Orange Moon Friday, October 11, 2024 "The School of Suffering"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"The School of Suffering"

  

    If no less than the Lord Jesus Christ "learned obedience by the things which He suffered," as declared by the writer of Hebrews, certainly we will find the same process of spiritual education in our lives (Hebrews 5:8).

    We do.  "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you" (I Peter 5:10).

    First, what a wonder, that the divine "from everlasting" Son of God could learn anything (Psalm 90:2; Hebrews 1:8).  The incarnation made such experience possible, whereby "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52).  We do well to not attempt overmuch understanding of a reality even the Apostle Paul found bewildering.  "Great is the mystery of godliness.  God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).  We mostly fall to our faces in grateful wonder when realizing that the Lord Jesus took upon Himself our humanity, and with the exception of our sin, experienced life much as do we ourselves.  Thereby, He learned obedience in the school of suffering, and thereby we learn how rightly Paul expressed our Lord's devotion to us: "the love of Christ passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

    Born again believers also learn obedience by our sufferings, a far more understandable process of growth in knowledge and the subsequent life that reflects the presence of Christ in our hearts.  No possibility exists of a believer avoiding suffering in this present world.  "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).  How we respond to our challenges determines our development and maturation.  If, by faith, we trust and submit to our Heavenly Father during difficulties, we grow.  If we resist the response to which He calls us, we miss opportunities that lead us to join our Lord in learning obedience.  The growth or stunting of growth bear far greater consequences for this life and the next than we may realize.  Thus, we take seriously our education in a school that bears the footprints and legacy of our Lord who once attended, and who now lives in us to empower our spiritual growth and the life God calls us to live.  "Of Him are ye in Christ.  "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30).

   Class is in today.  All of us face challenges of suffering to one degree or another.  The Student who learned also serves as the Teacher who educates us by His Spirit, His Word, His involved presence, and indeed, His administration and/or allowance of challenging difficulties.  Never can we look to the Head of the class as merely one taught by books, even by the Book.  No, the Lord Jesus knows.  He understands the often painful process we face in learning obedience.  Great mystery lies before us regarding how such a One could have been a pupil in such a school.  We fall to our faces in wonder.  Then, we arise to take our place in the classroom where we learn obedience by the things which we suffer.  

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.  For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."

(I Peter 4:1-2)

"Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

(I Peter 4:19)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "We went through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."

 (Psalm 66:12)

       

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Orange Moon Thursday, October 10, 2024 "The Sequence of the Gospel"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"The Sequence of the Gospel"

   The sequence of the Gospel, Biblically understood and communicated, always begins with the Lord Jesus Christ… 

    "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).

    We do not preach or witness to the lost, "You are a sinner.  God has provided a Savior."  We rather proclaim, "There is a Savior, the Lord Jesus, who 'able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him' " (Hebrews 7:25).  We then inform the hearer, "You are a sinner, and desperately need a Savior."  "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18).  The sequence is vital, first, to be faithful to God and Scripture, and then to affirm in proper order God's saving grace in Christ.

   Like the Israelites of old, healed from snakebite by looking away to a brazen serpent forged in fire and hanging on a pole, sinners cannot be saved by primary focus on their sin, but rather by the hope of "when he looketh upon it, shall live" (Numbers 21:6-9).  Or, in New Testament terms, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).  This does not preclude declaring and defining sin to the sinner in stark Biblical terms of death, deception, and destruction.  "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God… the soul that sinneth, it shall die" we say to the unbeliever, faithfully adding, "This includes you" (Romans 3:23; Ezekiel 18:4).  The Gospel sequence, however, does infuse our communication of the Gospel with the power of a salvation prepared before any sinner was even conceived.  

    The sequence rightly reflects the vital reality that in the heart, mind, and purpose of God, a Savior of eternity existed long before the sinners of Eden and their progeny.  Most importantly, it shines the brightest ray of light in our witness on the Lord Jesus.  No sinner ever received salvation by merely mourning his wrong, but rather by receiving the imputed righteousness of Christ.  Certainly, the mourning is necessary.  But it cannot be primary.  We declare "the Author… the Beginning… and the Alpha" as our blessed theme of witness.  Thereby, the truth of sin stands forth in contrast, causing the sinner to more clearly see his need for a Savior.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

    We must honestly and forthrightly "warn… to flee from the wrath to come" (Luke 3:7).  We best do so by first bearing witness to the wrath that fell on the Lamb of God.  "Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3).  The Lord Jesus has always been the basis of salvation, whether of the promise that He would come, or the promise that He came.  In such blessed light, we go forth with a Gospel that ever begins with "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."  Thereby, the sinner sees his darkness in the bright illumination of the Savior.  In God's mind, Christ first, now and forevermore.  May the same glory fill our mind, and our proclaiming the Gospel in its glorious Savior, salvation, and sequence.

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children."

(Psalm 103:17)

Memory Verse

   "We went through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."

 (Psalm 66:12)

       

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Orange Moon Wednesday, October 9, 2024 "Tender Mercies, Over All"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"Tender Mercies, Over All"

   In a world of profound and ongoing need, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have access to God's help for the hurting.

   "But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth" (Psalm 86:15).

    

   "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (I Corinthians 2:1).

   Humanity exists as a race composed of those who have been redeemed by God's grace in the Lord Jesus, and also by many who do not believe in God, many who reject Him with great animosity, and many who completely misperceive His character, nature, and way.  Our Father looks with compassion upon all, seeking to comfort His trusting children in Christ, and also administer help to the  lost because He cares, and because He seeks to turn their hearts to Him.  "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).

    Believers play a role in the administration of God's caring and comfort.  Certainly, we use our hands and feet whenever possible to bring hope and help to the hurting.  We also engage our hearts by approaching our Lord in prayer to ask Him to do that which so accords with His nature.  We pray for friend and foe at "the throne grace" so aptly named for ourselves, and for all (Hebrews 4:16).  The Lord Jesus died for His enemies at Calvary.  He also prayed for those who nailed Him to the cross (Romans 5:6-10; Luke 23:34).  Without minimizing or mitigating the realities of sin and rejection of God and His truth, we nevertheless approach our Heavenly Father in the love of Christ to seek His compassion "for all."  He will administer His grace wisely in answer to our prayers, and we will serve as "vessels of mercy" not only as undeserved recipients, but as intercessors seeking the same hope and help for others (Romans 9:23).

    I often wonder who prayed for Saul of Tarsus (best known as the Apostle Paul, quoted above), one of the most vile and violent enemies the Lord Jesus and His church ever encountered (Acts 8:3).  Did a brother or sister cast into prison through Saul's efforts ask for God to show His grace and mercy to the one responsible for his or her bondage?  We do not know.  Or perhaps we do.  The love of Christ in redeemed hearts leads to the Redeemer's compassion, and to prayers for enemies such as He prayed.  It will do the same in us as we trust and submit to God.  We do no injury to righteousness and holiness as we pray for those who reject the Savior.  In fact, we confirm that the King of righteousness and the Lord of holiness has found a place in our hearts, a place of compassion and "tender mercies over all His works"…

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

(Matthew 5:43-45)

Memory Verse

   "We went through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."

 (Psalm 66:12)

       

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