Table of Contents:Mary’s Joy, Our Hope: Luke 1Five Essential Qualities of a Disciple MakerThe Best Things in Deuteronomy—Part 1Exegetically SpeakingWords to Stand You on Your Feet Living out the Living WordFollowing God Points to Ponder Jewels from Past GiantsCounselor’s Corner The Story behind the Song Church Builders Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel Marks of the Master Book ReviewsNews UpdateSermon Helps Puzzles and ‘Toons

___________________________________Mary’s Joy, Our Hope: Luke 1By Justin Lonas

Our gathered worship this time of year is structured very similarly across churches and denominations as we all turn our attention to the Advent of Christ’s first coming. The celebration and ritual covers us with familiarity and warmth, tying together the generations and smoothing over divisions as few other events can. The relevant Scriptures we know by heart; the songs are so ingrained that many of us can sing every verse in perfect harmony without a hymnal in sight. The challenge for Gospel teachers is to allow the warm glow of Christmas traditions to reflect the blinding light of truth—that the infinite, holy Creator of the Universe became a tiny, helpless, baby boy on His way to save His people from their sins.

This has been done a thousand different ways through the centuries, but it seems best to proclaim the Christ of Christmas (as we ought to preach and teach all the things of God) from the text of His holy Word. Opening the Gospels (Matthew, Luke, and John at least, Mark launches into the story with Jesus’ baptism as an adult), we find the rich facets of the story revealed to give full view to the whole event. We can preach the wonder of the Word made flesh from John 1, the tenderhearted righteousness of Joseph in Matthew 1, or the royal significance of the visit of the Magi (and Herod’s brutality) in Matthew 2. Most often, we go straight to Luke 2 for the “play-by-play of His birth in a stable, heralded by angels, and attended by lowly shepherds.

Taking a short step back to Luke 1, though, gives wonderful perspective on the power and significance of Christ’s coming. Jesus Himself is still in the womb, and

Joseph is only mentioned in passing (1:27), but Mary’s thoughts and actions are given their fullest treatment here. We Protestants are always careful not to put too much emphasis on Mary as a point of distinction with Roman Catholic doctrine, but sometimes we overly downplay her part in the story.

When the Mother of Christ comes into our songs and sermons, we usually focus on her tender age or her “predicament” of being with child and without a husband, her courage in the face of the prescribed treatment for unwed mothers in her culture, and occasionally her example of obedience to God’s decrees even if she could not fully understand them. Seldom do we talk about Mary as a theologian, but it was her consistent knowledge of God, His character, and His promises that prepared her to obey as she did.

Luke writes that his account was “handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word” (1:2), and in his efforts must have come to know someone who provided him with these detailed descriptions of things that Mary alone would have witnessed (and thought), whether an aged Mary herself or some of her close family.

When Gabriel greeted her, she didn’t recoil in fear (though he did tell her in verse 30 not to be afraid), but was “very perplexed at this statement” (1:29)—it’s almost as though she expected to see and hear from angels, and was only taken aback that she was “favored” by the Lord. After his incredible message was delivered, she only had one rather innocent question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (1:34). Gabriel’s explanation was that it would be a miracle, summed up as “For nothing will be impossible with God” (1:37). Mary’s

response: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word” (1:38). In those days, it was not customary to educate women in the Scriptures, but Mary had learned enough from her parents and from worship in the synagogue to know that the Lord was God and that He had promised deliverance. When Gabriel came, she put the pieces together to believe, and she worshipped and obeyed.

After hearing of the simultaneous miracle occurring with her relative Elizabeth, Mary “went in a hurry” (1:39) to her house, probably to rejoice with her (given the circumstances, Elizabeth was the only other person on earth who would understand), but also to help her during her pregnancy and delivery. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” (1:41). John, the “forerunner” knew the presence of his Lord even then. Then

“Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord’” (1:41-45).

Elizabeth’s blessing on Mary centered on two characteristics. First, God chose her “among women” to be the bearer of His Son. She did not do anything to earn that distinction, but received it as His free and gracious gift. Second, she responded in belief and obedience to the Word of the Lord. So it has always been and always will be with those whom the Lord blesses!

At this remarkable greeting, Mary burst into praise to the Lord, and it is here

that we see the depth of her faith and understanding. “And Mary said: ‘My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name” (1:46-49). Clearly, Mary saw God’s unmerited favor in her life, and she exalts Him for it. She knew that she needed a Savior, and that her Savior was God. She knew that the gift given to her was not of her doing, but that the Holy One of Israel was blessing “all generations” through her.

Mary began to grasp her role in God’s grand plan to redeem mankind. She quoted Psalm 103:17, “And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him” (1:50), and recalled the history of God’s dealings with Israel. Likely she would have also known of Isaiah’s

prophecy, as the reality set in that she was the virgin who would conceive and bear a son as God’s sign of deliverance.

Though specific events are not named, her hymn to His faithfulness encapsulates the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the exile and return from Babylon, and His constant provision and justice: “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant” (1:51-54).

Ultimately, she saw the coming of Christ through her womb as the final fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 to bless all nations of the earth: “In remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to

Abraham and his descendants forever’” (1:55). Her son would be Abraham’s Son, David’s Son, God’s Son—the Great High Priest, the Eternal King. Mary expressed in her song what Paul later wrote, that all the Scriptures “were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11). She knew that her call from the Lord had come in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4), and she was ready to be used by Him as He saw fit.

Mary’s song overflows with joy in the recognition of God’s Word being fulfilled—He was doing what He had said He would do! His promises were being kept, His people were being brought His justice and righteousness, and His enemies were being scattered.

When she made this declaration of praise, she had not yet told Joseph (and probably not even her own family) what God had done. She knew the road ahead would

be harsh, but yet she cannot hold back her rejoicing in the Lord’s goodness. Within her was growing the body of God in flesh, the Second Adam, the one who would bear her sin and the sins of all so that God could be both “just and the justifier” of men. What other response could there be but flagrant worship?

This Christmas, let us be awestruck with Mary and exalt the Lord for His great mercy from generation to generation for those who fear Him!

Justin Lonas is editor of Disciple Magazine for AMG International in Chattanooga,

Tennessee.Table of Contents

___________________________________Five Essential Qualities of a Disciple MakerBy Tim LaFleur

Through the years, I have been often asked, “What character qualities should mark a disciple maker’s life? What are the essential qualities that must be cultivated, if I am to be used of God to make disciples?”

As I have pondered, pictured, and prayed about what a disciple maker ought to look like, I believe that there are five qualities that are absolutely essential for those who make disciples.

I. A Heart for GodA heart for God could be described

as a desire to know Him in an intimate way and to make Him known; to have a heartfelt desire for a rich fellowship with God, and to love Him more than anyone or anything!

Notice what Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This

is the great and first commandment’” (Matt. 22:37-38). Disciple makers ought to have a desire to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind! Jesus said this is the great and first commandment.

My friend, Chris Adsit, surveyed more than 500 disciple makers from all over the world, and asked them what the most important qualities for making disciples were. More than one third ranked having a heart for God as number one and most of them ranked this quality in the top three. In his book, Personal Disciple Making, Chris quoted Casey Bartels, who was a staff member with Athletes in Action, “A growing love relationship with the living God is vital. When all of our self-effort and external obedience comes to a halt—all that matters is a personal relationship with Christ.”

II. A Heart for Your Disciple

You must not only cultivate a growing love relationship with Christ, but you must have a heart for those you disciple.

Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 22:39: “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We are not only to have a love for God; we are to have a love for people! More than anything else, your disciple must know that you love him! As Peter says: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

You must never look at your disciple as a “project.” He or she is someone you are called to love. As John Maxwell says: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Talk can be cheap, so you prove your love by spending time with your disciples. You show them you really care about them by cultivating a real relationship with them. You “earn the right” to speak into their lives, because they

realize that you really care for them and their families.

One of the first guys I discipled in campus ministry was a young man named Shawn. Shawn was a student who began to “hang out” at our campus ministry building—the Nicholls Baptist Student Union. As I got to know Shawn better it became obvious that he lacked a man’s influence in his life. His dad was an alcoholic and absent from the home.

I began to invite Shawn to cookouts with our family, other outings, and events. Before long Shawn became one of the family—which was pretty amazing because Shawn is of a different ethnicity than us. What was the difference that made the difference? The love of Christ! “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if

you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

These qualities should not only be seen and evident in a disciple maker’s life; they must be constantly nurtured and cultivated! In other words, if you have “a heart” for God,” you will continue to pursue a growing love relationship with him! Although the next quality is third on the list, it is equally as important.

III. Living a Godly LifeAs a disciple maker, you must not

only profess Christ, you must live a life consistent with what you profess to believe! Notice what Paul says in Colossians: “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).

Every believer is to “conduct himself in a manner worthy of the Lord!” This is

especially true for those who make disciples. Why? Because your disciples are not only listening to what you say; they are observing the way you live! Consider also what Paul told the Thessalonians: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (1 Thess. 2:8-9).

Their witness had maximum impact because they not only “talked the talk;” they “walked the walk!” They “learned Christ” by the godly example of Paul, Timothy and Silas. As someone has said, “example is not the best teacher, it is the only teacher.”

IV. Being a Friend

One of the great byproducts of disciple making is the friendships I have forged through the years. This would be the overflow of really having a heart for your disciple. As you really love the people you are investing in, it stands that you would also grow as friends.

My friend, campus pastor John Kelsey, goes as far as describing disciple making as “friendship with a vision.” As you cultivate friendships in the context of a small group disciples are being made. Some of the greatest friendships I have ever known have been in the context of a discipleship group!

V. Praying for your DiscipleE.M. Bounds said “You can’t rightly

talk to men about God, until you first talk to God about men.” Perhaps the greatest thing you could do for anyone would be to pray for them; and if you are partnering with the Holy

Spirit to impact those you disciple, it stands to reason that you should pray for them. Remember: believing God to do what only He can do to see life change in the lives of those you are investing is essential.

Look at the example of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus prayed diligently for his disciples! Arguable the greatest prayer ever prayed is recorded in John 17. In that prayer Jesus prayed primarily for His disciples. Look at the example of Paul. Paul models in detail how to pray for your disciples. In fact, he prays for the believers in almost every letter he writes!

Probably the best example of this is found in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is an amazing book that highlights the believer’s wealth in Christ and the believer’s walk with Christ. Paul not only shares who these believers are in Christ, but he prays that they may be enlightened to see the vast wealth they possess in Christ. He then prays

that they could put what they know into practice, and that God would enable them to do it!

That would be my prayer for you—that you would be enlightened to all of the qualities that you possess in Christ, and that you would be equipped and empowered to make disciples of Him for His glory!

Tim LaFleur serves as Disciple-making Pastor at Brainerd Baptist Church in

Chattanooga, Tennessee. Table of Contents

___________________________________The Best Things in Deuteronomy—Part 1 of 5By Joe McKeever

What sets Deuteronomy apart from the first four books of Moses (or Pentateuch) is that it is actually a recap of the earlier ones (the name literally means “second law”).

Moses is about done. The people who God had brought out of Egypt have mostly died off now and a new generation is on the scene, the children of those ex-slaves. Only Joshua and Caleb, faithful spies from the Kadesh-Barnea days, will have traveled the entire road and will settle in Canaan (see Numbers 14:30). Even Moses will die before entering, the result of his own failure to obey the Lord (see Numbers 20).

The new generation needs to know everything. Everything is now on their shoulders. They need to be taught their history, their Scriptures, the Laws, their relationship with the Lord, what God has

promised and what He is up to at this moment, and what will be expected of them.

As the saying goes, we’re always only one generation away from paganism. Each new crop of youngsters must be taught. There is no holier or weightier obligation, no finer opportunity. Our best teachers must be gathered and taught and assisted to instruct our children and youth. Woe to the church that dismisses this as baby-sitting and turns over its youth to the immature, the shallow, and the superficial. They will pay for their mistake a thousand times and regret it forever.

Now…every teacher will have their own favorite insights into key portions of Scripture. Here are a few things from Deuteronomy that stand out in my mind and literally demand that they be taught to God’s people.

I. Why You Stayed in The Wilderness So Long—Chapter 1

“For this reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did” (1:46). Originally, the trip through the Sinai wilderness was to have taken only a few months or a year at the most. It ended up taking forty years.

Nothing worked out as the Lord had desired for His people. I’m well aware that many will dispute this due to their theological slant. My simple response is: read the story—it’s clear that God had better plans for these people than what they chose.

In their journey through the desert-wilderness, God was a) preparing this ragtag army of ex-slaves for life in the Promised Land, b) was preparing them to face the military challenges lying before them, and c) was striving to get them to trust Him. If they could not trust Him, all bets were off and nothing would work. “You did

not trust the Lord your God” (1:32). “You would not listen” (1:43).

The forty years Israel spent wandering around the wilderness had never been God’s original plan, but because this generation refused to believe Him and predicted in disgust that their children would die in that desert, God allowed that generation to be buried in the desert and for their children to inherit Canaan (see 1:39).

Sometimes we get what we ask for—and more. Some of us are in the wilderness of our faith. God seems far away, His promises remote, and evidences for His presence few. Often, this resulted from our unbelief, a failure to obey Him, a refusal to walk by faith. Disobedience will always leave God’s children marking time in the wilderness until they repent and begin to obey.

“By this time you ought to be teachers” (Hebrews 5:12). Get out of that

wilderness! “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

II. When to Fight and When to Walk Away—Chapter 2

“Do not fight with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even an inch of it…” (2:5). Not all the hostile nations Israel encountered crossing foreign territory were to be their enemies in warfare. Some they were to ignore.

The newspaper reporters were commenting on President Theodore Roosevelt’s dog, a little mutt which always seemed to get beat up in fights. “Not much of a fighter is he, Mr. President?” TR replied, “Oh no—he’s a wonderful fighter! He’s just a poor judge of dog!” Knowing whom to fight, as well as when and how, are major considerations for the Lord’s children. It was

in Old Testament days and continues to be so today.

Some nations Israel encountered as they headed toward Canaan were fierce enemies and God had decided their time was up and that they needed to be put out of business. Others, however, were under His protection for one reason or other. So, God’s army was not sent on a Sherman’s-March-to-the-Sea to practice a scorched-earth policy. They were to stay close to the Lord and obey Him about each specific situation.

Centuries later, someone told King David that the Philistines were outside, lined up for battle. Rather than let the enemy dictate his actions, “David inquired of the Lord, saying ‘Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?’” (2 Samuel 5:19). God said to go and he did, winning a great victory. A few days later, the stubborn Philistines were back, asking for more. Once again, “David

inquired of the Lord” (5:23). This time, God told him to fight them, but in a different way.

We should not assume just because someone is opposing us, even harshly, that God wants us to “give as good as we get.” We who follow Jesus Christ have a solid word about this: “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you…” (Luke 6:27ff.). We are to overcome evil with good.

Questions about this turning-the-other-cheek-business abound. 1) Is the teaching to love our enemies for everyone? Answer: no, only for “you who hear.” Not everyone “hears” the Spirit of God. See 1 Corinthians 2:14. Not everyone “gets it.” 2) Who are my enemies? Answer: those who hate you, curse you, etc. (Luke 6:27). They make themselves that by how they treat you. 3) What does it mean to love my enemies? Answer: do good to them, bless them, pray

for them, give to them (again, Luke 6:27). Biblically, love is not simply an emotion but “something you do.”

This is the “Jesus way” to clobber an enemy: With love. Martin Luther called this “left-handed power.” It looks like weakness, with its emphasis on humility and submission, loving, blessing, giving, serving, and even dying. Far from that, however, it’s the identical power that was on display when our Lord died on Calvary. We know that to be the greatest force in the world. This is how to destroy an enemy: turn him into a friend.

III. God’s Two Best Gifts to His People—Chapter 4

“For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call to Him? And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before

you today?” (4:7-8). God has given His presence and His Word to His people. Himself and His Will—that’s about as good as it gets. He is with us. He speaks to us. We are not on our own out here, left to do whatever we please. We actually know His will. Truly amazing!

Throughout the Old Testament, every time the Lord called someone into His service, they began to offer excuses. Without exception, God’s answer was always the same: “I will be with you.” Check out Moses in Exodus 3; Joshua in Joshua 1; Gideon in Judges 6; and Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1. In the New Testament, we have the same promise of His presence in Matthew 28:20, John 14:23, and Hebrews 13:5-6, among other places.

Furthermore, God gave His Word to His people. How blessed believers are to have both the Old and the New Testaments, the 66 books comprising our Holy Bible. We

must not say the Old is all about law and the New about grace. It’s all grace, from beginning to the end, even the Law. This is what Moses is saying in Deuteronomy 4:8. How blessed we are to have these statutes and ordinances from Him.

The carnal mind wants to see the Ten Commandments as a straitjacket or dead weights God placed on HIs people to restrict them. To the contrary, these are fences to protect His people from the sinkholes, snares, and dangers of going our own way (see point #5 below).

A second trap which sometimes catches the Lord’s people is seeing the Commandments (or the full Law) as a means of salvation in those days (or now, for that matter). Not so. We notice that Exodus 20, where these 10 Commandments are first given, contains a provision for an altar (verses 24-25). The Lord is saying that even having the law, which tells us God’s

mind and heart, is not going to save us; we will be needing a Savior. Every altar in the Old Testament points to the cross of Jesus. The Law is our schoolmaster, Paul said in Galatians 3:24, to bring us to Jesus. Everything in the Old Testament prepares us for the coming of Jesus.

IV. God Keeps Offering the Rebellious a Way Back into His Presence—Chapter 4

Like an over-indulgent parent, the Lord’s patience seems endless. If you noticed this about the (seemingly) too-permissive father in the Prodigal story of Luke 15, you are not the first. “But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul” (4:29).

Over and over, in Deuteronomy and throughout the rest of Scripture, God warns His people of the dangers of rebellion and neglect. “You will quickly perish from the

land” (4:26). But this great God of mercy and compassion cannot leave things there. He always gives them hope by extending an invitation for them to wake up and get right. “He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God” (4:31). Sounds a little like Hebrews 13:5-6. That’s only amazing, is what it is.

The Lord’s people are so accustomed to thinking of God as pure love that we fail to realize He didn’t have to be. Nothing in the makeup of the universe requires the Creator to be a benevolent deity. He could have been a tyrant who created humanity as playthings to toy with. This, incidentally, is a charge frequently leveled against Him—both by the enemy and those in His service.

There is no finer self-revelation of God than what He said to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. There is nothing like this anywhere

else in the Word, with the exception of all those places where it’s quoted. “The Lord, the Lord God. Compassionate and gracious. Slow to anger, rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgressions and sins. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished….” Scriptures where this is quoted include Moses in Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah in Nehemiah 9:17, David in Psalm 103:8 and 104:4; Joel in Joel 2:13, and Jonah in Jonah 4:2. Snippets of it are found throughout the Psalms and the prophets. Oddly, not a single place quotes it verbatim. I suspect this is because in the oral tradition, the speakers could not “turn in their Bibles to Exodus 34:6-7,” but were going from memory.

The eternal love of the Father is the wonder of the universe. His patience—His longsuffering—is one aspect of that.

Scripture says we should account the longsuffering of God as our salvation (2 Peter 3:15). Indeed. The problem in having a permissive, indulgent Father is that the rebellious child sees it as weakness. And so we have Psalm 50. “These things you have done (and gotten by with, God says). And as a result, you thought I was just like you” (50:21). Bad mistake.

V. The Ten Commandments Are Repeated—Chapter 5

We mentioned above that the first giving of the 10 Words, as they are called, is Exodus 20. Here Moses repeats them. They are worth a second look. Ron Mehl’s wonderful book on these teachings is called The Ten(der) Commandments. I like that.

In another small book on the Commandments, Professor Roy Honeycutt wrote: “The ‘ten words’ are therefore ten disclosures of the will of God—ten concepts,

or ten principles which the covenant people are to embody in their life before both God and man.” Then, he adds, “Beyond the words, we should seek the Lord. If we do this, then the Commandments will have much to say to us today, for principles do not change. While applications may have to be reshaped according to the demands of different generations, the ten words, or ten concepts, given by God are as changeless as the will and purpose of the God who gave them.”

The commandments, both here and in Exodus 20, divide into three groupings: Godward, homeward, and outward (external relationships). The first, Godward commands, are to retain the holiness (separateness) of the Heavenly Father. He is not like us but superior in every way. He is holy, and must be honored as such. An idol (a graven image) diminishes Him, and such images are to be shunned. Taking God’s

name in vain—whether in profanity or even religious foolishness—dishonors Him and soils His reputation. Thus, His day of worship is holy. The second, Homeward commands, involves honoring parents and being faithful to one’s spouse. Thirdly, the remaining commands were to sanctify life and property.

Even a casual glance at these shows they were a sound basis for laws governing societies at various times over the centuries. We must note however that these were intended for God’s people living in God’s land. To coerce a pagan people to honor God, to purify their language, to go to worship, etc., is to misconstrue these commands and to do more damage than good. It helps to remember that, according to Acts 1:1ff, between the Lord’s resurrection and His ascension (a forty-day period) Jesus devoted Himself to giving to His followers commands for living (1:2),

infallible proofs of His resurrection (1:3), insights about the Kingdom (1:3), and promises (1:4, 8). These are for the Lord’s faithful and not for the world. The most foolish thing God’s well-meaning children have ever done is try to force the unbelieving world to obey God’s teachings when they do not honor Christ as Lord. As Moses said back in Deuteronomy 4:8, God’s “righteous statutes and ordinances” are for His people.

Finally, when a pastor or teacher gets into the Ten Commandments, the question always arises as to how binding they are to us today. Some have built entire denominations around their determination to keep all or parts of the Law. To those who insist that the Law (all of it) is still binding on us today, we offer Romans and Galatians. And to those who would insist that the Sabbath Day commands are still binding on

us, we offer Colossians 2:16. These are as solid as it’s possible to get.

Joe McKeever is a retired Southern Baptist pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He

blogs regularly at www.joemckeever.com.Table of Contents

___________________________________Exegetically Speakingby Spiros Zodhiates

Practice What You HearJames 1:22a

From Faith, Love & Hope: An Exposition of the Epistle of James, AMG Publishers, 1997.

“But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22a).

“It’s easier to preach than to practice,

It’s easier to say than to do;Most sermons are heard by the manyBut taken to heart by the few.”

There is certainly great truth in this little verse. The author, Ben L. Byer, must have read verse 22 of the first chapter of James. This seems to be the climax of the message which James wishes to convey to his readers. Previously he has told us that we are supposed to be swift in hearing the Word of truth, but now he calls our attention to a very great danger which exists in this swift hearing. Sometimes when we hear a thing very swiftly, it hardly has time to sink in and take effect.

Never in the history of the United States have there been so many people attending “the church of their choice,” as today. These crowds are mixed: those who hear but let the Word go in one ear and come out the other, and those who hear and

do. Those who do are those who let the Word come through both ears and descend to the heart, affecting their whole life and behavior.

James must have had many discouragements in his ministry of preaching the Word, just as many preachers have today. And we should not forget that many of our hearers are also disappointed in us.

A layman visited a great city church in Ohio during a business trip. After the service he congratulated the minister on his service and sermon. “But,” said the manufacturer, “if you were my salesman, I’d discharge you. You got my attention by your appearance, voice, and manner; your prayer, reading, and logical discourse aroused my interest; you warmed my heart with a desire for what you preached; and then—and then you stopped, without asking me to do something about it. In business, the important thing is to get people to sign on the dotted line.”

That is indeed the first lesson that we preachers ought to learn. We are God’s salesmen and we ought to help the people make decisions as a result of hearing us proclaim the Word of truth. If we keep on preaching and they keep on hearing without tangible action, then we can be sure we are failing in our God-given duty.

The verb used in the original Greek text, which is translated “be ye,” is gínesthe which is different from the imperative, esté, of the verb “to be.” The radical sense of this verb actually is “to come into a new state of being.” James must be referring to the new birth of man, of which he has spoken before. It is unfair for some to accuse him of preaching “doing” without “becoming.” We cannot possibly do the things which please Christ unless He dwells within our hearts. We cannot act in a Christ-like manner unless we have become children of God through faith in the finished work of Christ.

James is not merely advocating doing certain things which will please God. No, he is saying, by virtue of this word which he uses, that the first and most important thing is becoming a child of God and only then will we be able to act as children and obey the commands of our Father. I do not have the authority to go out and find a child who is a stranger to me and force that child to obey me, but I can do that perfectly well with my own children. In the same manner, a strange child feels no obligation to obey me as my own does. Therefore this child-father relationship is absolutely essential before we can be doers of the Word of truth. We must first have the incarnate Word of truth in us if He is going to be outwardly manifested.

This word gínesthe also has the meaning of completion, of finishing. James has spoken previously of the perfection, of the completion of the believer. He continues

to lay stress on that note. He wants us to become complete in Christ. It is not enough to be born into the family of God; it is necessary to grow. One of the greatest tragedies a family could experience would be to have children who never grew.

But how do we grow? We become by being. Doing is essential to becoming, and hearing is essential to doing. Life is essential to hearing. How can we hear if we do not have life-that spiritual life which gives us a pair of spiritual ears?

One more thing about the tense of this word, “become ye.” It is not in the aorist imperative, but in the present imperative. What difference does that make? The first tense would mean that this is an action that is performed once and for all, without the idea of continuity; while the second one indicates that we are not just born and perfected in an instant of time. No, there is a process of growth; we keep becoming

perfect as we do the things which please God and which He has commanded in His Word. Many of us are like posts instead of trees. If we plant a tree, it begins to grow; if we set a post, it begins to decay.

There was an old farmer who in the prayer meetings of his church in describing his Christian experience, always said: “Well, I’m not making much progress, but I’m established.” One spring when the farmer was getting out some logs, his wagon sank in the mud in a soft place in the road and he could not get out. As he sat on top of the logs viewing the situation, a neighbor who had never accepted the principle of the old man’s religious experience came along and greeted him: “Well, Brother Jones, I see you are not making much progress, but you’re established.”

James does not want us to be stuck; he wants us to keep becoming, to keep moving. Gínesthe, he says, which means

that Christian perfection is achieved by stages in the process of doing, and as we do we become better as the days go by. Everything that we do leaves a permanent mark upon our characters; so let us be careful of all that we do.

Now what are we to keep becoming? The English translation of the Greek word as we have it is “doers.” The Greek word poiētai used here is found only six times in the entire New Testament, four of them in the book of James.

The verb poieō, from which this noun is derived, means more than just to follow a prescribed course, to do something habitually. There is another Greek word, prássō, which designates that. Our word here, however, designates creative performance, a productive action pointing to an actual result. Just by looking at this wonderful Greek word used by the Holy Spirit, we can learn a great deal about the

kind of activity in which we as Christians ought to engage.

First of all, our activity ought not to be just a habit, but it must also be creative. Unfortunately, most of our organized religions today, Christianity included, have become religions of “deeds,” deeds which are so habitual that they are lacking in creativity. We do certain things because we are used to doing them, instead of doing them because of an inner urge. The things that we do, furthermore, should produce results, first of all in our own selves and then in others. As we “do” the Word of God in our daily lives, our lives themselves must change and that change must be seen by others. That is exactly the message James wants to convey through this verse.

“Is the sermon done?” asked one member of the congregation of another. “No, the preacher is done, but the sermon has to be worked out in our lives,” replied the

practical listener. One thing God detests is the religion of words. It was Robert E. Speer who said: “After thirty years of leadership in Christian work, it is my conclusion and conviction that the greatest missionary problem is just the failure of Christian people to live up to their profession.”

The word poiētai used in our verse also means “poets.” A poet is one who puts words together to express a thought or feeling in a beautiful manner. That is what God wants us Christians to be—poets, creators of the beautiful. We are to be creative in life. We are to rake all the experiences, pleasant and unpleasant, and present them as attractive poems to the world around us. If we can do nothing else for God, we can show a shining face. If we wish our neighbors to see what God is like, let them see what He can make us like.

“You don’t get much sunshine in here, do you?” asked a gentle old lady as

she entered the elevator at the back of a big department store. “Only what folks like you bring in, ma’am,” answered the elevator operator with distinctive courtesy.

Spiros Zodhiates (1922-2009) served as president of AMG International for over 40

years, was the founding editor of Pulpit Helps Magazine (Disciple’s predecessor), and authored dozens of exegetical books.

Table of Contents

___________________________________Words to Stand You on Your Feetby Joe McKeever

Protecting the Ministry from Shame

“Giving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Those of us who are the redeemed—saved, born again, and called to serve Christ—would do well to learn the lesson the Apostle Paul demonstrated throughout his entire ministry: We are to put up with a great deal of wrong in order to protect the Gospel.

The minister in the news for building a great mansion for himself leaves the watching world with the impression he is using contributions from the offering plate to enrich himself. He is discrediting the ministry. He should live simply in order not to shame the Gospel.

The church member who wears his faith publicly but cheats his customers in business is bringing shame upon the ministry. He should repent.

The Apostle Paul said, in order not to bring the Gospel into shame and discredit

the ministry, he would put up with a lot of terrible conditions, naming among them afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, hunger, and so forth (2 Cor. 6:2-10). What would you endure to protect the Gospel from being shamed?

Many who are called into the Lord’s ministry will find themselves being lied about by the very people they trusted most. Some will be slandered and opposed for doing nothing more than urging their church to live faithfully. Some will be terminated from pastoral positions and unable to find a church to pastor. Some will be arrested and beaten and even killed.

And in many cases, the tormentors are the religious people. What? You thought only the world was the enemy of the faithful? Think again.

Let us be faithful, no matter the cost. If we are terminated from our church and

unable to find a place to serve, let us preach in jails and nursing homes and on street corners. If we are arrested and beaten and commanded never to mention the name of Jesus again, let us do what Paul and Silas did in the jail of Philippi. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). They’re always listening, Christian. The world is always watching.

Oh, let us be faithful. “Our momentary light affliction is working for us an exceeding weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).

Joe McKeever is a retired Southern Baptist pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He

blogs regularly at www.joemckeever.com. Table of Contents

___________________________________Living out the Living Wordby Justin Lonas

Things into which Angels Long to Look1 Peter 1:3-12

Originally published in Disciple, January 25, 2010.

1 Peter 1:3-5 is perhaps the best description of the wonder of salvation anywhere in the Bible: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Peter here continues his theme, proclaiming loudly and clearly that God, three-in-one, is the author and finisher of our

faith, “according to His great mercy.” The Greek word here behind “mercy” is eleos, meaning compassion or active pity; it carries the connotation of sparing one from something. The mercy of God is one of His defining attributes, seen throughout the Old and New Testaments. This characteristic is described in Hebrew by the word chêsêd, which is a broader term that covers a broad spectrum of God’s infinite goodness toward His people, translated in some versions (notably the NASB) as “lovingkindness” (a word actually originated by Myles Coverdale in 1535 to try to capture a fuller meaning of the Hebrew term). In essence, Peter tells us that God, acting out of His boundless lovingkindness “caused us to be born again.”

Birth is an act of passage—a child passes from the dark, warm womb to a bright new world. In the case of believers, God has brought us out of darkness into His

light, “to a living hope” (alive because Christ is alive through His resurrection from the dead), to an inheritance “imperishable and undefiled”, and to God’s protection. Birth is also a very familial process—the child comes into a family; the family is enlarged by his presence—and the words like “inheritance” and “protection” used here strongly show that our salvation is a birth into the family of God, with the full rights and privileges of His children.

The gifts of salvation described here all point to the future. Our “living hope” is fixed on the sure return of Christ—a present effect of future reality. Our inheritance “will not fade away” and is “reserved” for us in heaven—it is not given to us at the point of salvation but kept for us. Our protection is for a salvation “ready to be revealed in the last time”—God does not take us out of the world but leaves us here for a purpose. Peter is reminding believers that God’s

promises are true and permanent, even though they are not fully realized in the present.

The next sentence (verses 6-9) shows us why Peter, under the influence of the Spirit, describes salvation in this way. He tells his readers that this is something in which they should “greatly rejoice” even though they were presently being “distressed by various trials.” The believers to whom Peter was writing were being persecuted by the Roman state, the Jews, and possibly also their friends, family, and neighbors—they did not have it easy and may have been often tempted to doubt the truth of salvation, the goodness of God, and His promise of protection. They desperately needed reassurance of these things for encouragement and joy.

Peter goes one step further, telling them that these trials were “necessary [Greek dei, implying that this is

something that had to happen—i.e., it was a part of God’s plan for them], so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:7). He tells them that their persecution is refining their faith (which is eternal) like gold (which is temporal) is refined by fire. In persevering to the end, they honor God, who praises and glorifies the faithful in the last day for the sake of His glory, which they proclaimed in the face of persecution.

These persecuted Christians were apparently very strong in their faith (even if tempted to despair by their circumstances), as Peter says that they love Christ despite the fact that they haven’t seen Him, and that they trust in Him (as their living hope) even though they did not have His physical presence. He says that they “greatly rejoice

with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls” (1:8b-9). Their faith in God’s power to save, protect, and preserve them fills them with a joy that trumps all hardships and worldly cares. 

This faith that God has given them (cf. Eph. 2:8) that results in salvation is not new, but has been part of God’s plan all along. Peter references the Old Testament, telling them that the prophets who wrote about “the grace that would come to you,” that is, God’s mercy for all peoples (such as that described in Isaiah 49:6, and referred to in Matt. 13:17, Acts 13:47, and Heb. 11:13), longed and diligently searched for the revelation of that salvation

These prophets, Peter says, were “seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1:11). God, through His

Spirit, moved faithful men of old (2 Pet. 1:21) to prophesy of the mystery of salvation—they told of the coming Messiah would be both a “suffering servant” but also the triumphant Savior of the world. What they knew in part, believers now can see in full, as we are the fruits of this salvation. Peter reminds his readers that their faith is founded upon God’s plan as revealed in His Word; it is ancient and unshakable.

Furthermore, Peter says in verse 12 that these faithful prophets knew that they wrote about things that they would never see in their earthly lives. “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you.” The great prophets of old were, in a sense, the servants of those who believe in Christ, and we are privileged to be the recipients of what God worked through them.

The Christians who received Peter’s letter did not simply stumble into the good

news of salvation preserved in prophecy—the message had to be delivered. Peter says that “these things which now have been announced to you” came “through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.” The message of the Gospel was revealed in the coming of Christ, and the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to tell it to the world. For the Gospel to spread, it must be preached (as Paul states in Rom. 10:14-15).

It is important to note that though (as Peter has repeatedly shown in these verses) God alone is at work in our salvation, He relies on the faithful proclamation of the Gospel to bring His truth to those in whom He works to bring to Himself. This truth is reflected in Peter’s reminder that we are left in the world for a time after our salvation (by implication, in order to preach the Gospel), and it sets up the theme of our responsibility

in light of our salvation that carries through the rest of the book.

Peter closes the final sentence of his introduction with an interjected summary of everything he has previously described about our salvation: “things into which angels long to look.” This puzzles us, because we know that angels are in the presence of God, and we tend to assume that they are “in on something” that we can’t know until we reach heaven. Peter seems to be saying that the angels, who have not known separation from God, cannot fully grasp the beauty of redemption and reconciliation and are fascinated by the astounding work of God in salvation. Still, Peter’s focus here is not a statement of angelology but a final proclamation of the wonder of salvation for the edification of his readers.

Throughout these 10 verses, Peter reminds us of the sheer wonder of what we

have been given by God. Our salvation, he says, flows out of God’s lovingkindness; it is eternal; it is undefiled; it is proved under fire; it is a cause of infinite joy; it is ancient; it was brought by preaching (under the influence of the Holy Spirit); it is something God gives to us especially that not even His angels are partakers of.

This gift of immeasurable worth is not something to be lightly regarded or kept secret—we are to treasure it in our hearts and proclaim it, impart it to others, and make disciples. This is what we were chosen by God (1:1-2) to do. If we aren’t stirred to this by Peter’s words, perhaps we do not put the same value on our salvation as he did. As the rest of his letter makes clear, the joy of our salvation is both the motivation and the call for an active, powerful faith.

Justin Lonas is editor of Disciple Magazine for AMG International in Chattanooga,

Tennessee. Table of Contents___________________________________Following Godby Erik Christensen

Inheritance in the KingdomEphesians 5:5-12

In Ephesians 5:5, Paul encourages believers to walk so as to have “an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” This is an interesting statement, as some would translate this as though Paul were speaking to the issue of salvation rather than reward. In this context, though, it seems clear that Paul is writing to the Ephesian believers and exhorting them to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling which [they] have been called” (4:1).

Paul certainly contrasts a believer with an unbeliever in 5:6-8. Throughout this passage, however, Paul is exhorting believers not to walk like they once did, in the flesh, according to the ways of darkness rather than as children of light. In referring to “inheritance”, Paul refers to the believer’s reward rather than their salvation.

Paul begins this verse with the believers’ certain knowledge that fleshly behavior, behavior that is of the darkness rather than the light, will leave a person with no inheritance, meaning no reward, in the kingdom of Christ and God. The word “for” connects Paul’s previous thoughts in verses 3-4 regarding what believers should and should not be participating in. Namely, believers should be giving thanks rather than even allowing the sinful activities of the flesh to be named among them (5:9-12).

Why? Paul has given many reasons for this. First, believers have been blessed

with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (1:3) Second, a believer has been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise having believed in the Gospel message. Third, a believer has been “made alive together with Christ” (2:5 ff.), having been saved by the grace of God.

Paul expresses to believers that those who are walking in the flesh have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. In this context, that includes those walking in: immorality (any sexual activity outside of marriage), impurity (moral uncleanness or filthiness), covetousness (not being satisfied with what one has but constantly wanting more), and idolatry (longing for or filling ones desires with material objects, including sexual desires, rather than being satisfied in God).

The word “has” here is a present act indicative verb, indicating a continuous decision to have or hold. A believer walking

as if they were not saved has no inheritance. They will not have a “portion”, speaking of reward in the kingdom. Contextually Paul is encouraging the believer not to walk according to their former ways of sin but rather to walk according to the ways of the Lord. He has already established the salvation of the believers he is writing to. Now he is using the present tense in order to reflect on the ongoing walk of the believer.

Can believers sin? Yes, and 1 John 1:9 states: “If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Clearly this gives believers knowledge of how to be restored into a right fellowship with God—namely confession. Can believers have idols in their lives? Yes, as John also states in 1 John 5:21 “Little children guard yourselves from idols.”

In Ephesians 1:14, Paul uses the idea of inheritance with regard to our salvation in Christ where we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is a “done deal.” Now a believer has an opportunity to “earn” reward by submitting, yielding, and or obeying Christ. Of course this is by grace as well. Walking in the flesh and all this entails will not yield the believer an “inheritance reward.”

We can see this clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:10–15: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be

revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

The foundation is laid—salvation in Christ by grace through faith. The work—also due to grace—is a result of our walking in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called and Christ will reward us accordingly.

Right now, we are celebrating Christmas. What a message of hope we have! God has given us in Christ, the full assurance and security of salvation as well as the opportunity to experience Him in the midst of this life and be rewarded by Him in eternity. Are we yielding to the flesh and walking in a manner that speaks of our former lives without Christ or are we yielded to the Lord and walking in His strength and

grace? In following God, are we walking by faith and experiencing His power to change us and produce His fruit in and through our lives?

Erik Christensen is senior pastor of Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque, New

Mexico. Table of Contents___________________________________Points to Ponderby David L. Olford

God and Us

Texts: Matthew 1:22-23, Romans 8:31-32, John 14:16-17.

Thought: The three texts above express three glorious aspects of God’s relationship with us through Jesus. We won’t be expounding these texts in full, but rather we are noting one key truth in each of these texts. These truths start with the birth of

Jesus the Christ, and they lead to the exaltation of Christ and the gift of the Spirit.

I. Jesus Manifests—God with UsThe angel broke into Joseph’s

perplexing situation to announce the miraculous birth of Jesus. Matthew characteristically notes how this birth was a fulfillment of prophecy: “‘See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel,’ which is translated ‘God with us’” (Matt. 1:23). What a glorious truth, God was literally visiting His people. He was to be with His people personally, physically, and “savingly,” to save His people from their sins.

What mystery! What condescension! What good news! Jesus, in fulfillment of prophecy was truly “God with us” throughout His ministry on earth. And as Jesus voiced His final commission in the Gospel of Matthew, He concludes by saying “And

remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). In some special way, His presence with His disciples would continue as they went forth to fulfill His global mission—“always.” God is with us.

II. Jesus Assures—God for UsThe Apostle writes in climactic

fashion, “What are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?” (Rom. 8:31-32). It would not be good for God to be with us very long if He was not for us!

God is for us in the most profound of ways as the giving or “offering” of His Son indicates. In the preceding verses (Romans 8:28-30) and the following verses (Romans 8:33-39) we read of the security of God being for us, the certainty of God being for us, and the victory of God being for us. The

offering of Jesus is the ultimate gift and act “for us” that simply means that God will withhold nothing from us that we need. Also, nothing is able to “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

As hard as it is to grasp the reality of this truth, God is for us in a way that is hard to compare with human relationships. God is for us in terms of His eternal purpose for us (Rom. 8:28-30), in terms of His judicial acceptance of us (Rom. 33-35), and in terms of His love for us which makes us overcomers in the midst of all circumstances. For those who are truly in Christ, the truth of God being for us is an unshakable verity.

III. Jesus Predicts—God in UsSpeaking to His disciples about His

going to the Father and His disciples’ experience after He was to depart, Jesus

says, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But, you do know Him, because He remains with and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (John 14:15-18).

Jesus clearly speaks to His disciples about the gift of the Holy Spirit. This other counselor, the Spirit of truth would not only be with the disciples, but be in them. God, the Holy Spirit would be in them. This gift of the Spirit after Jesus was exalted in heaven was evidenced and proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost. What a glorious indication of the type of relationship that God desires to have with us. In the provision of the Holy Spirit we have God choosing to reside with us and indeed in us. It is through the Spirit’s

presence that the exalted Christ remains with us as we fulfill His commission

Thrust: May we treasure and grow in our relationship with God this coming year. He has done and will continue to do everything to be with us, for us and in us.

David L. Olford teaches expository preaching at Union University’s Stephen

Olford Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Table of Contents

___________________________________Jewels from Past Giants

The Incarnation—Part 1 of 2By H. P. Liddon

Originally preached as an Advent sermon by Liddon at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, December 21, 1873, and published in Advent in St. Paul’s, in 1889. Edited slightly for modern spellings.

“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4).

Why is it that the great festivals of the Christian Church do so much less for many of us than might have been expected, in the way of helping us to understand and to live by the central truths of the Christian Creed?

One answer which may be given to that question is that we do not prepare for them. We allow ourselves to drift up to the morning of the day without giving it a thought. And the consequence is that its brief hours have passed before we have made any serious effort to enter into its idea and object. Now, one design of the Church of Christ in observing such seasons as Advent and Lent, is to lead Christians to think of what is meant by Christmas and Easter before they actually arrive; and it is in keeping with this intention that I invite you to consider the words in which St. Paul

describes the event which Christmas commemorates, namely, the coming of the Eternal Son of God by His Incarnation into this our world. St. Paul’s words lead us to consider, first, how the event was prepared for, and secondly, what it was in itself. “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”

I. “When the Fullness of the Time Was Come”

This remarkable expression, “the fullness of time,” is, with a slight variation, once used by St. Paul elsewhere: he calls the Gospel, when writing to the Ephesians, “the dispensation of the fullness of times” (Eph. 1:10). In both cases he means by “fullness” that which fulfills or brings to completion; the arrival of a given moment which completes an epoch; the hour which

fills up its appointed measure and brings it to a close.

It was in a like sense that our Lord and His apostles used the word “hour” as marking a particular point in His life, determined in the counsels of God. His mother, at Cana of Galilee, does not know that the “hour” of His self-manifestation has not yet come (John 2:4). The woman of Samaria is told that the hour comes when the true worshippers would worship the Father neither in Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem (John 4:21); at Pentecost the whole world would become an oratory. The Jews are solemnly warned that “the hour is coming, and now is, when the [morally] dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John. 5:25). When our Lord’s first-cousins pressed him to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, “My time,” He said, “is not yet come” (John 7:6). On the other hand, “when Jesus knew that

His hour was come” (John 13:1), He proceeded to wash His disciples’ feet; and “when the hour was come, He sat down with the Twelve” (Luke. 22:14); and, when the traitor draws near in Gethsemane, “the hour is at hand,” He says, “the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Matt. 26:45).

In all these passages, “the hour” means a point of time of critical importance, up to which all that had previously happened had led, from which all was afterward to date. The Passion was especially the hour of Christ; the Birth of Christ was the hour of the world. It was “the fullness of time.”

All such language is only fully understood when we bear in mind that the succession of events which, looking at it from our human point of view, we men call time, is distributed upon a plan eternally present to the divine mind; and that particular persons or particular characters

are assigned, in heaven, their predestinated place in this succession. “To everything,” says the wise man, “there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1).

All the lesser incidents of our lives are really arranged in a preconcerted order. There is a “fullness of time” at which, and not before, we can understand particular truths or undertake particular duties, because for these truths or duties all that has preceded has been a preparation. “My time,” we may say in this sense, “is in Thy hand” (Ps. 31:17). This is peculiarly true of that last awful moment which awaits us all, and for which all that precedes it is a preparation—the moment of death. To God’s servants, it comes when they are ripe for it; it comes, by the appointment of eternal love, in “the fullness of time.”

In like manner it is true generally of those whom the world recognizes as its

great men, that each appears in “the fullness of time.” Each has his predestined hour, which he may not anticipate. He is in some sense the ripe product of the ages of thought and feeling and labor which have elapsed before he comes; and that he should appear when he does is just as much willed by the providence of God as that he should be born at all. So it is with writers, artists, statesmen, even discoverers; when such men are said to be “before their age,” it is only meant that their age has not yet taken its own measure, and that they surprise it by the discovery. They really appear, one and all, in “the fullness of time.”

Now, our Lord’s arrival on the scene of human history corresponds with the general law so far as this; that He came when a course of preparation, conducted through previous ages, was complete. But He was not the product of His own or of any preceding age. What is true of great men

who are only great men, is not true of Him. They receive from their age as much as they give it; they embody and reflect its spirit; they seize upon the ideas which are in circulation, and, whether by speech or action, express them more vividly than do others; their generation does a great deal for them; it is pleased with them because it sees itself reflected in them and their power with it is often in an inverse ratio to their real originality.

With our Lord it was otherwise. He owed nothing to the time or to the country which witnessed His Advent; He had no contact with the world of Greek thought, or of Roman politics and administration. He borrowed rabbinical language enough to make Himself intelligible; but no rabbi could have said, or could have omitted to say, what He did. The preceding ages only prepared His way before Him by forming the circumstances, the convictions, the moral

experiences of His countrymen and others; and thus a preceding period, marked in the counsels of God, had to be run out. At last its final hour had struck, and that hour was “the fullness of time;” it was the moment of the Advent.

There was a threefold work of preparation for the coming of the Son of God carried forward in what was then called the civilized world, and each portion of it required the lapse of a certain time.

First, the world was to be prepared politically for His work. In order to spread an idea or a creed, two instruments, if not strictly necessary, are at least desirable. Of these, the first is a common language, such as the French language was in Europe half a century ago; a language of civilization, which shall be a means for expressing new thoughts and convictions without subjecting them to misrepresentation or injury by the process of translation. The second is a

common social system, common laws, a common government.

The first of these conditions was partly provided by the conquests of Alexander. He spread the Greek language throughout western Asia and Egypt. And when Greece was conquered by Rome, educated Romans learned the language of the vanquished province. Thus, when our Lord came, the Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, was the common tongue of the civilized world; it was ready to St. Paul’s hand for his missionary work. And, during the half-century which preceded the Birth of Christ, the Roman Empire was finally consolidated into a political whole; Palestine and Spain, North Africa and South Germany, were administered by a single government. Christianity did not, indeed, need this. It passed beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire in the lifetime of the Apostles. The

earliest translation of the New Testament was made into Syriac, in the second century; and it showed that the Church could grow without Greek. But the preparation of a common language was undoubtedly an important element in the process by which preceding ages led up to the “fullness of time.”

There was a second preparation in the convictions of mankind. The heathen nations were not without some religion, which contained, in various degrees, elements of truth, however mingled with or overlaid by errors. Had it not been for the truth which is to be found in all forms of heathenism, they could not have lasted as they did. Had there not been much true religious feeling in the ancient world, although lavished often upon unworthy and miserable objects, the noble characters with whom we meet in history could not have existed. But from the first the ancient

religions tended to bury God in the visible world which witnessed to Him.

Those powers of nature which are only His modes of working were increasingly regarded as separate objects of devout veneration: the principle was the same in the Fetishism which found a god in some block of wood or stone; and in the Pantheism which looked forward to the absorption of individual beings in nature’s universal life. The Greeks never knew, in their best days, of a literally Almighty God, still less of a God of love; but it was necessary that their incapacity to retain in their knowledge (cf. Rom. 1:28) the little they did know of Him should be proved by experience.

Certainly wise men tried to spiritualize the popular language and ideas about God. But the old paganism would not bear such handling; it went to pieces when it was discussed; while philosophy, having no facts to appeal to, but consisting only of “views,”

could never become a religion and take its place. The consequence was the simultaneous growth of gross superstition and blank unbelief, down to the time of the Incarnation. Never before was the existence of any god so widely denied as in the age of the first Caesars; never were there so many magicians, incantations, rites of the most debased and debasing kind, as in that age. The most gifted of races had done their best with heathenism; and the result was, that the wisest and purest minds loathed the present and looked forward to the future. It was “the fullness of time.” The epoch of religious experiments had passed into an epoch of despair, which was only not altogether hopeless.

There was also a preparation in the moral experience of mankind. There was at times much moral earnestness in the old pagan world. But men were content with being good citizens, which is not necessarily

the same thing as being good men. In the eyes of Socrates, for instance, all obligations were discharged if a man obeyed the laws of Athens. “No man,” St. Augustine has said, “approached Christianity more nearly than did Plato” (The City of God, book 8, ch. 5). Yet Plato tolerated popular vices of the gravest description, and drew a picture of a model state in which there was to be a community of wives.

The moral teachers whom St. Paul afterwards found at Athens were Epicureans or Stoics; they practically divided the ancient world between them in his day. The Stoic morality has often been compared with Christianity; it differed from it vitally. Every Stoic virtue was dictated by pride, just as every Epicurean virtue was inspired by the wish to economize the sources of pleasure. “Nowadays,” says a pagan writer, “the greatest vices are concealed under the name of philosophy” and the morality of the

masses of men, whom the philosophers could not and did not care to influence, was what might be supposed. The dreadful picture of the pagan world, which St. Paul draws at the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans, is not darker than that of pagan writers; of moralists like Seneca, of satirists like Juvenal, of historians like Tacitus.

And yet enough survived of moral truth in the human conscience to condemn average pagan practice. Pagans still had, however obscurely, some parts of the Law of God written in their hearts. Men saw and approved the better course; they followed the worse. The natural law was thus to them only a revelation of sin and of weakness; it led them to yearn for a deliverer, although their aspirations towards Him were vague and fitful. Still this widespread corruption, and this longing for better things, marked the close of the period of moral experiments; it

announced that “the fullness of time” had come.

In the Jewish people also a threefold preparation, ending also in a “fullness of time,” is certainly not less observable. Politically, the Jews were expecting change; they retained the feelings while they had lost the privileges of a free people; their aspirations looked to a better future, though they mistook its character. The scepter had departed from Judah: Shiloh would come, they believed, immediately.

Their purely religious convictions pointed in the same direction. Prophecy had, in the course of ages, completed its picture of the coming Deliverer. Beginning with the indefinite promise of deliverance, it had gradually narrowed the fulfillment to a particular race, a particular nation. A particular tribe, a particular family; the birth, the work, the humiliations, the death, the

triumph, of the Deliverer had been described by anticipation.

It was four hundred years since the last prophet had spoken; and during the interval the nation had been particularly active in arranging, comparing, discussing, weighing, the great treasures of the past. There was, consequently, an “expectation of Israel” (Luke 2:25) for which all good men were waiting. God had spoken by the mouths of His holy prophets, which had been since the world began, that Israel would be saved from his enemies (Luke 1:70-71). The hour had come; and men were watching every sign that it could give.

Above all, the Jews underwent a moral preparation for the Son of God. God had given them a Law; in itself “holy, just, and good” (Rom. 7:12). But this Law itself pronounced a curse on all who did not keep it. Did the Jews keep it? They had the experience of centuries; had they ever kept

it? Were they not as far as ever from keeping it, in any sense which conscience could sanction? They had, no doubt, made a certain number of technical extracts from it, and these they could obey mechanically. But the moral principles which it contained did not govern their lives. And they knew it. The Law, then, was to them a revelation of weakness and a revelation of sin. It showed them what, in their natural strength, they could not do. Like a lantern carried into a dark chamber of horrors which was unlighted before, it showed them what they had done. Thus the Law was, in St. Paul’s eyes, a confidential servant to whom God had entrusted the education of Israel, to bring him to Christ (Gal. 3:24); and this process had reached completion. “the fullness of time” had come.

Henry Parry Liddon (1829-1890) was an Anglican theologian and educator. He

served as vice chancellor of the theological school at Cuddeson (now Ripon College

Cuddeson), and later as a professor of biblical exegesis at Oxford University from 1870-1882. He is perhaps best known for

his tenure as canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, where his sermons often drew

crowds of 3-4,000. Table of Contents___________________________________Counselor’s Cornerby James Rudy Gray

O, Little Town of Bethlehem

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).

Scripture makes it crystal clear that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1 and

Luke 2:4). That makes Bethlehem important for believers but insignificant among the cities of the world. Even today, it is a small town of approximately 25,000 people in the Judean Mountains in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Tourism accounts for 65 percent of the city’s economy (primarily during the Christmas season) and the majority of its residents are Muslim. In the month of December the temperature ranges between 45 and 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Bethlehem is where God became a human being. The incarnation would be awesome regardless of where it occurred, but it happened at Bethlehem.

Most of us will probably hear or sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this Christmas season. Phillips Brooks (not Phillip) wrote the lyrics in 1868 almost three years after an extended trip overseas that included the Holy Land during Christmas in 1865. In a letter he wrote about his visit he said, “We

took our horses and rode to Bethlehem. It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, surrounded by its terraced gardens. Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say the shepherds were.” The service that night at The Church of the Nativity lasted five hours, from 10:00 p. m. on Christmas eve to 3:00 a. m. Christmas morning.

In a letter Brooks wrote from Rome the following February, he stated, “I remember especially on Christmas Eve, when I was standing in the old church at Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with the splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices that I knew well, telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.”

Back at his Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1866, he wrote a poem about his visit to Bethlehem. He gave the poem to the organist, Lewis Redner, and asked him to compose a tune for it. On Saturday night before the song was to be sung by the children’s Sunday school choir on Sunday, Redner had not come up with the music. He said, “I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music would live beyond the Christmas of 1868.” It was first sung by six Sunday school teachers and 36 members of the children’s choir.

The singing of this carol has become a Christmas tradition throughout most of the world. Brooks was one of the most popular

preachers of his day even though the ministry was not his plan. He started his career as a Latin teacher but only lasted one year. He wrote, “I have failed most signally in teaching school.” The Harvard graduate then went to Seminary and became a pastor.

One of his biographers noted that his carol is unusual in that it is not an offering of direct praise or prayer to God until the last verse. It is instead a “meditation in which the singer addresses the little town itself.”

I love the song. Bethlehem will always be a special place. May we all sing with joy “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this Christmas season. However, while it is great to visit where Jesus was born or even sing about the place of His birth, it is even greater to walk with the resurrected Lord today. Merry Christmas!

James Rudy Gray is certified as a professional counselor by the National

Board for Certified Counselors, and is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He serves as the editor of The Baptist Courier, the official

newspaper of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Table of Contents

___________________________________The Story behind the Songby Lindsay Terry

Surprised by a SongSong: “All Hail King Jesus”

“Keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses

immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen” (1 Tim. 6:14-16).

You and I would be thrilled to have millions of people around the world sing our songs. But what about our first published song? How exciting is that? That is exactly what Dave Moody experienced after the publishing of his “All Hail King Jesus.”

During a trip to India and Japan in 1987, only ten years after writing the song, he experienced that joy firsthand while visiting churches in those countries. He said, “I had no idea that people over there even knew the song, so to have heard it sung in those nations, not expecting anything of that nature, was probably the most significant feeling I’ve ever experienced regarding my song.”

Through his teen years, Dave worked hard toward a goal of being a piano teacher.

He later graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 1970 with a piano teaching degree, and then taught piano for fourteen years. Dave shared with me the following story behind his famous song “All Hail King Jesus”:

“I was at home one Wednesday afternoon in 1977, preparing to teach some piano classes. The youngsters were to come for their lessons after school, beginning at about 3:30 p. m. On that particular afternoon I had some time before they arrived, so I sat down at the piano and began worshiping the Lord.

“The furthest thing from my mind was the writing of a song. My only purpose was to spend time with the Lord. Quite suddenly, I began to develop a melody that was coming to me—something I had never played before. And just as quickly came some words that I began to sing, using the melody the Lord was giving. When I

finished, I realized that the Lord had given me a song. I played it over several times and put it on paper so I wouldn’t forget it. During the next couple of days, I played it for a couple of friends, just to see their response, which was very favorable.

“The following Sunday I was eager to share ‘All Hail King Jesus’ with the congregation. From my position at the Hammond organ, I sang the song a couple of times, allowing the congregation to learn it. I then asked them to sing it through with me. They did so and afterward sat with very passive and stoic expressions. I thought the song had flopped. I was puzzled. I remember that I also thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s just that they don’t know it well enough.’ So I sang it through again with them. As we were finishing the song, the associate pastor, Lou Peterson, who was leading the service in the absence of the pastor, stepped over to me and asked that I sing it

with them again. I did so, and as we were nearing the end of the song, I opened my eyes, and to my surprise I saw the congregation of more than eight hundred people on their knees, with their hands raised toward heaven, singing my song.”

As Dave’s song is sung by people everywhere, and as the different names given to the Lord Jesus, such as “Morning Star,” “King of kings,” and “Lord of lords,” flow from the congregation, it creates a wonderful spirit of joy and worship. The song has been placed in a number of hymnals and has been arranged into choral settings, greatly helping it to be sung and heard by believers around the world. It has also been recorded by scores of recording artists and choral groups.

There is something about the names of Jesus that evoke a spirit of worship in all of us who know Him as personal Savior and Lord.

© 2008 by Lindsay Terry. Used by permission.

Lindsay Terry has been a song historian for more than 40 years, and has written widely

on the background of great hymns and worship songs including the books I Could

Sing of Your Love Forever (2008), from which this piece is excerpted, and The

Sacrifice of Praise (2002). Table of Contents___________________________________Church Buildersby Bernard R. DeRemer

A. E. Glover: The Perils and Blessings of Missions

During 1900 the Boxer Rebellion “in the name of patriotism spread death and destruction across much of China.” Various political, social, and economic factors were

involved, as well as a long drought, ignorantly blamed on “foreign devils.”

Almost 50,000 Christians died; 181 missionaries and children were martyred. Three ancient religions—Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism—supported the movement. Following an edict of the Empress Dowager, the Boxers (a secret religious and political society) eagerly engaged in a “concerted effort to destroy and eradicate the church and faithful followers of Jesus Christ.”

Rev. A.E. Glover’s party consisted of his wife, Flora, children Hedley and Hope, and Miss Caroline Gates, who had served there for 16 years. Naturally they wanted to continue ministering but realized that their presence could only bring greater harm to faithful believers. Reluctantly they set out June 9 of that year for an epic trek to Hankow (today part of Wuhan) in central China.

This then is the greatly condensed story of Glover’s book, A Thousand Miles of Miracle. “In journeyings often.. in perils of robbers…in perils in the wilderness…” (2 Cor. 11:26).

Archibald E. Glover (1859-1954) was graduated from Horcester College, ordained a deacon in the Church of England and later a priest. He had a number of curacies, finally serving under the famed H. W. Webb-Peploe, at St. Paul’s Onslow Square, London.

In 1896 he went to China under the China Inland Mission (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship). The Boxer Rebellion caused his group to flee for safety. For months, they faced terrible threats at every turn but also experienced the “faithful protection and providence of God and a deepened prayer life.” Their primitive, extremely uncomfortable travel was by mule litter. Half naked, dirty, and with little food

they constantly faced “insults from the mobs and threats of death from officialdom.”

A July 2, 1900, edict ordered the expulsion of all foreigners from China and persecution of Christians. Once they were told that the “actual day of our execution had been fixed for the 10th day of the 6th moon!” Glover recalled that at one point “not another morsel of food passed our lips for two days and nights.”

Another time they were robbed “of every earthly possession without so much as cash to buy food.” As with Elijah of old, the Lord provided for them, sometimes almost miraculously. “Over and over again passages from Holy Scripture were brought vividly and appropriately to our minds.”

They endured hunger, thirst, and burning heat. At last rain came, breaking the worst heat wave in 30 years. People scattered to the fields to plant crops and that helped provide safety for a while.

Another time they were brief guests of the London Missionary Society, where they were wonderfully refreshed and encouraged. On Aug. 14 they finally reached safety at Hankow. Four days later Flora gave birth to Faith—a miracle in itself considering all the illnesses and other privations she had suffered so long—but the infant died a few days later. Then on October 25, Flora herself, weakened from all the awful hardships, went to be with the Lord. It was said that “so large an assemblage at a funeral has never been witnessed in Shanghai before. Flora was the last of the 1900 martyrs to pass from the cross to the crown.”

Later Glover remarried, served various ministries, and finally retired to a CIM home. It must have seemed as if he had packed the labor of a lifetime into those terrible 67 days of 1900. “Be thou faithful

unto death and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

Bernard R. DeRemer chronicled the lives of dozens of heroes of the faith in more than a

decade of writing for Pulpit .Helps Magazine. He continues to serve in this capacity as a

volunteer contributor to Disciple. He lives in West Liberty, Ohio.

Reference: A Thousand Miles of Miracle, by A.E. Glover; excerpts used by permission of OMF International.

Table of Contents___________________________________Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel

Hope in the Midst of the StormBy AMG International Staff

Since sin entered the world, God’s good creation has been “subjected to futility, not willingly,” and “groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Rom. 8:20, 22). Because of our rebellion against Him, even this planet that God made to nurture and sustain us often turns hostile. The waters that give life can flood our cities; the sea that provides food for many can hurl storms and tsunamis at us on land; the soil that grows crops can quake beneath our feet.

When these calamities hit home, how do you and I as believers respond with Christ-like compassion? We recognize that, even though we cannot “fix” all the problems that arise, we have an obligation to help those we can—our compassion has to be attached to action: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet

you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16). Moreover, we freely help as many as we can during times of disaster so that those who do not know God may see His love through ours: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Walking through suffering together with their community provides the local church with an incredible testimony of authentic faith.

Even though AMG is not chartered as a relief organization, our network of missionaries and national workers in dozens of countries gives us unique inroads to assess and meet immediate physical and spiritual needs when disasters strike the areas where we work. As a result, disaster relief has always been a part of our larger mission to make disciples around the world.

Many of AMG’s largest ongoing ministry operations (Greece, Guatemala, and Thailand, to name a few) grew out of an initial relief response to wars or natural disasters. Today, we continue to respond in love as we have means and opportunity whenever a crisis situation arises.

In November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan battered the central Philippines (where the storm was referred to as Yolanda), killing thousands, and destroying the homes and livelihoods of thousands more. Many AMG Philippines facilities were damaged, and many of the families we serve there were affected.

Because of the AMG disaster relief fund, and special gifts sent in response to the storm, AMG has been able to spend the past year reaching out to those in deepest needs. We have built multiple homes, provided thousands of emergency relief packs, started a longer-term feeding

program for those still struggling, and begun microenterprise projects to help those who have lost everything get back on their feet. Most importantly two new churches have been planted in the hardest hit areas, and another one is in process—as He so often does, God is using the upheaval of a tragedy resulting from man’s sin to transform lives for His glory.

In October, Cyclone Hudhud slammed into Andhra Pradesh, India, (including the city of Visakhapatnam, where AMG has many ministries) causing much damage and prolonged power outages and shortages of food and water. AMG staff there immediately began working to bring healing and restoration as they were able. AMG India director Arun Kumar Mohanty wrote after the storm that “the volume of population is very large and many people are still in a very desperate condition. After the situation settles down we will examine if

any permanent rehabilitation in the form of housing or occupational settlement can be given to the victims. I will keep you informed of the developments and request you to continue to pray for them.”

In these and other situations, being prepared is the key to an effective response. After a disaster, many suffer during the time it takes to assess the damage, inform donors, process gifts, and send funding to the field. Of course, we will always ask for help to supplement and replenish this fund when a disaster strikes, but there is no substitute for being ready to hit the ground running with physical and spiritual relief in the heat of the moment.

Will you join us in planning ahead to be the hands and feet of the Gospel wherever and whenever the need arises? You can provide an emergency relief pack of food, water, and other essentials to see a family through the critical first days after a

disaster. Any regular gift to AMG can help us have relief funds in hand, ready to be wired to staff on the field at a moment’s notice when a need arises. Your support can literally give the gift of life to a disaster victim, showing them the compassion of Christ and giving them hope. Thank you!

To learn more about AMG’s disaster relief ministries, and how you and your church can

partner with us, please visit www.amginternational.org or call 1-800-

251-7206.

Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG) International is a non-

denominational, international missions agency based in Chattanooga, Tenn. AMG’s

distinctive has always been its reliance on national workers to carry the Gospel in their own cultures. Today, they operate ministries in more than 30 countries around the world

through partnership with national believers. Table of Contents

___________________________________Marks of the Masterby the Old Scot

Dandelions

Originally Published in Disciple, July 12, 2010.

Most everyone enjoys a success story, and today we have a story for you about overcoming adversity and gaining the victory against fierce enemies. But it is possible that you will not enjoy today’s story, because you may be one of the fierce enemies.

Our story, you see, is about the lowly but tenacious dandelion. Dandelions are found almost everywhere in the world that grass grows—and particularly where human folk try to grow beautiful lawns. In such

places, dandelion and man are pitted against each other in ceaseless struggles, and man can win only temporary victories.

Of course, if we are not overly concerned about our lawns, we are free to admire dandelions for what they are: a part of God’s creation which is not about to fade into oblivion before man’s onslaughts. Dandelions—also known as “puff balls” and “peasant’s clocks”—have a number of characteristics that contribute to their remarkable endurance.

Take the dandelion root, for example. It keeps on growing as long as the plant lives, and may grow as deep as three feet. The plant stores food reserves in its root, besides drawing in water and nutrients through it. But the root’s greatest survival feature lies in the ability of any piece of root left in the ground to spring forth a new plant.

Rapid growth also helps dandelions survive. Their leaves can shoot up above

competing plants to capture more than their share of the vital sunlight. Many a man who has mowed his lawn one day has been amazed to find dandelions already recovering the next day.

Dandelions are also tremendously flexible in their growth habit. If the dandelion finds itself in competition with a tall shrub for sunlight, its stalks and leaves can stretch as high as two feet to meet the sun. If, however, the leaves are frequently grazed or clipped, the plant will keep its head down and grow along the ground.

Dandelions are also among the first plants to flower in the spring, but also are among the last to close down for the winter. In some warm regions, dandelions flower all year long. And from these flowers come masses of seeds, each carrying its own little kite. Children love to blow mature seed-heads, thus unconsciously helping to distribute future dandelions to new locations.

Who thought of equipping dandelion seeds with their own little kites to carry them wherever the wind would take them? Not the plant itself! Over the supposed course of “millions of years” (which evolutionists believe necessary for such complex structures to develop), the dandelion would either have died out for lack of these kites, or got along very well without them—and in that case would not have needed them. But if the kite was unnecessary, but developed anyway, the whole argument for evolution is confounded. Even evolutionists admit that nature doesn’t fix what isn’t broken.

Everything about the dandelion, from root to stem to kite, proclaims special creation by a special Creator—Jehovah, God who made all things and declared them “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God’s handiwork is apparent throughout all of nature, for those who will open their eyes to see. As the Bible says: “The invisible things of Him are clearly

seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhood, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). But many refuse to see—of whom the Bible says, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Rom 1:22).

The theory of evolution is simply an invention of man to seek an answer outside of God for the creation of the universe. And it is passionately defended by “wise fools” who will believe anything rather than admit that God is God—because to confess that God is the Creator of our world is to admit that we, too, are His creatures. And if we are His, we owe Him worship and love and service. 

While rebel hearts defy God and try to shut Him out, those in whose hearts the Holy Spirit has kindled a hunger to know God can find Him in His Son, Jesus Christ, who declared: “I am the way, and the truth,

and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Jesus longs to satisfy hungry hearts.

The Old Scot (Ted Kyle) served as managing editor for Pulpit Helps magazine

(Disciple’s predecessor publication) from 1993-2008. He was always fascinated by the natural world, and readily saw God’s

hand in every detail. Ted went to be with His Creator and Savior in April 2013.

Source: The Gospel According to a Dandelion, Terry and Jean McComb, Teakettle Mt. Pub. Co., Columbia Falls, Mont., 1984.

Table of Contents

___________________________________Book Review—December 2014

A New Resource

Nearly 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote: “The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.  My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecc. 12:11-12).

It has always been the case that far more books (even excellent books) will be published than anyone has time to read and review. Still Disciple’s book review section has been somewhat lacking this year, and I do apologize for not bringing as many reading recommendations before you as I had hoped.

In lieu of a review (yet again) this month, I would like to draw your attention to a new resource—Books at a Glance (http://booksataglance.com/) from writer and editor Fred Zaspel. This site offers not just biblically informed reviews of the latest Christian books, but (for a small subscription fee) allows readers to peruse summaries of the key arguments and ideas of many different volumes. It promises to be a useful tool for pastors, teachers, and writers as a sort of “library triage”, giving you the opportunity to sample new works before making a purchase.

I hope this is a blessing to you and your ministry. Also, I hope to be more faithful in bringing book reviews to you in this space in 2015.

If you would be interested in serving Disciple as a volunteer book reviewer, please contact us, and we would be happy

to provide qualified volunteers with books for review. Thank you!

Justin LonasTable of Contents

___________________________________News Update—December 2014

Pastor Saeed Abedini Writes Christmas Letter from Prison to Family

Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran since 2012, has reportedly sent a Christmas letter to his family which has been shared with the public. The American citizen and Christian convert was arrested while visiting Iran to build a secular orphanage. 

Abedini’s letter was posted in full on the American Center for Law and Justice website. He writes, “These days are very cold here. My small space beside the window is without glass making most nights unbearable to sleep. The treatment by fellow

prisoners is also quite cold and sometimes hostile...The guards can’t even stand the paper cross that I have made and hung next to me as a sign of my faith and in anticipation of celebrating my Savior’s birth. They have threatened me and forced me to remove it. This is the first Christmas that I am completely without my family; all of my family is presently outside of the country. These conditions have made this upcoming Christmas season very hard, cold and shattering for me. It appears that I am alone with no one left beside me.”

Abedini discusses the conditions of Jesus’ birth and then writes about what Christmas means for Christians. “Christmas means that God came so that He would enter your hearts today and transform your lives and to replace your pain with indescribable joy. Christmas is the manifestation of the radiant brightness of the Glory of God in the birth of a child named

Emmanuel, which means God is with us. Christmas is the day that the heat of the life-giving fire of God’s love shone in the dark cold wintry frozen hearts and burst forth in this deadly wicked world,” Abedini wrote.

Christian Headlines Daily

Pakistan: Taliban Attack on Peshawar School Kills At Least 130

At least 130 people were killed December 16 when a group of Taliban militants stormed a school in Peshawar and opened fire. Most of the attack victims were children. CNN reports that six suicide bombers raided Army Public School and Degree College, a school of about 1,000 students, most of whom are the children of Pakistani soldiers. 

Pakistani troops responded to the attack, entering the school to combat the terrorists and dismantled bombs that had been planted by Taliban members.

Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan confirmed that all of the Taliban attackers were killed. Injured victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment; according to provincial Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani, the number of injured was 182, CNN reports. 

Military spokesman Gen. Asim Bajwa condemned the attack in a tweet, calling it “a ghastly act of cowardice in killing innocents.” The Taliban are “not only enemies of [Pakistan] but enemies of humanity,” he wrote.

The school attack was Pakistan’s deadliest since October 2007 when 139 people were killed and 250 injured near a procession for exiled Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. 

Christian Headlines Daily

Fleeing Persecution, Christian Converts Find Safe Houses in England

As a 17-year-old convert to Christianity living in Pakistan, Ali (not his real name) was stabbed in the chest and left for dead by Muslims upset he had rejected their faith. When he fled to England, his assailants tracked him down and threatened him.

A chance meeting with an Anglican priest led to temporary lodgings with a Christian family interested in offering refuge to Christian converts from Islam. “I can’t tell you where I live—not the town, not even which part of the country,” Ali said. “I want friends but am nervous about forming friendships in case, at a moment’s notice, I have to move house again.”

Ali, 23, works part-time at a supermarket. He is among dozens of ex-Muslims living in safe houses, most of them created by the nonprofit Christian Concern, a London-based organization that wants to infuse British society with a biblical

worldview. There are over 2.8 million Muslims in England and conversions are few. But Christian Concern hopes British families will open their homes as well as their hearts to ex-Muslims whose lives may be at risk.

Christian Headlines Daily

Research: Most Americans Says Christmas Should Be More about Jesus

New LifeWay Research data released this week says that most Americans believe Christmas should be more about Jesus. Some of the findings included:

63% of Americans say people should visit church for Christmas

79% agree that Christmas should be more about Jesus

70% say Christmas would be better with a Christian focus

39% say “X-mas” is offensive

29% say “Happy Holidays” is offensive

56% say God’s son existed before Jesus was born in Bethlehem

“I was happy to see that, as prevalent as it may seem at times, not a ton of people are offended by ‘X-Mas’ or ‘Happy Holidays,’” Ed Stetzer wrote in a column in Christianity Today. “I value the ‘Merry Christmas’ greeting as much as anyone, but I’ve always been a little afraid that our anger toward alternative greetings may be hurting our witness more than helping it.”

Also according to the report, a little more than half (56 percent) agree with the statement, “God’s son existed before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.” Three in 10 (29 percent), however, disagree. Fifteen percent said they weren’t sure.

Christian Headlines Daily

Archbishop Welby: Anglican Communion May not Hold Together

The Archbishop of Canterbury predicts a breaking point within the Anglican Communion is near. According to Charisma Magazine, Archbishop Justin Welby contends that disagreements on the ordination of women as bishops and same-sex marriage could split the Anglican Communion.

“I think, realistically, we’ve got to say that, despite all efforts, there is a possibility that we will not hold together, or not hold together for a while,” Welby said in an interview. “I could see circumstances in which there could be people moving apart and then coming back together, depending on what else happens.”

Welby isn’t alone in that assessment. Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, an evangelical network of English and Irish Anglicans, sees a growing chasm within the

Church on critical issues. “If as an Anglican you believe more or less the same things but you just can’t reach agreement on something that is terribly divisive, you do go your separate ways. That will mean that the heads of various Anglican churches around the world won’t be able to meet together and say ‘Look, we’re all united’ in the same way they did in the past.”

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___________________________________Sermon Helpsfrom www.sermonhall.com

Sermon OutlinesHope, the Gift of ChristmasSelected Scriptures

Intro.: When Christ came to this earth as a baby born in Bethlehem, He came to a world that was without hope. But He brought hope.

Hope is a precious commodity in human life. What a contrast of emotions between the words, “hopeless” and “hopeful.” The Bible uses both ideas. “Hopeless” describes the terminal condition of the sinner as “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). “Hopeful” depicts the repentant sinner who experiences the reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). “The hope of the Gospel” (Col. 1:23) assures him of forgiveness of sin and everlasting life.I. A Living Hope (1 Pet. 1:3)

A. The basis of our hope is “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

B. Because He lives, our future is guaranteed.II. A Focused Hope (1 Pet. 1:13)

A. The Christian’s hope is fixed on Christ in this life.

B. Our hope extends to the life to come: “the grace that is to be brought

unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”III. A Secure Hope (1 Pet. 1:21)

A. God “raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

B. God the Father has shown His complete satisfaction with Christ’s work of atonement by receiving Him back into His presence and crowning Him with glory.

C. Every believer is now “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6).IV. A Challenging Hope (1 Pet. 3:15)

A. Our daily lives should be attractive enough to cause those about us to notice a difference.

B. When asked about our hope in Christ, we will be prepared to give a clear and convincing response.Conc.: The great gap between “hopeless” and “hopeful” has been bridged by the

saving grace of Jesus Christ, whose promise is our “blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13). Little wonder that the shepherds rejoiced over the message of the angels for it was a message of hope!

David Kruse

The Fullness of TimeLuke 1:26-31; Galatians 4:1-8Intro.: What ought the Incarnation remind us of each year?I. That We Were Slaves

A. Same as the servants.B. Subordinate to all.C. Until a time set by the Master.D. And God has set a time.

II. That We Are SavedA. In the fullness of timeB. God sent His Son

1. Our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us an Atonement.

2. Our greatest need was redemption, so God sent us a Redeemer.

3. Our greatest need was salvation, so God sent us a Savior.

4. Our greatest need was love, so God sent His Son.III. That We Are Sons

A. Spirit sent to our hearts; we cried out “Father”.

B. So we’re no longer slaves but sons and heirs.

C. Those we served, they were not gods.Conc.: There is another fullness of time coming. Oh, we are still slaves in a way. But we’ve been adopted as sons. Until that day we must persevere. But that day will come, and we will be His sons, and if sons, heirs also. Sadly, many in the day of Christ’s visitation did not know that the Son of the King was in their midst. They did not know

that the King’s only Son paid the debt they could not pay.

J. A. Gillmartin

Sermon IllustrationsThe Christmas Gift Is Too Much

In ancient history we are told that a Roman Caesar had a friend to whom he once gave a magnificent present. But when he offered it, the friend said: “This is too much for me to receive.” To which the emperor replied: “But it is not too much for me to give.”

After all our sinfulness and rebellion, God’s gift of pardon through Christ does seem too much for us to receive; but the riches of divine mercy are so great that it is not too much for Him to give. When God forgives, there is not one sin left unforgiven. Christmas was indeed too great a gift for man, but it was not so for God.

Anonymous

Sermons—Not Remembered, But . . .There was an article in a church

newspaper entitled, “32,850 Sermons Later.” It started off with a letter printed in the British Weekly from one of their English readers.

The British letter went like this: “Dear Sir, ‘It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending a church quite regularly for the past 30 years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered that I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else? “Sincerely….”

For weeks a real storm of editorial responses ensued. The uproar finally was ended by this letter: “Dear Sir: “I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals—mostly of my wife’s

cooking. Suddenly, I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I have received nourishment from every single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them. I would have starved to death long ago. Sincerely….”

Anonymous

Bulletin Inserts

On TrustTrust in the Lord for every movement – for every movement comes from the Lord.

Life Lines

A coincidence is when God performs a miracle, and decides to remain anonymous.”

When God ordains, He sustains. 

Unless God is the conductor on your streetcar, it’s just a folly-trolley. 

All of God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they trusted Him to be with them.

These four anonymous

Christianity promises to make men free; it never promises to make them independent.

William R. Inge

For more Bulletin Inserts on Advent & Christmas:http://sermonhall.com/www/sermon/0.14138

Table of Contents

___________________________________Puzzles and ‘Toons

Church ‘Toons by Joe McKeever

Answer to last issue’s puzzle:

Hidden Wisdom & Father AbrahamBy Mark Oshman

Originally published in Pulpit Helps, January 1999

Hidden Wisdom on next page

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