Psalm 24 – Live the Life: Recent Episodes
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This is one realm in which the church’s redemptive difference should show itself most dramatically. It is also one realm in which the church’s difference is waning in favor of different notions of power and sovereignty. Do believers in the radical stream of the church understand subordination as wisdom born of the Spirit? Or do they see it as folly? Do they see subordination as light or as darkness? Do they see mutual subordination as the shape of sovereignty for those who have learned the truth that is in Jesus? Neufeld, T. R. Y.
Thus believers filled with the Spirit will submit to one another. Obviously, person A cannot submit to person B at the exact same time that person B is submitting to person A. Fowl, S. E
But I shall be careful to speak nothing myself: I shall only bring before you what the Apostle has spoken: and if his demands appear to be too severe, I shall shelter myself under his wing; being well assured that you will all yield to his authority, without [disagreeing]. Simeon, C.
PT O’Brien With broad brush strokes the apostle has painted the will of God on a large canvas in the first three chapters of Ephesians; now in the latter half of the epistle he moves to the fine details of the divine masterpiece.
“How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be so proud?..If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know him.” Charles Spurgeon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYZ3RDse9Cc
It is all too easy for believers to be influenced by the surrounding world and to succumb to its ways of thinking and behaving. The result is that what is acceptable to the culture of the day becomes acceptable in the church. PT O’brien
Let the Gentiles be partakers with us, let us not be partakers with them!
LIGHT V DARK
This 7 verse section conveys a sustained contrast between light and darkness. Once they belonged to the dominion of darkness. Now through their relationship to their Lord they are members of the realm of light. (v. 8a) Let them then live as children of light (v. 8b-10). This will mean that the fruit of the light will be produced in their lives (v. 9), that they will discover what pleases their Lord (v. 10), and that they will no longer participate in the fruitless deeds of darkness (v. 11). (v. 14b) sums up the call to leave behind the realm of darkness and death.
“It is not their environment or the surroundings in which they and the rest of humanity live that is in view. Rather, they themselves were once darkness, but now they are light in the Lord. Those ruled by the dominion of darkness or of light represent that dominion in their own persons. So when they were converted, it was their lives, not their surroundings, that were changed from darkness to light.” PT O’Brien
Goodness, righteousness and truth, as the fruit of light, are supernatural characteristics, the result of God's creative activity. PT O’Brien
“It is even possible (after all, it happened to you!) for light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also”. J. B. Phillips
Robert Murray M’Cheyne!
If we could summon but one life from the past, the lessons of which would apply most directly to this slothful and careless generation, perhaps it would be the life of Robert M'Cheyne. After his death, a fellow minister wrote, "Indolence and levity and unfaithfulness are sins that beset me; and his living presence was a rebuke to all these, for I never knew one so instant in season and out of season, so impressed with the invisible realities, and so faithful in reproving sin and witnessing for Christ."
There was nothing in his message to please such a people ; "If the Gospel pleased carnal men it would not be the Gospel," he declared. He was deeply persuaded that the Spirit's first work in salvation is to convict of sin, and to bring men to despair of their condition by nature, it was therefore on this note that his ministry commenced and continued - "Men must be brought down by law work to see their guilt and misery, or all our preaching is beating the air. A broken heart alone can receive a crucified Christ.
The most, I fear, in all congregations, are sailing easily down the stream into an undone eternity, “unconverted and unawakened." Urgency and alarm characterised his message. "God help me to speak to you plainly! The longest lifetime is short enough. It is all that is given you to be converted in. In a very little, it will be all over ; and all that is here is changing - the very hills are crumbling down - the loveliest face is withering away - the finest garments rot and decay. Every day that passes is bringing you nearer to the judgment-seat. Not one of you is standing still. You may sleep; but the tide is going on bringing you nearer death, judgment, and eternity.
Wood & Nails (Audrey Assad & Josh Garrels)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIyr1PIMWgw
"Your own soul is your first and greatest care. Seek advance of personal holiness. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne
But in the person of our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jehovah is brought nearer to us, so that we may trace his very steps, and learn to follow him in every disposition of the mind, and every action of the life. Simeon, C.
Only here in Ephesians, however, does he enjoin believers to be ’imitators of God’. In fact, there is no other explicit reference in either Old or New Testament to imitating God. PT O’Brien
…costly, sacrificial love is to be the distinguishing mark of their lives. To serve others in this way is not only to please God; it is also to imitate both God and Christ. PT O’Brien
- YOU WILL NOT IMITATE CHRIST IF YOU DO NOT IMITATE CHRIST!
Our text does even more than this: it tests our sincerity. If a man is not really a Christian he will take no care about his life; but in the matter of close copying a man must be careful; a watchful care is implied in the idea of imitation. You cannot copy a document without being intent to read and mark each word. If I sit down to write an article out of my own mind, I have nothing to do but to make my own track, and there is my work, such as it is: but if I have to copy from a book, then I must needs look to each line, and I must read it over attentively, for otherwise I may misrepresent the writer whose language I transcribe. In copying from nature how careful the artist has to be at every touch, or he will fail in his picture. If a sculptor is producing a replica of an ancient statue, he must keep his eyes open and follow every line and mark. My friend, you cannot imitate God if you are one of that sort of Christians who are habitually in a condition between sleeping and waking, with one eye a little open and the other closed. Such men live a slovenly life, and attempt a sort of happy-go-lucky religion, which may be right or which may be wrong, but its character they cannot tell, for they run with their neighbours, and never examine for themselves. Such people live at random, and never take a day’s life at night and examine it to see its faults; thus sin grows upon them like weeds in a sluggard’s garden. Such persons, playing at hit or miss with holiness, are sure to come short of it; but he that is in earnest will give his prayerful thought and anxious desire to it, that he may become in very deed a successful imitator of God. He will also call in the aid of the Holy Spirit, and thus be led into holiness. CH Spurgeon
- DO NOT ONLY BE CHILDREN, BUT “DEAR CHILDREN”, BELOVED CHILDREN.
However, this word “as dear children” bears yet another meaning. Children differ. A father loves all his children, but he cannot be said in all respects to love them all alike, for some force him to love them beyond the rest. You have one dear son who lies nearest your heart. What a sweet child he is! You have got another boy he is your child, and you love him, and do your best with him, but he is an awkward bit of stuff. He gives you little pleasure, and you are not particularly anxious to have him about you all day long. The first child loves you with all his heart and strives to please you. How obedient he is! How content and happy! In all things he is a comfort in the house. Your heart binds its tendrils about your Joseph more closely than about the wayward boy: you do not make a favourite of him, and so excite the jealousy of the others; yet you must own to a nearer and dearer love than usual when you think of him. You cannot help your heart clinging to him; his behaviour is such that he is the son of your right hand, and he has a tender place in your soul,— in a word, he is one of those whom the text calls, “dear children.” Just so the Lord has certain dear children. Master Trapp says, “God hath but a few such children.” I am afraid that the quaint old commentator is correct, and that few imitate the Lord as they should. Yet some of the Lord’s children give themselves up wholly to him, are watchful and tenderly obedient, and walk in such closeness with him that they deserve the title of “dear children.” Brethren, aim at this. Here happiness lies; here heaven lies this side of heaven! To be not only children, but dear children, is to antedate eternal bliss. CH Spurgeon
- TO IMITATE JESUS, YOU MUST GAZE AT HIM. FIX YOUR EYES ON HIM!
Whatever attainments you may have made, you must still be aspiring after higher degrees of love. Look at him then, not only as the ground of your hopes, but as the pattern for your imitation. Trace him in all the labours of his love: trace him from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven: trace him in all that he either did or suffered: and study to resemble him in the whole of his spirit and deportment. Simeon, C.
New York Times ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjIgYs81mB8 Josh Howerton Article ... https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/8-abortion-myths/
in Ephesians the lie stands for much more than making statements that are not true. This parallels the truth in verse 24 being much more than a matter of words that are trustworthy. The lie represents nothing less than the old human in rebellion against God. Neufeld, T. R. Y.
Deception of self and of others is often used in the Bible to describe a society in rebellion against God. … The lie is thus not simply “telling a lie”; it is shorthand for the life of the old human. The lie refers to callous disregard for truth in relationships, inside and outside the church, in both private and public spheres.
Neufeld, T. R. Y.
“The old man” is that principle of sin which actuates the unregenerate man—
“The new man” is that principle which actuates the godly—
“the old man;” and it is called “old,” because it is coeval with our existence, and is derived from our first parents, after whose fallen image we were made. … It is also a “deceitful” principle, continually representing good as evil, and evil as good: it constantly disappoints our expectations, making that to appear a source of happiness which never yet terminated in any thing but misery.
“The new man” … is divine in its origin. It belongs to no man naturally; but is “new.” It is the gift of God, the work of his good Spirit. It is “created” within us, and is as truly the workmanship of God, as the universe itself is. All who possess it are said to be “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Simeon, C.
It is worth remembering David Well’s famous definition: worldliness is whatever makes righteousness look strange and sin look normal. Here’s the reality facing every Christian in the West: the money, power, and prestige of the mainstream media, big time sports, big business, big tech, and almost all the institutions of education and entertainment are invested in making sin look normal. Make no mistake: no matter how good your church, no matter how strong your family, no matter how gospel-centered your Christian school or homeschool, if your children and grandchildren are even remotely engaged with contemporary culture (and they are), they are being taught by a thousand memes and messages every week to pay homage to the rainbow flag.
Kevin de Young
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Such an interpretation is interesting in the light of the Jewish exegetical tradition which applied the going up mentioned in Psalm 68 to Moses: he ascended to receive the law and then descended in order to give it to Israel. So, according to Caird, Psalm 68 is no longer a Jewish Pentecostal psalm relating to Moses but ’a Christian Pentecostal Psalm, celebrating the ascension of Christ and his subsequent descent at Pentecost to bestow spiritual gifts upon the Church’.
After every conquest in the ancient world there was both a receiving of tribute and a distributing of gifts. The conqueror's spoils were divided, and the booty shared!
The Apostle tells us, in the words following my text, that “Jesus ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” This was the very end of his ascension. He had come down from heaven, that he might procure for us these blessings: and now he ascended up to heaven, that he might confer on us the fruits of his victories. The sun arises on the earth, that he may diffuse his benefits through the whole material creation: and in like manner the Sun of Righteousness is risen, to scatter forth his blessings upon fallen man. Does any one feel his need of grace, or mercy, or peace? let him remember, that the Lord Jesus Christ is ascended to heaven on purpose to bestow them. Had he not ascended, the Holy Ghost would never have been sent down to us: but now that Jesus “has received from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,” no one needs to remain destitute of any spiritual blessing whatever. If it be said, we have been rebellious; I answer, our past rebellions will be no bar to the communication of his blessings to us, if only we be willing to lay down the weapons of our warfare, and to implore mercy at his hands. It is “for the rebellious” that he himself has received the gift; and on the rebellious he is willing to confer it. Let all then, without exception, rejoice in the evidence they have, that Christ has vanquished all their enemies; and in the certainty, that all who look to him shall be enriched “out of his fulness, receiving grace” upon grace, and grace corresponding with the grace which there was in him. Simeon, C.
This point becomes even sharper when it is observed that in Psalm 68 the divine victor receives gifts of tribute from the rebellious. In Ephesians, the divine victor gives gifts to those who were once rebellious sons of disobedience (cf. 2:1–3). Neufeld, T. R. Y.
Our blessed Saviour had now vanquished all his enemies upon the cross: “by death he had overcome death, and him that had the power of it, that is, the devil;” and “having spoiled principalities and powers, he triumphed over them openly upon the cross.” In his ascension, like a mighty conqueror, he “led them captive,” as it were, at his chariot-wheels: and as conquerors, in their triumphs, were wont to scatter gifts and largesses among the people, so he received from his heavenly Father the Holy Spirit, and poured him forth upon the Church, in all his gifts and graces, in order that “the most rebellious” of men might be converted to the Lord, and “the Lord God might dwell among them.” The right to confer these gifts was founded on his previous conflicts and victories: and, when they were completed, the right was exercised, to the unspeakable benefit of the Church at that day; and not at that day only, but in all subsequent ages, even to the present hour. Simeon, C.
“After everything our great God has done, how beautifully he has made the world, everything in our lives that has ever caused us to glory in God. Everything that made us worship God. Everything that made us realize that God is so infinitely above us. All this culminates in God telling us well done my good and faithful servant?” CS Lewis
Unity is clearly understood as adherence to the one Lord and the peace he created in himself (2:15; cf. 1:10). But it is a unity that is generous and inclusive at its core, one to be zealously maintained by all who have been liberated from the realm of death and called to life in the new humanity. Neufeld, T. R. Y.
It is often urged, as an objection against Christianity, that those who profess it are not agreed respecting the doctrines which it inculcates: and we are triumphantly urged to come to an agreement amongst ourselves, before we attempt to proselyte others to our religion. That persons calling themselves Christians differ widely from each other, is readily acknowledged. But it must be remembered, that Christianity is not a mere theory, which leaves men at liberty in relation to their practice: it is a religion which requires its votaries to have their whole souls brought into subjection to it, and cast, as it were, into its very mould: and those who affect not a conformity to its doctrines, will deny the doctrines themselves; having no alternative, but to set aside the requirements, or to condemn themselves for their disobedience to them. But between real Christians there is, on all the fundamental points of religion, a surprising agreement, even such an unity as does not exist on any other subject under heaven. Every true believer, whether learned or unlearned, feels himself to be a sinner before God; dependent altogether on the blood of Christ to purge him from his guilt, and on the Spirit of Christ to renew and sanctify his soul. The necessity of universal holiness, too, is equally acknowledged by all; so that, whatever difference there may appear to be between the different members of Christ’s mystical body, it is only such as exists in the countenances of different men; the main features being the same in all; and the diversity being discoverable only on a closer inspection. Simeon, C.
In making clear what they stood for, the people of God took pains to underscore what they stood against.
CHRIST HAS GIVEN US HIS GRACE TO GROW US UP FROM BABY-CHRISTIANS INTO CHRIST HIMSELF
As believers they have already been called into the blessings of salvation (1:3-14) with its wonderful hope (1:18). They have been united with Christ in his resurrection and exaltation so that they now share in his rule over the new creation (1:20-22; 2:6).
PT Obrien
The wonderful and glorious indicatives, what Christ has done for us, Salvation, do not remove the responsibility of the imperatives, what we, the saved, must do with what has been done!
Perhaps the use of charis here, rather than charisma, is to stress the source of divine grace in providing the gifts.
PT Obrien
Of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace.
J Strong
THE GRACE OF CHRIST CALLS US TO AIM FOR CHRISTIAN MATURITY! (Ephesians 4:13-14)
THE GRACE OF CHRIST CALLS US TO URGENCY! (Ephesians 4:3)
Paul's appeal is urgent and cannot be easily translated into English. The verb he uses has an element of haste, urgency, or even a sense of crisis to it and has been rendered by Barth as: ‘Yours is the initiative! Do it now!’
THE GRACE OF CHRIST CALLS THE WHOLE BODY TO GROW, NOT MERELY THE INDIVIDUALS! (Ephesians 4:15-16)
THE GRACE OF CHRIST PROMISES THAT NONE WILL MISS OUT ON CHRISTS BOUNTY! (Ephesians 4:7)
HOW SWEET THE SOUND OF SAVING GRACE
Now why this fear and unbelief?
Has not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for us?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that debt of sin
Now canceled at the cross?
Jesus, all my trust is in Your blood
Jesus, You've rescued us
Through Your great love
Complete atonement You have made
And by Your death have fully paid
The debt Your people owed
No wrath remains for us to face
We're sheltered by Your saving grace
And sprinkled with Your blood
How sweet the sound of saving grace
How sweet the sound of saving grace
Christ died for me
How sweet the sound of saving grace
How sweet the sound of saving grace
Christ died for me
Be still my soul and know this peace
The merits of your great high priest
Have bought your liberty
Rely then on His precious blood
Don't fear your banishment from God
Since Jesus sets you free
Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen thou me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust thee altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in thee. In thee I have sealed the treasures of all I have. I am poor; thou art rich and didst come to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; thou art upright. With me there is an abundance of sin; in thee is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore, I will remain with thee of whom I can receive but to whom I may not give. Amen.
But what is within us? Those who know themselves and others best know that within them is a dark, ugly thing called sin. And this dark, ugly thing is not an occasional, exceptional something here and there—in some men and not in others-—it is universal. Something stands between us and God and between us and ourselves and between us and our fellow men and between us and living. It is a life block. And it is something for which we seem to be responsible. The thought of it brings a sense of guilt.
Obviously until that dark, ugly something is removed, we are incapacitated … For sin makes us feel not merely wicked but weak. It lays a paralyzing hand on all we think and do and are. This sin seems anti-life as well as anti-God—it is anti-us. It seems alien and makes us estranged from God, ourselves, our brother man, and from life.
If we are not saved from sin, we are not saved from anything—we are not saved. Therefore the first word about Jesus was: 'Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21 KJ.V.). The Savior was to save— from sin. But how? Would He fence men off from sin by a law? Would He force men to be good by compulsion? Or would He bear their sins in His own body on a cross”?
E Stanley Jones
Like Satan, whose pride led to his fall, their pride, if left unchecked, would drive them to "aspire to all the prerogative s of God, and to depose Him, and to dethrone Him of His Godhead and majesty that they might have His place."
Richard Baxter
If God's approbation and favor don’t give you peace, nothing can rationally give it to you. If the pleasing of God doesn't satisfy you, though men, though good men, though all men should be displeased with you, I don't know how or when you will ever be satisfied.
In order for God to be pleased, something must take place to deal with man's corruption by sin—something that will change his standing before the Holy King. He must be made righteous.
But how does all this happen?"
When Christ, God's Son, the Perfect Man, died on the cross, He did so to take the punishment for sinners, as well as to give them credit for His righteousness. His death actually accomplishes two things for repentant sinners: the believer's sin is transferred to Christ, whom God punishes in his place; and Christ's righteousness is transferred to the believer's account, changing his legal standing and making him perfect. Theologians sometimes refer to this twofold transaction as double imputation.
Only then can God be pleased. Only then does the Holy Spirit indwell individuals and fit them (from within) to a life of service that is pleasing to God. Therefore, only those who are born again by the Spirit of God are capable of pleasing God!
Lou Priolo
Come thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free
From our sins and fears release us; let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth thou art,
Dear desire of ev’ry nation, joy of every longing heart.
Come thou long expected Jesus
Come thou long expected King
Born thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a king
born to reign in us forever, Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit; rule in all our hearts alone
By thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to thy glorious throne
God chooses to be present in the communion of the saints. Barth, M
SEMPER REFORMANDA
"always reforming”
The Church must be reformed and always be reforming!
This phrase sums up the heart of our two verses! Semper reformanda is the widely known slogan of the Reformed tradition.
Become very popular.
Especially with the liberal left! The modern Church takes it to mean that we change to accommodate our culture!
We use this phrase at the convenient time when we want to push a point or agenda.
We have exactly reversed its meaning! We now accept it to mean that we stay the same and ‘things’ change!
Where it has always meant that we change!
For example…
Sexual orientation, abortion, divorce, the authority of the Bible etc.
Our orientation, our belief, our experience, our expression Must stay the same And the other people, the Church, the Bible must change to accommodate me!
This has become what it means for the Church to be reforming!
Now let me get a bit technical here!
The word reformanda in the phrase semper reformanda is what Latinists refer to as "gerundive."
This word is a FUTURE PASSIVE
When we use words like this in english or latin we end them with “nd”.
"agent" is someone or something through which an action takes place, the "agenda" is the object upon which the action(s) will fall or take place.
An agent is active, but an agenda is passive.
The upshot of this is that the passive of the Latin phrase semper reformanda implies more the idea of my being changed, than my doing the changing. I am the object and in the passive, "always being changed," more than I am the subject and in the active or aggressive role of "always changing" things around me, or seeking out changes to make. Hence, my preference for rendering the phrase "always being reformed" or "always being changed" over "always reforming" or "always changing."
We reformed Christians believe in the real ‘semper reformanda’
We believe that a higher authority, the Lord, is changing us.
In the back of our mind is another Reformed principle called, sola Scriptura, "Scripture alone." This principle commits us to God's revelation in Scripture as authoritative and sufficient for the Christian in faith and life. We believe that the reforming in our lives is driven by Scripture's agenda, not ours. We are subservient to the Lordship of our Sovereign king. We are in the passive role, sitting under the authority of God's Word. The ecclesia reformata et semper reformanda is "the reformed church" that is "always being reformed" by the Word of God.
The joining together of the elements that make up the total structure of this new divine community is an ongoing activity. The building is still under construction, which is another way of saying that the new community of God is growing and progressing to its ultimate goal of holiness, an objective that is not simply personal or individual but in the present context must be corporate as well.
“The Lord kills and brings to life” (1 Sam 2:6–7), and as Jeremiah’s commission is “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer 1:10), so Jesus Christ’s peacework is in Eph 2:14–17 described in terms of destruction and construction. Barth, M.
It means a partition inside a house. The other term, phragmos, translated by “wall,” signifies originally a fence or railing erected for protection rather than separation. The combination of the two Greek nouns yields a composite sense: it is a wall that prevents certain persons from entering a house or a city (cf. 2:19), and is as much a mark of hostility (2:14, 16) as, e.g. a ghetto wall, the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall, a racial barrier, or a railroad track that separates the right from the wrong side of the city, Barth, M
Gentiles without offerings were warned by Greek and Latin inscriptions fixed on pillars: capital punishment was imposed for trespassing even beyond the lower partition.
The divine mason is still on the lookout (present tense, are built together) for stones once rejected. That suggests “intensive” and “qualitative” growth and also necessarily extensive and quantitative growth. Neufeld, T. R. Y.
The verb rendered by “to grow” means an increase of every kind—in size, number, age, maturity, glory, power. Barth, M.
Those stones everyone once assumed were refuse have become choice building material in the construction of God’s holy temple Neufeld, T. R. Y.
Only those Gentiles who are inspired, i.e. illuminated, purified, renewed, driven by the Spirit, are suitable stones for the temple walls. They are given a new heart and believe in God through the Messiah. Barth, M.