02/26/21 PITIFUL EXCUSES and GOD’s PROVISION: GOD AND MOSES #1 —

Exodus 3:10-12 (ESV) COME, I WILL SEND YOU TO PHARAOH that you may BRING MY PEOPLE, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, OUT OF EGYPT.” 11 BUT MOSES SAID TO GOD, “WHO AM I THAT I SHOULD GO to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I WILL BE WITH YOU, and this shall be THE SIGN FOR YOU, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, YOU SHALL SERVE GOD ON THIS MOUNTAIN.”

“WHO AM I”: The first response is an objection from Moses to the divine summons, an expression of inadequacy for such a serious mission. It sounded reasonable, for after 40 years of absence from Egypt, what could he, a mere shepherd in Midian, do upon return?

“BUT I WILL BE WITH YOU”: The divine promise, one given also to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, should have been sufficient to quell all the chosen agent's fears and sense of inadequacy for the task.

“YOU SHALL SERVE GOD ON THIS MOUNTAIN”: A second divine promise signified the future success of the mission, suggesting that Israel would not be delivered simply out of bondage and oppression, but rescued to worship (cf. Ac 7:7). (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

But Moses was NOT satisfied with God’s TWO promises—His presence along the way and the certainty of the success of the mission. Like so many of us, Moses continued to offer a string of objections… Stay Tuned!

02/22/21 WHAT’S NEW? #22 — Revelation 21:5 (HCSB) Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

Romans 8:19-22 (HCSB) says, “For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to FUTILITY—not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been GROANING together with labor pains until now.”

“FUTILITY”: This refers to the inability to achieve a goal or purpose. Because of man's sin, God cursed the physical universe (Ge 3:17-19), and now, no part of creation entirely fulfills God's original purpose. (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

“I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW”: The sin of Adam and Eve unleashed a veritable “Pandora’s Box” of pain, suffering, brokenness and wickedness—not only on humanity, but throughout the entire universe. And each of us adds to the damage whenever we sin. Ultimately, as Jesus Christ returns and takes the throne over ALL of creation, He will quite literally be “MAKING EVERYTHING NEW,” returning everything to its original, perfect state. Praise the Lord!

02/19/21 WHAT’S NEW? #21 — Revelation 2:17 (HCSB) Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a NEW NAME is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

“hidden manna”: Just as Israel received manna, God promises to give the true believer the spiritual bread the unbelieving world cannot see: Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 6:51).

“white stone”: When an athlete won in the games, he was often given, as part of his prize, a white stone which was an admission pass to the winner's celebration afterwards. This may picture the moment when the overcomer will receive his ticket to the eternal victory celebration in heaven.

“NEW NAME”: A personal message from Christ to the ones He loves, which serves as their admission pass into eternal glory. It is so personal that only the person who receives it will know what it is. (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

02/15/21 WHAT’S NEW? #20 — 1 John 2:7-8 (HCSB) Dear friends, I am not writing you a NEW COMMAND but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a NEW COMMAND, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

2 John 1:5 So now I urge you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a NEW COMMAND, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.

2:7-17 Love of the brethren constitutes the fourth test of genuine fellowship. The primary focus of the moral test is obedience to the command of love because love is the fulfillment of the law (Mt 22:34-40; Ro 13:8-10; Jas 2:8) and is also Christ's new command (Jn 13:34; 15:12, 17). True enlightenment is to love. God's light is the light of love, so to walk in light is to walk in love.

2:7 “NEW”: Not referring to "new" in the sense of time but something that is fresh in quality, kind or form; something that replaces something else that has been worn out.

“NEW COMMAND... old command”: John makes a significant word play here. Though he doesn't state here what the command is, he does in 2Jn 5, 6. It is to love. Both of these phrases refer to the same commandment of love. The commandment of love was "new" because Jesus personified love in a fresh, new way and it was shed abroad in believers' hearts (Ro 5:5) and energized by the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; 1Th 4:9). He raised love to a higher standard for the church and commanded His disciples to imitate His love ("as I have loved you"; cf. 3:16; Jn 13:34). The command was also "old" because the OT commanded love (Lv 19:18; Dt 6:5) and the readers of John's epistle had heard about Jesus' command to love when they first heard the gospel.

“from the beginning”: This phrase refers not to the beginning of time but the beginning of their Christian lives, as indicated by v. 24; 3:11; 2Jn 6. This was part of the ethical instruction they received from the day of their salvation and not some innovation invented by John, as the heretics may have said. (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

02/12/21 WHAT’S NEW? #19 — James 1:18 (HCSB) By His own choice, He gave us a NEW BIRTH by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a NEW BIRTH into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

“By His own choice”: This phrase translates a Gr. word that makes the point that regeneration is not just a wish, but an active expression of God's will, which He always has the power to accomplish. This phrase occurs at the beginning of the Gr. sentence, which means James intends to emphasize that the sovereign will of God is the source of this new life.

“He gave us a NEW BIRTH”: The divine act of regeneration, or the new birth (see Jn 3:3-8; 1Pe 1:23; cf. Eze 36:25-27; Jn 1:12, 13; Eph 2:5, 6; 5:26).

“the message of truth”: Cf. Jn 17:17. Scripture, or the Word of God. He regenerates sinners through the power of that Word (cf. 2Co 6:7; Col 1:5; 1Th 2:13; Titus 3:5; 1Pe 1:23-25).

“firstfruits”: Originally an OT expression referring to the first and best harvest crops, which God expected as an offering (cf. Ex 23:19; Lv 23:9-14; Dt 26:1-19). Giving God that initial crop was an act of faith that He would fulfill His promise of a full harvest to come (Pr 3:9, 10). In the same way, Christians are the first evidence of God's new creation that is to come (cf. 2Pe 3:10-13) and enjoy presently in their new life a foretaste of future glory (see Ro 8:19-23). (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

02/08/21 WHAT’S NEW? #18 — Ephesians 4:24 (HCSB) you put on the NEW SELF, the one created according to God’s ⌊likeness⌋ in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the NEW SELF. You are being RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE according to the image of your Creator.

“put on the new self”: The renewal of the mind in salvation brings not simply a renovation of character, but transformation of the old to the new self (cf. 2Co 5:17).

“created according to God’s ⌊likeness”: In Christ, the old self no longer exists as it had in the past; the new self is created in the very likeness of God (cf. Gal 2:20).

“in righteousness and purity of the truth”: Righteousness relates to the Christian's moral responsibility to his fellow men reflecting the second table of the law (Ex 20:12-17), while holiness refers to his responsibilities to God, reflecting the first table (Ex 20:3-11). There is still sin in the believer's unredeemed human flesh (see Ro 7:17, 18, 20, 23, 25; 8:23). (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

02/05/21 WHAT’S NEW? #17 — Ephesians 2:15 (HCSB) He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself ONE NEW MAN FROM THE TWO, resulting in peace.

Through His death, Christ abolished OT ceremonial laws, feasts, and sacrifices which uniquely separated Jews from Gentiles. God's moral law (as summarized in the Ten Commandments and written on the hearts of all men, Ro 2:15) was not abolished but subsumed in the New Covenant, however, because it reflects His own holy nature (Mt 5:17-19). See Mt 22:37-40; Ro 13:8-10.

“ONE NEW MAN”: Christ does not exclude anyone who comes to Him, and those who are His are not spiritually distinct from one another. "New" translates a Gr. word that refers to something completely unlike what it was before. It refers to being different in kind and quality. Spiritually, a new person in Christ is no longer Jew or Gentile, only Christian (cf. Ro 10:12, 13; Gal 3:28). (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)

02/01/21 WHAT’S NEW? #16 — 1 Corinthians 5:7 (HCSB) Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a NEW BATCH. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.

“Christ our Passover”: Just as unleavened bread symbolized being freed from Egypt by the Passover (Ex 12:15-17), so the church is to be unleavened, since it has been separated from the dominion of sin and death by the perfect Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is, therefore, to remove everything sinful in order to be separate from the old life, including the influence of sinful church members. (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)