Make Disciples of All Nations :: Finishing the Task

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

This is a very familiar passage of scripture – perhaps the most familiar after John 3:16. It is most commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.” Regardless of how familiar it is or what it is called, the Great Commission is there and it appears to be a command. But what exactly are we being commanded to do here? There appears to be several things involved, but the primary command is to “make disciples of all nations”. Everything else describes how we are to accomplish this task (i.e. by going, baptizing, and teaching). Since this is a command, I believe it is beneficial for us to look into this command to discover EXACTLY what we are being commanded to do.

Ask Anything :: What is God’s Glory?

Ask Anything is a means by which our readers can submit questions (even anonymously) which they would like to have answered. When a question is submitted, one of the VoM contributors will make an attempt at answering the question. Of course, as in any Q&A, there is no guarantee that your question will be answered, but we will do our best to address all questions (questions of similar nature may be answered in groups). If you would like to submit a question, click HERE.

Anonymous Question:
“What is God’s glory?”

Answer:
The question, “what is God’s glory?” is a very important question for us to consider. Because we talk about God’s glory so much, I think it sometimes begins to lose its meaning. But the Bible uses that term many times, and it always does so with the intent of communicating meaning – not just for the purpose of throwing out a Christian catch-phrase.

Perfected Love

In some sense the most benevolent, generous person in the world seeks his own happiness in doing good to others, because he places his happiness in their good. His mind is so enlarged as to take them, as it were, into himself. Thus when they are happy, he feels it; he partakes with them, and is happy in their happiness. This is so far from being inconsistent with the freeness of beneficence, that, on the contrary, free benevolence and kindness consists in it. (Jonathan Edwards)

What does it truly mean to be loving in the way that God is loving? Is it not as Edwards says? That I would ever find myself so pulled apart from my own pride and self as to attain my happiness in the good of others seems to me an impossible task. Not impossible because the task is too hard but instead because I am too weak and proud. Not to negate the joy and happiness found in my own good. Happiness found in the blessings of God, in the growth of him and in the growing understanding of his grace in my life. But instead to add on to that the joy found in seeing others happy in God, joyful in his blessings and growing in understanding of his grace in their lives.

Contend for the Faith: Studying the Letter of Jude :: Jude 1-2

Introduction
The book of Jude is one of the most neglected books in the New Testament. Many (if not most) pastors have never preached through it, and many (if not most) Christians have never even read it from start to finish. Despite the fact that the Jude is commonly neglected (whether intentional or not), it remains one of the most practically applicable books in all of the Bible – especially in light of the status of the contemporary church (“church” meaning those who profess to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ). When one understands the nature of the book of Jude, one can easily understand why Satan must rejoice at the church’s common ignorance of it’s content – the book of Jude stands as one of the most blunt and straight-forward confrontations of false teaching in all of the New Testament. Because the contemporary church is facing a wide variety of false teaching of its own, this book is just as relevant to modern readers as it was to the original first century readers. In this first installment, we will look primarily at verses 1-2.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:  2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. (Jude 1-2 | ESV)

Finding Wisdom in the Book of Ruth – Ruth 2:1-13

[Ruth 2:1-13 NASB]

2:1-3 – Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

Naomi & Ruth have returned to Jerusalem and Naomi is bitter for what God has done in her life. Ruth, more than likely, has picked up on Naomi’s bitterness and at some point decides to make an attempt to turn things around.  Ruth inquires have the opportunity to go and collect food and hopefully find favor with someone in this new land.  However, most translations use the word “Glean” rather than “gather”.  One reason may be to make a distinction in what exactly is happening during this “Gleaning/Gathering”.  This “Gleaning/Gathering”, is a provisions for the poor, sojourners, widows, and orphans; which,  allowed them to gather standing grain in corners or borders of fields, as well as dropped stalks and left-behind sheaves by reapers. Seeing that Naomi and Ruth were both without a husband, father and/or brother ect. they were without “hope” and poor. Therefore, they did not have land to reap from themselves but had to depend on the “leftovers” of other people to survive.  Naomi informs Ruth to “go for it” and that is all we know. So, Ruth seeks out to glean and starts off in other fields but comes to Boaz’s field.

492 Years Ago Today

492 years ago today, on October 31 1517, Martin Luther nailed his infamous 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany and began the Protestant Reformation. Praise God for men like Martin Luther who have gone before and set an example of courage in the face of persecution! Here are his 95 Theses that began the Protestant Reformation 492 years ago today.

From Faith for Faith :: Reflections on Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV)

I read through this yesterday morning when I was waiting to go play basketball and was just mulling over verse 17. My rewording of the passage, “I love the gospel and will proclaim it unapologetically, because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith (everyone means all peoples from all nations not just every Jew), because in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.”

Videology :: Unreached Peoples

This video will help you understand that there is MUCH to be done in carrying out the Great Commission and how little is being done to accomplish it.

Testifying to the gospel of the grace of God,
Robbie
Acts 20:24

Finding Wisdom in the Book of Ruth – Ruth 1:6-22

[Ruth 1:6-22 NASB]

V6 –7  God’s Grace & Setting Out to Receive It

At some point, Naomi and her daughters heard of God’s visiting Bethlehem and blessing and giving them food.  This act of grace, one could say it was a miracle, was provided to the Jews who remained in Bethlehem but not with Naomi who resided in Moab.  Her first response was to immediately return home where God made his presence known.  However, I do not believe the text tells us Naomi’s motivation was due to God but to receive the fruits of God’s visit. Based on what I will get into later in this post, I am leaning more toward Naomi returning to Bethlehem for the same motive she left Bethlehem, that being to find food. 1.) She returned home where God visited and food was now present and 2.) God sovereignly chose to remove the famine after Naomi had lost her husband and two sons…

To the Praise of the Glory of His Grace

Recently I was listening to this message by Pastor John Piper and the following is an excerpt of his message:

God’s Ultimate Purpose

Ephesians 1:4–6 takes us from eternity past to eternity future—from the cause of all things to the goal of all things. I am especially interested in the goal of all things. Why has God created the universe, permitted the Fall, planned redemption, sent his Son, founded the church, guided history? Here is his answer:

God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.

This is the most ultimate statement in the book of Ephesians. The reason for election. The reason for holiness and blamelessness. The reason for predestination and adoption. The reason for bringing all this to pass “through Jesus Christ” is “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” (That is a more literal translation than “to the praise of his glorious grace.”)

Made to Praise the Glory of His Grace

God has done everything with a view to one great end—namely, that the glory of his grace should be praised by innumerable redeemed human beings. You, and everybody you counsel, were made by God to praise him. More specifically, you were made to praise his glory. And more specific yet, you were made to praise the glory of his grace.

He says it two more times in this chapter. Verse 12: “So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” So this is why we exist: We exist to praise the glory of God. Then verse 14: “The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Our final inheritance is this: that we will see the glory of God and praise him for it. We will see his glory, savor his glory, and show his glory

The statement “You, and everybody you counsel, were made by God to praise him. More specifically, you were made to praise his glory. And more specific yet, you were made to praise the glory of His grace.” (emphasis mine), really hit home with me. I never looked at my life in this specific way.