NEW YEAR : THE SEVEN CS’
First things first. What is the chief and highest end of man? Let the revered Christian Book namely the Westminster catechism give the answer. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify (worship) God, and fully to enjoy him forever. When it comes to glorifying Him and fully enjoying Him, let it be said that the entire exercise ought to be “absolutely genuine emanating right from the innermost core of one’s being (read spirit)”. This would lead to the next question, how could the process of glorifying Him originate right from the depths of one’s heart? It is only possible, when a person is truly fascinated by His unique traits. Remember, worshipping God for WHAT HE IS, is the highest form of worship, standing head and shoulders above other forms of worship, which come with strings attached, such as worshipping Him for the blessings, He showers upon us. While on the subject, at this stage, it would serve us well to look at the synonym of the word “Glorify”, which is “Magnify”. When, one magnifies Him, that is to say, when one keenly observes His Divine nature, with a magnifying glass, as it were, the “spiritual explorer” (if you permit me to use this expression) in you is bound to come across several unique attributes of the Almighty, which would at once evoke awe, and in turn lead to spontaneous, heart-felt worship and praise.
At the onset of New Year (time-related subject), the order of Creation…of first putting the “stage” in place and then bringing the “actors” onto it… stirs up impromptu adoration!!! Before the Almighty’s most “Prized” Creation (read Man created in God’s own image arrived-Genesis 1:26-27) arrived, the “stage” was set-up as it were…for amongst other things…Sun and Moon were created and put in their places in vast space (Genesis 1:14) to mark “days, months and years”. Imagine the utter chaos, which would prevail in our society, without the orderliness the good Lord put in place by creating Sun and Moon in infinite space. For instance Economy as we know would simply cease to exist…Boy how would the Employer-Employee relationship “survive” without the periodical payments for the service rendered…how would we plan and organize our “business activities”…how would Banks calculate the interest to be paid on the deposits…the list can go on and on.
Coming to my message “First day of the first month” (New year in Biblical parlance), a careful study of the Scriptures, would reveal 7 events occurring “at that time” …all loaded with lessons waiting to be gleaned. Now what are they…
COMPLIANCE
“Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him. So the tabernacle was set up on the FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH in the second year.”-Exodus 40:16-17
If there is one thing that proves that we reverentially fear and love the Lord, it is our implicit obedience to His instructions, even the discerning World with its plethora of rationalists, agnostics would not be able to deny the “cost” we pay to obey. Our Heavenly Father delights in our obedience, just as a Doting Dad would, on seeing his growing child take his words seriously. Moses, as the captioned Scripture bears out, not only accomplished the mission of setting up the “First Temple” (movable and quite unlike the Fixed One Solomon would construct nearly 500 years later), he also did it exactly as per the Lord’s instructions (Exodus 25:8/Heb 8:5). The result of it all?
“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”-Exodus 40:34
Our Heavenly approved of the complete compliance of Moses’ in setting up the Tabernacle exactly in accordance with His instructions, by filling it with His Glory.
The ever-truthful Scripture without glossing over the cases of disobedience of God’s chosen People (Jews in the dispensation of Law) gives the other side of the coin too, so to speak, faithfully of when God’s glory left them at the time of their disobedience as this Scripture portion illustrates…
“She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”- I Samuel 4:21-22
Now who is this “She” in the captioned Scripture portion? The perceptive daughter-in-law of callous High Priest cum Judge Eli (1 Sam 4:18) and wife of dismally disobedient Phinehas his son (1 Samuel 3:11-14) at that “trough time” in Israel’s historical obedience graph when “everybody did what seemed right in his eyes” (the time when Judges ruled before the advent of that wondrous leader Samuel- Judges 21:25).
In this dispensation of Salvation through the Cross, as His Sons led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14), let us resolve to be always be sensitive and obedient to the leading of the indwelling Spirit in all areas’ of our life, in order His glorious Presence always abides with us, for where would we be, if His presence (God-forbid) were to depart from us even for a second…nay nanosecond.
COMEBACK
They began the consecration on the FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month-2 Chronicles 29:17 (NIV)
Hey, why do we need to reflect so often on the History of the Nation of Israel in our spiritual walk with our Lord? Let the Scripture itself give the answer
“All these things happened to them as examples—as object lessons to us—to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end.”-1 Cor 10:11(TLB)
As we have an unchanging God (Psalm 102:27/Heb 13:8), it pays to give careful attention to what pleases Him and what doesn’t.
In the captioned Scripture portion, we have (at this time of the year) Good News with Capital G for backsliders. When I say backsliders, I mean not only those who have flagrantly, willfully disobeyed God but even those who have secretly comprised (maybe even unwittingly) with some hidden sins like laziness, gluttony, envy, anger, unwillingness to forgive and of course pride.
Hezekiah the King, a devout son of idolatrous King Ahaz was serious about setting right the covenant relationship of his Nation with the Lord, which had reached its nadir during the reign of wicked King Ahaz. So he first began cleaning the neglected Temple, which in shambles resembled the God-Judah relationship for the sixteen years the wicked predecessor of Hezekiah ruled. Once the Temple had been cleaned of all is filth, a mighty revival ensued, evidenced in the following chapters of 30 and 31 of Second Chronicles. Talk of “Prodigal Progeny” (read Judah) of OT times once again turning back to its “Father”, who was waiting all the time for it to come to its senses…
Dear Friends, make no mistake Christian life too begins with repentance and is sustained by repentance. Say Brother/Sister, have you defiled His temple (your body –I Cor 3:16) and are reaping “bitter fruits thereof of your wayward actions”? In your painful situation, be encouraged, get out of the mire…repent and set right your relationship with the One who has purchased every cell in your body with His precious blood. There have been many who have traversed your path before and bounced back after a fall…make Psalm 130 your own
“O Lord, from the depths of despair I cry for your help: “Hear me! Answer! Help me!” Lord, if you keep in mind our sins, then who can ever get an answer to his prayers? But you forgive! What an awesome thing this is! That is why I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised. I long for him more than sentinels long for the dawn.O Israel, hope in the Lord; for he is loving and kind and comes to us with armloads of salvation. He himself shall ransom Israel from her slavery to sin."
Claim this promise too reverentially…
“…if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.”- 1 John 1:9
A note of warning here…never take his love for granted as though it were a license for licentious living…be resolute in staying far away from “all that “ which caused you so much pain.
CANON
“He had begun his journey from Babylon ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. “- Ezra 7:9-10
This one is one for those on the road of ministry already. Go no further than the great Jewish reformer Ezra…if you are looking for inspiration to take a New Year resolution on adding some badly-needed punch to your sermons.
Not only is Bible inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16), the order in it is also God-inspired. It’s “study” should be followed by “living” in accordance with it, before “teaching” of the same to others, takes place. Say Fellow-servant in God’s vineyard, is your life a “pattern” of God’s word, even before its “proclamation”. Wanna be a powerful Cannon in preaching Canon, then practice it first before proclaiming it. What about our Saviour Jesus? Let the Scripture take over…
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to DO and to teach” –Acts 1:1
Notice how “DO” comes before “TEACH”. No wonder, at his baptism, even before he had preached a single sermon or performed a single miracle, there was a heavenly commendation
“ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
No wonder again, there was so much of power and authority in His sermons, as the ever-truthful Scripture underscores…
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching for he taught with REAL AUTHORITY—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”-Matt 7:28-29
CHANGE
“and by the FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.”-Ezra 10:17
Make note, fellow servants of God what price powerful preaching, if it doesn’t lead to “alteration of situation” for good. Ezra brought about a reformation in the Jewish society “infected” as it was in his times of Jewish men marrying ungodly wives (a sure recipe for disaster…remember King Solomon’s fall from Grace-1 Kings 11:1-4), thanks to his New Year resolution of sincere “study” “observance” and “teaching” of God’s Word.
Fast forward to 16th Century AD and what have you, a careful study of Scripture (Romans 1:17 to be more precise) by one man-Martin Luther- leads to Reformation of the Church bringing it out of the clutches of Dark ages, when Papacy reigned in false pomp and glory.
What I am saying here applies to all Christians both Clergy and Laity. Are you keen to discern who is an apostle and who is an apostate? Then be well-grounded in Canon (synonym of it is a ruler which helps you draw a straight line)!!! You can immediately identify a false teacher, because his teachings will not be in sync with the inerrant Scripture. No wonder a Biblical Scholar remarked “If you do not know how a straight line looks, how would you identify a crooked line”.
Especially in the subject of Holy Spirit the comforter, a lot of discomfort is caused to genuine children of God by not only False teachers but sadly sometimes by even genuine Christian teachers with a denominational bias, especially in the moments of "insecurity" (despite knowing what the truth is). While Apostates may be a gone case, we need to pray sincerely for the latter group to mend their ways for the glory of God because everything about them is good save the denominational ism which blinds them.
If you are aspiring to be the one, who accurately divides the Word of God (I Tim 2:15), claim this promise…
“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my Words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.”-Isaiah 59:21
God’s Word and God’s Spirit are like two conjoined blades of a Scissor, helping our mind, soul and spirit to “cut” (remove) all that is unbiblical and “retain” only the unalloyed truth of the Scriptures.If we are to know better, the Spirit of God (without whom the Christian life, leave alone Ministry is impossible –Zech 4:6), we need to know better the Word of God. Similarly, if we have to understand better the Word of God, we need to lean more on the Spirit of God. Talk of spiritual symbiosis here…
COMING
“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In the FIRST MONTH ON THE FIRST DAY you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary.”-Ezekiel 45:18
Praise God, in the soon to come dispensation (Millennium-Rev 20) when the massive “Ezekiel” temple (Ezekiel 40-48) would be built in Jerusalem, there would still be the Lunar Calendar, which the Jews go by presently. But resumption of animal sacrifices??? Boy while Jewish sacrifices were continual, was not Christ’s sacrifice CONCLUSIVE (Heb 10:12,14) as the Epistle of Hebrews bears out. YES!!! Then why sacrifices in the Millennium? For the Redeemed of Jewish background to remember what it cost their Saviour to procure their Salvation, just as we of the existing dispensation participate in the Lord’s Table (1 Cor 11:23-32) to remember His indescribable atoning sacrifice for our sins.
CHERISHED
“In the twenty-seventh year, IN THE FIRST MONTH ON THE FIRST DAY, the word of the LORD came to me:” –Ezekiel 29:17
One of the most comforting promises of the Bible is that the Lord delights in us (Zeph 3:17/Eph 1:11TLB). So would He hide any of His plans from those, He cherishes (Genesis 18:17)? NO WAY, AS THESE SCRIPTURE PORTIONS UNDERSCORE THE AGE-OLD TRUTH…
“Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” God asked.-Genesis 18:17
“Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”-Amos 3:7
Is it any wonder then that a “New Year Gift” was given to faithful Prophet Ezekiel by way of revelation on the “gift”, the Lord was planning to give to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon for his tireless “ministry” of 13 years in Tyre (Ezekiel 29:20 TLB). In this era of Grace, when He wants all of His cherished children to be Prophets (I Cor 14:1-2), He is bound to give visions to us in order we prophesy (Joel 2:28-29). When I say, Prophesy, I am not only speaking about foretelling but also FORTHTELLING with conviction laced with tender love.
Let’s all of us, His cherished ones’ resolve to “ask, seek and knock” (increasing order of intensity of prayers) for more of Prophecies in line with His Sovereign Will in order we edify our brethren (1 Cor 14:4- TLB) and even win souls (1 Cor 14:24-25 TLB) for His Kingdom.
CROWN
“…in the FIRST MONTH, THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, the waters were dried up from off the earth:”-Genesis 8:13
Welcome once again to one of the soul-stirring accounts in the Scripture…Noah’s Ark. Ever wondered, what would have been the financial condition of good Ole’ Noah when he entered the Ark finally (Genesis 7:13) after showing complete obedience to God in all matters before the Flood? Remember, he had used all of his time, treasures and talents in building the Ark. Dear Friends, we would do well to reflect that he may have entered the Ark in poverty but when he came out of the Ark after the onset of a New Year, he was the God-ordained King of the Earth. Any competition for him? Not at all…
In 2014, be encouraged to give yourselves more to prayer, Bible reading, Church –fellowshipping and witnessing. Dwelling on witnessing, note that Jesus did not want all His followers to be preachers BUT all to be faithful witnesses (Acts 1:8). Witnessing is simply telling others (known ones’ and sometimes even strangers during journey time) at every given opportunity (Col 4:5-TLB) with the power He supplies (Zech 4:6) WHAT DIFFERENCE JESUS HAS WROUGHT IN YOUR LIFE through life and lip to known ones’ (unsaved friends/relatives, office colleagues, business partners, co-students) and lip to strangers (during the journey time). One needn’t go all the way to Empty tomb in Jerusalem to believe in the Resurrection power of our Lord for they would witness the SAME it in our zealous witnessing for Him (Acts 4:33). Dear Christian be a faithful witness for the Lord for
“NOTHING YOU WOULD DO THE LORD, WOULD EVER BE IN VAIN”-1 COR 15:58
HAPPY NEW YEAR OF WITNESSING FOR THE LORD!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An unprofitable Servant
Ps: This message replete with pics is also available on the following URL...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_jan1_14.asp
