:4)  We find that when God is glorified, our faith is increased, such as this widow, and such as those who mourned with Mary, Lazarus’ sister “then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” (John 11:45)  When you find that your faith is tried, or that you question God’s actions, as this widow did with Elijah, remember how lovingly Jesus dealt with the man whose son was demon possessed. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24)  When you pray for or about something, make sure it is in God’s will and make sure you believe in whom you direct our prayers.  If you are lacking any faith, ask God to help your unbelief.  It is a joyous event when we see God glorified.  And it will strengthen our faith, because “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10b)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.