The Heaton File

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” (Psalms 51:1)

He Wanted Israel To Sing About His Sin

The story of David, king of Israel, is defined by two events. First, his incredible faith in standing against Goliath while the army of Israel cowered in fear is an example of the power of God working through a young man to defeat the enemies of the Lord. Second, David’s complete failure in adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. It is to the sin with Bathsheba the failure of the human spirit is so clearly defined. David was a man after God’s own heart, and this man of faith allowed an innocent occasion to become something that would ruin his life.

David was the psalmist of Israel, writing thousands of poetic stories of faith, courage, hope, revenge, justice, and a host of topics. Two psalms stand out that tells the story of his struggle with adultery and murder. Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 declare the internal struggles of guilt that accompany sin and the joy of forgiveness in the grace of God. The Hebrew canon contains headers in many of the psalms included by the organizers of the Psalms. Psalm 32 has no inscription, but the psalm is strongly viewed as a reflection on the weight of sin experienced by David and the soothing grace of God’s love to forgive him. In Psalm 51, the Holy Spirit includes the heading showing the psalm was written when Nathan the prophet came to him after he committed adultery and murdered Uriah. A child was born from the adulterous liaison.

David’s faith is defined in Psalm 51. The psalm is one of the most powerful testimonies of scripture. It is a self-examination of how far sin will take a godly man. David opens his heart in the psalm to tell God of his sorrow and remorse. He no longer hides in the shadows with his guilt of adultery and murder. David knows he has brought shame and disgrace to the Lord God he serves. His heart is broken. He comes to God with a broken and contrite heart and begs the Lord to execute His goodness in whatever fashion He designs.

Reading Psalm 51 will bring tears to the eye. The heart will fill with grief over the sorrow of sin. There is one element of the psalm that is overlooked. Nearly three thousand years have passed since David wrote the psalm. Saints of God have read this psalm for centuries. When David wrote the psalm about his personal failure, he gave the psalm to the Chief Musician to be heralded among the people of God as a testimony to his own failure and a message of hope for those who faced the same dilemma. There are many musical notes found in the psalms that scholars are unsure of their meaning. One thing is clear in this psalm: David wanted the Chief Musician to include this story in the worship literature.

Faith is a declaration of the glory of God. Psalm 51 is not about David but the grace of God. It was not the desire of David to boast of his exploits. He was fully ashamed of his actions and lived the consequences for the rest of his life. But he never lost his faith. Was there a time when David went to worship, and the Chief Musician chose Psalm 51 as the message of the day? When David heard this psalm, how did it impact his heart when he listened to those crying words of pain, regret, and sorrow? David wanted Israel – all of Israel – to know of his personal grief and to learn from his failure. Throughout the many centuries, Psalm 51 has been sung, and hearts have been changed to walk away from sin, seek the grace of God, and learn the consequences of sin. David gave the psalm to the Chief Musician. What a great statement of faith.

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17-19)

Callus Hands And Callous Hearts

Identifying a man who works hard with his hands is always easy. Shaking the hand of a farmer, carpenter, or laborer will immediately give the sensation of a hard and callus hand. The roughness of the hands comes from repeated friction of implements against the skin. When the skin is subject to an unusual amount of rubbing, dead skin builds up to form calluses. The result is the callus forms a protective coating of skin, shielding it from pain.

The meaning of callus is a skin condition with hardened and thickened skin. On the other hand, the meaning of callous is to be feelingless, cruel, dispassionate, or unsympathetic to the pain and problems of other people. There is a similarity to a callus and being callous, but the callus is a noun and a verb, whereas callous is an adjective and a verb. Paul warns the saints to be careful about becoming unfeeling about the impact of sin. In a poetic way, sin can bring about calluses to the heart, causing the spirit to be callous toward lustful pleasure and every kind of impurity.

There is a danger of how sin can make the heart past feeling and wholly hardened in sin. The putridity of sin, with its nauseous odor of evil, can have little or no impact on the spirit of the child of God. As the hardened ground in the parable of the sower, the word cannot penetrate the heart with goodness. There is no feeling about unrighteousness. No emotion floods the soul with a consciousness of right and wrong. This callous attitude toward sin allows sin to continually fill the heart, ignoring the need to hate evil and turn away.

Paul warns Christians of the danger of their hearts becoming callous. If the callus nature of sin continues unabated, the child of God will see no wrong in what the Lord calls evil. Being callous to sin is to be hardened with the deceitfulness of Satan’s wiles, subjecting the heart to accepting what God condemns. The world is given over to all manner of wickedness. Their hearts are not filled with the Spirit of God. Being separate from the world demands the Christian remove the calluses that can coat the heart, causing a callous attitude. No matter what version of the Bible a person uses, sin remains sin.

One of the best oils to treat Bible covers is the oil of the hand. A Bible often used will become soft and pliable. Constant use of the Bible on the heart will remove the sinful calluses that harm the spirit and turn the callous heart into a devoted life dedicated to the word of God. Spend time working with your hands in searching the scriptures. You will find the soothing measure of God’s word to take away the callous heart and experience the joy of Jesus Christ. Clean hands and clean hearts. That is righteousness.

Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:12)

Teaching Children To Know The Lord

The high priest filled an important role in the worship of the Israelites as a precursor to the role of Jesus to the church. To have no high priest would be as meaningless as the gospel without Christ. The high priest came from the tribe of Levi and none other. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the first of a long succession of high priests. The function and role of a high priest were a central point of the relationship between God and man. The first qualification to be chosen as high priest was to be of the tribe of Levi. The role of the high priests assumed the man to be holy and deeply devoted to the word of God.

Eli, the high priest, was of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son. The office of the high priest remained in the family until Solomon’s time before changing to Eleazar’s family. Little is known about Eli. It was during his priesthood that God called Samuel to be the judge of the people of Israel. Eli saw the mother of Samuel praying and thought she was drunk. She was imploring the Lord for a son who granted her desire. Eli blesses Hannah, who will later bring the young lad, Samuel, to Eli to serve in the ministry.

The role of the high priest was a significant part of the religious landscape of Israel. Tragically, Eli failed as a father to his very wicked sons. The Holy Spirit says the sons of Levi were very corrupt. They would take sacrifices of the people for themselves by force. The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord. Serving as priests, they abhorred the offering of God. Incredibly, their sins had a greater magnification in the eyes of the Lord. Eli knew his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Priests of God engaging in sexual immorality at the door of the house of God. The sons of Eli were vile, and he did nothing about it. On one occasion, he talked them to death, to no avail.

When Eli was ninety-eight, the Philistines captured the ark of God. During the battle, when the ark was taken, the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, were killed. A servant told Eli what had happened to his sons, but when he heard about the ark being captured, he fell backward, broke his neck, and died. His daughter-in-law was about to give birth to a son, and when she heard of the capture of the ark and the death of Eli, Hophni, and her husband, Phinehas, she gave birth and died. She named the child Ichabod because the glory had departed from Israel, and the Philistines had taken the ark of God.

The story of Eli and his sons begins at an earlier place. Their wickedness and immorality were rooted in a single statement made by the Holy Spirit. The sons of Eli were corrupt, and they did not know the Lord. Somewhere, Eli, the high priest, failed to teach his own sons to know the Lord. Of all the sons who should have known about the Lord, the sons of Eli should have known the Lord. It is important to know how the Holy Spirit expresses the failure of Eli. It does not say Eli’s sons did not know God’s commandments. They did not know the Lord.

Commandment keeping cannot be done if someone does not first know the Lord. As a father, Eli failed to instruct his sons to have a personal relationship with God. Hophni and Phinehas grew up in the presence of God’s spokesman, and these two boys never got the lessons. The failure of Eli is the failure of many fathers who look good on Sunday and Wednesday but never teach their children to know God. Too many families live on the edge of Christianity with the failed belief that association breeds relationships. Going to church will not make a man a Christian. Keeping commandments does not create a devoted heart. Knowing the Lord is where it must begin; if a child does not know the Lord, he will fail.

There are many parents like Eli today. They bring their children to church, and as long as they get them under the water and baptized, glory be to God. The home life is anything but knowing God. What the children see and hear from the parents is not God, and the parents wonder why their children grow up without God. Eli was the high priest, and his sons were so corrupt that God killed them. As a parent, Eli did not restrain his sons but talked to them and talked to them and never made an effort to correct them. The sins of Hophni and Phinehas rest upon their shoulders but so will Eli bear the guilt of failing to teach his children to know God. Do your children know God? Really know God?

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

In the Garden of Eden, God and man spoke directly to one another. The Lord continued to speak to men in the early days of history, giving them the law. Cain and Abel knew the importance of sacrifice. God told Noah to build the ark. Abraham heard the voice of God and followed that voice all his life. Moses communed with God as a man to a friend. When Israel received the Law of Moses, the will of God was given through the written word and taught by the priests and prophets to the people. God did not speak directly to men but only on special occasions, as in the days of Elijah and the prophets.

Before Jesus came to earth, the Holy Spirit was active in revealing the mind of God to the world, whether directly or through the word. The writers of the Old Testament were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the message of salvation down for the people to read and understand. There was never a time when men could not know the will of God, whether Jew or Gentile.

When Jesus came, the Son revealed the word of the Father, and the Holy Spirit was again active in speaking the word of the Father. At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit was declared to be part of the eternal revelation in the work of saving men. Jesus knew His work on earth was limited, but the Father planned to deliver the completed revelation to all men. The night He was betrayed, the Son of God told the eleven apostles the Holy Spirit would come to guide them into all truth and bring to remembrance the teachings of the Father.

The promise of the Helper was the final stage in preparing the world for the completed revelation of the Father. In the days of the patriarchs, God spoke to men directly. As the Law of Moses was formulated, God spoke less to men directly, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the will of the Father was revealed.

Jesus manifested the word of God in the physical form; again, the Holy Spirit was the Finger of God confirming the word. In the days of the early church, when Jesus had ascended back to the Father, the Holy Spirit took on the active role of formulating and completing a written record of the will of God so that all men could read and understand what they must do to be saved.

Miracles were given as a sign to confirm the word of the gospel. Jesus told the eleven to go into all the world and preach the word. Miracles would confirm through the Holy Spirit the message of salvation was true. On Pentecost, the Spirit inspired the twelve apostles to preach a sermon that three thousand souls would accept. The early church formed through the work of the Holy Spirit, revealing to the early saints what they must do, how they must follow the plan, and what they should teach in the name of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth about the night Jesus gave the instructions for the Lord’s Supper. Paul was not present at the Passover of Jesus and the twelve. He was called Saul at the time and was an enemy of the disciples. When the church began to grow, Saul made his life mission to destroy the church. Through the grace of God, Saul obeyed the gospel and became one of the strongest defenders of truth. The only way he could have known what Jesus said was through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In the early church, the word of God was revealed through the Holy Spirit and written down. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John began writing stories about Jesus. The early disciples like Paul, Peter, John, and others wrote letters and epistles to one another and to churches. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, a canon of truth was developed (including the Old Testament) that would contain the fully revealed word of God.

A time came when the Godhead (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) no longer spoke to men either directly or through inspiration. The period of miracles ceased. There was no purpose for the direct word of God to be spoken to men and for miracles because the world had a written book that was the perfection of the word of God. The mystery was revealed, the grace of God appeared, and the faith was delivered to the world in final form.

The Bible represents the final revelation of God. There are no further revelations, miracles, signs, and wonders. The Bible is the only book that is from God. Any other book (Mormon, Islam, Catechisms, new revelations) is false and the work of men. The Holy Spirit delivered God’s complete revelation to men and has withstood the attacks of humanism and doubt. God’s word remains true, and all men are liars who reject it.

The Holy Spirit completed His greatest work when He gave the world the Bible. Read it to be wise and search its pages to know how to be saved. This is the only book that will bring you to God.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones shall be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” (John 19:33-37)

John Testifies That Jesus Died

The death of Jesus is central to the salvation of the world. Jesus was viewed as another criminal when He was crucified between two thieves. The Jewish leadership had convinced the Romans to carry out their cowardly purpose. There was relief among the scribes and Pharisees when Jesus died, and for them, nothing changed. What they would come to realize is that when Jesus died, God died. The man in the middle was not just a man; He was the Son of God.

Stories have been told through the centuries of men and women who were considered dead but not. Science had not advanced to the clinical level of modern technology. In some ancient practices, bells were attached to coffins in case of a mistake in the diagnosis of death. Executions could fail and the accused live after suffering a horrific injury. There is a school of thought that Jesus did not die but only swooned death. His disciples resuscitated Him later and fled to Spain; Jesus married and had children. The only proof for modern man is to rely upon the testimony of those who were there when Jesus was crucified. John gives indisputable testimony that Jesus was dead.

After six grueling hours on the cross, Jesus found relief when death swallowed His life. The gospel writers say that Jesus cried with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit, and breathed His last. Because it was the Preparation Day, and the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to hasten the death of Jesus. Pilate sends word to the Roman guards to break the legs of the accused. After breaking the legs of the two thieves, the soldiers come to Jesus and find that He is already dead. One of the soldiers took his spear and thrust it up through the right side of the chest. Immediately, blood and water flowed out. The Romans were surgical in the science of killing. They knew how to make a man suffer, and they knew how to confirm their victim was dead. The spear to the right side of the chest would puncture the heart and bring certain and immediate death.

When Jesus died, and the soldier thrust his sword into the side of Jesus, the apostle John witnessed that His Lord and Teacher was dead. He saw blood and water come out of the body of Jesus. There could be no reprieve or possibility of saving Jesus. The spear confirmed Jesus was dead. When John writes about the death of Jesus, he offers himself as a testimony to what he saw. There can be no doubt that Jesus died. John would later testify that Jesus was seen alive after three days. The testimony of John is indisputable proof to prove to the world that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. There is no doubt.

The blood of Jesus atoned for the sins of man and, through water, purified the soul from the stain of sin. John saw Jesus die, and he saw what the soldier did. There must have been an incredible joy for John three days later when Jesus stood before him alive and well. When Jesus showed Thomas the wound on His side, John took special note and remembered the blood and water. John saw and testified, and his testimony is true. The son of Zebedee knows that he is telling the truth. There is no doubt Jesus is the Son of God. The things John wrote were given that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” (Matthew 20:20-22)

We Are Able

The ministry of Jesus was planned before time began. After the garden of Eden, the world needed a Savior to redeem them back to God, and Jesus was the lamb offered to bear the sins of many. The divine plan was settled in Heaven, fulfilled through the promises of a Seed, and realized in the incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus embodied the scheme of redemption. His work was laser-focused on the work of the Father. Nothing men could do or say would hinder His plan. Through the teaching of the divine plan, Jesus unfolded all the grace of His Father in the message of a spiritual kingdom, the church. His death would offer the world the blood of God’s Son as the price of salvation. Jesus knew He would die on the cross.

As Jesus made His way to Jerusalem, He took the twelve apostles aside on the road to tell them what awaited their master. They did not understand the gravity of the work of Jesus. Their hearts were focused on the here and now, unaware of how much their lives would change very shortly. Jesus was going to Jerusalem, and He would be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes. The disciples would have been shocked to know that Judas would be the one to betray Jesus. Betraying Jesus would set in motion the events leading up to His death. He would be condemned and delivered to the Romans. Jesus would be scourged and then crucified.

Everyone understood the horrific nature of crucifixion. Scourging was an incredible experience preceding crucifixion. Soldiers would use a small whip to lacerate the back of the victim, stopping short of death before placing the instrument of their own death on the back. Jesus was scourged severely by His tormentors. Then, a cross-piece was placed on His back, and He was led to Golgotha and killed. Jesus took the bitter cup of torture and suffering for the sins of the world. There would be no greater cup a man could drink than that which the Son of God bore. Jesus was innocent and free of guilt, yet He died for the sins of the world.

After Jesus told the twelve what would happen to Him in Jerusalem, the mother of James and John came asking a favor. She wanted Jesus to place James and John to sit, one on His right and the other on His left, in His kingdom. The mother of Jesus, like many mothers, wanted the best for her sons. She was bold to ask Jesus for the favor. Viewing the kingdom as so many others, the wife of Zebedee wanted greatness for her sons. James and John liked the idea as they stood listening to their mother appeal to Jesus for the favor. They knew it might cause disagreement with the other ten men, but they were first to ask.

The heart of Jesus must have sunk when He heard the request. He knew what He had come to do. It was the will of the Father that Jesus would bear the bitterest cup known to man, and here was a beautiful mother seeking the best for her sons, and they had no idea what they were asking. Jesus asked James and John if they could bear the cup He was about to bear. They confidently proclaimed they could bear the cup. Little did they know what those words would mean in a short time and how their lives would change dramatically. There was a cup they would bear, but it would not be to sit on the right and left of Jesus.

James and John thought they knew what cup bearing meant. The divine plan was yet to be revealed to them. There was a greater work they would be a part of, but nothing like what they were asking. It is not uncommon for the people of God to have the boldness to courageously embrace a task of a work, little knowing the trials that face them. Becoming a Christian is filled with joy, but there are difficult days as Satan seeks to recapture what he lost. Temptation becomes more real; difficulties are heightened, and separation from the world is a constant battle. There is a price to be paid to serve the Lord. Bearing the cup of Jesus is not an easy task. A simple request by the mother of James and John highlights the innocence of those who say, “We are able,”; and the harsh realities of what that duty means. The twelve men faced a trial. Judas killed himself. The remaining eleven drank deep of their cup and overcame.

Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. … Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments … Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your judgments. (Psalm 119:12,26,33,64,66,68,108,124,135,171)

Teach Me

The giving of knowledge and the acceptance of that knowledge have always measured the relationship between God and man. Adam and Eve were given all they needed to know concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, yet they chose to ignore the command. God spoke to ancient men to know His word, and the world turned away. Noah was told to build an ark. He obeyed. Abraham left his homeland at the word of the Lord. Moses wrote the Law for the people to read and understand the statutes and divine judgments. Christ came as the living word dwelling among men, showing God’s power. The world killed Him. In the first century, disciples learned the divine will of Christ, writing letters to one another, which became the divine canon. God has never left men without His will. The challenge has been whether the human heart is willing to learn from the holy word.

Psalm 119 is a powerful testimony to the word of God. The writer extols the virtue of knowledge that comes from the Lord. God’s word is likened to a path to walk, seeking the ways of the Lord. There is no lacking for the word of the Lord but what is lacking is the heart desiring to learn more about the will of God. Ten times in Psalm 119, the writer seeks the wisdom of God to teach him the holy statutes, what is good judgment and knowledge, and to understand the divine judgments. There was a deep longing to know God, learn of His will, seek His paths, and be taught by the mercy and grace of a benevolent Father.

“Teach me” is a plea to ask God’s blessings upon the individual. The statutes or laws of God must be learned. There is also an expectation of obedience. Learning the statutes of God comes from a heart wanting to please the Father. In keeping the statutes of God, the writer promises to keep God’s word to the end. There is much in the world to seek, but there is only one prized glory that is eternal: the statutes of God. Knowing the law of God requires having good judgment. The word of God must be understood to apply knowledge and believe in the commandments of the holy word.

God is good, and He does good. Seeking the Lord desires to find that goodness and make it a part of life. Being taught the word of God finds its full expression in worship when free will offerings are given for God’s glory. Forgiveness comes from the Lord upon those taught by God’s word. The greatest joy a man can experience is when the face of the Lord shines upon him, and he knows the will of the Father. As a result of this learning, the lips will sing praise to God for such knowledge.

There are many things to ask of God. The greatest joy comes when the prayerful heart asks God to teach them to know His statutes, judgments, and knowledge. Bible study is vital to that growth, but it can only come from hearts that desire divine guidance. The Christian is a disciple of Jesus, seeking to know more and more each day. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pray God – teach me.

For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. (Mark 14:7)

There Will Always Be

The world has existed for thousands of years, and one thing has remained a constant from the day Adam and Eve walked out of the garden. Generations change, nations rise and fall, and technology advances, but there will always be parts of life that remain unchanged. Jesus said the poor will always be a part of the fabric of life. There are movements in every aspect of history where men seek to end poverty, but it always is found in the world in one form or another. Henry IV of France promised his citizens a chicken in their pots every Sunday. In 1928, the Republican party seeking to elect Herbert Hoover to office promised a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard. About ten percent of the world lives in poverty.

There will always be wars and rumors of wars. World War I was supposed to be the war that ended all wars, but twenty-one years after the first world war, a second and much larger world war gripped the world for six years. And wars continued in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. There will always be despots who have no conscience of killing others and taking their lands, and there is nothing the United Nations can do to stop wars. In communities around the globe, crime is an individual war against neighbors. There are many programs seeking to mitigate criminal behavior, but there will always be drugs, prostitution, pornography, rape, murder, abuse, and child neglect; to name a few. Law enforcement agencies will continue to monitor and seek to control the flow of crime, and courts will fill with defendants charged with crimes. It will never end.

Sickness grips the world. Advances in medical science have changed the course of many diseases, but there will always be illness and death. Some illnesses can be treated and almost eradicated. The common cold still seeks a cure. Many forms of cancer are treatable, but cancer still kills thousands. The disorders of the body bring about dementia, coronary disease, blindness, COVID, diabetes, and a host of medical conditions, but sickness will always be a part of life. The common denominator that every person on earth shares in common is the reality of death. There is nothing man can do to stop death. He can lengthen life by a short span, but he will never be able to prevent death. Cemeteries are vacant appointments waiting to be filled.

There will never be peace on earth, but it is possible to have peace on earth. The world is unchanged from the day sin entered the world. God created a world of perfect harmony without sickness, war, hatred, immorality, and death. Sin changed that. The cause of the problems of humanity comes from the consequence of sin. Death comes to all men because the tree of life given in the garden of Eden was taken away. Sin corrupted the hearts of men to kill one another. The first man born in the world killed his brother. In the days of Noah, the world was so evil God killed all life except eight souls and a barge full of animals. The flood did not stop sin or alleviate the problems of men. History continued to tell stories of famine, wars, and murder.

Jesus Christ did not come into the world to take away poverty, sickness, and wars. He came into the world to take away the pain of sin and bring peace to a troubled world. Men still die, but now they die with hope. Wars still scorch the landscape, and in Christ, joy is found in the promises of the King of Kings. Sickness remains a constant in life. Through prayer and the joy of salvation, death is faced with courage, faith, and hope. Only in Jesus Christ can the trials of life be recognized for what they are, and the heavenly wisdom directs the soul of man to live in the hope of eternal life. There will always be, but one day there will come a time when all those unchangeable parts of life will go away. Jesus Christ will come to take His saints home as the world comes to an end. There will be no more wars. The plague of sickness will end. Joy will fill the hearts of the redeemed. And there we will always be with the Lord.

Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. (Acts 20:7)

When Sunday Becomes An Option

The early disciples did not have two thousand years of history to understand the pattern of the church. They were blessed to live at the same time as Jesus Christ, with many of the saints eyewitnesses to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of God’s Son. When the church began at Pentecost, what did the saints do? Luke writes that the first Christians devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. There was no question in the minds of the first disciples about what they must do and when they must do it. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church began to meet on the first day of the week to worship in accordance with God’s divine plan. Throughout the acts of the apostles, the pattern of the New Testament church revealed itself in a specific pattern and design. The focal point of the worship was the first day of the week.

Troas, a city located on the coast of Mysia, was a regular port of call on coasting voyages between Macedonia and Asia. Paul visited the city often and, on his third mission work, arrived in the city to meet with the brethren on the first day of the week. The disciples gathered to break bread and to hear a sermon by Paul. This was a regular pattern for the saints at Troas, as it was with all the saints who met in churches throughout the world.

One of the early characteristics of the disciples of Christ was the frequency of gathering on the first day of the week. This was not culture or tradition but a command of God. When Jesus instituted the supper, He gave the early church a memorial commemorating the day He would rise from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Under the Law of Moses, the seventh day of the week was a holy day God gave as a day of remembrance. The Law was taken away (including the Sabbath) and the Lord’s Day became the first day of the week. In the modern era, the first day of the week is Sunday. This is the day God ordained as a day of remembrance and memorial to the sacrifice of His Son.

There are numerous references to the early saints meeting on the first day of the week. The first Christians were Jews, but they learned the new covenant was now the first day rather than the seventh day. There does not seem to be any confusion or dissension about the day that now must be celebrated. Later, the writer of Hebrews would exhort those saints not to forsake the assembly with reference to the first day of the week. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he upbraided their abuse of the Lord’s Supper in how they abused the memorial. He reminded them that when they came together, it was for the wrong reasons, and they needed to see the warning from God to ignore the memorial feast of Jesus Christ. There were penalties attached to taking the supper in an unworthy manner; consider the penalty for not being present to take the supper.

The church has celebrated the Lord’s Supper for two thousand years and will continue to do so every first day of the week until the Lord returns. Authority establishes the purpose of the supper and the frequency. To deny the Lord’s Supper is to deny the will of God. The church has constantly been challenged by the unfaithful who deny the relevance and importance of the first day of the week. Some in the body of Christ feel satisfied to miss the services of God’s people on the first day of the week for many reasons. Almost any excuse will keep people at home. Monday morning, they will be at work with headaches and body aches but not so on the Lord’s day.

Faith is marginalized when the first day of the week becomes an option. How can a child of God view Sunday as an option? There were no options given under the Law of Moses for the Sabbath. On one occasion, a man was stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. How much worse punishment for those who ignore the first day of the week with excuses, complaints, and blatant disregard? COVID did not change the mind of God to allow His children to “worship” at home as an act of convenience. Jesus died a horrible death. Is the least we can do found on the first day of the week?

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37-39)

The Holy Spirit And The Christian

When God gave the world His Son, He also gave the world a gift that would last until the end of time. It was not a one-time gift or an obscure offering. There are many questions about the mechanics of the gift in how it manifests itself, but one thing is certain from scripture: the gift of the Holy Spirit is a blessing given to the people of God. The Holy Spirit and the Christian generate more questions left unanswered than most subjects of holy writ. There are many false views about the relationship, but sometimes in defense of the truth, the blessing of the gift of God is cast out as the baby with the bathwater. One extreme view of the Christian and interaction with the Spirit has deluded the reality of the truth of a deep and abiding (personal) connection with the Holy Spirit. An examination of the scriptures will not support some mystic better felt than told experience. All of the first century Christians experienced the gift of the Holy Spirit. For all those who make a covenant with God, the gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise.

The relationship of the Spirit with the Christian is harmonious with the teachings of scripture. As a part of the revelation of the gospel, the Spirit completes the work of God in the heart of His children. Sometimes terminologies confuse the issue when the heart is prejudiced towards a false doctrine. Saying there is such a thing as the “indwelling of the Holy Spirit” does not, by definition, teach false doctrine. The word of God is abundant in statements of the indwelling. Because false doctrines mistakenly use the terms to define an experience outside the authority of the word as the indwelling, many shrink away from using terms defined by the Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, the twelve apostles preached the gospel of a resurrected Jesus to an audience of devout Jews. The Holy Spirit was not a new doctrine to the Jews, and they would have been quite familiar with the Spirit. David expressed a strong desire for God not to take away the Spirit from him when he pled his repentance for the sin with Bathsheba. The Holy Spirit was not absent in the Old Testament. He was active in the lives of God’s people. When the Jews responded to the preaching of Peter and the eleven, they begged Peter to tell them what they must do. The apostle told them to repent and be baptized. Obedience would wash away their sins, and by the grace of God, they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Emphasis is always given to repentance and baptism (and rightfully so), but when three thousand Jews repented and accepted baptism to wash away their sins, did they ignore the part of Peter’s reply about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit was such a new doctrine to these devout Jews, why would they accept the statement of Peter without confirmation? In whatever form they knew the Holy Spirit, they also accepted the gift of God to receive the Holy Spirit as part of their salvation.

Peter promised that all who repented and were baptized for the remission of sins would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand people received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They did not begin to roll around on the floor or speak in an unknown language or gibberish. Hearing the word of the gospel, their hearts were pricked with guilt, and they sought salvation. In their obedience, God washed away their sins, and the Holy Spirit began to dwell within their hearts through faith. The gift of the Holy Spirit was not dependent on the words of the New Testament – it had not been written yet. What the three thousand received on that day was a gift of God to dwell in a spiritual union with the Father. The Spirit is not the same as the word. The first Christians received something apart from the word of the New Testament. God gives the Holy Spirit to all who obey Him.

The apostle Paul would write extensively about the Holy Spirit. In writing to the Roman Christians, Paul established a clear thesis of the relationship between the Christian and the Holy Spirit as an indwelling. Living according to the Spirit is a personal experience shared between the child of God and the Spirit. As the Spirit stands before the Father, He testifies to the individual’s covenant as a child of God. The Holy Spirit is a helper seeking to increase the faith and help the Christian overcome weaknesses. There is a relationship between the Christian and Spirit the world can never understand. The influence of the Spirit is measured by the same influence as the Father and Son. God could make a man do something without his control, but He does not. Jesus can influence a man to speak in tongues, but He does not. If the Father and the Son will not overpower a man in some charismatic and powerful way, why would anyone expect the Holy Spirit to do what God and Jesus will not do? He dwells in the Christian, but the will of the man measures the work of the Spirit in his life.

Christians are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Established by Jesus Christ, anointed by God, and sealed by the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee is the greatest gift of salvation. This all comes about by hearing the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and having believed, are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is an earnest pledge of the promise of God. As the song repeats, “A foretaste of what is to come.” The Holy Spirit helps with the infirmities of the Christian, giving life to the body in the resurrection, and filling the heart with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you live in the Spirit – walk in the Spirit.