Eyes to See

A king who sits on the throne of justice disperses all evil with his eyes. (Proverbs 20:8)

The Look…I know you know what I’m talking about. My mother had the look…something she did with her eyes when she saw something in me that needed correction. It’s been said that the eyes are the window into the soul. Some people can communicate with their eyes without saying a word. The writer of this proverb has a king in mind. Someone in authority because he sits on a throne…a place of authority. You can have wicked or godly authority depending upon what kind of judgments are dispensed. This king sits on a throne of justice. So we can say this person is someone that renders just decisions based upon his ability to sift through the facts of the case. The word disperses in the verse actually means sifts. So this king can sift through evil with his eyes. He can discern the lies told by what he sees. He has the look and knows how and when to use it. Consider the One that revealed Himself to the Apostle John…His eyes were like a flame of fire…(Revelation 1:14). Nothing before the eyes of the Lord can be hidden. He sifts through evil…He has the look…and He knows what He sees. What does the Lord see in me today? As He sits on His throne of justice, does he see me as a man of justice? Does He see me as a man in authority able to tell the difference between good and evil, sifting through what I see? I need to be a wise leader. So do you. I need discernment to be able to sift through what I see to know how to be godly in my life. For one day, we will stand before the gaze of the One whose eyes are like a flame of fire. He will know what He sees…sometimes that causes me to tremble. Then I remember…He will be looking to see His image…He will sift through me to see Himself. Christ in me...the hope of glory. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Light the Lamp

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life. (Proverbs 6:23)

To know what God has said is not enough. We must know why the Lord has given us admonition. What lies beneath the commandment is the counsel. The counsel, or the teaching, is the light that the lamp produces. Consider that a lamp can be placed on a stand without ever being lit. It can be displayed and referred to and talked about but not used without being lit. Now consider the Bible on display on some table. It's never opened but we can point to it and talk about it. Within this Book is the Word of God that will guide us into the right way of life. But it's not enough to know what God has said if we don't use it to direct us. This kind of living is as useless as carrying a lamp into the darkness without ever lighting it. The teaching of God's word illuminates what God has said. It is the why of the what. It gives us the when and the how of the obedience required for our transformation. In other words, the teaching counsels us to apply the commandment to our lives and realize its value to godly living. No teacher is satisfied to disseminate information without testing. How will we pass the tests of life if we do not know the information that the Teacher has revealed to us? It is no less important for teachers of spiritual knowledge to remind, reprove, and rebuke if necessary. One disciple has responsibility to make a disciple…under the direction and authority of the Lord. We need to understand that amassing information is not the primary goal of spiritual instruction. Transformation is the goal of receiving information. Unless we are willing to hold one another accountable for the information we receive, we will not be disciplined or motivated to learn and be transformed. At this point, preaching and teaching of the Word of the Lord becomes an intellectual exercise to be accepted or rejected based on individuals being the standard of whether they think they need to be changed or not. The right view is that God is the standard. And we all need to be changed into the image of Christ. God has provided His commandments to guide…His Spirit to teach…and one another as disciples to discipline. The question becomes whether or not we have the desire to become like Christ and if we will submit to spiritual teaching and surrender to the Lord’s authority. After all, Christ is the Way…and the Life. And Christlike living is the way of life. As we prepare to enter into a new year that promises great challenges may we light the lamp so we can see where we are walking and have light where we are living.

Words...Foundations To Build Upon

But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. (Titus 2:1)

The only way the godless become godly is to hear how God designs for them to become godly. Titus is given practical teaching for practicing believers. This sound doctrine is the teaching that helps people see how God’s counsel looks when it all fits together. The Lord's word is the foundation upon which the church is built. The people of God are like building blocks that are joined together upon this foundation. The body of Christ is like a puzzle of different pieces, fitting together to help a community of believers be different than the culture from which they were rescued. Older men and women are to be examples and teachers of younger believers. Consider that older women are to be teaching the younger women how to love their husbands. I can understand that. Often younger people don’t really know how to love one another. But this sound doctrine includes teaching younger woman how to love their children. Wouldn’t that come naturally? Sadly, we all have to be taught how to love. Cretans are not the only people that need to be taught how to love like Christ. This is sound doctrine. This teaching is fitting...it joins us together. Soundness, or integrity, is something that is foundational. These things are foundational to our faith and critical in building up the people of God. The sound doctrine that Titus is to preach is to live out the word of the Lord…beginning with his teaching. Titus is to be exemplary in living out this sound doctrine. He is to practice what he preaches! Speak about the things that you can build upon. The building up of the pastor is a priority for the Lord to build up the church.

The King's Domain

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him. (Esther 1:10-12)

Domestic disputes occur even in the houses of kings. Here we have the ultimate clashing of desires. The king desiring to put the beauty of the queen on display. And the queen desiring not to do what the king wants her to do. We don't know the reason for the queen's refusal…only that she did not come. She refused the king's command. Interestingly, we are given the king's motivation. I wonder how the writer of Esther knew this. The wise men interpreted that the queen's behavior will spark similar activities in households across the kingdom. Something must be done to act as a deterrent. Banishing the queen from the king's presence and selection of another queen is chosen as the best course of action. So much for equal rights. The reality is that the rule of the king is absolute. The queen does not share the authority. The queen serves at the pleasure of the king. At least that’s the king’s understanding, The king's edict is sent to all the kingdom. The message is that every man should be the master in his own house and the speaker for his people. Every man is to be the king in his castle, so to speak. The story of Esther is about the sovereign rule of Almighty God, the King of all kings. The hearts of kings are in the hand of the Almighty. So all events such as this one are under the sovereign authority of God. How God does what He does is a marvelous thing. He uses the obstinate attitude of Queen Vashti to create a selection process to place one of His people in a critical place at a crucial time. It is often said that the Lord will not overrule our will…that we have the ability to choose acceptance of His way or reject it. Maybe so…maybe not. But I see in this passage what the Lord will do with our will. He will use not only the subservient as well as the stubborn and rebellious will of men and women to accomplish His divine purpose. Our rebellion does not thwart the work of God. God is so great that He can use the rebellious will of humanity to accomplish His sovereign plan. And He is still in the process of daily arranging the affairs of kings, queens, people and peasants to fulfill His purpose. All of humanity and all of history rests within this King's domain. The Lord...He is God.

Serious Agent of Radical Change

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. (Nehemiah 13:29-31)

Nehemiah executed the eviction of the man named Tobiah without notice. Other actions concerning mixed marriages and Sabbath observance got his attention and he attended to the situations. To rebuild a wall without rebuilding lives was fruitless in the mind of the man of God. Nehemiah courageously saw the wrong and began to make it right. The man of God today can take a lesson here. Some things don't need committee action. Some things and some people are out of place. When that happens, something has to be evicted. But the empty place cannot remain vacant. Nehemiah restores the right things to the Levites. The commitments that God's people made were put to the test with a man who was determined to do what he said. Nehemiah may have encountered resistance to the exclusion of foreigners from the community experience. He may have been opposed by running off someone who was shown favoritism because of family relations. He may have been inclined to shrink back from enforcing the observance of the Sabbath with the merchants. But in his statement of being willing to use force, he was not intimidated by the economical price that obedience often brings. It is costly. People's lives and livelihood are disrupted. God always shakes us up before He irons us out. The marriage of foreigners had corrupted even the language of God's people. It was serious enough that Nehemiah was physically able to carry out spiritual admonitions. The last phrase for God to remember him for good should be our prayer when restoration is called for. We need God to help us because restoration of God's people is often dangerous and difficult. It takes people who care primarily about God's name and reputation to be effective agents of change.

Don't Know Or Won't Know?

They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (Titus 1:16)

Ignorance and rebellion. Two hindrances to godliness are evident in humanity. Of the two I would much rather counsel with an ignorant man, one who desires to follow God, but may be lacking in instruction about the ways of the Lord. Rebellious men are a different breed. They will not be instructed into right doctrine because doctrine is not the issue. They have their own agendas. They want to be in authority, even though they oppose godly authority. Here Paul seems to be instilling battle plans into Titus. Some things you do not negotiate with and try to win over. Some things you oppose strongly, even attack preemptively wherever you find it. Like the ones who are teaching falsely about the Lord. They profess to know Him…they have said they follow Jesus. But what they do is practice rebellion. Titus is to reprove them strongly. Paul is talking about using the word of God…given to rebuke and reprove the rebel. Given to restore and reinforce the faithful. The goal is that the faith of those who follow God is strengthened. Paul’s counsel is to bring them all under authority. This is a word for us today. Do not tolerate opposition that tears down the work of the Lord. Refute the doctrine and reprove the false teacher. Do not tolerate and accommodate a different gospel. The fight of faith is to be fought. Spritual warriors are always at war. Rebellion is always to be engaged. And the ignorant, the one without knowledge is always to be educated. There is a huge distinction between the ones who don't know and the ones who won't know.

The Sound of Joy

…And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah their leader, and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. (Nehemiah 12:42-43)

When worship is done rightly, it produces a spirit of joy. Because God is there. And joy is from God. The account says that the people sang and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. We cannot pretend that we are joyful. We cannot manufacture it. We can only respond to what God does because of our desire to see Him exalted. We are told that the singers sang. We may think that is not a significant thing. But there are many singers who don’t sing. They just go through the motions, mindlessly mouthing the words, trying to stay in tune. When a singer really sings, it makes a difference in worship. The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. That's what happens when singers really sing. It is attractive and the message goes far from the place where the song is sung. The joy is "heard" beyond the boundaries. Oh, how we can mute the sound of joy…the many songs that are stifled…muffled…muddled. But how the people of God can make a difference when they remember they have reason to rejoice. Joy remains an effective message in the heart long after the tune has faded away from the ears. For Nehemiah and his people, the wall they rebuilt was secondary in priorities. Worship was primary. The need for the wall symbolized their helpless vulnerability apart from the protection and providence of God. The strength of God and His plan of community was lived out in their worship experience. All our joy flows from a right worship relationship with God. Significant in a previous verse of this passage is a reference to the musical instruments of David, the man of God. Had these things survived the progression of time even through the exile? Who had them? Where were they? Had they been silent till now? It would be truly significant if these things had been preserved. But more significant is the preservation of the presence of joy in the people of God. This is a timeless aspect to true worship. Sometimes we think we can't worship if we don't use the same musical instruments that our forefathers used. The things that make the music are not as critical as the sound of the music. Does it sound like joy? The joy of the Lord, found in the worship of God, is a tune that never goes out of tune…and always living beyond its time.