The Garrison: Recent Episodes
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When you think of the book of Samuel; its theology, themes, and characters, you may not have given much of a consideration to Jonathan. You may not hear many Sunday sermons on Jonathan, and I understand why. Samuel is the prophet raised up by God to bring Yahweh’s word to all Israel (1 Samuel 4:1), Saul is the first anointed king (1 Samuel 10), and David, whose life takes up most of the book, typifies the Lord Jesus Christ. However, looming in the background, is an exemplary man, who truly is a model disciple.
Psalm 110 reads, The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit ay my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
In Matthew 12:22-30 we have an account of Jesus healing a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute. After He does this, the Pharisees catch wind of it, and naturally, in Pharisaical fashion, they need to figure out a way to discredit what Jesus is doing because they are filled with envious rage. So they claim that He casts out demons by Beelsebul, the prince of demons. Now, this seems like a foolish argument, and Jesus proves it to be so. He says, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand” (Matthew 12:26)?
Simply put, if Jesus is casting out demons by the chief demon himself, it would be self-defeating to the expansion of his own kingdom and rule over people. But He then tells them, it is not by Beelsebul that this is happening, but by the Spirit of God. He says, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). The kingdom of God did indeed come upon them, and us. It has entered in and has been unfolding ever since our Lord began His ministry. Now here is the interesting part; after this, he tells them what is actually happening. Jesus has bound up Satan and is plundering his goods. “How can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Matthew 12:29). That which has been under Satan’s control (the souls of men) is being taken back by the King of kings. Jesus is indeed the plunderer of goods.
Their doom was sure. So, without presuming upon the mercy of God, they repented. And God turned from the calamity that He was about to bring upon them. “He did it not.”
Our destruction is sure, for we have saturated our soil with the blood of innocents. Let us therefore turn from our wicked ways, from the violence that is in our hands. Who can tell if God will turn away His fierce anger, that we perish not?
Be warned. Be humbled. And maybe, just maybe, be spared.
What does.. “On earth as it is In heaven” mean for the “earth” right now? What happens when we pray for “heaven” to fill the earth? Does it mean we want Christ’s name to be made the greatest name on earth.. because it is in heaven..
It is important that you give your pastors grace just as you would give your own husband. If your own husband wronged you in some way, I would hope that you would have a heart filled with forgiveness and love. The men that pastor the flock along with your husband are no more perfect than he is. There will be times where their faults come out. There will be times where they say something to you that you do not like, or they say it in a way that you do not like. I urge you, sisters, forgive them from the heart as though it were your own husband. Do not harbor bitterness in your heart towards your pastors.
Lastly, I would urge you to pray for them. Undoubtedly, you are praying for your own husband. Hopefully you pray for him often. Do not forget to pray for the other men along with him. They need your prayers as well. The more you pray for them, the more your heart will be inclined to do all of the things stated previously. Remember them in your prayers. Pray that you would esteem them the way you do your husband. They are your pastors.
The Christian Post dropped an article recently entitled, “Lauren Daigle on homosexuality: I can’t say one way or the other if it’s a sin, ‘I am not God.’” The quote embedded in the title came from an interview the artist recently did on “The Domenick Nati Show.” Now, the quote is troubling to say the least. However, the headline is not all that shocking. Most headlines regarding Christian artists and leaders with the phrase, “What so and so says about homosexuality,” are now all too predictable. You can almost fill in the blanks for yourself. High profile figures do not make headlines for affirming the biblical and traditional understanding of human sexuality and how it relates to homosexuality. Not in today’s culture. Now, you grab the headlines of the world because you have lost grip on the Bible’s clear teaching.
The news feed on social media outlets is a reminder of the great proverbial phrase, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Truly. There is nothing new. While it may seem that the world around us is collectively losing its mind, we ought to remember that the Romans were no better and that did not hinder Christians then. We ought to remember that the world will act like the world and this ought not hinder Christians now. Christ’s gospel of the kingdom was accomplishing then what it is accomplishing now. Instead of always being shocked by what the world does, we ought to think how we can speak and act in the world, a world which the worldly will not inherit, a world which has been bought by Christ, and a world that the meek will inherit.