February 7: Matthew 25:24-30; Our Wrong Views of God

             In the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30) we have three servants (literally, slaves) who get some money. The first two are faithful and make more money with what they received and are rewarded. Not only did these servants use their money but they didn’t hesitate to give it and their earnings back to the master. The third is the one who draws more attention because he has a remarkable discussion with his master. It is remarkable because it reveals an attitude toward his master that many people have toward God. He believed his master to be a person who basically took what he wanted and was harsh with anyone who crossed him. He didn’t want to get punished in case he lost the money entrusted to him, so he buried it.

            We can find similar attitudes elsewhere in the Bible. Some people party and think God is totally against that so they don’t want to have anything to do with him (Job 21:12-15). They won’t pray to God because they don’t think it will do any good and they won’t serve him.

            Others will go through religious rituals like fasting (Isa 58:3-4) but they become disillusioned when God doesn’t do what they want. The problem isn’t their ritual, but their belief that outward acts of piety are the only things God rewards when their inward sinfulness and other behavior is not abated.

            Then there are people who blatantly engage in evil and believe that their worship of other Gods is what has provided for their prosperity (Jer 44:16-18). Today we would be serving our selves instead of God. When reproved, they say they will not change because their evil has done more for them than doing what is right.

            Paul sums it up well, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:7-8). As unbelievers our view of God is distorted and actually evil. When we are saved, we don’t always get our understanding of God right. We keep some of those old images where we believe if we mess up, God will get us. The third servant certainly thought that way. All our live we may have heard that God was blood thirsty and would slaughter people without good reason. Then we become believers and love Jesus but are afraid that the Father is a tyrant. Our view of God needs to be renewed by reading God’s word. We need to see how long God put up with evil before he punished it in the Old Testament. We need to see his compassion expressed in his word, both in the Old and New Testaments. We need to understand that he has adopted us and we can turn to him as a loving Father, not a mean old man. Yes, he disciplines us, but it is for our good so that we can become holy (Heb 12:10). We need to remember just how much he loves us. He showed that love by letting Jesus die for our sins so that we could become his children.

February 6: Psalm 30; Pride of Prosperity

            David recounts how the Lord has helped him against his enemies and health problems. The Lord answered when he cried out and he recognized that these problems were all temporary. He enjoins us all to praise the Lord with him.

            But then something happened. David had a time of prosperity where everything was going great. He was prospering and it seem nothing could stop him. He said, “I shall never be moved” (Ps 30:6). That’s a danger of prosperity. It can make us think that we are the ones that are in control of our destiny, that we are the captains of our soul. We put God on the back burner and forget that it was the Lord who took care of us and has given us everything we have.

            God was very gracious to David. He disciplined David by hiding his face from him. David was shocked when he realized that his prayers were unanswered and he felt like he would die without the Lord. How often do we go through times like that? God seems distant. He is far off and our spiritual condition is dried up. We may go through the motions of reading the Bible and praying but it just isn’t what it was when we were daily depending on the Lord for everything. Others may discover that they haven’t opened their Bibles for days or weeks. They hardly think of God at all. It can lead to a downward spiral until we wake up some day and realize we may have gained the world, but our soul is suffering for it. Someone said, “If God seems distant, guess who moved?” Trusting ourselves because of prosperity moves us away from God.

            Don’t think it can happen to you? Then listen to Paul, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:11-12). David wrote what happened to him so that we would have an example, be warned, and not fall.

            When David repented and turned back to the Lord, his mourning turned into dancing. The joy of the Lord returned when he admitted his sin of pride in his prosperity.

            Now, compare David’s response to a famous poem. It is the mantra of those who ignore God and think they are in control of their lives.

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

            Which do you want to be, the captain of your soul or a child of God?

February 5: Proverbs 7:14-15; Matthew 24; Presuming and Presupposition

             Presuming and presupposition are very close to the same words and sometimes convey the same concepts, but not they can be used in different ways with different implications. Take Proverbs 7:14-15 that demonstrates the attitude of a prostitute who is presuming upon God’s grace to continue in her sin. She has made her vows and has the sacrificial food from making those vows to be used for a party. She presumes she is in a right standing with God and can therefore go and indulge in her sin without consequences. Then she does it all over again. She presumes that God will continue to accept her sacrifices and spare her. She is like the Roman Catholic who goes to confession, does his penance then lives the week just as before without any repentance. She is like the Protestant who worships on Sunday but lives like the devil during the week. They all presume upon God’s grace because they believe that outward religiosity is all that God requires of them.

            Presupposition is related to presuming because you have to have some preconceived idea of what God expects in order to presume upon him. We all have presuppositions when we come to the Bible. When we look at Matthew 24 with different preconceived ideas of theology, we will read the passage and draw conclusions based more on those presumptions than on what the Bible actually says. What others have told you about the end times will influence how you view this chapter.

            Pre-tribulation Rapture – Most evangelicals have this presupposition. Verses 3-14 describe the current world and the end (vs 14) is when the rapture comes and the “great” tribulation starts. Verses 15-28 describe the great tribulation and mostly pertains to people who become Christians during the tribulation. Verses 29-31 describe Jesus’ return at the end of the tribulation in agreement with the two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20. Verses 36-44 is more description of Jesus returning for the Church – the rapture. Verses 45-51 is a summary of the final judgment and detailed in Matthew 25:31-46.

            Mid-tribulation Rapture – A minority of Christians agree with this presupposition. The primary difference in this and the pre-tribulation rapture theory is in verse 15. Since Jesus is speaking to Christians, the presupposition is that the rapture hasn’t occurred yet, so we will see the abomination set up in the temple and will flee. The rapture will occur at about this time but before the end of the tribulation in agreement with the two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20.

            Post-tribulation Rapture – A minority of Christians consider this as the correct presupposition. The difference in this is that there is no rapture of the Church until verse 29. Everything described in verses 3-28 will happen to the Church before Jesus comes back. Verses 29-31 and 36-44 are not a description of the rapture before the great tribulation, but the reading should be sequential, all referring to the two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20. There is only one return of Jesus at the end of the tribulation and it is visible to all the world.

            If we get rid of our presuppositions and read these chapters as well as other verses about Jesus’ return and look for clues from the Bible instead of making them fit our predetermined theology, we may find that we come away with a different view. One things is certain, if we take the time (years) to do the study, we certainly won’t come away with the prostitute’s presumptive attitude. We will be serous about being a faithful and wise servant (Matt 24:45).