Waiting, and watching.

In Dr Luke's account of the Gospel, he records these words of the Lord Jesus: "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them." (Lk.12:37, NKJV). The Greek word "grēgoreuō" (gray-gor-you-o), translated here as "watching", may also be translated as "alert", or "awake". However, The Lord Jesus, in those words already quoted, gives a special commendation to those who not only wait for His return, but also earnestly watch for Him.

Dr Donald Barnhouse, an American Presbyterian minister in the early years of the last century, illustrated the difference between these terms with a story of a Scottish fishing boat that was returning home after many days at sea. As the vessel neared the shore, the crew gazed eagerly towards the dock, where a group of their loved ones had gathered. The skipper looked through his binoculars, and identified some of them. "I see Bill's Mary; and there is Tom's Margaret; and David's Anne." One man became concerned because his wife was not there!. When the catch had been unloaded, and the necessary work on the boat had been completed, he left it with a heavy heart and hurried up the hill to the cottage where he lived. As he opened the door, his wife ran to meet him. "I've been waiting for you!", she said. His soft reply held a gentle rebuke - "Yes, but the other men's wives were watching for them!" 

It is possible to wait for the Lord without exhibiting much watchfulness. Our minds may have many verses from the written Word of God, the Bible, all neatly arranged, that tell of His return. We may even be able to quote them quite glibly. But what a difference it makes when our hearts are eagerly looking for His imminent return - which is much closer now than when Dr Barnhouse told his little story!

We "...must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” (II Peter 3:3-4).

The hours may seem to pass slowly but, when viewed from the perspective of eternity, which is not "endless time", but "timelessness", but where, in terms of earthly time, "... one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (II Peter 3:8), the Lord's promise: "Surely I am coming soon." (Rev.22:20), becomes clear! Given this proper understanding of His apparent delay - although there are many signs that His taking up of His faithful people to meet Him "in the air" (I Thess. 4:17) .very close! - His words of cheer should keep us on our spiritual tiptoes.

Does the hope of His soon return cause you to wait patiently and watch expectantly - and listen for "...the archangel’s call, and ... the sound of the shofar of God." (I Thess. 4:16)?

Those who wait for the Lord

I am one of those people who likes to use the lapel of my jacket to display a badge! Sometimes someone will actually ask me what a particular badge signifies, and I am happy to explain. One of my badges is an eagle. Now the truth is that it was an award, many years ago, given by an organisation of which I was a part. However, I always refer to some words from the book of the prophet Isaiah: "...those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31).

This is one of the best-loved promises of the Bible, for it is easy to grow weary and faint in our mortal bodies, even when doing the work of the Lord. The answer, we are told, is to "wait upon the Lord."

 

But what does this mean? The Hebrew word (qavah) does not mean "serve," but rather to "wait for" or "look for." It is translated "waited for" the second time it is used in the Bible, when the dying patriarch Jacob cried out: "I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord." (Genesis 49:18).

 

The first time it is used, surprisingly, is in connection with the third day of creation, when God said: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place" (Genesis 1:9). That is, the all-pervasive waters of the original creation, divided on the second day of creation, now are told to wait patiently, as it were, while God formed the geosphere, the biosphere, and the astrosphere, before dealing again with the waters.

 

Perhaps the clearest insight into its meaning is its use in the picture of the Christ foreshadowed in the 40th Psalm. "I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined unto me, and heard my cry" (Psalm 40:1).

 

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary," (Isaiah 40:28), and His gracious promise, in v.31, is that we can "renew [our] strength" (literally, "exchange our strength," our weakness for His strength!) by "waiting upon [Him]." (v.31). We wait patiently for Him, we gather together unto Him, we look for Him, we cry unto Him, we trust Him, and He renews our strength! 

What a blessing it is to be able to wait upon the Lord!

Things of the World

The apostle John, in his first letter to the early Christian Church at large is, as my own third volume in the "Faith" series (originally the "Getting to know you" series) seeks to show, defending "... the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3). However, he also exhorts his readers, and one of those exhortations reads: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." (I John 2:15).

We must be wary of the world's "things," because although we are "in the world," we are not "of the world" (John 17:11, 14). The command is that we are not to love the world or its things, not that we should remain blissfully ignorant of them. We are to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

 

There are big things of the world like "kingdoms" and "nations" (Matthew 4:8; Luke 12:30), as well as cares and riches (Mark 4:19), that can sap our focus and drain our loyalties. And there are "elemental spirits" and "regulations," (Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:20) that can twist our thinking and "make a prey" of us (Colossians 2:8).

 

We are warned that friendship with the worldly lifestyle and that which espouses the "things" of the world leads us to "enmity with God" (James 4:4). That is because such people embrace the "spirit of the world" and not "the spirit which is from God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). Those people speak about the things of the world, and the world listens to them (1 John 4:5).

 

God's people may be "low and despised" and "weak" — even "foolish" in the eyes of the world (I Corinthians 1:27-28). Of course, since the great Creator God has chosen us out of the world (John 15:19), it should not surprise us that the world "has hated", and continues to hate, those who belong to the Lord Jesus (John 17:14). Hence, the ungodly passions that drive the ungodly behavior of the world, "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world". (I John 2:16).

 

Those passions and the people who embrace them will "pass away." But "he who does the will of God abides for ever." (I John 2:17).

The spiritual man

It has been claimed by some that, at least in "the west", we are living in the most "spiritual" age in the history of mankind. That may well be so - but "spiritual", I would suggest, can be a very vague word! For example, the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as: "relating to deep feelings and beliefs, especially (not solely!) to religious beliefs."

In the Second (New) Testament, the word rendered "spiritual" is the Greek word pneumatikos, from which theologians have coined the term "pneumatology," the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Thus, from a Biblical perspective, a "spiritual" person is one who is not only born again spiritually through faith in Christ and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but also tries diligently to follow the leading of the indwelling Spirit and to understand and obey the precepts of the Bible inspired by Him.

A spiritual person will have "the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:16), able to judge all things by spiritual standards and Biblical revelation. He or she will "walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." knowing that "to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:4, 6). As such, spiritual believers prayerfully make decisions seeking God's will, they are "led by the Spirit of God" (Romans 8:14). And since they "walk by the Spirit," they "do not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16).

 

They will often and repeatedly be "filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) for Christian service. Furthermore, they will manifest "the fruit of the Spirit" in their lives and personalities — that is, "love,[expressed in] joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;" (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

Yet while "The spiritual man" is thereby able to discern and evaluate all things by such divine standards, he will find himself often misunderstood by unsaved relatives and acquaintances, for " The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, ...... because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14).

 

However, "he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:8). 

The "Light" Equation

Leading a Bible Study, this week, in the congregation where I was minister more than 50 years ago, and using an illustration from my teaching career that involved a reference to quantum physics (!), has possibly influenced the topic for this week's blog post!

Light, which can be in either wave, or particle, form is the most constant, clearly observable, and all-pervasive material experience in our universe. It also appears regularly, in the Biblical text, which is rich with metaphors and similes! 

In John's first letter, he makes the simple, but profound, statement that "God is light" (1:5). In his account of the Gospel record, John also makes a number pof references to light. God's life is the light of men (John 1:4).

God's light is not conquered by darkness (John 1:5).

God's light attracts men who love truth (John 3:21).

Jesus is the "light of the world" (John 8:12).

 

John's emphasis in his epistle is focused on the application of the "light" in our lives. Since God is light (see also I Timothy 6:16), we can never be a participant in the life of God apart from the light of God (I John 1:6). If we claim fellowship with God, we must "walk in the light, as He is in the light" (I John 1:7). Since God is the "true light" (I John 2:8), we are not part of His family if we despise those He loves (I John 2:9).

 

It is equally obvious that since Almighty God is "holy" (Psalm 99:9) and "righteous" (Daniel 9:14), the light that we are to "shine" (Matthew 5:16) must be a "like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day". (Proverbs 4:18).

 

Our breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) should blind the ungodly with the brilliance of our lifestyle of holiness — so much so that even if we are spoken against by those who hate God, they will be forced to glorify God because of our good works (I Peter 2:12).

 

Because the God of our salvation is "the light of the world" (John 9:5) and we have been made "the children of light" (Ephesians 5:8), that we "may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (I Peter 2:9).