How Could We Forget?
April 27, 2020 at 1:55 pm | Posted in Jeremiah | 2 CommentsTags: Amos 3, Biblical Remembering, bridezillas, commentary on Jeremiah, Jeremiah 2, remembering God, Sunday School lessons on Jeremiah, syncretism
O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
Jeremiah 2:31
God had not hidden the fact from them, that in the past, when evil had befallen His people – from droughts, plagues, other nations – it was because He was chastening them. He was not obscuring His will from them in darkness.
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7
This principle had been announced by Amos much earlier than Jeremiah, so how could the people believe they didn’t need the Lord, as if to say, “We got this on our own.”? It seems incredible at first blush, but do we not do the same thing? How often must God – in His mercy (although we tend to classify it as His anger or grief) – send problems and trials into our lives just to get us to remember that we need Him! I don’t want to be guilty of trying to manipulate a favorable providence from the Lord, but I wonder how much heartache I could save myself by depending upon Him just as much when things are going well as when they’re going terribly.
Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Jeremiah 2:32
A “maid” here is not a lady who cleans the house; it means a young bride. Would a young bride forget her ornaments or her jewelry? Not likely! What about her “attire” – her wedding dress! No way. What about forgetting the man she’s marrying! Even the most self-absorbed shallow bridezilla needs a groom! But the people who make up God’s Church? The people He saved from sin and from hell – we can forget Him? The One who gives us every breath we breathe? The One who gives us food and water every day? The One who puts shelter over our heads and clothes on our backs? We forget Him? And not just for a moment, but “days without number” – too many to count!
It is utter foolishness to try to have a divided loyalty when it comes to worshiping the True God and any sort of false god at all. The people had tried this going all the way back to the time of Aaron’s golden calf. It’s called syncretism, and in some sense it may be worse than just forsaking God altogether. He is never fooled by it, and it is not “class B” misdemeanor idolatry. It is class A felony idolatry punishable by humiliation and death.
Ghosting Based on Hearsay?
April 23, 2020 at 9:09 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: Christian ghosting, church hoppers, coaching little league, false witnesses, gossip, hearsay, little leage baseball, Matthew 18, Proverbs 18
Question: We signed our son up for little league baseball. His coach turned out to be a Christian, and, over time, he did a number of things for our family. He would tell us he was praying for us. He would invite us to church and talk to us about Jesus. He would get us anniversary and birthday cards and gift cards to restaurants. He even came to the hospital when one of us got sick or when we had another baby. He always showed up on time for baseball practice, and he was always well-prepared for the games. Then, one day, a couple of the other players’ parents told us that he did something we just didn’t agree with, so we took our son off the team immediately, and stopped coming to the games. Do you think this was the right thing to do?
Answer: I’m confused about why you didn’t ask the coach about his reasons for what he supposedly did wrong, or even if what you heard about him was true. It doesn’t make sense to simply take what someone says about a third person at face value, especially when the coach had demonstrated good character and loyalty to you for a significant period of time. Matthew 18:15-16 comes to mind. I know a little league team is not a church, but you did say the coach was a fellow Christian, and the principle (if not the precept) of going to someone personally if you have a problem with him, rather than just assuming the worst, would seem to apply. Also, Proverbs 18:13 says, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” It is foolish to decide to be upset with someone about something he allegedly did without even getting his side of the story. The Bible even says it is shameful. So, to be blunt, no, I don’t think what you did was the right thing to do.
The Welcoming Committee
April 21, 2020 at 10:06 am | Posted in Luke | 2 CommentsTags: commentary on Luke, eschatology, false Christs, false Messiahs, Luke 21, Olivet Discourse, Second Coming, Sunday School lessons on Luke
In Luke Chapter 21 Jesus gave His greatest prophetic sermon, the so-called “Olivet Discourse,” which is sometimes hotly contested and debated as to its meaning and implications. It is primarily directed toward a Jewish audience, but, because the Holy Spirit was having Luke write for a predominantly gentile audience, the sermon is also geared for more general application.
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Luke 21:1
Giving gifts is good, but giving for the wrong reasons, while probably better than not giving at all, is still a sin.
And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
Luke 21:2
These two mites were not intended as a “tip” or a mere afterthought.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
Luke 21:3
He meant that she had given more, proportionately.
For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
Luke 21:4
Giving reveals the heart and it changes the heart. As Christians, we need to give in obedience and joy. God is more than generous with us; we need to reflect His generosity toward others.
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
Luke 21:5
The Jewish leaders were in the process of refurbishing the Temple.
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Luke 21:6
This was a shocking statement. We do not have a “temple” in which to meet with God. We have something – Someone – better: the Lord Jesus.
And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
Luke 21:8
1. Don’t be deceived.
This was going on immediately after Jesus’s death, it is still going on now, and will go on in the future.
But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
Luke 21:9
2. Don’t be afraid.
This happened in the Disciples’ lifetimes, it is still happening now, and it will continue to happen.
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke 21:10-11
Some of these things have been happening, but others may be yet to occur.
But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Luke 21:12-13
These things have already happened, but there is an application for us, too.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Luke 21:14-15
3. Don’t worry about your response when the time comes.
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.
Luke 21:16-19
Our destinies are in God’s hands.
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:34-36
Watch – while working – like when you are preparing for a storm. Some people prepare their own property for safety. Some people go out and see to the needs of others. But don’t sit and watch. Don’t get obsessed with predictions and date-setting and bickering over current affairs. Don’t be deceived; don’t be afraid; and don’t worry. As God’s redeemed children, we are not on the planning committee; we are on the welcoming committee.
Whom to Expect When You’re Expecting
April 17, 2020 at 10:51 am | Posted in John | 6 CommentsTags: abiding in Christ, apostasy, Christian persecution, commentary on John, John 15, John 16, persecution, Sunday School lessons on John, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit
John 15:25 says that Jesus was hated “without a cause,” which is translated from the Greek word dorean, and which is sometimes translated “freely” (Revelation 21:6, 22:17). The idea is that Jesus did absolutely nothing to earn or deserve the hatred, persecution, opposition, and betrayal He experienced at the hands of the people He came to love, serve, and save. This is one of those poignant parallels we sometimes see in Scripture: Jesus was crucified “without a cause,” yet He justifies the people He saves with the same liberality: “without a cause” – without anything in us or done by us that would warrant this tremendous, sacrificial, awe-inspiring act of grace.
Being justified FREELY [DOREAN] by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 3:24 (emphasis and bracketed word added)
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 15:26 (emphasis added)
Just as Jesus in His earthly ministry spoke for the Father, the Spirit shall speak for the Son.
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
John 15:27
He would empower the Apostles (and us, as Christians today) to speak of, on behalf of, and about the Son.
In John Chapter 16 Jesus continued preparing His Disciples for some of the opposition they would face – if they continued to abide in Him – in a hostile world. Suffering is never something we look forward to, but, when it comes to serving Jesus, our suffering will ultimately result in a greater joy than we had known before. Imagine a mother going through several hours of very difficult labor pains, thinking that the pain was overwhelming. I certainly have nothing to compare it to, but they say the suffering is excruciating. However, when the pain finally ends, and a strong healthy baby is delivered, no mother ever says, “All that torture I went through, and all I got was this lousy baby!” No, quite the opposite. Mothers who are blessed with healthy newborn babies suddenly believe that it was all worth it (John 16:21).
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
John 16:1 (emphasis added)
Here, to be offended means more than to feel outrage or embarrassment. The word translated as “offended” is skandalisthete or skandalizo. The biggest threat to Christianity would not be that persecution would take the lives of all the Christians, but that it would lead to apostasy. Jesus was concerned with disciples who expect kindness from a hostile world, and who stumble over the obstacles of ridicule and opposition, and who cease to abide in Him when things get tough. He wanted to prepare them for what was coming so that they would not be afraid. We must not shield new believers from the hostility they are bound to face when living faithfully for Christ in the world.
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
John 16:2
Being put out of the synagogue was to be made a pariah, to be completely excluded from social life and anathematized as somebody that must be avoided. Of course, the irony of being put out of religious society for knowing and proclaiming the truth is apparent when the false worshippers label you (a true worshiper) as a heretic. They can take away your privileges, your freedoms, your property, your “rights,” even your life, and claim that they are doing it FOR God rather than in opposition to God. You will note a religious fervor among all secular humans who hunger for power in the world. Some of the worst historic persecution has come from professing Christians torturing and killing true Christians.
And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
John 16:3-4
Jesus shared these things with His friends so that they would not believe He had deserted them in the tough times to come, but He also knew that they were not fully prepared to really grasp the total impact of what He was explaining.
But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
John 16:5-6
In addition to the preparation that would hopefully reassure them in the future, He reminded them that they were not really being left without His presence, in a sense.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:7
Idolaters in Heat
April 15, 2020 at 2:01 pm | Posted in Jeremiah | 2 CommentsTags: broken cisterns, cisterns, commentary on Jeremiah, idolatry, Jeremiah 2, spiritual adultery, spiritual harlotry, spiritual prostitution, Sunday School lessons on Jeremiah
Jeremiah went from a general reading of the complaint by God against His people to a more specific zeroing-in on the details of their crimes.
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:13
In those days, in that area, it was a great blessing to have a spring of fresh water on your personal property, or even nearby. Not everyone did. But, because it was a mountainous region, rainwater could be captured on the sides of mountains or near the bottom by finding, or carving out, a bowl-shaped space, so that when water ran down the mountain after a heavy rain, it would collect in “cisterns.” People would coat these cisterns with lime to try to prevent them from cracking and leaking, but it was a pretty futile task because of the erosive nature of water and the weather extremes in that area. These cisterns were poor substitutes for fountains or springs of fresh water.
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
Jeremiah 2:18-20
Here, some of the language gets very graphic when God accuses the people of spiritual harlotry (prostitution) or adultery. This will be a very common motif in Jeremiah. So much of their idolatry was tied to sexual sin that the descriptions were very pointed. It was very easy to draw a parallel between the way a promiscuous person would act, and the way that idolators who had forsaken the true God acted.
How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
Jeremiah 2:23-24
Equipped to Eat Meat?
April 13, 2020 at 8:23 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: carnivores, commentary on Genesis, eating meat, flood of Noah, Genesis 1, Genesis 9, hunting, Sunday School lessons on Genesis, vegetarian
Question: If God designed us and He designed animals to be our food, then why are humans so ill-equipped to eat meat?
Answer: I’m not sure I agree with your premise. Although most humans do not have claws or fangs or venom or the sort of speed, strength, or stealth that compares well with many predatory animals, we do still seem fairly well-equipped to capture and consume animals, with our superior intelligence, as well as teeth capable of chewing. Certainly, for most of us, our bodies do well processing protein and turning it into fuel.
In any event, the original human beings, Adam and Eve, before sin entered into the world, were limited to a vegetarian diet (Genesis 1:29-30, 2:9). It was only after the Noahic flood that God authorized the eating of animals by humans (Genesis 9:1-3), but, when it happened, there is no doubt that the people were well-equipped to domesticate, catch, kill, eat, and digest the animals for which they had an appetite.
The Stones of Confrontation
April 9, 2020 at 1:03 pm | Posted in Luke, The Stones that Don't Cry Out | 7 CommentsTags: 1 Peter 2, Acts 4, commentary on Luke, Isaiah 53, Luke 20, Parable of the Bad Husbandmen, parable of the husbandmen, Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Sunday School lessons on Luke
The last parable of Jesus recorded in Luke is the so-called “Parable of the Bad Husbandmen.”
Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
Luke 20:9-10
The “certain man” represents God and the vineyard represents Old Testament Israel. Vineyards were very common in those days, and the idea of Israel as God’s vineyard would have been very familiar to the Pharisees. Jesus intended the husbandmen to be respresentative of the Pharisees. The owner of the vineyard wanted an accounting from the husbandmen, but they beat up the servant (a symbol of the Old Testament prophets) of the owner instead.
And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
Luke 20:11-12
This scenario kept repeating itself in Israel’s history, leading up to John the Baptist. The religious leaders of Israel had mocked and abused and tried to kill the Lord’s messengers.
Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
Luke 20:13-14
This was shockingly evil, but the vineyard owner’s beloved Son typifies Jesus Himself, and this was precisely what the Pharisees were planning on doing: kicking God out of His Own Kingdom and keeping it for themselves. Let us beware that we do not try to do the same thing in our own hearts and lives.
So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
Luke 20:15-16
God would stop trying to get the Jewish people to repent. He would destroy their vineyard and give it to gentiles.
And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Luke 20:17-18
There is a cost to rejecting Jesus, and that cost is more than loneliness, dissatisfaction, poverty, and unfulfillment. The cost is judgment and wrath. The image is of a millstone grinding God’s enemies to powder, not so familiar in our day, but very familiar in Jesus’s day, to common people and powerful people alike. Peter used this same theme, in a way, when he used the image of a building foundation/cornerstorne to preach against the Jewish authorities after Jesus’s Resurrection.
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:10-12
And again:
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
I Peter 2:6-8
Jesus is the Rock that you will build the foundation of your life on, or you will stumble over Him and you, not He, will be broken.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53:10
God crushed Jesus in our place, so that He does not have to crush us if we fall before Him.
Sadly, the chief priests and scribes did not respond correctly to this parable.
And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
Luke 20:19
From this point on they were continually trying to gather some pretense for arresting Jesus, for they had already made the decision to kill Him.
Pierced and Buried
April 6, 2020 at 10:09 am | Posted in John | 6 CommentsTags: commentary on John, Exodus 12, Isaiah 53, John 19, Numbers 9, Psalm 22, Psalm 34, Revelation 1, Sunday School lessons on John, Zechariah 12
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
John 19:31-34 (emphasis added)
The soldier piered Jesus’s side with a spear to make sure of His death, and the water which came out with the blood may have been pericardial fluid, but it is likely that the Holy Spirit had John refer to it in this way because it was commonly understood by people of that day that blood and water were necessary for life. The blood reminds the reader of John’s Gospel of the blood of Jesus, which not only gave Him life as touching His humanity, but was also the symbol of the spiritual and eternal life given to us through its shedding. The reference to the water was probably intended as a symbol of His soul-cleansing Word.
The Holy Spirit probably also had John stress the humanity of Jesus to combat the Docetism (dokein meant “to seem”) that was prevalent at the time he was writing, as shown in I and II John, a heresy which stated that Jesus was God, but that He wasn’t really “God in the flesh” and was like a phantom, ghost, or image – not really flesh and blood.
And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
John 19:35-36
The Scriptures which were being fulfilled were:
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Exodus 12:46
They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
Numbers 9:12
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
Psalm 34:19-20
This was an event which had been predicted in many Old Testament passages.
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
John 19:37
The piercing with the spear also fulfilled:
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
Psalm 22:16-17
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
There was even a foreshadowing:
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7
More Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in His burial.
And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
John 19:38-41
The nature of His grave had been foretold in Isaiah:
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:9
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
John 19:42
This may indicate that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had been secretly planning the burial of Jesus.
Don’t Baal on God
April 3, 2020 at 9:04 am | Posted in Biblical Don'ts, Jeremiah | 7 CommentsTags: Baal, church attendance, commentary on Jeremiah, excuses for sin, following Jesus, Jeremiah 2, John 4, Sunday School lessons on Jeremiah, vanity
Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Jeremiah 2:5
Do you know someone who used to attend church faithfully, but doesn’t anymore? What are some of the reasons that you’ve heard as to why they walked away from church? Perhaps their feelings were hurt by the real or perceived bad behavior of a church member or leader. Perhaps they identified hypocrisy in the church. Maybe they felt like they “just weren’t getting anything out of it.” Maybe they got involved in other activities and didn’t have time. It could be that their underlying motivation for coming to church was that they believed it was good for their children, but then, one day, their kids got too old for youth group.
We tend to give people a pass on these issues: “Well, they got of church, but that doesn’t mean they left God.” The Bible sure doesn’t look at it that way. Jeremiah 2:5 is a scalding rebuke, and it’s in the form of a rhetorical question because no one could actually give a satisfactory answer to the question, “What iniquity did your fathers ever find in God Himself?” And, by extension, “What iniquity can YOU claim to have found in Him?”
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17
There are no imperfections in God’s character, in His will, or in His Word, and there is no “dark side” to God’s nature. He is immutable, so He does not turn from evil, because He never has and never could or can turn TO evil. It is logically impossible for God to sin. Therefore, while you might find a universe of faults with any and every church member, pastor, teacher, or leader you encounter, God has demolished this is a reason for walking away from HIM – and therefore from walking away from His covenant people.
The idea in the use of the term “walking” is not really physical footsteps; it is the idea of “following after” someone or something, the way Jesus recruited disciples by saying “Follow Me.” He didn’t mean just going to the same location He was going to in Judea (although in His earthly ministry that would have been part of it). He meant following His teaching and example – obeying Him and worshiping Him with attention and emulation.
God had Jeremiah tell the leaders in Jerusalem that they and their fathers (their ancestors) had a long history of “following” – of walking after – “vanity,” a play on the Hebrew word for “vain” (habal) and the similar sounding word for the false god Baal (bahal). In other words, they “Baaled (bailed) on God,” who HAD helped them, and was the the only one who COULD help them, because the other god is not even real – he’s vanity. He’s emptiness masquerading as fullness.
Jesus, during His earthly ministry, was always “full,” because His “meat” was to do the will of His Father – the will of God.
In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 4:31-34
The surest way to become empty is to follow after emptiness. If we become silly, vain, ineffective, then we will only have ourselves to blame, because God Himself is an endless source of satisfaction, purpose, joy, meaning, and fulfillment in this life and the next.
The Deep End 
The Double-Layered Meanings of Three Kinds of Reproof
April 29, 2020 at 12:41 pm | Posted in Biblical Kinds, John | 2 CommentsTags: Christian encouragement, commentary on John, fatalism, hedonism, John 16, overcoming the world, Sunday School lessons on John, the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit
John 16:8
The “He” in that verse is the Holy Spirit.
John 16:9
The secondary layer of meaning in this statement is that Jesus’s Crucifixion would prove the sinfulness of mankind, but the primary meaning is that the Holy Spirit will demonstrate objective morality and convict the world of moral relativism.
John 16:10
The secondary layer of meaning in this statement is that Jesus’s Resurrection would prove that His life had fulfilled all righteousness. The primary meaning is that the Holy Spirit will convince people that they need Jesus’s alien righteousness.
John 16:11
The secondary meaning is that Jesus’s Ascension would prove His victory over Satan and his worldly kingdom. The primary meaning is that the Holy Spirit will prove that God’s children can defeat Satan and overcome the world.
John 16:16-20
They say that in competitive sporting events every play makes somebody happy. A bad shot doesn’t make the shooter happy, but it makes his opponent happy. An error at second base grieves the second basemen, but it thrills the batter or the baserunner. The only time a play that goes against your team in a game doesn’t make you unhappy is when you are watching a replay of the game, already knowing the outcome, and knowing that all the bad plays that went against you were ultimately overcome. In that instance, EVERY play makes the winner happy. We are going to suffer in the Christian life. It’s just a fact. The world’s system is rigged against us, and we need set-backs, discouragements, trials, and tests to strengthen us and to conform us to the image of Christ. But, knowing that in Christ we WILL overcome the world allows us to find joy even in the setbacks and failures.
John 6:21
John 16:27-31
Did Jesus become indignant in Verse 31? “Oh, NOW you believe…” Or was He merely being reflective? “Do you? Do you really now believe? I wonder…” Perhaps He was just being literally inquisitive: “Are you sure you’ve got it now?” I vote for indignant, because of what comes after:
John 16:32
Yet He leaves them with this encouragement before beginning to pray:
John 16:33
As Christians, we are not stoics, keeping a stiff upper lip of grim fatatlism. Nor are we hedonists, partying with gusto today, for tomorrow we die, believing that the present pleasures are all that matter. No, we have a real hope – a reasonable, logical basis for enduring suffering or difficulty or persecution for Christ.