And so the sympathetic high priest is Jesus Christ, who in the days of His flesh felt what we feel. And of course, the climax comes when He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. What incident in His life does that speak to you about? Does that remind you of the Garden of Gethsemane? Sure. That was the greatest climax of His suffering for there He began to bear the sins of the world didn’t He? There He began to feel the crush of sin upon Him. He began to feel Satan bruising Him, and it hurt. Do you remember the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He went to the cross? He went into the Garden to pray and He agonized there and He sweat as it were great drops of blood and He cried to the Father. And His heart was grieving and broken at the prospect and the pain of bearing sin. And He felt the power of sin and He felt temptation. He felt everything Satan could throw at Him, and He got it all even on the cross. He felt everything you’ll ever feel.
One of the most famous backsliders in the history of the church is Simon Peter. This man, who had followed Jesus faithfully in the midst of hunger, storm, and public unrest, denied Him when He made that final journey to the cross. He publicly and boldly denied that he ever had known Jesus of Nazareth. Could such a man, who had turned His back on his Savior, his Lord, his friend, ever again be confident that he would one day enter into that inheritance promised by God?
How can we know God unless He reveals Himself to us? The creation confirms His existence, but what does the creature know of His attributes, Person, or Power? Unless He teaches us about Himself, we will not know. God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a born-babe, to live the full life of sinlessness under the Law, and to teach us about Himself. He was prophesied to die as the atoning sacrifice, and then rise again to receive His people through His work on the cross. Grace abounds.
It used to be that when I posted a discernment essay critiquing a teacher and showing through scripture that he or she was false, I’d receive a lot of heat, insults, and anger. Still do – a bit. But nowadays, it’s the posts about women’s roles (being at home as submissive wife/mom as the career) that generate anger, rejection of verses, curses and name calling.
Far from wanting to push back in similar anger, I just sadly look at their handles (many are crass), bios, (usually proud of a rebellion), or profile photo (many are immodest), yet these angry women claim to be Christian. My sorrow for them increases.
Since my conversion, a verse that always stood out starkly to me was Matthew 7:21-23, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we…?” I’ve researched it often. Greek for many here is “polýs (“much in number”) emphasizes the quantity involved; signifies ‘many, numerous’– i.e. great in amount.”
Hypocrisy and false belief is a heavy possibility for us all. Disobedience increases the likelihood of both.
Gill’s Exposition says of the Matthew 7:21-23 verse, “The word is repeated to show their importunity, sense of danger, the confusion they will be in, the wretched disappointment they will have; and therefore speak as persons amazed and confounded, having expected they would have been the first persons that should be admitted into heaven.”
I’ve heard in sermons that the number of the rejected will be astoundingly great. Their shock at learning the truth of their false belief will be unveiled before all. But it will be too late. This is a sobering truth- worthy of restraint and contemplation when dealing with a woman who may be on a path toward that side of the gulf.
How many professing Christian women will say ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we make a wonderful career out of ministry? Didn’t we help many people? Didn’t we teach Bible to thousands? Didn’t we bring in a good income from my job? Splitting my time between job and kids wasn’t SO bad, was it? Even if the kids missed us a little, or ate frozen dinners too often, isn’t the ultimate balance a good one? Lord?’
No. It isn’t. The Bible is clear, a woman’s orientation is toward the home.
Ladies, I know Stay At Home Mom work isn’t glamorous. It’s dirty, boring, and repetitive. Raising kids is hard. It’s background work that seems to reap no public affirmation. Indeed, the public scorns housewifery. Even ‘Christian’ women mock it by claiming that just being a housewife isn’t enough, that a career outside the home is OK too. But staying in our roles God has ordained for us is ultimately for our good and reaps good. It’s our calling. Make it your joyful priority.
[I realize that circumstances mean some families make decisions that have the woman work outside the home. The young wife with no kids temporarily works to put her husband through seminary. The husband is deployed or on medical disability. She’s a widow, and so on. I am not making a general, blanket edict for ALL families.]
But… the Bible states that a woman’s primary goal should be to serve the home by helping her husband and raising the children at home (if the Lord blesses the couple with them). Serving the husband and her church if not.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18).
Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. (1 Corinthians 11:9).
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. (Titus 2:3-5).
There are two issues: understanding the concepts the Bible puts forth on this topic of gender roles, and obeying them. As for the former, the Bible is clear about a wife’s primary orientation. It’s the home. The verses above are easily interpretable. They’re not murky on the subject.
So the issue is not one of interpretation, it’s an issue of obedience. They read, know, and understand the verses, they just choose to reject them in willful rebellion. This is why their stance is so dangerous, and calls for rebukes ranging from gentle to pointed.
Lifestyle disobedience is disobedience. Here is a good resource from Dr. Michael Youssef, “Genuine faith can only be demonstrated by obedient action.” More here, titled Faith that leads to Obedience.
And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 1:22-23).
Barnes’ Notes says on the Jude verse-
Save with fear – That is, by appeals adapted to produce fear. The idea seems to be that the arguments on which they relied were to be drawn from the dangers of the persons referred to, or from the dread of future wrath. It is undoubtedly true, that while there is a class of persons who can be won to embrace religion by mild and gentle persuasion, there is another class who can be aroused only by the terrors of the law. Every method is to be employed, in its proper place, that we “by all means may save some.”
Pulling them out of the fire – As you would snatch persons out of the fire; or as you would seize on a person that was walking into a volcano. Then, a man would not use the mild and gentle language of persuasion, but by word and gesture show that he was deeply in earnest.
The women who don’t have to work outside the home, who split their time between career and husband/kids/home for reasons of personal fulfillment are in disobedience, which means they either are not a Christian, or, they are in Christ and are spiritually conflicted. I know this because rebellion always brings discomfort. The Day will reveal whether it was a false belief or a willful disobedience.
It should be noted that if a woman is actually in Christ, persistent disobedience will bring chastisement and eventual repentance.
In the meantime, though some are warranted a harsh rebuke to instill the fear of God, others are due a gentle warning. Perhaps the rebuke or warning will be the mechanism He uses to bring repentance. I ask God, grant me the wisdom to know when to do which. In other cases, you ladies’ exemplary modeling of the lifestyle to which He has called us may be the mechanism that brings repentance.
Ladies, even though the day-to-day work of being a wife and mom may be a grind, even if you get tired or irritated, in the end do you feel a sense of joy at the humans you’re raising? Satisfaction with how you’re supporting your husband? Do you feel a sense of spiritual fulfillment that your obedience aligns with God’s desires for you? Does your knowledge of scripture for women’s roles give you a sense of purpose for your life? If not, examine yourself to see if you are one that will hear “Well done Good & faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master” or “Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you!”
My earnest desire is for women to know and love the scriptures, to be satisfied with their role, and to greet Jesus in love on the side of Light on the Day.
The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, except in the passage before us. The essential idea is that of bringing to emptiness, vanity, or nothingness; and, hence, it is applied to a case where one lays aside his rank and dignity, and becomes in respect to that as nothing; that is, he assumes a more humble rank and station. In regard to its meaning here, we may remark:
(1) that it cannot mean that he literally divested himself of his divine nature and perfections, for that was impossible. He could not cease to be omnipotent, and omnipresent, and most holy, and true, and good.
(2) it is conceivable that he might have laid aside, for a time, the symbols or the manifestation of his glory, or that the outward expressions of his majesty in heaven might have been withdrawn. It is conceivable for a divine being to intermit the exercise of his almighty power, since it cannot be supposed that God is always exerting his power to the utmost. And in like manner there might be for a time a laying aside or intermitting of these manifestations or symbols, which were expressive of the divine glory and perfections. Yet,
(3) this supposes no change in the divine nature, or in the essential glory of the divine perfections. When the sun is obscured by a cloud, or in an eclipse, there is no real change of its glory, nor are his beams extinguished, nor is the sun himself in any measure changed. His luster is only for a time obscured.
The Greek verb translated “emptied” (keno[ma]o) is where we get the theological term kenosis: the doctrine of Christ’s self-emptying as a part of His incarnation. The verb expresses Christ’s self-renunciation, His refusal to cling to His advantages and privileges as God. The God who has a right to everything and who is fully satisfied within Himself emptied Himself.
Notice that Philippians 2:7 does not specify what the Son of God “emptied” Himself of. And here we must be careful not to go beyond what Scripture says. Jesus did not empty Himself of His divine attributes—no such attributes are mentioned in the verse, and it is obvious in the gospels that Jesus possessed the power and wisdom of God. Calming the storm is just one display of Jesus’ divine power (Mark 4:39). In coming to earth, the Son of God did not cease to be God, and He did not become a “lesser god.” Whatever the “emptying” entailed, Jesus remained fully God: “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
We are flowing through a section of verses which focus on Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity.
Further Reading
Though the verse is literally speaking about King David, the relation of David to Christ means the verse also prefigures the preeminence of King Jesus. The throne, through David’s line, would last forever through Christ.
Also I will make him my firstborn,…. Or, “make him the firstborn”; make him great, as Jarchi interprets it; give him the blessing, the double portion of inheritance: so Christ is made most blessed for ever, and has all spiritual blessings in his hands; and is heir of all things, and his people joint-heirs with him. Christ is God’s “firstborn”, or “first begotten”, Hebrews 1:6, being begotten by him, and of him; … even him the Father promises to make “higher than the kings of the earth”; having a kingdom of a superior nature to theirs, and a more extensive and durable one; and even they themselves shall be subject to him; hence he is called “King of kings”, Revelation 19:16.
The King of Kings shall reign forever, His Kingdom shall endure.
In this blog I give some warnings and cautions to any sister in Christ whose ministry is growing.
Beth Moore tweeted a thread Saturday apologizing for making platformed Christian celebrity look so easy, and opining that (though) it is actually hard, you, too, can achieve it if you ‘keep at it’ and ‘hang in there’. No exaggeration. Screen shots and links blow.
I’ve written several times about the drastic error of these celebrity evangelical women who traded motherhood for celebrity, leaving kids and hubby behind, taking on the male role while hubby accepts the female. All in the name of “ministry,” when in reality it was just about a feminist career.
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, this section of the Advent flow of verses I’ve selected focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is preeminent. Always and forever.
Let us exult in verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which He was born, and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world schools.
His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, He startled a king. In boyhood, He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the seas asleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all of the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together.
We should talk about Jesus often and be clear about his identity, resisting every temptation to make him peripheral, secondary, or assumed. And we may find that talking about Jesus often brings his preeminence to have a deeper bearing on our lives. It helps to remind us of his role in two things we deeply care about — the gospel and the glory of God.
Christ is also preeminent in our reconciliation, “having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (1:20), so that He can “make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).
Two spiritual kingdoms: A Chart This is a lesson about two kingdoms. They are spiritual kingdoms. This does not mean they are imaginary or philosophical constructs. They are real but not political or geographical kingdoms. Rather they are world wide and exist in people’s hearts. Every person in the world belongs to one of these kingdoms. In this lesson we compare the two kingdoms according to certain criteria or characteristics.
Does Satan have his own kingdom? Was Satan correct in saying that the kingdoms of the world are under his authority? Whether Satan has his own kingdom today is a cause for a difference of opinion among Christians.
Grace Gems: Deliverance from the power of darkness What is the power of darkness, and how God delivers us from it. The Apostle speaks of “the power of darkness.” I shall, therefore, with God’s blessing, explain first what “darkness” is, and then enter into the meaning of the expression “the power of darkness.”
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. Jesus co-existed in eternity with God, perfectly self-sufficient and satisfied with His communion with the other two persons of the God-head.
But God…loved us and He sent His Son Jesus to seek and save the lost, enacting this magnificent plan of the sacrifice, the cross, the resurrection- the Gospel.
Jesus was and is and is to come. He existed before time and He will be living after time ends. His incarnation and life on earth, death, and resurrection means He will be bringing his people into eternity with Him, to live as co-heirs of all there is. Angels aren’t eternal, they had a moment when they didn’t exist but then were created. Humans aren’t eternal either, we have a moment when our own creation begins (Adam & Eve, in the Garden, then all of us in the womb.)
The verse today affirms these truths. Jesus said “Before Abraham was, I AM.” I am, meaning He is always in the present. All of those who are in Christ Jesus are also given the gift of eternity…to be with Him, to dwell with Him in joyous worship, to serve Him forever.
the-end-time.org 