Single Life (1 Cor 7)

The single life is not the bad life or the least desired life. Don't live your life wishing that you were married, when you have a gospel to preach and a life to live for Christ.

The single pastor is not less of a pastor than the married man. A single man can tell you what the single man, the apostle Paul, has to say about husbands and wives loving and being in subjection according to the gospel, even as Christ loves the church and She bows to Him. The gospel of Jesus Christ sets us obeying God, whoever we are, and we don't need to have a 14 year old teach us the gospel, if we're 14. I don't need someone who's in my exact circumstances to teach me; I need someone who knows what God has to say, which will meet my need, from the Book.

The single life isn't a failure. God has given us much to do, and if we live our singleness SINGLE-HEARTEDLY for Christ, then we'll prosper. Paul said, “He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord – how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world – how he may please his wife” (vs32-33). Don't waste your life lusting for what you don't have. Live for the God you have, and when it is time, as you honor Him and seek His will, He'll give you someone, if He sees fit.

But, you and I miss nothing by serving Him single-heartedly in singleness. Don't be snared by “you need to marry” or any such thing.

When God gives you a believer who shares mutual attraction, then marry. Make it work for God's glory. We read, “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (vs8-9). But, until then, pursue Christ zealously.

“That They May Not Understand One Another's Speech” (Gen 11:1-9)

(vs3-9) Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God overthrows our plans, so we don't destroy ourselves, so it is a mercy when things we desire do not work, so long as it leads us to REAL refuge in Him. You won't find refuge in your wife, ministry, or any thing other than Christ. You can have peace and safety in His will, you can be happy in His presence, or you can suffer PERPETUAL defeat. “There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked” (Is 57:21). But, when God THROWS DOWN our Babel's and confuses our godless ambitions, it is a mercy, even though it leads to grief, because it leads us to Him, our rest.

Do not be deceived. You and I will have peace in Christ, or there will be no peace. Scripture says, “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Is 57:20). We will love people to Christ and live that God be honored, or we will get CONFUSION to our faces from God. Bless Him that He destroys our hands to give us Jesus' salvation. Bless Him that He destroys our plans to save us.

These sons of men rejected the Son of God, whom He's highly exalted, but He would not be forgotten. You and I forget too.

Remember, God is your peace, God is your hope, and God is your life. Don't find any peace apart from Him.

Monday Morning Reflections

The Only Remedy

God's gospel is on my mind, that we can make the gospel the joy of life, living it fully for Christ's sake. We must live to save men's souls, to bring them to Jesus, and we must get results. Regarding the four men who brought their friend to Jesus, it is written, “And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had BROKEN THROUGH, they let down the bed on which the paralyzed was lying” (Mark 2:4).

Our lives are too selfish. Men are perishing in hell, while we powder our noses, saying, “How do I look?” We have no need of self-serving; it is empty. Use beauty, talent, and all that you have to God's glory. 1 Cor 10:31, 33 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God... just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved”. Live that others know Christ, and recommission yourself in obedience to His commission daily. This is the remedy for all that you need: believing God.

His purpose is to save YOU, giving glory to Jesus Christ, and it is to save others by you.

Remember Jonah? He was depraved in his thinking, caring for himself while others perished, “so Jonah was very grateful for the plant... But the Lord said, You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand – and much livestock” (Jonah 4:6)? Don't be this way, or you will be unhappy. Be God-visioned. See through His eyes, and you'll see sinners in need of salvation, rather than people to use for our own pleasure and gain. Paul said, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30).

You are either taking from men, using yourself to DISTRACT them from Christ, and drawing them away, or you're showing them the character and doctrine of Jesus.

He said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23)

“For the Sake of the Elect” (2 Tim 2:3-10)

(vs8-10) “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

We have mission in this life, to save the elect. We are NOT saved to be selfish but to stretch out salvation to others chosen of God. These sinners, like us, shall believe the gospel, and God's sent us who believe to search them out and recover them from falling. He says, “As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them”, and again, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Ezek 34:11-12; Jer 3:15). The Lord SAVES by the people that He has saved, so we live His way, doing His mission.

First, the Lord saves by saved people. Someone found you wandering and restored your sight. Someone helped you understand the mystery of the Book, and you're to spend your life helping others.

This doesn't mean you quit your job and become a “missionary”; it means that where you are, in whatever position God's put you, with whatever gifts you and I have, devote yourself to manifesting Jesus Christ, “But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk” (1 Cor 7:17). It isn't enough that He's revealed to us. If we know His glory, then we live that others see Him too, doing what we can, day by day.

Secondly, the Lord saves the “elect” by us, so be sure that your labor isn't in vain (2 Tim 2:10). 1 Cor 15 says, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (vs58). There is a people that Christ shall save, no matter how rebellious they appear.

From the outside, if you'd looked at your worthless soul, you'd be highly skeptical that He'd save you. Who'd have thought the cute baby in the picture was actually chosen of God, kept by the angels, and finally called to life by the gospel?

Preach Christ and know that Christ will make the blind to see, the lame to walk, the leper to be cleansed, and the unbelieving to believe. Isaiah 35 speaks definitively, “He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (vs4-6).

Preach Christ in the confidence that God does the saving.

Thirdly, we must ENDURE hardship in this task, because many hate us. Paul said, “I suffer trouble as an evil doer”, and, “I endure all things” (2 Tim 1:9-10). Many SHOULD be hungering for bread, but you offend them by revealing their need. Jesus says in John 9, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see'. Therefore your sin remains”. Yes, many should be hungry for electing love, knowing God's word and Spirit can be trusted. However, you wound man's controlling impulse when you put salvation rightfully into the hands of God, even “Him who calls” (Rom 9:11). Man should love those who save him... who seek his good... but he will hate you, even as he hated Christ.

But, don't be troubled. The God who raised Christ from the dead shall enable you to conquer, “according to my gospel” (2 Tim 1:8). Election sets forth a conquering God, and all who trust Him, no matter the hate of this present world, shall endure unto the end and be raised in glory.

Lastly, this is not an easy task, but the reward is great, even “eternal glory” (2 Tim 2:10). The Lord's promised us the highest reward.

We must labor in the heat of the day on His terms. We run the race that He set before us, His way, laboring in the battle according to the Commander. 2 Tim 1:4-5 says, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And if anyone competes, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules”. Yet, the reward is far greater than the pain, even as, “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops” (vs6).

This is our light affliction because what's coming to REWARD our faithfulness on earth is eternal heavenly bliss. Don't quit and hide the gospel. Don't quit preaching and praying because you're opposed. As elect, get strength from Jesus' grace to hold Him out to His elect in this world. They will come, and you will be in heaven, eternally glorified, happy, and pleasing to God.

“Keep Them Alive” (Gen 6:19-20)

“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.”

Read: Gen 6:11-7:1

Noah's ark is a picture of the believer's life work, believing on Christ, as He is, unto the end, when God rewards us.

First, the believer's purpose in life is to save others. We can't enjoy salvation, if we're not living that others be saved, too (1 Tim 4:16). Noah was required to build the ark, not only for himself, but for those God purposed to save, even as believers live that elect souls may be saved. Paul said, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim 2:10).

Secondly, salvation is by coming to Christ, even as they came to Noah in the ark. Salvation isn't by a man or efforts that we've made. We are not the final piece of the pie; we are the sinners, helpless and vile, and we RECEIVE free grace from God (Gen 6:16). You have not come, until you've taken freely, as your own possession, what Christ has earned – forgiveness, obedience, heaven. You are blessed of God to be saved by a Savior who does it all, gives it freely, and makes us NEEDY enough to take. The church's job is to preach Christ, our hope, that they might be saved by Him.

Thirdly, Noah saved others to experience life instead of death. We are SAVED from the wrath of God and given blessings from God, instead. Instead of getting what everyone else gets, what we deserve, we get life eternal, God, and every blessing of grace (James 1:17-18). Noah obeyed, and God rewarded Him, and there is a reward for the righteous - “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Gen 7:1).

Finally, don't live selfishly and miss Christ. Build the ark, walk exactly as God says, and He will receive you. And, those who believe you, ordained of God, shall be saved, too (Gen 6:22).

“The Priest’s Office” (Ex 28:41)

“And for Aaron’s sons you shall make coats, and you shall make for them girdles, and bonnets shall you make for them, for glory and for beauty. And you shall put them upon Aaron your brother, and his sons with him; and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may MINISTER unto me in the priest’s office” (vs40-41).

Jesus ministered to God, serving Him in the salvation of sinners, reconciling us to God at God's command.  The Father sent the Son to save us, laying down His life for the forgiveness of sins, restoring what He took not away; He glorified God, so God now glorifies GRACE to us in salvation - pardoning and bestowing WEALTH upon us freely, like power over sin.

Trace your riches to Christ your High Priest and honor God, exalting Him who gives by worshiping the Son by whom He gives. He COMMANDS you to live FOR Christ who died for you, pointing sinners to the Savior in faith (trusting Him to save by the gospel) and love (desiring Christ for others).  Glorify God, fulfilling your mission in glory to Him who died for your eternal pardon and good, earning you heaven and making the way sure. Praise and bless God that His work for you - what He’d have you do - is GLORIOUS, even as Christ’s work - what He did for you- was glorious in saving you. You have a mission now, too: love not sin or selfishness to the death.

“Mine” (Numb 3:12-13)

“And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord” (vs12-13).

We belong to Jesus Christ; we are the bride that He chose, elect from the world’s foundation.  We cannot have this world, when He said, “You shall abide for me many days; you shall not play the harlot, and you shall not be for another man: so will I also be for you”, so that He stamps His GLORY upon our faithfulness, and promises that sin won’t reign over us, washing us, quickening us, and helping us LEARN from instead of DIE for sin and our weakness (Hos 3:3). We are BLESSED of God, so we are His to use, and we are to SURRENDER to His will, serving Him in cleanness and pardon, honoring Him by what we receive, walking in humbleness, understanding that He is WORTHY of our devotion and commitment.  The gospel has made me yield to Him, because He is RIGHT and wonderful to have REDEEMED us to conquer sin and love people to Christ.  God becomes ours, and His purpose is mine now, too.  We SURRENDER to Christ.  This is His due, and the REDEEMED shall do it.