Psalm 120:1-7, Genesis 12:1-4, 1 John 3:13-24, Luke 14:16-24.
A). JUST PASSING THROUGH.
Psalm 120:1-7.
The Psalmist’s testimony is, “In my distress, I cried unto the LORD" (PSALM 120:1a). Prayer is our only recourse in time of trouble (cf. John 16:23-24). It is sure to gain a response from the LORD: “and He heard me” (PSALM 120:1b; cf. Psalm 18:6; Psalm 50:15).
The nature of that distress, and that prayer, is spelled out: “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” (PSALM 120:2; cf. Psalm 52:4). The tongue can be, and often is ‘an unruly evil’ (cf. James 3:8). Lies told against the Lord’s people are often believed in a godless world.
Addressing “thou false tongue,” the Psalmist asks (in effect), “What shall (the LORD) give to thee? or” (literally) “what shall He add to thee?” (PSALM 120:3). What punishment awaits those who ‘make lies their refuge’ and ‘hide themselves’ under falsehood (cf. Isaiah 28:15; Job 27:8; Matthew 16:26; Romans 6:21)?
In Jeremiah 9:8, a deceitful lying tongue is compared to ‘an arrow shot out.’ In James 3:6, an unruly tongue is compared to ‘a fire, a world of iniquity.’ So, the punishment is seen to fit the crime: “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper” PSALM 120:4; cf. Deuteronomy 32:23).
Speaking on behalf of the whole community, the Palmist’s complaint is that even he/they must ever dwell in the midst of enemies. “Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech” (PSALM 120:5a). Meshech was one of the sons of Japheth, son of Noah (cf. Genesis 10:2), often mentioned alongside his brother Tubal, and Gog and Magog (cf. Ezekiel 38:2).
Woe is me that “I dwell in the tents of Kedar” (PSALM 120:5b). Kedar was a son of Ishmael, the son of Abraham (cf. Genesis 25:13). Like Abraham before them, even when they dwell in the promised land, Israel finds themselves, as it were, but ‘strangers and sojourners’ (cf. Genesis 23:4).
The complaint of the Psalmist and the complaint of Israel; the complaint of Jesus and the complaint of His Church; the complaint of the believer is, “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” (PSALM 120:6).
“I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war” (PSALM 120:7; cf. Psalm 57:4).
For the Christian, this Psalm addresses the perplexities of being (as the saying goes) ‘in the world but not of the world’ (cf. John 17:16; Hebrews 13:14); of maintaining our unique identity in the midst of a world that does not recognise the LORD.
We are like sheep in the midst of wolves (cf. Matthew 10:16); like righteous Lot at the gate of Sodom (cf. 2 Peter 2:7-8).
We are aliens, strangers and pilgrims in a foreign land (cf. Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11).
We are just passing through.
B). ABRAM STEPS OUT IN FAITH.
Genesis 12:1-4.
Our story begins in Ur of the Chaldees, in what is now Southern Iraq, a predominantly pagan city of about 250,000 people, with a central temple to the moon god Sin. Here Abram’s father Terah was thought to have been a craftsman within the moon cult. At a crucial turning point in history, and for reasons unknown, Terah and various members of his family determined to travel to Canaan, and, uprooting themselves from all that was familiar, took to the road.
They got as far as Haran, another centre of moon worship on the trade routes between Syria and Turkey. The allure of this pagan city detained them, and there they settled down (Genesis 11:31). Where they stopped, there Terah died (Genesis 11:32).
Abram was called to leave his father’s house in order to go to a land which the LORD would show him (Genesis 12:1). “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him” (Genesis 12:4), into the unknown. This was a step of faith not unlike our initiation into Christianity, where we are required to leave all and follow Jesus (Luke 9:57-62).
Along with the command, the LORD made two promises. First of all there was a promise of land (Genesis 12:1). Secondly, though Abram’s wife Sarai was barren (cf. Genesis 11:30), Abram was informed that he would become a great nation (Genesis 12:2).
Furthermore Abram would be blessed in his walk with God. That blessing would manifest itself in a tangible “greatness.” The “exalted Father” (as his name means) would become a source of blessing to others (Genesis 12:2).
God was focussing the whole of salvation history into one family. From that family, the whole world would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Yet every single person who opposes this family, which is ultimately the family of Jesus Christ, falls under a divine curse.
At 75 years old Abram obeyed the call of the LORD, and “departed out of Haran” (Genesis 12:4).
Abraham’s name is found in the list of faith’s champions (Hebrews 11:8-10). There we are reminded that Abram obeyed God, stepped out beyond the spurious security of all that was familiar, and set his sights beyond the temporal to the eternal. Sarah’s faith is also praised in relation to the birth of their son (Hebrews 11:11-12).
This is only the beginning of the life story of Abraham, but we know from the rest of Scripture that it had a good end. Certainly, Abram possessed little by way of land within the land of promise, but he was blessed with prosperity there, and received the promise of posterity (Hebrews 6:13-15). And through Jesus Christ “the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1) blessing does come to “every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation” (Revelation 5:9).
C). HATRED AND THE OUTWORKING OF LOVE.
1 John 3:13-24.
“Marvel not” – stop wondering – that the world of the ungodly hates you (1 JOHN 3:13). Abel’s righteousness stood as a rebuke to Cain, and Cain killed him for it (cf. 1 John 3:12). The ones who ‘abide in death’ (1 JOHN 3:14) are identified as those in whom ‘eternal life’ has no abode (1 JOHN 3:15).
By way of contrast, the ones who “keep His commandments” dwell in God, and God has His abode in them (1 JOHN 3:24a). This takes us back to Jesus’ words in the Upper Room, in which He teaches us that we are indwelt by both the Father and the Son (John 14:23; cf. 1 John 1:3). Jesus’ abiding is elaborated in His ‘true Vine’ saying of John 15:4-5. As we unfold this mystery, we will also discover that the Holy Spirit is present with us (1 JOHN 3:24b).
1 JOHN 3:16 is the beautiful counterpart of the more famous John 3:16. The instructions of this passage are rooted in Jesus’ sacrificial love. Our “laying down our lives” for one another begins with - and consists in - the ‘love in action’ of 1 JOHN 3:17-18. This a theme taken up in James 2:15-16, and which Jesus graphically illustrates in His end-times discourse (cf. Matthew 25:41-45).
‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ asks Paul in another context (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:16). The answer follows: ‘our sufficiency is of God’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:5).
We might be inclined to condemn what we see as our feeble efforts to fulfill our obligation to our brothers and sisters in Christ: but we draw not from our own natural abilities, but from the resurrection power of Jesus coursing in our veins (1 JOHN 3:19-20). Ultimately, it is God who reassures our hearts – and that is where we begin.
In fact, we are empowered to exercise a holy confidence before God (1 JOHN 3:21). We are enabled to obey God, doing those things which are pleasing in His sight - and because we have been made holy in Jesus, our ‘asking’ in prayer is in tune with His will, and therefore renders a good result (1 JOHN 3:22). This is in fulfillment of the promise of Jesus (cf. John 14:13-14), and stands in stark contrast to James 4:2-3.
The commandment to love (1 JOHN 3:23) is in the singular, but consists of two prongs.
The first prong addresses the issue of belief, and was extremely important in the churches to which John was writing. There were those who denied various basic tenets of the Christian faith, and John was appealing for creedal integrity. All these were classified as ‘antichrists’ by John. They were those who went out from the church because they were not at all of it (cf. 1 John 2:19).
For example, there were those who denied that Jesus is the Christ, and ‘denied the Father and the Son’ (cf. 1 John 2:22-23).
Furthermore, John found it necessary to stress that ‘Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’ (1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 1:7; cf. John 1:14). If He did not, then His incarnation becomes an illusion, His sacrifice devalued, His resurrection an unnecessary deception, and the efficacy of His blood rendered null and void. If that is the case then we are (to quote Paul again), ‘of all men most miserable’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:19).
In our days there have been those in both churches and universities who have argued that it is not necessary to believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection in order to be a Christian. Yet these are those who, unlike in John’s churches, are sometimes allowed to take high office.
The second prong of 1 JOHN 3:23 is that we should love one another, as He gave us commandment. We are to “go on loving one another" (present continuous).
‘A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another as I have loved you, That you love one another as I have loved you. ‘By this shall all men know That you are my disciples, If you have love one for another.’ (John 13:34-35; cf. John 15:12).
Finally, how do we know that Jesus has made His abode with us? Outwardly, by our obedience. Inwardly, God testifies to this reality through the Spirit whom He has given us (1 JOHN 3:24).
D). PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPER.
Luke 14:16-24.
Luke 14:15. “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God,” remarked one of the guests sitting at table with Jesus. How sincere the remark was we may only conjecture: but it is, on the surface, a true enough sentiment. But it is one thing to have the kingdom of God offered to us, but quite another if we refuse that offer.
Jesus illustrates this with a parable.
LUKE 14:16-17. “A certain man made a supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.”
Can you imagine what a privilege it would be to be invited, for example, to the King’s garden party? However, it is not only an invitation, but also a command. What a disgrace it would be to turn down the offer!
It is so with the gospel. The invitation, the command, is to “Come.”
LUKE 14:18a. Yet there are people who hear the call of Jesus, and still refuse to come to Him. “They all with one consent made excuse.” They ‘make light’ (cf. Matthew 22:5) of the gospel, thus insulting the host. This is high treason of the worst kind in the kingdom of God.
#. The one who is (literally) ‘apathetic’ to the Son shall not see life, but has the wrath of God abiding on him (cf. John 3:36). And if he does not have a relationship with the Son, he does not have a relationship with the Father (cf. 1 John 2:23).
LUKE 14:18b. The shallow excuses of those bidden are exposed in the following verses. One had bought a piece of ground, but had not yet inspected it.
LUKE 14:19. Another had bought five yoke of oxen, but had yet to prove them. The equivalent of buying a car, perhaps, without having yet taken it for a test drive.
LUKE 14:20. Another had married a wife. Yet even that most precious of loves should take second place to our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 14:26)!
The reasons offered are all lawful in and of themselves, but it is all a question of priorities. The One who said “Come!” has also said. ‘Seek FIRST the kingdom of God’ (cf. Matthew 6:33). There should be nothing, however good it may be, ahead of our relationship with God.
LUKE 14:21. There still remained the need to furnish the feast with guests. Those first invited proved themselves unworthy by their absence - and “the master of the house” became angry. So now the word went out to others, in “the streets and lanes of the city: the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”
Representing, first, the Gentiles; and then all who see themselves as spiritually poor and blind, and who recognise their need of the salvation offered in the gospel.
LUKE 14:22. And yet there was still room. There is no lack of grace on God’s part, but there is a lack of willingness to partake of that grace on man’s part.
LUKE 14:23. So the lord of that servant sent him out yet again, with a mission to the highways and hedges, to “compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
#. This is the ongoing work of the gospel continuing to this very day. ‘Come unto me,’ says Jesus (Matthew 11:28).
‘And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God’ (cf. Luke 13:29).
LUKE 14:24. Finally, the anger of ‘the master of the house’ resolves itself in what the Lord now says: “I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
