Freedom is Good News Part 150

Have you ever considered that you are beautiful in God’s eyes?  We have been looking at the 45th Psalm and considering the application of these words to the end time “wedding supper of the Lamb”.  In verse 11 we read these words, “The King is enthralled with your beauty; honor Him for He is your Lord.”  My bible translation did not capitalize the several words in that verse, but if I apply them to our Savior, our King and the one I am betrothed to then I honor Him with capital letters.

He is my King and my Lord and it amazes me to consider that He is enthralled with the beauty of His bride, the Church; of which I am a part.  His love for me is unbounded for He laid down His life for me that I might live. 

Several months ago Sally and I attended a wedding.  I did not perform the service for them but they asked me to give the message on the Sabbath Day before the wedding.  If you have been following along these past 4 weeks, I am sure you realize what topic I was teaching about.  Yes, the wedding supper of the Lamb and the beautiful template our human weddings become as they picture the ultimate wedding of the future.   

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.”  Revelation 19:6-7  Has there ever been a bride more beautiful than on her wedding day?  “And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” Rev. 21:2-4

Yes, weddings are special occasions.  They are prepared for and rehearsed.  It can be quite fun to be a part of one.  But just consider the above quote; the ultimate wedding will be the harbinger for a time like none other – God will dwell with His children.  He will do away with the final enemy – death.  Tears will be wiped away, no more crying, no more pain or suffering. 

And then there is the last line in Psalm 45:11, “Honor the King, for He is your Lord!”  Amen and amen!!!

Freedom is Good News Part 147

“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”  Psalm 45:1

This is how the Psalmist begins the great wedding song of the Psalms.  In the physical realm of ancient times, we do not know who was getting married.  What was the king’s name and who was his bride?  Some speculate that King David commissioned this Psalm to be written for his son the future King Solomon and that may be true.  However, as with much of the Old Testament, we have here a picture painted for us of a future wedding being planned for the true and righteous King of kings and Lord of lords; the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” will have a wedding feast.  We read about this in the 19th chapter of Revelation, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

Now that will be the wedding for all time – there will be nothing like it in all of creation, in all of time.

Let’s go back to Psalm 45!!  Starting in verse 2 we read, “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.”   I consider this to be a prophecy of that future wedding.  Jesus Christ is the most excellent of men – is he not?  And His lips, what words they speak!!  In John 6:68 Peter says to Christ, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

The imagery of Psalm 45 talks about ‘a sword’, a ‘Mighty one’, clothing of ‘splendor and majesty’ (verse 3).  He ‘rides forth victoriously’ in ‘truth, humility and righteousness’.  (verse 4)  The ‘nations fall beneath His feet’ (verse 5). 

These are the same images that we find in Revelation 19, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  … He is clothed in a robe … and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. … From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. … On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Our Savior, our King, the Anointed one of God and the one who will take to Himself a bride at the conclusion of this age, is awesome in might and power and wisdom and honor and glory.  We shall talk about His bride next time.  Stay tuned!!

Freedom is Good News Part 89

Paul tells us that “the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”  And then goes on to tell us, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10)  Why do we not want to do the things that are good for us?  We humans are a strange lot!  We want God but we want Him on our own terms and yet He is the creator and the giver of all good gifts.  As James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Did you catch that?  “He does not change like shifting shadows.”  In other words He does not play “good cop / bad cop” with us.  He is not a good God today but tomorrow He is not so good.  (James 1:17)  Elsewhere in the bible it says that He is the same yesterday, today and forever ….. hmmmm?  Why is it that many of us think He has changed?

Do you like the Psalms?  There are so many beautiful thoughts and tremendous bits of wisdom in the Book of Psalms.  Might we take a quick walk through the 119th Psalm together?  Verse 1: “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.  Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart.”  Right off the bat, we have two beatitudes that tell us it is a blessing to keep His laws.  Verse 11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Verse 20: “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.”  Verse 46: “I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands.”  Verse 174: “I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.”

This Psalm is the longest in the Psalter - 176 verses – and in each one we find words that lift up the law of God!!  Did you know that Moses was not the first to receive these commands and laws?  I have heard some say that these laws were just for the Israelites.  But long before there was an Israelite, we are told that Abraham kept the laws of our God, (who changes not!)  And by the way, Abraham was not an Israelite; he was not a Jew.  Judah, from whom the Jews get their name, was the great-grand-son of Abraham.  When Isaac (Abraham’s son) was being blessed by God, we read this: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” (Genesis 26:4&5)

It was four articles ago that I mentioned how huge a subject is the topic of “law”, and we have only touched the surface.  God’s law is good and keeping it is good news!  And yet somehow we tend to see this world’s empty glory and run after it.  The only way we humans can be filled and fulfilled is by allowing the God of the universe to guide us, to direct our paths and to fill us with His lovingkindness.  He has a plan and He is working it out.  Perhaps I have said this before but in any text book all the answers are found at the end and so it is with the bible; in the end of the book of Revelation we find that God wins.  Satan is defeated and destroyed; the righteous are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.  God is good – amen.

Freedom is Good News Part 68

We have been looking at a section of the 73rd Psalm these past few articles – verses 23 through 26.  Last week we considered Asaph’s statement that God will guide him with His counsel and so now we come to a very uplifting statement.  The verse reads like this:  “You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me into glory.”  It is God who guides us and it is God who will receive us!

I know there are a lot of people who do not believe in God and there are a lot of people who do not accept the God of these Holy Scriptures and there are a lot of people who are not interested in reading or studying about God in these Holy Scriptures.  But as for me, I’m with Asaph on this!  I desire God to guide me and I desire God to lead me, take me, and receive me into glory.  I have never been ashamed to tell my heavenly Father that I love Him and that I desire to have Him guide me into His glory!  And do you know why?

It’s because I’m with Asaph on this and his next lines in this Psalm are my lines: “Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”  I believe that when I enter into His glory, when I at last see my God face to face, when I bow before Him on His throne, I will be amazed that I ever held anything in this world as having any worth!!!  Jobs, cars, houses, clothes, entertainment, whatever it may have been that grabbed my attention when instead I could have been drawing nearer to my God and my Savior. 

Oh, I am like Asaph; letting my feet almost slip and envying others – losing my foothold because I took my eyes off the true prize, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And this takes me back to where we started this journey into Asaph’s Psalm.  If you have been paying close attention there is a tremendous lesson here.  You might remember that several weeks ago I made this bold statement, “In the letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote, ‘…seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.’  In short, I can unequivocally say that this scripture is the answer to the entire topic of this column.  And when I say ‘this column’ I do not mean just this present article.  I am talking of our entire search for “good news!!”

The reality of having God in our lives must be second to nothing else.  For “Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  I will leave it to you to read the remainder of the Psalm.  Asaph’s testimony is worthy of your reading.

We have a lot of responsibility with the word of God.  We may gain knowledge and we may gain understanding but what will we do with them?

Freedom is Good News Part 67

We began looking into a portion of the 73rd Psalm two articles ago.  , “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.”  These are two beautiful sentiments expressed by the Psalmist Asaph as he repents for his thoughts that were causing him to sin.  His next line in this Psalm is very informative, “You guide me with your counsel”.  What is it worth to you to be guided by the counsel of the one who has created all things, “visible and invisible”?  To be guided by the one who sees the big picture of all that happens here on earth? 

Perhaps we should ask the man, Job.  Remember, he was the man who lost all his earthly possessions and his health and then pondered why God had left him so.  Near the end of the book of Job we find him very humbly replying to God, “I know that you can do all things; that no plan of yours can be thwarted.… Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know… therefore I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)  And so Job was blessed immensely.

Or perhaps Isaiah the prophet may instruct us in the worth of God’s guidance.  “Behold your God!  Behold the Sovereign LORD comes with power and His arm rules for Him… He tends His flock like a shepherd… He gently leads those who have young…. For who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed Him as His counselor?  Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way?  Who was it that taught Him knowledge or showed Him the path of understanding?”  (Isaiah 40:9-14)

Yes, God is the one to guide us by His counsel!  But will we listen?  Down through the ages people have spurned the counsel of God.  Our very first “parents”, Adam and Eve had but one commandment that God told them to obey and they failed – they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God brought Abraham into the land of promise and yet when adversity came, he packed up and moved into Egypt for a while.  Israel, time and time again forsook the counsel of God – they halted from going into the land that God had brought them to, they grumbled and complained afterward as they wandered in the wilderness. 

I could go on with example after example, but the question remains: will we listen to the counsel of God?  Let us not forget that in his statement, Asaph doesn’t pray that God will guide him by His counsel but, in faith, he acknowledges that God does guide him.  So how do we realize that God will guide us?  Solomon, in Proverbs 3:4 says this, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  Let me put two and two together; if we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will guide us and thus make our paths straight.

Do you acknowledge God in all your ways?  Do you listen for His counsel in your life?

Oh, there still is a lot more to come concerning this 73rd Psalm.  Stay tuned!!