Author: Jay Lehman

Scribes Trained For the Kingdom of Heaven – Advent Day 1

At the end of Matthew chapter 13, Jesus turned to His disciples with a question, ” ‘Have you understood all these things?’  They said to Him, ‘Yes.’  Jesus said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old’ “ (Matthew 13:51-52).

In Jesus’ day, the scribes were a class of men whose mission was to study, interpret, and expound on (and in many cases add to) the Old Testament Law.  Sometimes they were referred to as “lawyers” in the gospels.  They had many interactions with Jesus; conversations that revealed their opposition to Jesus’ message and mission.  So why does Jesus prophesy here that based upon their understanding of His gospel message, His disciples will become “scribes”?

The key is in the words that follow “scribe” in the passage.  The disciples and we who follow in their footsteps as believers have been “trained for the kingdom of heaven.”  This is so beautiful and so powerful!  Unlike the scribes who explained the intricacies of Old Testament Law to their countrymen, we will expound on the good news of the gospel, the new covenant, the coming of the kingdom of heaven.

And the “treasure” that we reveal and share with the world is Christ Himself.  “But we have this treasure – Christ in us, the hope of glory – in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (Colossians 1:27 and II Corinthians 4:7).  This “new” treasure is the new covenant message of all that Christ accomplished on the cross on our behalf.  This is the message the apostles taught in their sermons and letters just as Jesus said they would; scribes with a new treasure.

But what about the “old” treasure.  We can’t be sure about this, but I believe the “old” treasure is Christ as He appears in the Old Testament.  To quote from The Chosen; 40 Days with Jesus Book Three, “Jesus in the Old Testament is the fulfillment of every prophecy, the purpose of every story, and the culmination of God’s plan to save the world from itself.”

In the most famous sermon after Christ’s death and resurrection, the apostle Peter preached Christ from the Old Testament in Acts chapter 2.  Paul preached Christ from the Old Testament; reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jews in their synagogues.  Jesus preached Himself from the Old Testament on the road to Emmaus, “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).

We are scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven, sharing the treasure of Christ with a message that is both new and old at the same time.  New, because Jesus’ coming to earth revealed a new covenant, a new arrangement between us and God.  Old, because as we will see throughout this Advent season, Jesus was there in the Old Testament scriptures from the beginning.

The Never-ending Boundless Love of God

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:6-10).

I love the before and after in this passage.  Prior to our accepting of the gospel message, we were helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies; a description taken straight from these verses.  After we believed the gospel, we became justified, saved, and reconciled.  The before and after is incredible, staggering, and powerful.  But there is something in this Scripture that does not have a before and after.

The never-ending boundless love of God has no before and after.  Look at when God first loved us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  The ultimate act of God’s love, Christ’s death in our place, took place when we were lost; when we were God’s enemies actually.

No righteous action on our part, no belief in Jesus even was required for God to show His love to us.  His love has been flowing to everyone on this big blue marble since time began, regardless of our accepting it or turning to Him with a love of our own.

You can say with complete truthfulness to every person on this planet, whether saved or lost, believer or unbeliever, saint or sinner, “GOD LOVES YOU !!!, GOD LOVES YOU !!! GOD LOVES YOU !!!” 

Let’s take it one step further.  As a vessel with God inside us, with the treasure of Christ living His life through us, we are carriers of that love to every person we meet.  Understanding this will change your relationships on so many levels.  But let’s start with this one thought.  The folks God brings into your journey (again, saved or lost, believer or unbeliever, saint or sinner) will see and feel and comprehend the depth of God’s love for them when they see it from us.

There is No Fear in Love: I John 4:7-19 part 5

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  We love, because He first loved us” (I John 4:17-19).

God’s perfect love in us gives us confidence because God sees us in this world just as He sees Himself; beyond reproach, holy, and righteous (Colossians 1:22).  Does that sound too good to be true?  God said it so we can believe it no matter how it “sounds”.  It is a spiritual reality; you are as God is in this world.

One of the effects of God’s perfect love in us is that it drives out fear.  Why?  Because fear involves punishment and there is no fear in God’s love because we have confidence in the day of judgment that we will face NO punishment.  When we fear, we are not putting into practice that which is true about us; we are perfected in God’s love and have nothing to fear.

This freedom from fear of punishment was promised long ago as part of the new covenant.  ” ‘Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you.  For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain.  My covenant of blessing will never be broken,’ says the LORD, who has mercy on you” (Isaiah 54:9-10 NLT).

God’s love casts out fear because fear involves punishment, something God has promised to never send our way.

Finally, “we love, because He first loved us” takes us back to the true source of the love we display.  God is love in His essence.  As His children, love is our essence as well.  We love, because He first loved us.

“Say it again, John”: I John 4:7-19 part 4

“We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I John 4:14-16).

Here we find the apostle John coming back to the same promises as if to really drive home the point.  And what are his points?

  1. “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son.” This echoes the requirement Jesus gave to join His family, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent’ “ (John 6:29).  Your faith in Christ is based on something that John was an eyewitness to; the fact that God has sent the Son.
  2. “To be the Savior of the world.” This agrees with the testimony of the Samaritans in John chapter 4.  “We have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).
  3. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him.” Can the apostle make God’s abiding in us more clear?  God abides in us through His Holy Spirit because we believed.  It really is that straightforward.
  4. “And he in God.” Likewise, we abide in God on the same basis; our belief in Jesus.  Let this complete phrase sink in.  “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides IN him, and he IN God.”  There is no behavior or love requirement to abide in God.  He is IN us and we are IN Him, completely secure based on Christ’s finished work on the cross and our belief in Him.
  5. “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.” John has emphasized before that we who are God’s children “know God”.  Knowing God means that we also know, believe in, and experience His great love.
  6. “God is love.” Love is God’s very essence.
  7. “And the one who abides in love abides in God.” Since God is love in His very essence, the one who abides in God (all of us who believe) is also abiding in His love.
  8. “And God abides in him.” And just to be sure we don’t miss it, John reminds us for the umpteenth time, God lives in us.  I have no problem with the repetition, because I can never get enough of this beautiful and powerful truth; the God of the universe in every way available to Him lives in you and me!

Abiding in God: I John 4:7-19 part 3

“No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.  By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (I John 4:12-13).

Because John’s “if” statements can appear to add some requirements on our part to remain in Christ, it is helpful to always remember the order of what happened to you when you believed.  Over and over in this letter, John comes back to the idea that we can know that we are in God’s family; we can know that by virtue of our new birth, we are abiding in God.

So in keeping with the proper order of how things happened to us, let’s start with the last verse in this passage, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”    How do we know that we abide in God and He abides in us?  Because we do certain things?  Because we love others well?  No, our abiding in God and He in us is 100% because He has given us the Holy Spirit as a seal.  We have the Spirit from day one of our salvation.  So we are always abiding in God and He in us.

Now let’s go back to verse 12.  No one has seen this God of whom love is His essence.  But this God of love abides in us.  Therefore the world will “see” God when they see us loving one another.  Jesus made a similar point in the gospel of John, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Again, using the language of verse 12, “no one has seen God.”  But when “we love one another”, folks will see that we love well because “God abides in us and His love is perfected (played out) in us.”

Loving well does not “cause” God to abide in us.  Loving well shows what we already have; God and His love abiding in us.