MAY 16, 2023

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (II Corinthians 11:3)

The danger that has the Apostle exercised here is that some at Corinth might be departing from the simplicity that is in Christ. He was fearful that their minds were being corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and simple faith in Christ.

The corrupters and seducers were, of course, false apostles who were going about preaching another Jesus than the One Paul had preached. Some were ready to hear these men, and to receive a different spirit than the Spirit Whom they had once received. They were giving ear to a different gospel than the Gospel of Christ that Paul had declared to them.

Paul knew that the true source of the corruption was the devil, that old serpent, who beguiled our mother, Eve. Paul recognized immediately what was happening, and who sent these false apostles who were corrupting the gospel. “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted…”

It is a horrible tragedy when professed believers are lured away from truth by novel doctrine packages for marketing, and presented by slick, well-spoken salesmen who call themselves apostles. This, as it appears from the context, is exactly what was happening. These people, who had received the Gospel from none other than Paul himself, were being drawn away by another Gospel. Paul feared that they were in danger of being persuaded away from the simplicity of Christ by false teachers.

What a pity that, having been taught by this divinely inspired master-teacher, these novelty seekers were enamored with teachers whose speech was not so rude. Satan is subtle and clever. He beguiles folks, causing them to choose beautifully spoken error over plainly declared truth. The error that carnal men love to hear is that which flatters their pride by assuring them that there is something they can do. This is the very method which Satan still pursues in order to lull them on to ruin. “Ye shall be as gods,” said the devil to our first mother, Eve.

This indeed is the grand device of Satan; it is the masterpiece of his craftiness. This is what he continues to use. Men love to imagine that there is something left for them to do to qualify to become partakers of grace. And as this is all very flattering to the pride of our nature, and exactly corresponds to the state the devil left our first parents in when he ruined them, so it becomes the very method that he still pursues with all their children.

Now Paul was alarmed and distressed on this account. The serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety, and Paul feared that these whom he had brought to Christ would also be seduced by him. How blessed is the teaching of the Holy Spirit that strips the sinner of all self-trust and leaves him nothing – leaves him bankrupt and empty so that Jesus can fill him and be his only trust. Paul may have been “rude in speech” when he preached this, “but not in knowledge.” (Vs. 6) When the sinner is made sensible of his nothingness, then Jesus can become his “all in all.” (Col. 3:11)

Nothing can be more simple than this. “Christ is all, and in all.” If Christ is all, then it would be folly to seek for happiness in anything but Christ. So, if our minds are led away to seek a supply from anything other than Christ, this is the same temptation that the serpent used on our first parents.

Christ alone is our fullness and our sufficiency. In bringing nothing to Christ, any trusting wholly upon Him, in this simplicity that is in Christ, the poor sinner finds how to live wholly upon the fullness that is in Christ Jesus. Let not Satan beguile you by his subtlety “from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

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MAY 11, 2023

 “Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.” (Joshua 2:18-19)

In Chapter 2 of the book, the titular Joshua and the Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan and begin conquering the land of Canaan. Their first stop is the city of Jericho, a city with tall walls surrounding it. Before attacking the city, Joshua sends spies to scout it out and discover whatever intel would be helpful. Seemingly moments after being sent, the spies are found out and flee to the home of the harlot Rahab, seeking shelter from the soldiers sent to capture and kill them.

In the house, they do indeed find shelter. Rahab also lies for the men telling the soldiers, “…whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.” (Vs. 5) If the deception had been found out, Rahab would have been killed. She put her life on the line for these two strangers because she knows that Israel’s God is the true God.

As thanks for keeping the spies safe, they tell Rahab her house will be spared when they take the city. The Israelites will know which house to spare by the scarlet thread bound in the window. As our passage says, everyone in the home with the thread in the window will be spared.

When the walls of Jericho do fall, in Joshua 6, and the Israelites take the city, Rahab and her family were indeed spared, and the thing that marked her home was this cord of scarlet thread. It’s easy upon a first read to dismiss the color of the rope, but the color is highly significant. The string in her window was a sign of her faith and led to her salvation, as she was not destroyed with the rest of Jericho.

The scarlet rope worked for Rahab much as the blood of the Passover lamb had worked during the Exodus: every home marked with blood was spared from death (Exodus 12), which was a symbol of the blood of Christ. Like the homes adorned with the blood of the lamb, or Rahab’s house with the scarlet thread in the window, those who are covered by the blood of Christ will be spared from destruction.

MAY 4, 2023

 “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (I Corinthians 3:5-7)

When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter, much division was occurring at the church of Corinth. Much of the congregation thought that the words of one pastor were more crucial than the words of another, namely between the Apostle Paul and Apollos.

Paul addresses this succinctly when he asks, “Who are these people if not ministers given by the Lord?” He posits that if God had not intervened in the lives of His ministers, they wouldn’t be ministers at all.

Only through God’s help and guidance do they gain what makes them unique in the first place. He writes, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

Without God, it would be as if Paul had planted a button in the ground. Paul could have been the best gardener of all time, having farmed in the right spot, where it gets the perfect amount of sunlight. Apollos could then give it the ideal amount of water at the correct daily intervals, not ever under-watering. But without God, there is no growth.

His point here is that teachers and preachers, by themselves, are nothing. All the glory is due to God, Who works through us. The rewards are not due to our gifts, but our faithfulness and trust in God. These are small jobs, of course, but God is the one that makes them worth doing.

Later in the chapter, Paul pivots the analogy from gardening to building, in which work he sees himself and others as “laborers together with God.” He declares that he, as an Apostle, was under God a “wise master builder,” and had “laid the foundation” upon which others that followed were to build. Of course, the one true foundation which Paul had laid is Jesus Christ. This he had done in the planting of the Gospel at Corinth. Now, says the Apostle, we are all “laborers together with God” in the work of the Gospel. As we build upon this sure foundation it doesn’t matter who does what so long as we are working together with God. We must realize that without God working with us and by us our roles lose all meaning. Paul writes in the Roman Epistle, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…” (Rom. 12:3) All good things we have come from God, and unless He is our co-laborer in the employment of His gifts, nothing enduring will be built.

Paul, or any other pastor, could only build upon the foundation (the person and work of Jesus Christ) because of the things God gave. His stance here is simple: the Corinthians are fools for fighting between two of God’s subordinates. God is the one that does the critical work. He’s the one that gives the increase.

MAY 2, 2023

“And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.” (John 11:28)

How very gracious the Lord Jesus is to those whom He loves. He is always aware of our times of distress, and that brings Him to where we are. The text says, “The Master is come.” His coming is always timed appropriately according to His purpose. That which leads up to this scene confirms that He intended to come when the sorrow of His loved one was at its peak. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He continued two days where He was at that time. It is quite comforting that our Sovereign Lord not only knows about our troubles but has purposed them for our good.

Martha’s message to her dear sister was especially comforting when she added “And calleth thee.” That makes His love and grace very personal. He knows each of His sheep by name, and He calls for them personally. Thus, does He speak to us in times of trial and suffering. The soul who knows the irresistible attraction of His voice will experience the sweetest comfort in His words.

The Lord Jesus Christ does not only send forth His Gospel message to the world, the church, the house or family; but He speaks by the tender wooing of His loving call to the individual soul. “To you is the word of this salvation sent.” Since He calls His own sheep out of the world one by one, it should not be surprising that He cares for them as individuals. When they are hurting, “He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom.”

Besides the calls of His grace to grace, and the many loving calls of His voice besides, there He is in all providences and happenings of our lives. In every circumstance of life this should be our first concern:

“What is my Lord saying to me?” In each and every event, let us hear Martha’s words, “The Master is come, and He calleth thee.” Let me always be on the lookout. Let me “watch to see what the Lord will say to me.” We must never think that the Master is come in His Word and providence and has no message for us to hear.

As soon as Mary learned that the Master was come, and that He called for her, she went immediately to the place where He was waiting for her. She did not at first give Him opportunity to speak, but rather fell at His feet weeping and voicing her complaint: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” This too Jesus anticipated, and allowed, just as He had done before with her sister. It is good of our Lord to allow us to express our grievances. He not only allowed but encouraged this with some of the saints of old – for example, Job and Elijah. In Martha’s case, what words of comfort were given her: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me shall never die.” Mary’s tearful complaint was met first with expressions of sympathy. She wept and “Jesus wept.” (Vs. 35) He is not indifferent to our tears of sorrow. He then demonstrated the marvelous truth of His declaration to Mary’s sister and called forth their brother from the grave.

From the amazing story, we can assure everyone who is a child of grace that in the hour of your greatest extremity, the Master will come to you and He will call for thee.