Spying Out the Land of Floripa

This morning as I contemplated the thought of taking the Gospel to this city of Florianopolis, I felt overwhelmed. I felt incapable of such a great task. God, in His sovereign wisdom, led me to read Numbers 13, on spying out the land of Canaan. The story is well known. 10 spies come back saying that it is a good land, but there are giants in the land. 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, agree to these facts but have more to say. Notice the difference in what these 2 groups actually said.

The 10 spies said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." (v.31)

Caleb said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." (v.30)

So, what is the big difference between Caleb's response and the other men's? At first, it may seem like Caleb had more self-confidence than the 10 men. Maybe they had low self-esteem. I don't believe that is the case though. I believe that Caleb's confidence came from knowing who God is and believing in Him. The other men's lack of confidence came from ignoring who God is and not believing Him. The spies were right in saying that the giants in the land were stronger than they, but they were focusing on the wrong thing--themselves. Here are 3 things the Lord impressed upon my heart today from this story:

1. There is a self confidence in doing a BIG JOB which amounts to pride.
I need to be aware of this and careful not have this attitude. I have noticed many times in ministry how I seem to trust in my ability to get things done.

2. There is a lack of confidence in God which leads to a lack of action.
Many people are so afraid of BIG JOBS (like evangelism or missions), they never try anything for God and His glory. They are missing out on great blessings, I believe.

3. There is a right sense of confidence which says, "We are well able to do this in the ability of God."

I don't know about my brother David, but there are many times in my life when I do not feel "able" to do the task that God has called me to do here in Brazil, and possibly in Florianopolis someday. I am encouraged today by this story to be confident that I am "well able" in the ability of my Omnipotent God.

I look forward to "spying out the land" of Florianopolis with David next month. Pray for us that we would "be of good courage".

JT

Preaching in the Spirit

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says this in Preaching and Preachers: "There is but one thing that gives a preacher authority, and that is that he be 'filled with the Holy Spirit'."

I read Numbers 11 today and noticed a strong contrast between the Spirit resting on certain individuals and the people of Israel giving in to their "strong craving" of the flesh. The main truth that God has shown me in this text is that you cannot have the strong cravings of the flesh and also have the Spirit of God resting on you at the same time. Galatians 5:16 is very clear on this:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

One great reason why one would want to have the Spirit of God resting on him is to be able to bear one another's burdens. Galatians 6:1 states that only those who are spiritual, meaning who walk in the Spirit, should restore a brother. I believe that there are many blessings to be had when we are walking in the Spirit, and many pains to be had when we are seeking to satisfy the cravings of our flesh. Let us look at Numbers 11 more closely.

In Numbers 11:17, God says: "I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them." The "them" here is the 70 elders which God chose to help Moses to bear the burden of the people of Israel. Right away I see that having the Spirit to help with others' burdens is a must. Now I realize that God's giving of His Spirit in the OT is a bit different than it is today. I still believe that the principle of needing the Spirit to rest on us is valid today. We call that the "filling of the Spirit".

We are told in Numbers 11:25 that "as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied." Now I realize again that prophesying in the OT was a little different. As I remember in college, it involved foretelling and forthtelling God's message, or in other words, giving prophecy of future events and simply preaching God's already revealed Word. What strikes me here as important is that the Spirit resting on these elders enabled them to preach. Sometimes we preachers forget about the absolute necessity of having the Spirit rest on us as we preach.

Later in Numbers 11:29, Joshua tells Moses to stop the elders from continuing to prophesy and Moses says, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!" This expresses how good it would be if all God's people had the Spirit. In a sense they do, if they have believed in Jesus as their Savior. They are now indwelt by the Spirit. But the filling of the Spirit, being controlled by the Spirit, is another thing. Would that all God's people, who are indwelt by the Spirit, also be controlled daily by His Spirit!

On the flip side of all this, we see in Numbers 11 that the people of Israel are giving in to their "strong craving" for meat and the foods of Egypt that they complain to Moses. God then tells Moses that He would give them meat till it came out of their nostrils and it became loathsome to them. (v.18,20) God then sheds some light on their real problem: "because you have rejected the Lord who is among you." (v.20) They were not satisfied with God's presence and wanted the inferior pleasures of their flesh.

In the end, we see the true end of choosing the strong craving of the flesh. God struck them down in His anger while the meat was yet between their teeth. (v.33) The place was called Kibroth-hattaavah which means "graves of craving". So, in the end, their craving killed them. Is that not the truth of what our flesh will do to us? Sure, the pleasures of our flesh are enjoyable to some degree, but in the end they kill us in many ways. And at the same time, we miss the blessings that God wants to give us if we allow His Spirit to rest on us. We cannot have both the Spirit resting on us and be feeding the "strong cravings" of the flesh.

I want more than anything to be effective when I preach and teach God's Word. I also want to help people in their Christian walk and lead other to Christ. God has made me realize the importance of walking in the Spirit moment by moment if I am going to have this kind of eternal effect on people for God's glory.

JT

All or Nothing

I just started reading through the book of Numbers in my devos. I cannot say that I was jumping up for joy to begin with. Numbers is one of those books of the Bible that you put off reading usually. However, I had made a Bible reading plan a few months back, and this was my next book to read. I thank God for making His Word alive and powerful to me. Here is just what I have learned in chapter 1 and 2.

Both chapters entail God giving Moses some specific command which may seem a bit too detailed and tiring. The first chapter contains the command to number all the men who were of fighting age. (20 years or older). Chapter 1 tells us exactly how many men were counted from each tribe. (603,550) The second chapter is a command of how they are to arrange the camps of all the people. Obviously, they do it by tribes and the Levites camp in the middle of all the people with the tabernacle.

What challenged my heart was the response of the people to God and His commands. Both chapter 1 and 2 end with the same phrase:

"Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses" (1:54;2:34)

This may not seem that important to you, but I believe that it was important to God and it should be important to us. Despite these seemingly trivial commands, the people obeyed all that God commanded them to do. Why was this important to God and why should it be important to us, to do according to all that the Lord commands us?

1. God's commands are for our greatest good.

Taking a census of all of Israel was preparing Moses and the people to be ready for the battles that were ahead of them. Imagine Moses and the people marching off to war without knowing their number exactly and having a battle plan.

2. God's commands obeyed ensure His presence in our lives.

This may seem wrong to say, since God is omnipresent, as the Bible clearly teaches. I believe God is present everywhere, but not His presence of blessing. I even believe He is present in Hell, not to bless, but to punish. He specifically commanded Israel how the people were to encamp and march. The Levites along with the tabernacle, which I believe represented God's presence, were supposed to encamp in the middle of all the tribes and march in the middle as well (2:17). If they chose to disobey what seemed like an unimportant detail of God's command, they were hindering God's presence of blessing in their lives.

This last truth greatly challenged me. I see myself constantly asking for God's blessing on my ministry, my family, and personal issues. However, there are many times when I am not doing all that the Lord has commanded me to do. I want God's blessing in my life. I want to have personal victories over certain addictions. I want to lead people to Christ. I want my ministry at church to grow numerically and spiritually. BUT I do not want to obey Him in all things. I want Him at my terms. What I believe God is saying to my heart today is that if I really want Him in my life, I must accept His commands as well. If I refuse to accept His commands, I lose the power, the blessing of a powerful, wise, loving God. It is All or Nothing--all His blessing and commands or none of them.

JT

My Comments on Cross-Referencing Truth

I believe God's Word is one. This includes unity and diversity at the same time. There are 66 books or sections or divisions, or whatever you may want to call them. These books must be studied within their historical and cultural background to capture the truth that God intended to convey. However, they must also be studied within the bigger picture of the whole Bible since they are God's Word. Your comments were excellent in pointing that out to me.

The last blog was treating the issue of "correlation", which I do believe to be of great value. I agree with Mayhue's statement: "So it is important when we study a text that we ask what else has God said about a certain theme or subject." It is important that we ask, but I'm not so sure that it is important that we search for every cross reference on the passage we are studying. Since God's Word is one, we will find that the cross references many times are innumerable and we end up preaching 5 or 6 messages in 1.

I also agree with this statement from Mayhue: "Correlation allows us to see the part (the text we study) in the light of the whole (the entire Bible)." This is obviously important and I think that with time one will improve on his ability to study the parts of passages in the light of the whole. Mayhue suggests cross referencing to make sure that correlation is done. The danger in cross references is preaching the whole Bible in one message. This is exhausting! Not to mention impractical, because the people will not benefit from this much knowledge. We are finite beings. This picture of this man who ate a 15 pound burger is a great illustration of this. It took him 4 hours to down all that meat, but did it profit him? I think it probably hurt him more than helped him.
So, here is my view on how to use cross references. They certainly have their place.

1. If no cross references come to mind, don't seek them.
2. If cross references come to mind or there are some in the margin of your Bible, look them up.
   
3. If the passage uses a cross reference, for example from the OT, then definitely study it out and very possibly use it in the message.
4. If the cross reference strongly supports the passage you are studying and in fact says something in a different way or stronger way that would enhance your passage, use it.
   

I have learned a very awesome truth about God's Word as a whole, but especially the parts. The parts are much clearer than we think, more powerful than we can imagine, and self-sufficient in many cases. Therefore, not always, but many times these passages do not need or warrant help from other passages, despite the fact that they are all connected.

Haddon Robinson says, "Since the Bible stands entire and complete, no passage should be interpreted or applied in isolation from all that God has spoken." I certainly agree with that as well, but when we give the message of God's Word to people in the congregation, I want to give them something they can chew and enjoy and profit from. I would much rather give them a quarter-pounder than a 16 pound burger.

JT

Preparing to Preach Truth

I have just begun reading "How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself" by Richard Mayhue. It is one of my Bible college books that I never really read very carefully, and I want to improve my interpretation skills a lot more. I read a section entitled, "Correlation" and I really wanted to know your thoughts on this.

"In reality the Bible is actually one Book, not sixty-six. All thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven of the New are parts of the "The Book" we call God's Word.
So it is important when we study a text that we ask what else has God said about a certain theme or subject. How else has a certain word been used in Scripture? What else has happened in a location in biblical history? Is there anything else about the passage I can learn elsewhere in the Bible?
Correlation allows us to see the part (the text we study) in the light of the whole (the entire Bible). It provides the way to gain a proper biblical perspective--to major on majors and minor on minors. Once the whole is understood, the part will take on added meaning.
One of the best ways to do this is by using the cross references in your Bible to get a broader understanding. Chain reference Bibles are also helpful. The ultimate in tools to do this is the The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Revell).
Psalm 13 raises the question, Is David the only person to question God with doubt? By correlation we discover David is in good company.
The prophet Habakkuk called out, "How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear?" (Habakkuk 1:2). John the Baptist despairingly queried, "Are You the Coming One, or shall we look for someone else?" (Matthew 11:3). Even Christ anguished, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).
David was not the only saint who had to wait a considerable time for God's plan to fully unfold. He joined the elite ranks of Noah, who waited 120 years for the judgment of the flood (Genesis 6:3); Abraham, who waited 25 years for Isaac (Genesis 15-17); Moses, who waited 40 years to be rescued (Exodus 2:23-25; Acts 7:30); Joseph, who waited over a decade to be vindicated (Genesis 37:2; 41:46); Job, who waited an indefinite period for restoration (James 5:11); and Daniel, who waited 70 years for God to intervene in Israel's history (Daniel 9:2).
If you want to expand on the idea of death's appearing to be like sleep, you can look at Jeremiah 51:39; Daniel 12:2; John 11:11-13; 14:12; I Corinthians 11:30; and I Thessalonians 4:14.
Correlation helps flesh out the text. It provides depth and is a great source of illustration. Also it prevents us from drawing wrong conclusions from only part of what the Bible says. This expanded or theological emphasis constantly allows us to understand the part in light of its whole."

Agree or Disagree? And on what points exactly? Please explain your answers. I will be giving my thoughts on this section later after I have heard your thoughts. Thank-you for helping me.

JT

Subordination to the Truth

sub·or·di·nate: Subject to the authority or control of another. Paul warns Titus that there are many who are insubordinate to the truth. (1:10) Paul mentions that some of these people were of the circumcision party and then tells Titus to rebuke these people so they will avoid turning away from the truth. He says something interesting about how a person comes to turn away from the truth, which is possible for believers and unbelievers alike. Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure (specifically the knowledge of the truth); but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

John MacArthur says, "If the mind is defiled, it cannot accurately inform the conscience so the conscience cannot warn the person." Paul says these people are "unfit for any good work." In case you have not noticed, good works is a huge theme in the book of Titus.

• "zealous for good works" (2:14)
• "be ready for every good work" (3:1)
• "be careful to devote themselves to good works" (3:8)
• "learn to devote themselves to good works" (3:14)

So, I see a process here which is crucial to the life of a disciple of Christ and it involves truth, which is what we say we are about. Here it is:

1. The mind must subordinate (subject to the control of) to truth.
2. The conscience uses this truth to control us.
3. The knowledge of the truth (1:1) embraced qualifies us for every good work.

What we must admit and remember is that just because we read about and listen to truth, does not mean that we have subordinated to this same truth. We still have to make a choice--subordinate or not subordinate to the truth.

JT

"The Long Silence"

"At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly--not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.
'Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?' snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. 'We endured terror...beatings...torture..death!'
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. 'What about this?' he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. 'Lynched...for no crime but being black!'
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. 'Why should I suffer' she murmured, 'It wasn't my fault.'
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. Hos lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth--as a man!
'Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
'At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.'
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No-one uttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence." (Taken from "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott, pg. 327-328)