Sunday, June 3, 2018

In My Place Condemned He Stood

     I like what Warren W. Wiersbe has to say about "the Smitten Servant" in Isaiah 53:4-6.  "We are sinners by choice and by nature.  Like sheep, we are born with a nature that prompts us to go astray and like sheep we foolishly decide to go astray, i.e. to go our own way."  In other words, we are bent toward sin, we are sin-bent; and we go bad, we do bad.  "Under the law of Moses, the sheep died for the shepherd; but under grace, the Good Shepherd died for the sheep (John 10:1-18)."

     The prophet Isaiah said, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."  

Our Troubles
Half our troubles come from wanting our own way. The other half comes by having it.
The hymnwriter Philip P. Bliss described Jesus’ atoning work on the cross as follows:
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood—
Sealed my pardon with His blood:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Yes, only Christ could be our sin bearer!
Source unknown



Condemnation Certain
After World War 1, 900 German soldiers who had violated international law were summoned to appear before the World Court. Their condemnation was certain. In a dramatic move, however, the former crown prince of Germany volunteered to be their substitute. His offer included taking upon himself both the accusation against them and their penalty. This act, though most noble, was impractical. Although he was royalty, he did not have in his own person the value of the 900.
There is another Prince who took upon Himself the judgment due the entire human race. Unlike that German leader, He is not implicated in any evil. Because of His sinless humanity, He could be “delivered for our offenses.” Because of His deity, He could be “raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). He was able to pay in full the ransom demanded by God’s holy law, because in Him was the intrinsic worth needed to provide salvation. Yes, the Father laid upon His sinless Son the iniquity of us all.
Our redemption has been purchased by Heaven’s Crown Prince. So don’t depreciate the cross. Don’t underrate Christ’s great sacrifice. It will cost you your soul. It will shut you out from God. It will darken your eternity.
Thank God for a royal Substitute! - Romans
Our Daily Bread, April 17


From <https://bible.org/illustration/isaiah-536


Question: Are there any conditions to answered prayer? See Answer: http://ebible.com/answers/23631?ori=664697


Are there any conditions to answered prayer?


Question: "Are there any conditions to answered prayer?"

Answer:
Some people would like prayer with no conditions. They wish God to be a celestial genie who, when summoned by prayer, must grant any request they make. They find a measure of encouragement in the fable of Aladdin and his lamp, aspiring to that level of control over God’s power in their prayer life. But the biblical fact is that prayer has conditions. It’s true that Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22). But, even in that statement, we have one condition to prayer: faith. As we examine the Bible, we find that there are other conditions to prayer, as well.

Here are 10 biblical instructions concerning prayer that imply conditions to prayer:

1) Pray to the Heavenly Father (see
Matthew 6:9).


After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

This condition to prayer might seem obvious, but it’s important. We don’t pray to false gods, to ourselves, to angels, to Buddha, or to the Virgin Mary. We pray to the God of the Bible, who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and whose Spirit indwells us. Matthew 6:9-13

Living Day by Day

These two Scripture verses prompted someone to write,
“One secret of a happy Christian life is living by the day. It’s the long stretches that tire us. But really, there are no long stretches. Life does not come to us all at once. Tomorrow is not ours; but when it does come, God will supply both daily bread and daily strength.”
Source unknown

Living Moment to Moment

As Pastor Philip Doddridge was walking along the street one day, he was feeling depressed and desolate, for something had happened to burden his heart. Passing a small cottage, he heard through the open door the voice of a child reading the words found in Deuteronomy 33:25, “.as your days, so shall your strength be.” The Holy Spirit used that truth to bolster his sinking morale. He was encouraged not to look too far ahead, but just to go on living for the Lord from moment to moment in the consciousness that God would care for him.
Apparently D. L. Moody also learned that secret, for he said,
“A man can no more take a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough today to last him for the next 6 months, nor can he inhale sufficient air into his lungs with one breath to sustain life for a week to come. We are permitted to draw upon God’s store of grace from day to day as we need it!”
God never gives His strength in advance, so let’s stop crossing bridges before we come to them. The Heavenly Father will graciously supply our every need—one day at a time!
Don’t try to bear tomorrow’s burdens with today’s grace.
Our Daily Bread, December 30, 1985

I Cannot Say . . .

  • I cannot say Our, if my religion has no room for others and their needs.
  • I cannot say Father, if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily living.
  • I cannot say Who art in heaven, if all my interests and pursuits are on earthly things.
  • I cannot say Hallowed be thy name, if I, who is called by His name, am not holy.
  • I cannot say Amen unless I honestly say, “Cost what it may, this is my prayer.”
Author Unknown, The Evangel, 3/27/85

Three Parts

1. Praise,
2. Priorities,
3. Provision.
Peter Dieson, The Priority of Knowing God, p.43

The Disciple’s Prayer

In the Lord’s Prayer (or the Disciples’ Prayer) we have three essentials for effective praying.
1. First there is relationship: “Our Father, who art in heaven” (v. 9).
2. Then there is responsibility: “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done” (vv. 9,10).
Something Happens When Churches Pray, W. Wiersbe, p.118
Coming to Him as our “Father” implies that we are first His children—made so by faith in Christ (see John 1:12). --
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
Full Pardon Refused
In the early 1800’s, President Andrew Jackson issued a full pardon to George Wilson, a man sentenced to be hanged. Wilson refused it. But could he legally refuse the President’s pardon? Supreme Court Justice John Marshall declared, “The value of the pardon depends upon its acceptance. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must hang.”
And Wilson was hanged.
To pardon everyone’s sin, Christ shed His blood on the cross. The price was paid. But each individual must first receive this forgiveness.
Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, pp. 83ff


2) Pray for good things (see Matthew 7:11).
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?We don’t always understand or recognize what is good, but God knows, and He is eager to give His children what is best for them. Paul prayed three times to be healed of an affliction, and each time God said, “No.” Why would a loving God refuse to heal Paul? Because God had something better for him, namely, a life lived by grace. Paul stopped praying for healing and began to rejoice in his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). --
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
11 
I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
12 
Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Resource

    The Upside of Down, Joe Stowell, Moody, 1991, pp. 144ff
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Resource
·        The Upside of Down, Joe Stowell, Moody, 1991, pp. 144ff 
From <https://bible.org/illustration/2-corinthians-127-10>
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Resource
 • “Glory in Infirmities,” Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong, pp. 42-3

From <https://bible.org/illustration/2-corinthians-129-10>



2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Thank God for Thorns
An unknown poet has written:
Once I heard a song of sweetness as it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer whence the wondrous song was born;
Till I found a bird, sore wounded, pinioned by an ugly thorn.

I have seen a soul of sadness while its wings with pain were furled,
Giving hope and cheer and gladness that should bless the weeping world;
Soon I learned a life of sweetness was of pain and sorrow born,
For that stricken soul was singing with its heart against a thorn!’

You are told of One who loves you, of a Savior crucified,
You are told of nails that pinioned, and a spear that pierced His side;
You are told of cruel scourging, of a Savior bearing scorn,
And He died for your salvation with His brow against the thorn.

You are not above the Master! Will you breathe a sweet refrain?
Then His grace will be sufficient when your heart is pierced with pain;
Will you live to bless His loved ones though your life be bruised and torn,
Like a bird that sang so sweetly with its heart against a thorn'

If you have thorns in your life, thank God for the roses of grace that inevitably go with them.

H.G.B., Our Daily Bread, Friday, February 6
Resources
·        Ask Him Anything, L.J. Ogilvie, Word, 1981, pp. 73ff
·        Taking The Guesswork Out of Applying The Bible, Jack Kuhatschek, IVP, 1991, pp. 34ff

From <https://bible.org/illustration/2-corinthians-121-10>

3) Pray for needful things (see Philippians 4:19).   But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

Placing a priority on God’s kingdom is one of the conditions to prayer (Matthew 6:33). – ”But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

First Things First

In the late 19th century John Wanamaker opened a department store in Philadelphia. Within a few years that enterprise had become one of the most successful businesses in the country. But operating his store wasn’t Wanamaker’s only responsibility. He was also named Postmaster General of the United States, and he served as superintendent for what was then the largest Sunday school in the world at Bethany Presbyterian Church. When someone asked him how he could hold all those positions at once, he explained. “Early in life I read, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ The Sunday school is my business, all the rest are the things.”
One evidence of Wanamaker’s desire to keep the Lord’s work first in his life was a specially constructed soundproof room in his store. Every day he spent 30 minutes there praying and meditating upon God’s Word. He had his priorities straight!

Our Daily BreadMatthew 6:33

 

Planned Neglect

A noted young concert violinist was asked the secret of her success. “Planned neglect,” she replied. Then she explained, “Years ago I discovered that there were many things demanding my time. After washing breakfast dishes, I made my bed, straightened my room, dusted the furniture, and did a host of other chores. I then turned my attention to violin practice. That system, however, failed to accomplish the desired results. So I realized I had to reverse things. I deliberately set aside everything else until my practice period ended. That program of planned neglect accounts for my success!”
Our Daily Bread

See God’s Kingdom First

Henry Drummond, a scientist at the turn of the century, speaking to a group of college students:
“Gentlemen, I beseech you to seek the kingdom of God first, or not at all. I promise you a miserable time if you seek it second.”
Source unknown

Wealth and Generosity

Among those in the court of Alexander the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he was refused—the treasurer needing to verify that such a large sum was authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, “Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity.”
Today in the Word, MBI, August, 1991, p. 19

The promise is that God will supply all our needs, not all our wants. There is a difference.

4) Pray from a righteous heart (see James 5:16). Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The Bible speaks of having a clean conscience as a condition to answered prayer (Hebrews 10:22). It is important that we keep our sins confessed to the Lord. “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18, NAS).

5) Pray from a grateful heart (see Philippians 4:6). Part of prayer is an attitude of thanksgiving. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

6) Pray according to the will” of God (see 1 John 5:14).
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us”

God’s Will Better Than Ours

Here you ask: Do you mean to say that this promise is always true even though God often does not give what we have asked for? As His Word shows, it is certainly His will to deliver you from all evil, not to leave you in temptation, and to give you your daily bread. Otherwise He would not have commanded you to pray for these things. If you pray in this way—that all may go according to His will—then your prayer is certainly heard. Therefore when in trouble and danger, you should certainly pray for deliverance and help, but in the way the Lord’s Prayer teaches you—if it tends to hallow His name and please His will; if not, that He will act as He sees best. If it is not heard according to our will, then it is heard according to the will of God, which is better than ours.
Martin Luther

 An important condition to prayer is that it is prayed within the will of God. Jesus prayed this way all the time, even in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). We can pray all we want, with great sincerity and faith, for XYZ, but, if God’s will is ABC, we pray amiss.

7) Pray in the authority of Jesus Christ (see John 16:24). Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Alexander the Great

Among those who served in the court of Alexander the Great was a famous philosopher who had outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told he could draw whatever cash he needed from the imperial treasury. When he submitted to the treasurer a request for an amount equal to $50,000, he was promptly refused. The treasurer had to verify that such a large sum was indeed authorized. But when he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, “Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity.”
Our Daily Bread

 Jesus is the reason we are able to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 10:19–22), and He is our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”. A condition to prayer is that we pray in His name.

8) Pray persistently (see Luke 18:1).   And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”  In fact, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)Pray without ceasing.”

Pray as God Would Have Us Pray

British writer Samuel Chadwick had this to say: “To pray as God would have us pray is the greatest achievement on earth. Such a prayer life costs. It takes time. All praying saints have spent hours every day in prayer. In these days, there is no time to pray; but without time, and a lot of it, we shall never learn to pray.” - H.G.B.
Our Daily Bread, November 17

. One of the conditions to effective prayer is that we don’t give up.

9) Pray unselfishly (see James 4:3). Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Man Doesn’t Want What’s Best

Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give because He would give the best, and man will not take it.
George MacDonald in George MacDonald, An Anthology, p. 130
 Our motives are important.

                                                                                                                                          

Joshua’s prayer for the sun to stand still, as audacious as that request was, met all these conditions of prayer (Joshua 10:12–14)***************.
Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
Cf. 1 Sam. 12:
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.
So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

Elijah’s prayer for rain to be withheld—and his later prayer that rain would fall—met all of these conditions (James 5:17–18).

17 
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Patient Health

Research at San Francisco General Hospital has revealed that victims of heart attack, heart failure and other cardiac problems who were remembered in prayers fared better than those who were not. Cardiologist Randy Byrd assigned 192 patients to the “prayed-for” group and 201 patients to the “not-prayed-for” group. All patients were in the coronary intensive care unit. Patients, doctors and nurses did not know which group patients were in. Prayer group members were scattered around the nation and given only the first names, diagnoses and prognoses of patients. The researcher said that the results were dramatic.
The prayed-for group had significantly fewer complications than the unremembered group. And fewer members of the former died. The latter group was five times more likely to develop infections requiring antibiotics, and three times more likely to develop a lung condition, leading to heart failure. These findings were published in the American Heart Association.
Adopted From Chicago Sun-Times
Jesus’ prayer as He stood before the tomb of Lazarus met all of these conditions (John 11:41-- 
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
). They all prayed to God, according to His will, for good and necessary things, in faith.

The examples of Joshua, Elijah, and Jesus teach us that, when our prayers line up with God’s sovereign will, wonderful things will happen. There’s no need to be abashed by mountains, for they can move (Mark 11:23).
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
The struggle we face is in getting our prayers lined up with God’s will, having our desires match His. Congruency between God’s will and our own is the goal. We want exactly what He wants; nothing more, nothing less. And we don’t want anything that He doesn’t want.

Godly, effective prayer has conditions, and God invites us to pray. When can we pray big? When we believe God wants something big. When can we pray audaciously? When we believe God wants something audacious. When should we pray? All the time.


Beth-Horon, Battle of, Israelite-Canaanite (בֵּית חוֹרֹן, beith choron). Overviews the battle between the Israelites and the Canaanite coalition described in Josh 10 and different interpretations of God’s supernatural involvement in it.
Location
Upper Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon were cities in the territory of Ephraim, on the border of Benjamin (Josh 16:5; 18:13–14). They were separated by 2 miles. Between the two cities was the ascent and descent of Beth-Horon.
Battle in Joshua 10
Joshua 9–11 details several conflicts between the Israelites and coalitions of Canaanite kings. In Joshua 10, the Israelites fought a coalition of five Canaanite kings on behalf of the Gibeonites, whom they were compelled to defend due to a treaty (see Josh 9). Joshua and the Israelite army marched through the night to catch the armies of the Canaanite coalition off guard and then “chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon” (Josh 10:10 ESV). Joshua 10:11 records that while the Canaanite armies were descending from Upper Beth-Horon, God hurled large hailstones from heaven on them, which inflicted more damage than the Israelite army itself. Joshua 10:12–13 then records that after Joshua prayed to Yahweh, “the sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day” (Josh 10:13 ESV).
Interpretations
Scholarly discussion of this account focuses on the statements concerning the sun stopping in Josh 10:13. The various scholarly interpretations can be categorized into three groups:
1.   historical interpretations
2.   misinterpreted miracle interpretations
3.   nonliteral interpretations
Historical Interpretation
Those who interpret Josh 10:12–13 historically maintain that the passage depicts a historical event best understood from a straightforward reading of the text. Many of the classic interpreters, including Augustine, Jerome, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, took this approach. Extrabiblical texts also interpret this event historically. For example, Sirach 46:4 states, “Was it not through [Joshua] that the sun stood still and one day became as long as two?” (NRSV). Josephus claimed that this day was longer than the ordinary day (Josephus, Antiquities 5.1.17).
The writer of Joshua may have attempted to offer evidence of the historicity of the event with the statement, “Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?” in Josh 10:13 (ESV). The Book of Jashar—a lost, ancient collection of Hebrew literary material—may have supported Joshua’s claims.
Another approach that could be categorized as historical is that the sun’s light lingered rather than actually stood still. For example, Gruenthaner suggests that a refraction of light may have allowed for the sun to give the appearance of retaining its position into the night (Gruenthaner, “Two Sun Miracles of the Old Testament,” 271–90). This view still maintains the supernatural aspect of the text.
A Misinterpreted Miracle
A second approach to understanding this passage holds that people have misinterpreted the miracle in Josh 10:13 by reading the verb דּ֔וֹם (dom) as a command to stop moving rather than to stop shining. Those who promote this approach claim that Joshua asked God for relief from the sun, not for the sun to stop moving. For example, Maunders proposes that Joshua prayed to God around noon because the Israelites were becoming overcome by the sun’s heat. In his view, Joshua prayed for clouds to obscure the sun, which would allow the Israelites to rally in the battle (Maunders, “A Misinterpreted Miracle,” 359–72). Margalit likewise believes Joshua prayed for relief from the sun but maintains that the answer to his prayer was a solar eclipse rather than clouds (Margalit, “The Day the Sun Did Not Stand Still,” 466).
Figurative Interpretation
Those who interpret this passage figuratively argue that the author of Joshua used this language to demonstrate Yahweh’s divine power. Those who support this view argue that the poetic nature of the text lends itself to this understanding and that other biblical texts that use similar language are understood as figurative in the context of divine-war victory (e.g., Exod 15; Deut 32; Judg 5; Nelson, Joshua, 144).
Bibliography
Josephus. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1987.
Gruenthaner, Michael. “Two Sun Miracles of the Old Testament.” Catholic Bible Quarterly 10 (1948): 271–90.
Holladay, J. S. “The Day(s) the Moon Stood Still.” Journal of Biblical Literature 88 (1968): 166–78.
Margalit, Baruch. “The Day the Sun Did Not Stand Still.” Vetus Testamentum 42, no. 4 (1992): 466–91.
Maunders, E. W. “A Misinterpreted Miracle.” The Expositor (1910): 359–72.
Nelson, Richard D. Joshua. Old Testament Library. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1997.
Jason Darrell Coplen[1]


[1] Coplen, J. D. (2016). Beth-Horon, Battle of, Israelite-Canaanite. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

·        The Upside of Down, Joe Stowell, Moody, 1991, pp. 144ff 



2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Thank God for Thorns
An unknown poet has written:
Once I heard a song of sweetness as it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer whence the wondrous song was born;
Till I found a bird, sore wounded, pinioned by an ugly thorn.

I have seen a soul of sadness while its wings with pain were furled,
Giving hope and cheer and gladness that should bless the weeping world;
Soon I learned a life of sweetness was of pain and sorrow born,
For that stricken soul was singing with its heart against a thorn!’

You are told of One who loves you, of a Savior crucified,
You are told of nails that pinioned, and a spear that pierced His side;
You are told of cruel scourging, of a Savior bearing scorn,
And He died for your salvation with His brow against the thorn.

You are not above the Master! Will you breathe a sweet refrain?
Then His grace will be sufficient when your heart is pierced with pain;
Will you live to bless His loved ones though your life be bruised and torn,
Like a bird that sang so sweetly with its heart against a thorn'

If you have thorns in your life, thank God for the roses of grace that inevitably go with them.

H.G.B., Our Daily Bread, Friday, February 6