Who lives? Who dies?

Monday, February 7, 2011: Ezekiel 33:7, 11 (NKJV)

“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

What was to be the watchman’s warning to Israel? Repent (turn away from evil) and live.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011: Ezekiel 33:12 – 13 (NKJV)

“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’

When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.

Summarize. Good actions + sin = death; sins + repentance = life.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011: Ezekiel 33:14 – 16 (NKJV)

Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Will the sins of the repentant be forgotten? No: God wills Himself to remember the sins no more.

Thursday, February 10, 2011: Daniel 3:16 – 18 (NKJV)

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

God let the three friends be captured and made eunuchs. What were their present beliefs? The same God was to be worshipped only. They chose sure death to worshipping an idol.

Friday, February 11, 2011: Daniel 3:26 – 27 (NKJV)

Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.

And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

Remember that the strong men-of-war, who bound and threw them in, died in the heat. How did the fire affect the three? Fire had no power over their bodies, their hair were not singed, their clothes unaffected, and they did not even smell of smoke!

Warning After Warning

Monday, August 30, 2010: Jeremiah 17:24 – 25 (NKJV)

“And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.

Background: Jeremiah the prophet has warned the people of Judah and Israel of the impending judgment of God on an unrepentant people in vain.

What was connected with keeping the Sabbath holy? The Kings of Israel would be sovereign over a peaceful nation. This is one with open gates and honored Kings. This is God’s provision.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010: Jeremiah 18:5 – 8 (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

Background: Sent by God to a potter, Jeremiah sees a flawed vessel reshaped by the potter.

What does God desire? Repentance for evil, not sacrifice no some great work. He provides.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010: Jeremiah 18:11 (NKJV)

“Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”

Is the warning from God without a way out? No: God, in His mercy calls on each person or nation to repent or turn around to the good pathway. He will provide.

Thursday, September 2, 2010: 2 Chronicles 36:16 (NKJV)

But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

What does no remedy imply? There is a point of no return after God, in His longsuffering has waited: then comes judgment.

Friday, September 3, 2010: Galatians 1:3 – 6 (NKJV)

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel

If the gospel is that our Lord gave Himself for our sins, what is turning away from the gospel mean? It means that you start to believe that what good you do can provide a way to heaven.

Jonah

Background: Jonah was a prophet who received the word of God. He was to go to the hated city of Nineveh and proclaim their destruction in 40 days if they did not repent from their evil ways and turn to God. In spite of his relationship to God, he decided not to fulfill God’s commission in the hope that Nineveh would be destroyed.

Monday, October 12, 2009: Jonah 1:9-10

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Was there any logic to what Jonah told the sailors and his actions? No, there was no logic to his actions. Where could he run from the God who made the dry land and the sea? What’s surprising is that we try to do the same. Or else, we pretend that God doesn’t see us or know our thoughts.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009: Jonah 1:11, 15-16

Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

What was behind Jonah sentencing himself to death? He realized his sin and his just punishment. So did the sailors when they witnessed the result - the tempest calmed immediately! Do we see signs and ignore them or explain them away as coincidences?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009: Jonah 2:3, 9

For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

What did Jonah realize about his condition in the ‘belly (2:2) of hell?’ Jonah realized that God was behind ‘from the frying pan into the fire.’ Thrown into a raging tempest to drown, and now in an enclosed place for three days and nights, he understood that this was his salvation. Do we realize that Jesus Christ used this ‘sign of Jonah’ to tell the Jews that He would be three days and nights in a tomb and then rise from the dead?

Thursday, October 15, 2009: Jonah 3:8, 10

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Nineveh repented and turned from their evil ways after Jonah fulfilled his commission. (It is probable that the returning sailors spread the news of Nineveh’s imminent destruction and the prophet they had thrown into the tempest) God saw and turned from His anger. Do we heed warnings and act upon them? To grow as a Christ-one is to recognize God’s discipline in our life. Do not ignore it or explain it away. Search Scripture for the way you must go and follow it.

Friday, October 16, 2009: Jonah 4:1, 5, 11

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah picked a vantage point to view Nineveh’s destruction and was angry that it was not destroyed. What was God’s reason? God wants even the worst sinner to repent and turn away from sin and seek God’s salvation. Beyond this, God wants those who have received salvation not to hate anyone God has placed in their life, no matter how unlovable.