DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 9.23.23

 To Die Is Gain “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Although the glorious resurrection bodies that have been promised all believers must await the return of Christ, even the spirit-existence after death is better than this present life for the believer. Paul himself expressed “a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23)—“to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Thus, it is “gain” when a Christian dies! Since Christ, in His resurrection body, is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, the spirits of “sleeping” Christians are also there. The intermediate state is somewhat analogous to the dreaming state, in which the consciousness travels to various places and experiences while the body is asleep. In fact, death is called “sleep” for the Christian (1 Thessalonians 4:13). However, in some amazing way, these conscious spirits of believers are still distinct and recognizable. Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3), as well as Samuel (1 Samuel 28:12-19), were identifiable in their spirit-form, even by people here on Earth. One of the greatest blessings of dying and going to be with the Lord will be the joy of returning with Him “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13). “Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him....And the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16), just before the “rapture” and glorification of the saints who are still living. As wonderful as it might be to live until Christ returns, it will be even better to be with Him! The death of a Christian, therefore, may be a time of loss and grief for those left behind, but it is a time of joy and blessing for the one who dies, including a happy reunion with those who have gone before. HMM ----------------------------- Identifying Antichrists “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18) Evangelicals expect “the” Antichrist to be revealed in the future, yet there are more warnings about “many” antichrists who are currently and actively plotting evil. John lists two specific identifying factors that enable us to spot these “anti” Christs. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist...and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4:3). This much is clear. Anyone who refuses to accept the incarnated Christ as the Son of God is anti-Christ. Perhaps we need to see this term in its simplicity. Those who are “anti” Christ (oppose, reject, against, opposite to, before, instead of, in place of) are antichrists! Peter warns that false prophets and false teachers are also “anti” Christ—and that they may well come from among the Lord’s visible Kingdom. “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). Thus, we are told that Satan’s “ministers also [are] transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15). No wonder we should have caution. This is the last time (days), and we need to be alert! HMM III --------------------- The Name Above Every Name “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9) Three primary names for God are used in the Old Testament: Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai. In the New Testament, both Jehovah and Adonai are translated as “Lord” (Greek kurios) and applied to Christ. This word is also applied occasionally to human “lords” but is specifically used as a name or title of God or Christ no less than 663 times. His human name was Jesus (“Jehovah is Savior”), but this is used by itself only 22 times in the epistles—always with special emphasis on His humanity. Although it was the common name used repeatedly in the gospel narratives, it is significant that the disciples and other believers almost always addressed Him personally as Lord, never simply as Jesus. Unbelievers and demons, on the other hand, never addressed Him as Lord. The name Christ means “anointed one” and is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. Thus, Christ is His divine title as God’s anointed prophet, priest, and king; Jesus is His human name, as our example and Savior; Lord is His title of spiritual relationship to those He has saved. All three names are of paramount importance. Thus, Peter said: “God hath made that same Jesus...both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). His “full name,” so to speak, is therefore “the Lord Jesus Christ.” This complete name is used over 100 times; Christ and Lord are used even more. In the great testimony of His coming exaltation, Paul says He has been given “the name” (the definite article is in the original) above every name. At this “name of Jesus” (with the “of” indicating the possessive—that is, “the name now belonging to the man Jesus who died on the cross”), every knee must bow, and every tongue must someday confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). HMM ----------------------------- Three Worldly Powers “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16) This well-known passage identifies three fountainheads of ungodly power that will, if unchecked and unguarded, ensnare a believer into a sinful lifestyle. Sensual power (lust of the flesh) is a body-oriented and emotion-driven reaction to fleshly appetites that can never please God (Romans 8:8) and is in constant warfare with the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17). We are told to “flee” these “youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22) that are a “corruption” (2 Peter 1:4) of the “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) God-designed human body. Visual power (lust of the eyes) is an intellect-oriented and imagination-driven stimulation of wishful thinking that will take control of behavior (Matthew 6:22-23) if not carefully curtailed (Job 31:1; 2 Peter 2:14). Although impacting men more than women, this kind of “lust” will “conceive” sin instead of merely reacting to it (James 1:13-15). Personal power (the pride of life) is a self-oriented and ego-driven desire for dominance that has no ethic or limiting factor other than the praise of men, not God (John 12:43). Such pride, dominated by the “natural mind” (1 Corinthians 2:14) and a “deceitful” heart (Jeremiah 17:9), spirals into a self-love that twists and distorts human behavior into a litany of ungodliness that loves pleasure rather than God (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Giving in to these “worldly” powers may grant us pleasures for “a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but will surely make us an “enemy of God” (James 4:4). May our Lord Jesus grant that we stay armed against such “wiles” (Ephesians 6:11), covered and protected with the “whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17). HMM III ------------------------ More Than a Miracle - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here�but you refuse to listen. �Matthew 12:42 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/more-than-a-miracle/ - Listen Have you ever thought that if you could do a miracle, then your non-Christian friends would believe? If that is what it would take, then God would do it. The religious leaders asked Jesus for a miraculous sign, but He told them, �Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights� (Matthew 12:39�40 NLT). At the same time Jesus refused a sign, He promised a sign. He refused the sign they wanted, which would have had no effect on them. But He promised the only sign that could truly impact and change them. Jesus was telling them, �Someone greater than Jonah is here. And I�m offering forgiveness.� While Jonah came preaching God�s judgment, Jesus came preaching God�s mercy and grace. Jonah was disobedient, but Jesus was obedient. Jonah preached to one city, but Jesus came for the entire world. Then Jesus continued, �The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here�but you refuse to listen� (verse 42 NLT). The queen of Sheba was not Jewish, but she came to Jerusalem seeking the wisdom of the great King Solomon. She made a grueling 1,200-mile journey to hear what he had to say, because she desperately wanted to hear truth. In essence Jesus was saying, �You should know better than to ask for a sign. You should know what is true and what is right.� We can�t help but draw a parallel to our own nation. We should know better. Our country was built on biblical precepts. The first book in our public school system was the Bible. Our laws were based on biblical principles. But today we can�t even post the Ten Commandments in a classroom. As we see anarchy in the streets and violence spreading across our society, people are crying out for a return to family values. But we need more than family values; we need the morality those values are based on. And then we need the spirituality that morality is based on. We can�t have morality without spirituality, because who determines what is moral and immoral? We must have a set of standards, and we find them in the pages of Scripture. Jesus was saying to the religious leaders, �So you want a sign? Here it is. I�m going to die on the cross and rise from the dead. That is your sign.� The sign our unbelieving friends and family need to know about is that Jesus died on the cross for them and rose from the dead. This is what we need to proclaim. It�s the greatest sign of all. ------------------------ Lasting Change - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation. �Matthew 12:45 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/lasting-change/ - Listen There are people who try to make changes in their lives, who try to do a spiritual or moral housecleaning. They know that things aren�t the way they ought to be, and they want to get things right. But the irony is that some people, in their attempts to clean up their lives, end up in a worse state than where they began. Jesus talked about how we can make lasting changes in our lives as we undertake a thorough housecleaning. He was speaking to the Pharisees, who were the religious, moral, and outwardly upright people of the day. Yet Jesus had warned this group about committing the unpardonable sin, which was blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He said this because they had attributed the works of God that He was doing to the devil. Specifically, they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the devil. So He warned them of going too far and actually blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He was saying that knowledge brings responsibility. Jesus went on to explain, �When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, �I will return to the person I came from.� So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation� (Matthew 12:43�45 NLT). Jesus was referring to demonic powers in this passage. Demons are both real and powerful. And in this passage, it appears that the person who once was possessed by this unclean spirit had a housecleaning. Things were put in order to some degree. It would appear the person had made some kind of moral change. To understand this in context, we must remember that Jesus was speaking to moral, religious people who didn�t really know God. Jesus was comparing the human life and heart to a house. And He was saying that morality won�t save us. Religion won�t save us. Jesus was giving us a picture of those who make moral changes in their lives but don�t get to the root of their problem, which is the absence of God in their lives. The sins they commit are but symptoms of a deeper problem: the lack of Jesus Christ living inside them. People will make changes in their lives for many reasons. Sometimes when they face a crisis, they begin to evaluate their priorities and take stock of their lives. They determine what needs to change. But often the same people end up going back to their old ways. Why? Because the house is swept and put in order, but it�s still empty. We must not lose sight of the basic truth that morality, in itself, will not bring a right relationship with God. Morality never will bring spirituality. But true spirituality always will bring morality. ------------------------------ Whom Do You Know? �For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.� (2 Timothy 1:12) A person who thinks he is a Christian, or hopes he is a Christian, probably isn�t a Christian. One should know when it comes to this most important of all questions. �These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life� (1 John 5:13). It�s a matter of who you know, not what you know. Paul said: �I know whom I have believed��that is, he knew the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But just how can we know that we have eternal life? In the first place, we know because He has said so in His Word. Furthermore, He knows us! �My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand� (John 10:27-28). We also �know...that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit� (1 John 4:13), which �beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God� (Romans 8:16). If the Holy Spirit truly has become a part of our lives (as He surely has if we genuinely came to Christ as lost sinners, trusting Him alone for forgiveness and salvation, and yielding our lives and eternal souls to Him), then we will also come to love the Word that He inspired. �And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments....But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him� (1 John 2:3, 5). There are many other things we can know when we know we are saved. Best of all, �we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose� (Romans 8:28). HMM -------------------------- The Church�s Primary Calling - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. �Matthew 23:28 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-churchs-primary-calling/ - Listen During His public ministry, Jesus had no problem reaching society�s down-and-outers. But amazingly, He had an almost impossible time reaching religious and moral people who were under the delusion that outward rituals and good living made them acceptable to God. The Pharisees were moralists to the extreme, so careful to keep what were, in their perception, even the smallest points of the law. But the result was a feeling of self-satisfaction. They believed that because of what they had done, they had obtained God�s approval. They were so spiritually blind that when God in human form walked among them, they didn�t receive His message and even had Him put to death. Jesus summarized it well when He said, �What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs�beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people�s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness� (Matthew 23:27�28 NLT). In other words, we are missing it when we only concentrate on the outward. We must first take care of the inward. This brings us to the primary call of the church today. Is it merely to try to stop the spread of corruption in our society? Is it merely to try to lobby for political candidates who reflect our values? Even if we�re somewhat successful in passing some laws, even if we elect candidates who reflect our values, it still isn�t getting to the heart of the matter. That�s because when people truly find Jesus Christ, He changes their lifestyle. Our clear mandate, given from the lips of Jesus Himself, is this: �Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you� (Matthew 28:19�20 NLT). If we allow other things to detract us from this one calling, then we�re missing it. Jesus said, �First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too� (Matthew 23:26 NLT). That is where we must focus our efforts. By itself, morality leads to self-righteousness. It can even be a damning thing. That�s because people are better off being immoral and recognizing their need for God than being highly moral and thinking they have no need for Him. Of course, how wonderful it would be if everyone in our country were moral and no one broke the law. How wonderful it would be if we all were kind and considerate people. That would make a nice society. But sometimes we�re a little too preoccupied with the temporary and lose sight of the big picture. Morality apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ can be dangerous because it can blind us to the truth. Morality won�t change our hearts. But if our hearts have been truly changed, then there will be a change in our actions and our lifestyle. ------------------------------- The Similitude of God �Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.� (James 3:9) Here inserted within a very sober condemnation of the misuse of our God-given privilege of speech is what seems almost an incidental reference to the image of God in man. It is not a trivial reference, however, but very significant. It tells us that even though the image of God in man has been severely marred by sin, it is still there! That is, man is eternal just as God is eternal, and we will all continue to exist forever, either in the presence of God, or away from His presence. That �image� is not shared with animals, even the higher animals. The latter do have a body, soul (in the sense of mind), and spirit (in the sense of breath), but they do not possess �the image of God� that was specially created in man alone after all the animals had been created (note Genesis 1:21, 27). Another implication is that the word �similitude� includes the meaning of a physical resemblance. While God in His full essence is omnipresent and therefore invisible to human eyes, it is still true that, when God became man, He took on an actual physical body. Furthermore, our Lord Jesus, God the Son, still is �that same Jesus� and therefore still in that body (note Acts 1:11; 1 John 3:2; etc.). Since His incarnation and His work of salvation were planned by the triune God �before the foundation of the world� (1 Peter 1:20), man was apparently created in the image of that body that Christ had planned to take on when He would eventually become man. That being the case, our bodies are even more sacred than otherwise we might have assumed, and it is indeed a serious matter to misuse the tongue or any other member of the body, which is made after the similitude of Christ. HMM ----------------------- Worse Than Before - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. �2 Peter 2:20 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/worse-than-before/ - Listen When we�re sharing the gospel with our friends and family, we must always remember to pray, because a spiritual battle is raging. Once Satan has taken hold of a life, he does not want to let go. So when he sees people making advances toward Jesus Christ, he will do everything in his power to stop them. And he�s always on duty. The Bible warns, �Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour� (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). In the parable of the sower, Jesus described the seed of God�s Word being scattered on the ground, which represented human hearts. He said, �The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don�t have deep roots, they don�t last long� (Mark 4:15�17 NLT). Sometimes people say they have become Christians, but in a month or two, they return to their old ways. They claim they �tried� Christianity but it didn�t work for them. No, they never really found Christ. Because if they really knew Him, they wouldn�t go back to their former way of life. They went through the motions, but Christ never really became part of their lives. It just may be that many of the people who claim to have been converted never have been converted at all. And often they end up worse than they were before. Jesus said, �When a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe�until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings� (Luke 11:21�22 NLT). The strong man Jesus was speaking of is Satan. He gets a foothold in a person�s life, and he wants to guard his investment. And all the religion and rituals in the world won�t drive out a demon power. There is only one hope, and that is when �someone even stronger� comes in, according to Luke�s Gospel. That Someone, of course, is Jesus Christ. We need His help. When people make a few moral changes, they start to feel better about themselves. They begin to trust in their own morality and the changes they�ve made. And in their smugness, they don�t think they need God. In essence, the devil has them right where he wants them. And in the end, he has a firmer foothold in their lives than he originally had. The Bible says, �And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before� (2 Peter 2:20 NLT). We must have Jesus Christ take residence in our hearts and lives, changing us from the inside out. ------------------------------ Propitiation �And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.� (1 John 2:2) Most words in the King James Bible have one or two syllables. Our text verse, for example, has 21 such short words and only one big word; but that word, �propitiation,� has five syllables, and so has elicited much complaint from folks who don�t like to use dictionaries. What does �propitiation� mean? The Greek word is hilasmos and occurs just two other times. These are as follows. �Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God� (Romans 3:25). �Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins� (1 John 4:10). As an aside, note that these two verses contain two words of two syllables, three of three syllables, and 48 of one syllable. But both also include �propitiation,� and that seems to be a problem. Nevertheless, propitiation is certainly the most accurate word to convey the meaning of the original. The dictionary gives �expiation� and �conciliation� as definitions, but that probably doesn�t help much. In any case, the action of the Lord Jesus in submitting His body to be a substitutionary sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins and to endure God�s wrath against all the sins of the world, thereby enabling Him to be reconciled to us, with Christ�s perfect righteousness credited to our account, is seen in these three verses to be a basic theme of this great truth of Christ�s propitiatory work on the cross. And surely, as John says: �Herein is love,� that God would so love us that He would offer up His Son, and Christ would so love us that He would die for us. Surely, this is love! HMM --------------------------- Rival Affections - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God�s place in your hearts. �1 John 5:21 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/rival-affections/ - Listen We tend to imagine idol worship as lying prostrate before a carved image. And clearly that would be idolatry. But idolatry can take many forms. And no doubt it�s a problem that even believers living in the twenty-first century will face. The Bible tells us that during the Tribulation, idol worship will be rampant. Revelation 9:20 says, �But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood�idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!� (NLT). Idols can be many things. But essentially an idol is anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives. A lot of things can qualify as an idol in our lives. And it is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every week and still be a full-fledged idolater. In the Ten Commandments, God tells us that we should have Him as our God and have no other gods before Him. He said, �You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods� (Exodus 20:4�5 NLT). Jesus echoed this when He said, � �You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.� This is the first and greatest commandment� (Matthew 22:37�38 NLT). Essentially Jesus was saying that if you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, it will dramatically impact the way that you live. If we love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, then nothing else can take God�s place in our lives. We won�t be interested in another god any more than someone who just had a delicious dinner of filet mignon would be attracted to roadkill. Our hunger has been met. We�re satisfied. But when we�re not cultivating a close relationship with God, then it is only a matter of time until someone or something takes His place. When Moses left the Israelites to receive the commandments from God on Mount Sinai, the people went to Aaron and asked him to make them an idol, something physical to worship. The result was a calf made of gold. But that wasn�t their first idol. Moses was. Because not long after he left their camp, they looked for something to take his place. This can happen to us as well. We can allow something to crowd God out of our hearts. And when we look at the history of the Christian church, we�ll see that it was after people abandoned God as their first love that they turned to idols to take His place.