Been Restored? Proclaim It; Him!

Reunions are can be great, but restorations; even sweeter. Few things match the joy of having blown it, to be estranged, face consequences, and then be brought back into fellowship. No one does this better than the Lord.

        In many ways, that is the point of 1 & 2 Chronicles. More than just a 65 chapters chronicling their sin-filled history in the land, it ends with God using a pagan king to restore His people, again.

        “… the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:… ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”  (2 Chron. 36:22-23 – ESV)

        In an earlier story of restoration from 1 Chronicles 13-16, King David writes a song, prompting God’s people to thank, trust and tell about Him. Take note & join the song.

            Humbled to proclaim His grace with you to others,

        Kerry

God’s Loved & Forgiven are to “Tell it!” Amen?

- from  1 Chron. 13-16

        No wonder King David wrote a song of thanks and gave it to the Worship Team! After deadly, sinful spiritual sloppiness with the ark of God, the Lord again received David & the people worship. Though they were unfaithful to the Lord’s covenant, He stayed true. He still does, even for unfaithful ones like us. This, He, is to be proclaimed.  

Context:  Doing God’s Work BUT Ignoring God’s Word

Ø  Great Motives: “Let’s bring the ark to Jerusalem”  (1 Chronicles 13)

Ø  +  Sinful Methods:  Didn’t obey His Word (Ex. 25:12-15)

Ø  =  Deadly & Demoralizing Consequences (Rom. 3:23; 6:23; 8:6-8)

Ø  A holy re-do! His will + His way (1 Chron. 15:11ff)

Ø  = Rejoicing, worship, thanksgiving (15:25-16:6)

David’s Calls the Restored People to Proclaim:

            “And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God… Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel… Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.  (16:1, 4, 7)

Proclaim to Him Thanks and Praise!

    “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

     make known his deeds among the peoples!”  (16:8-10; cf. Ps. 105:1-15)

Proclaim to Yourself His Character, Truth:

Ø  Seek Him; He is powerful, does wonderful works (11-12)

Ø  He chose us & keeps covenant with us  (13-18)

Ø  He is our Lord, sovereign over all  (14)

Ø  He keeps, restores and protects His people  (vs. 15-22)

Proclaim to the World Him!

Ø  He saves, rescues, delivers (23, 33; cf. Ps. 96:1-13;  Jn. 3:16, 36)

Ø  He is glorious & does marvelous works (24, 27-29;  Rom. 1:18-23)

Ø  He is great, above all gods, who are mere idols (25-27; cf. Isaiah)

Ø  He is majestic, strong and the source of joy (27; Ps. 28:7; Neh. 8:10)

Ø  Worship, reverence & give Him His due, credit  (vs. 28-31)  

        “Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD. So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required…  Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.” (36, 37, 43 - ESV)

•  God delivers, restores so we can proclaim Him (35; Ps. 106)
•  Will you say “amen” to the task of proclaiming Him? (36)
•  Our praise and worship should make you a blessing (43)

When "ought" means obligated...

When "ought" means obligated...Not just a "sweet suggestion":

"We ought always to thank God for you,

brothers and sisters,

and rightly so,

because your faith is growing more and more,

and the love all of you have for one another is increasing."

2 Thessalonians 1:3 - NIV

Are you a reason people gives thanks?

• How? (re-read the verse...)

• Is your faith in Jesus & His saving grace, growing?  

• Is your love as a people, a church: stagnant or vital, flowing?

A "Double obligation" to be:

• Thankful  
• A Cause of Thanks in others

"ought" - from οπηειλο: to owe (pecuniarily); figuratively, to be under obligation (ought, must, should); morally, to fail in duty:-behove, be bound, (be) debt(-or), (be) due(-ty), be guilty (indebted), (must) need(-s), ought, owe, should.    (from the NET)

Get your Greek Geek on!  1:3 Εὐχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν τῷ θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί, καθὼς ἄξιον ἐστιν, ὅτι ὑπεραυξάνει ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν καὶ πλεονάζει ἡ ἀγάπη ἑνὸς ἑκάστου πάντων ὑμῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους...  

Dear Lord, thank you for growing, loving believers.

May I always be one of them!

Amen.

KSD  - Feb. 2016

We all want that last part...

What  a scary  prayer!

If you think an IRS audit has fear-potential, consider this:

   

Search me, God, and know my heart; 

test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

See if there is any offensive way in me, 

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 -  NIV

We all want that last part: lead me in...

But who wants the all-knowing God to have free access to "their business"?

As if He doesn't already... 

His way everlasting excludes  anxious thoughts & offensive ways.

To want His way is to abandon ours.

It is to let Him test, know, confront, transform. 

Scary?  Not compared to trying to exclude, or evade Him. 

Sensible

Sanctifying

What a safe prayer! 

KSD 

What God Provides & Wants From His People - Exodus 19, 20

Jesus is our great Liberator. He fulfilled God’s legal demands by His sinless life and by taking our punishment on the cross. 

            In Exodus, God’s people are liberated from slavery and need a land and a law of their own. God’s Law was a gracious gift of guidance and a reminder of our need for grace. None of us fully keep His Law, which “is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:11). By showing us His heart and our failings, God uses the Law to lead us to Jesus. Here are God’s “Big Ten” that Moses conveyed to the forming nation of Israel, from Exodus 20.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath… You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house… your neighbor's wife… or anything that is your neighbor's.”  (ESV)

What God Provides & Wants From His People

The Birth of HIS Nation: Our Role (Ex. 16-20)

            What are the bare essentials needed to start a nation? For a cheat sheet, read Exodus, see what God provides for His newly liberated people. Delivered to serve Him, they are prepared to be His nation. Along with water, food and skilled leadership (Ex. 16-18),

God lays out His vision for them. “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6 - ESV)

Ø  He tenderly Rescued us to Himself  (Ps. 78:13, 52, 53; 100:3)

Ø  Being His Chosen Ones Requires Obedience (Jn. 14:15-23; Mt. 7:24-28)

Ø  We’re Set Apart: His Priests & Holy Ones (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:5-10)

After preparing them to reverently receive His Word (Ex. 19), He gives “the Decalogue”, His Ten Commandments (Ex. 20; see Vine Front), telling us how to Love Him & Others.

Ø  He is to be our only God! No crafting, serving idols! (Josh. 24:14, 15)

Ø  God is rightfully jealous of our sole affection: “…I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”   (20:5, 6)

Ø  To not make Him exclusively Lord is to hate Him (Mt. 6:24)

Ø  Loving Him is displayed by honoring, obeying Him (Laws #1-4)

Ø  Love others too! The 2^nd Tablet of Law (# 5-10; cf. Mt. 22:36-40) 

Receiving His Law, Israel exemplifies holy fear: “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.  (20:18-21 – ESV)

Ø  We are to Revere His Word  (cf. Is. 66:2; Ps. 1 & 119)

Ø  Loving Obedience allays fear (Jn. 15:8-16; 1 Jn. 4:18) 

Ø  His Word tests us (Dt. 8:2, 16; Jer. 6:27; 2 Chron. 32:31)

Ø  Love is Proven by Obeying (Dt. 7:9; 11:13; Dan. 9:4; Mk. 12:28-34) 

            As Joshua also charged them: “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."  (Josh 24:14, 15 – NIV)