Stepping in the Light

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:1-3

The book of Ezra begins with a proclamation from Cyrus, the leader of the known world, to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. The purpose of the temple was to encourage and facilitate the worship of God. Though God is omnipresent and we can worship Him anywhere and at any time, the physical existence of the temple served several purposes. Perhaps the greatest purpose of the temple being rebuilt was that it was prophesied that the Messiah would come to the temple. God was using Cyrus, a heathen king, to help prepare the way for the completion of His redemption plan. This truth further confirms our faith in the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ of God.

“Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. John 19:4-6

Pilate told the crowd gathered outside his judgment hall three times that he found no fault in Jesus. Of course, he found no fault in Jesus because He was the perfect, sinless Son of God. There was no fault to be found in Him. The religious leaders found fault in Jesus because they did not believe that He was the Messiah. They were not convinced by the miracles they had seen Him perform, nor by the words that they had heard Him speak. They found fault in the very fact that He claimed to be the Son of God. It seems that few people that day felt the same as Pilate did. The religious leaders hated Jesus and wanted to get rid of Him. The disciples were disappointed in Jesus because they wanted Him to set up His kingdom and throw off the Roman government. Unfortunately, some Christians today could not truly say that they find no fault in Jesus. They blame the Lord for situations in their lives that make them feel uncomfortable. They blame Him because He has not answered their prayers. Are you blaming God for something in your life today, or can you say that you find no fault in Him at all?

“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” II Chronicles 32:7-8

Sennacherib and his vast army had invaded the land and surrounded the city of Jerusalem. He wrote letters and sent messengers to King Hezekiah threatening the people and ridiculing them for trusting in God. Hezekiah knew that his army was no match for the host of soldiers with which Sennacherib had besieged the city and that the only hope they had was direct intervention from God. Hezekiah encouraged the people to trust in the Lord. He told the people of Jerusalem that they had the advantage in the battle because there were more on their side than on Sennacherib’s side. Sennacherib was trusting in his huge army, but Hezekiah was trusting in God. Sennacherib had an arm of flesh, but Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem had the arm of God. Hezekiah told the people that the Lord would fight their battles for them. He did not know how God was going to deliver them, but he fully believed that He would. In answer to Hezekiah’s prayer of faith, the Lord killed the entire army of Sennacherib in one night. Our battles are not like what Hezekiah faced, but we all have struggles that we face each day. Are you trusting in the arm of flesh or the arm of God to see you through?

“And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 

Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.” II Chronicles 29:5, 10-11

When Hezekiah became the king, he immediately began to seek the Lord. In the very first month of his reign, he began to repair the house of the Lord, which had been neglected for many years. He called together the Levites and charged them with cleansing the temple and preparing for the daily sacrifices to be made again. Hezekiah commanded the Levites, “Be not now negligent.” God had given very specific responsibilities to the Levites concerning the service of the temple, and these responsibilities had been neglected for many years.

Neglect is something that will cause a Christian to backslide. Just like the daily duties of the temple had to be attended to, our relationship with God needs constant care. Spending time in prayer and Bible reading each day will help us to walk closer with the Lord, and intentionally keeping godly and good thoughts in our minds throughout the day strengthens us spiritually. When we let these things slip, we immediately begin to drift away from God.

“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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11

Jesus told His disciples that it would be a good thing for them if He went away. Of course, He was speaking of the fact that He was going to die on the cross, be buried, rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven. After He did this, they would not see Him anymore. They would not have the advantage of hearing Him teach and asking Him questions. Their loss would certainly be great, but Jesus taught them that what they would gain would be greater than what they would lose. When Jesus said that He would send a Comforter to them, He was speaking of the Holy Spirit. The disciples spent time with Jesus most every day, but they were not able to be with Him every moment of every day. Sometimes Jesus left them alone or sent them away to run an errand or even to travel and preach the message of the kingdom. Even when they were with Jesus, not every disciple could ask Jesus a question at that same time; but after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within each believer. He is with us every second of every day. He is there to empower us and guide us as we serve God today!

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

The Bible is clear that we belong to God. By virtue of the fact that He created us, He owns us. When we are saved by putting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a transaction is completed whereby God redeems us (buys us back). God gives us the ability to think, to walk, and to talk. The Bible says that He gives us the power to get wealth. So, physically speaking, God enables us to do all that we do. In the passage above, Jesus takes our total dependence upon God into the spiritual realm. Christ likened Himself to a vine and each of us to branches. He said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Some people, especially folks who have never trusted in Christ, struggle with the idea of their physical abilities coming from God. They think that they have achieved everything in life by their own strength. We know from scripture that this is nothing more than pride. This is understandable in the case of an unsaved person thinking about physical accomplishments, but it should be obvious to Christians that we have no spiritual abilities on our own. Jesus said that we must abide in Him in order to receive the spiritual strength that we need to accomplish the spiritual works that He has for us to do. As Christians, we need to constantly remind ourselves to rely on the Lord to enable us to bear spiritual fruit.

“But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.” II Chronicles 22:10-12

Athaliah’s husband Jehoram and their son Ahaziah had both been kings of Judah, but in a short period of time, both of them had died. You would think that Athaliah would have been overwhelmed with grief after losing her husband and her son, but what she did next was astounding. She ordered that all of her grandsons be killed and declared herself to be the queen of Judah. In the chaos of the moment, her one-year-old grandson, Joash, was stolen away and hidden inside the house of God. For six years, there was a royal secret protected within the walls of the temple. The fact that they could hide Joash at the temple is an indicator of Athaliah’s spiritual condition. Athaliah was so wicked that there was really no danger that she would go to the temple of the Lord and find Joash. Athaliah was one of the most evil people who ever lived, but her sinfulness was not just in the horrible acts she committed against her grandchildren. She allowed herself to become so wicked because she first neglected God and His house.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35

Perhaps you have heard people say, “We’re supposed to love everybody,” or, “I love everyone.” These statements are virtually meaningless without a little bit of additional information. What do we mean when we use the word love, and who is everybody? By saying that we love people, we generally mean that we are willing to treat others as we wish to be treated. We are most willing to apply this level of care to people that we don’t know, as long as they are not doing anything particularly annoying at the moment.

Jesus gave us a rather specific set of instructions here and warned us that the whole world would be watching us to see how closely we would follow them. As Christians, Jesus has commanded us to love other Christians in the same way that He loved us. Jesus’ love for us went much further than kindness and deferential treatment. His love includes self-denial, personal sacrifice, and eternally gracious longsuffering. Our Lord desires that our love for one another as Christians to be our trademark. He wants people to recognize us as His followers by the way that we love each other. We have an opportunity to demonstrate our Christianity to a watching world if we are willing to love others as Christ loved us.

“And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah. Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.” II Chronicles 17:6-9

When Jehoshaphat became the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, he decided that he wanted to follow God wholeheartedly and that he wanted his subjects to do so as well. In the third year of his reign, he gathered some of his most powerful leaders and gave them the task of teaching the people the law of God. He also enlisted a group of Levites to go with them. These teams were to travel throughout all of the cities of Judah teaching God’s commandments to the people. As a result, there was a resurgence of obedience to God’s law throughout the kingdom. The success of Jehoshaphat’s method is a great example for Christians today. Most people in our society are aware that the Bible exists, but they are largely ignorant of what it says. If we want to see people obeying God’s Word, we must be constantly and consistently teaching its message to the people around us.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32

Jesus spoke in descriptive terms of the death that He would die. The people who were listening understood that Jesus was referring to crucifixion when He used the phrase, “lifted up from the earth.” The Romans commonly crucified people as a means of execution, and the Israelites believed that the Messiah would rise up and cast off the Roman occupation, so Jesus’ statement must have been more than a little confusing for them. Though the repulsive specter of a crucifixion may have normally drawn a crowd of onlookers, Jesus was not referring to this base sort of curiosity and fear. He was not talking about the crowd that would gather around His cross and mock Him on the day that He was crucified. Jesus was speaking of a phenomenon that would affect all people everywhere. Jesus said His cross would “draw all men” unto Him. The cross of Calvary possesses a universal appeal. Everyone who hears of the cross is drawn to Christ; not because of the gruesomeness of His death, but because of the greatness of His sacrifice. Jesus left His rightful place on the right hand of God the Father in heaven to come to this earth and live as a man for thirty-three years. He willingly took the sins of the world upon Himself and died on the cross as the sacrifice for those sins. His love for us compels us to His cross. Once we have partaken of His great forgiveness, we must lift Him up in our lives so that others will be drawn to Him as well.