Category: devotional

2 Timothy 4:13

 

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

 

            Here Paul continues to ask Timothy for help as he comes to see him.  First, Paul asks for a cloak.  It’s cold in that dungeon, and Paul is getting old.  As winter approaches, Paul knows that he will want that simple garment for his own comfort.

 

            But then we get the request for the books and parchments.  This verse is utterly fascinating to me.  No one has ever shed more light on it than C. H. Spurgeon, the famous baptist Preacher of the nineteenth century.  Listen as I share with you a few lines from Spurgeon on this text:

 

We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.

 

Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot, and talks any quantity of nonsense, is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains—oh! that is the preacher.

 

How rebuked are they by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!

 

The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, “Give thyself unto reading.” The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own.

 

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible. We are quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure, is to be either reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books which afterwards you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master’s service. Paul cries, “Bring the books”—join in the cry.

 

            Is that cry not profound?  Paul found it necessary for him to continue to read and write.  Paul, the apostle who wrote the majority of our New Testament felt it appropriate for him to keep studying until the very end.  How much should this convict our generation?  We can be so very lazy.  We can take our responsibility to read and really dig into God’s word so lightly.  Be convicted by Paul’s words.  If Paul read until the day he died, surely you can do something in your life to do more to educate yourself, to grow, to press on in your knowledge of the word of God.

Proverbs 12 (ESV)

4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,

but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

 

25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,

but a good word makes him glad.

 

     I highlight the two verses above from today’s Bible reading. This is not at all because I think they have anything to do with each other. But, they are words that spoke to me as I read this text.

 

                First is verse 4, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” As I read this verse, I recognized how true it is. An excellent wife is wonderful. A wife who brings her husband shame must be a terrible challenge. And, as I read this verse, I find myself so very grateful to God for my wife. Mitzi has been and continues to be an excellent wife for me. She is faithful. She is a sweet wife and wonderful mother for my kids. She works hard, cares much, and is wise. I have never, not even once, ever feared that she would bring me or the family shame. She is, of course, a beautiful gift from God.

 

                Then, I look at verse 25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Over this past week, I have found myself weighed down with anxiety. I have let myself be burdened by fears for the future, fears for finances, fears regarding church growth, fears regarding the purchase of a new home. But God is stronger and greater than my fears. Even this morning, he challenged me with, as the Proverb says, “a good word.” I have been reading Jared Wilson’s book, The Pastor’s Justification. In the chapter I was reading, Wilson reminded me of the sin of King David when he sent Joab out to perform a census, counting his potential army because he would not trust in the power and provision of God. That reproved me and called me to trust in the Lord and in his power and promises. I do not need to fear, as God is far more faithful than me and far more able than me to accomplish his will for his glory.

Psalm 148:13 (ESV)

 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his majesty is above earth and heaven.

 

     There are some verses that, if we really see them as true, completely change our lives. The above, though it may not seem like it, is just such a verse. If this verse is true, everything, absolutely everything, about your and my worldview has to change.

 

     What is so significant? The verse above declares that God’s name, the name of the LORD, alone is to be exalted. There is no other name under heaven which is higher or greater. There is no other name that compares. The name of the God of the Bible, the God revealed to us in the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is the true name above all things.

 

     You say, “Of course this is true. We know that already.” Great. Then ask yourself what changes if it is something you believe is true rather than simply acknowledging as an abstract fact. If God’s name alone is exalted, how does that impact your decision-making? What do you exalt? How does what you exalt compare to the name of the LORD? How does your praise shift away from God? How might you better make your life and help the lives of those around you magnify the God we know?

2 Thessalonians 1:3

 

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

 

                As Paul opened his second letter to the people of Thessalonica, he gave God thanks for two specific things about the church. Interestingly, especially when compared to the measures of church health often offered today, the reasons for which Paul gave thanks were not numeric or evangelistic. While I love when the church grows, and I love sharing the faith with others, I have to stop and notice that the reasons that God inspired Paul to give thanks for the Thessalonians church were their spiritual growth and their love for each other.

 

                These two marks, spiritual growth and love for each other, should be present in any church of the Lord Jesus. We should be growing spiritually. We should be studying and applying God’s word to our daily lives. Our learning should go deeper. Our obedience should become more and more joyful. Whatever it means to grow in the faith, our churches exist for us to do those things.

 

                We also should be loving each other. When you look at texts regarding the local church, there is a constant call for us to exercise godly love one for another. We are to care for each other and help each other out in hard times. We are to aid each other in our Christian walks. Genuine love for one another, in fact, is the way that Jesus said that the world will know that we actually belong to him (cf. John 14:35).

 

                So, Christians, let us set our hearts in our churches on spiritual growth and love. Without question, those areas will also lead us to mission, to outreach, and, by the grace of God, to numerical growth. But first and foremost, we are to be people who love God and love each other like crazy.

Psalm 144:3-4 (ESV)

 

3 O Lord, what is man that you regard him,

or the son of man that you think of him?

4 Man is like a breath;

his days are like a passing shadow.

 

     The question asked in the psalm above is one that is not often enough asked by people of today. What is man? What makes us special? Why would God ever pay attention to us?

 

     The next line of the psalm does not tell us why God would pay attention to us, but it does give us something to think about to help us to rightly put ourselves in place when we consider our Lord. In verse 4, the psalmist refers to the shortness of human lives. We come and go. Our lives pass in what appears to be only a moment. Whether you live for 10 years or 100 years, what is that when compared to the thousands of years of human history? Even more, what is that when compared to eternity?

 

     It would do us good, even today, to consider the brevity of human life. We often live as though we will stay here and do what we are presently doing forever. But that is a false way to live. God did not create us to live forever in a sin-darkened, fallen world. God has something much greater for us than this. And our lives will pass. They will pass quickly, before we know it.

 

     How should these thoughts make us respond today? We should look at the brevity of our lives and we should be amazed that God would pay attention to us (just like the psalmist in verse 3). We should see that, compared to God, we are insignificant. We are as nothing when compared to his might, his holiness, and his eternality. We are creatures, he is Creator. We are finite, he is infinite.

 

     May these thoughts challenge us to worship our Lord. He is great. His greatness reminds us of our weakness. We need him. We exist for him. May we honor him with the lives that he gives us to live on this earth.

Psalm 130:3-4

 

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

 

     Years ago, one could share the gospel with Americans simply by letting them know that God is willing to forgive their sins. People in days gone by knew that there is a God and that they did not live up to his standards. But times have changed. People have changed. And the thought that we are in need of grace is something we need to help others see.

 

     In the verses above, we see something beautiful and true. Verse 3 declares that, should God keep track of our sins, none of us could stand before him. We are all sinners. Not one of us, no matter how good or how bad, could set ourselves up in the presence of God and survive.

 

     God is holy. His holiness cannot tolerate the stain of sin. He will not ultimately let any sin go unpunished Nor will he allow the sinful to live in his presence.

 

     We need to feel the weight of the truth just mentioned. We need to recognize that we cannot stand before God. We are deserving of his judgment. If we do not grasp this point, we will not understand and rejoice in genuine grace.

 

     Verse 4 says that in God there is forgiveness that he might be feared. God is gracious. He offers forgiveness. Without it, we would be dead forever. With forgiveness, we can stand before the Lord, not because we deserve to, but simply because God is good and kind and gracious. And this truth is to make us fear and worship the Lord.

1 Chronicles 13:9-12)

 

9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”

 

            The scene where Uzzah reaches out, touches the holy ark of God, and dies for his transgression is one of those passages that is hard for us to wrap our minds around. The truth is, God’s holiness is deadly. Sadly, we forget that fact. We who live under the New Covenant fail to grasp the danger of a God who is absolutely righteous, pure, and perfect in every way. He is not like us. His standards are not ours. His ways are beyond ours. His justice is beyond ours. And, should we find ourselves opposing his holiness, we are in very deep trouble.

 

            Notice how David reacted when God’s holy justice was displayed. David was angry. He got mad that God did what God did. Why? Because David found his friend in conflict with God’s holiness, and he did not like the results. David thought God ought to rule the world the way that David thought he would rule the world were he in God’s position. And David found himself to be wrong.

 

            What do we do with this passage? I suggest two things that go hand-in-hand. First, I recommend that we learn to grasp the holiness of God. God’s holiness is great and frightening. God’s holiness is deadly to the impure. And, make no mistake, we are all impure. We need protection given to us by God if we are to possibly ever stand in his holy presence. This story reminds us of just how great is our need. This need causes us to again give thanks for the work of Jesus who paid the price for our sins and who makes us able to stand in the presence of the Lord.

 

            Second, I would suggest that we check ourselves whenever our instincts are to think that we would do things in a different way than God. When we do not like the way that God rules the universe, we need to remember that he is the all-knowing, all-wise, all-good One and not us. We are flawed—all of us. We cannot possibly imagine how things should go. We lack the knowledge, goodness, perspective, justice, etc; in a word, we lack the holiness of God. So, when we see that God and we think differently, we should know, by faith, that his ways are better than ours, his thoughts higher than ours, and his perfection well beyond our flaws. It is our need to set our minds on God and his ways and to conform our thinking to his.

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

 

13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

 

            The epitaph here recorded regarding Saul, Israel’s first king, is a very sad one, and one full of meaning for us. Saul died. He died for his disobedience to the Lord. Then, we see that he specifically died for consulting a medium rather than seeking guidance from the Lord.

 

            Of course, we could easily learn from Saul’s demise that we ought not disobey God or consult mediums. We could even draw applications about the modern interest in spiritualism, horoscopes, astrology, and the like. But I think there is something better for Christians to be thinking about here that goes beyond the surface.

 

            Where do you look for guidance when you desire to do the will of God? Do you seek a mystical, spiritual experience? Do you turn to self-help books? Do you look to others who appear successful in your particular profession? Do you read the latest book by a church growth guru or mega-church pastor? Or, does your guidance come from somewhere else?

 

            God put Saul to death for his disobedience to God’s commands and for his seeking guidance from a wrong source. These failures are two sides of the same coin. If we wish to seek the guidance of God, we must, absolutely must, seek the will of God in the word of God. We must become a people of the Bible who allow the Lord to speak to it through its pages.

 

            This day, Christians, how about seeking the guidance of God in the words of Scripture. Today would be a great day to once again commit ourselves to seeking God in his word. This is not a secret language or mystical calling. It is simply a call to pray, study God’s word rightly, and apply what it says. It is not complicated. It should not be terribly confusing. We follow God best when we are immersed in his word, studying, memorizing, applying, and growing.

 

            Lord, would you make me a person of your word this day? I desire to follow you. I desire to know your will. Please keep me from ever seeking guidance from a wrong source. Make me someone who knows your word so well that all that I consider doing is clearly discernible from biblical principle. Help me to know your word and love your word in order to help me better to know and love you.

1 Kings 13:20-22

 

20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”

 

                1 Kings 13 tells a fascinating story. A prophet of God came from Judah to denounce the idolatry of the newly formed northern kingdom. This prophet spoke the word of God and demonstrated the power of God.

 

                Yet, when the prophet headed home, he encountered another spiritual person. The prophet from the south met a prophet from the north. The man from the north lied to the prophet from the south, convinced him to ignore a clear command given to him by God, and eventually cost the southern prophet his life.

 

                As I read this story today, I find myself thinking about it in a way that I do not think would have ever occurred to me in times past. What is evident to me is that the clear word of God is something we must obey. Regardless of how many people claim to also have a new word or new way from God, we need to be careful not to be fooled. God’s word is steady. It does not change. God’s ways are always right. His commands are always perfect. They do not change with culture.

 

                Today, we live in the midst of one of the most dramatic and rapid culture shifts in history. We are watching people, even believers, looking at the word of God and redefining its clear meaning. On certain popular moral issues, Christians are debating whether or not the clear command of God is still applicable. And this leads me to wonder just how much of 1 Kings 13 is in play.

 

                How clearly did God speak about what is right and wrong? Honestly, God spoke very clearly in his word. Now people would argue that we should back off that word and exchange the clear command of God for a more socially acceptable stance. But God has not changed. And I wonder if we ought not recognize that to move from God’s clear command would be to bring about the death of the church as clearly and decidedly as the prophet of the south who met a lion on his way home.

 

                Now, I know that God’s church will not die. Nor will she fail. Yet, I also know that, many individual churches and denominations have turned so far from the word of God that there is no longer spiritual life to be found in their ministries. We are called by God to be loving. We are called to be kind. And we are called to be faithful to his commands, living in a way that the world may find strange or even that the world will hate. Yet, as we do so, we will find that God honors his word and he will be pleased with his people who humbly and lovingly keep his commands for his glory.