In my mind, when I awoke, was a conversation from the previous evening on the subject of the brevity of Jonah’s words to Nineveh when God sent Jonah to speak His words to the people there (See Jonah 3). Jonah said, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” The Ninevites believed God, they repented, and God did not destroy their city.
The Lord also brought to mind Matthew 6:33 (6:33 was the time on my clock): “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This passage of scripture was in the context of people worrying about everything. Jesus was telling them to stop their worrying and instead seek his kingdom and his righteousness first, and then they would have supplied for them their true needs (not necessarily their wants).
I came out to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and recorded the above in my journal. Then I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” And, I read Romans 16:17-20, 25-27:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you…
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
My Understanding: I thought more about the flashing red numbers on my clock this morning, which then brought to mind the meaning behind road signs or traffic signals with flashing words or colors, so I looked it up. FLASHING RED: “Means the same as a STOP sign: Stop, yield the right-of-way, and go when it is safe” (Ref: below). The numbers were flashing on the “alarm” clock. Alarm – a device for giving a warning of danger (Encarta). Clock – a measure of time (Encarta). When Jonah gave that message to Nineveh, he was giving both a warning of danger and a measure of time. Jonah was saying, in essence, “Stop what you are doing, and yield the right-of-way to Almighty God, then go in the safety of God’s righteousness.” The “measure of time” this morning on my clock was Matthew 6:33 about seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. The warning was to stop worrying, seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness (yielding the right-of-way to Jesus Christ), and then to go in God’s grace and his provisions for our lives. I believe the Lord is saying “It is time to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first in your lives, so stop sinning against me, yield the right-of-way to me, and then go in my grace, love and forgiveness.”
When I first sat down to record all of this the Lord taught me (above), I wondered how the story of Jonah, Matthew 6:33 and this passage in Romans 16 all fit collectively or even if they had mutual agreement. Yet, as I began to write, the Lord started putting the pieces together. Once I understood the significance of the alarm clock, the flashing red numbers, the story of Jonah and Nineveh, and Matthew 6:33, then I looked at the passage in Romans 16 and inquired of the Lord as to the connection among all of them.
In this section of Romans 16 is another warning of danger - to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in our way that are contrary to the teaching we have learned. The “teaching” for us is what is found in God’s word, the Bible, i.e. specifically the teachings of the New Testament on what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Those teachings can be summed up with the same idea as the Lord gave me (above), when I believe he summarized it in these words: “It is time to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first in your lives, so stop sinning against me, yield the right-of-way to me, and then go in my grace, love and forgiveness.” Jesus began his teaching with this message, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” And, he is still saying those same words to us today. He is saying, “It is time! Stop sinning and turn your hearts and lives over to Jesus Christ and believe in him to be your Lord (Master, Boss, Ruler) and your Savior (from the penalty, bondage to and control of sin in your daily life), for the kingdom of God (Jesus Christ and his salvation) is near.”
There are those leaders in our churches – pastors and elders – who would give the impression that repentance is not necessary for salvation, and in fact some of them even leave out the word “believe” or “faith” from Ephesians 2:8-10, and they only teach, “It is by grace you have been saved,” as though God does it all and nothing is required of us. While it is true that our salvation cannot be earned by works nor is it generated in the will of man, but is a gift of God, still we must respond in faith, and faith is proved by our repentance, our obedience and our works that Jesus and his Holy Spirit do within us and out through us as we stop sinning and we yield the right-of-way to Jesus Christ in our lives so that we can go forward in his righteousness. So, we must not believe those who would put obstacles in our way that would keep us from believing the truth of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, for Jesus makes it quite clear in his teaching that we must stop sinning, we must yield the right-of-way to Jesus Christ in our lives and allow him to be our Lord and Master, and then, and then only can we go forward in his grace, mercy and forgiveness.
This passage in Romans states that such people who would water down the gospel message do so because they are serving their own appetites. This is shown by the fact that they use smooth talk and flattery to deceive the minds of naïve people. They say what people want to hear (what their flesh wants to hear) so that they can gather around them a number of converts, but they are not converts to Jesus Christ, but to human philosophy and teaching. Jonah, though certainly a reluctant messenger, did not use any kind of flattery. He did not try to make the people of Nineveh feel good about themselves. He just spoke the words God gave him to speak. He told the people that they had so many days and then God was going to destroy their city. He did not even call them to repentance. That seemed to be understood. Jesus also never used flattery or smooth talk. He was a straight shooter and he told the people just like it was, even though he often spoke to them in parables. So, we need to check out everything we hear against God’s word and make sure that what sounds good is really the truth, because if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is not true.
This passage in Romans ends in a doxology. It begins, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel,” and then ends with, “so that all nations might believe and obey him…”
Jesus’ gospel can be found in his words recorded above where he says that it is time, the kingdom of God is near, so repent (turn from your sin and to faith in Jesus) and believe the good news of the gospel. That is his gospel, but it is not the gospel that is being taught in many of our churches today. It is Jesus Christ who is able to establish (form; institute; start) us in Jesus Christ and in our relationship with him by his gospel of repentance and faith with the ultimate goal that all nations might believe in Jesus Christ and obey him. To believe in Jesus Christ thus means that we must turn completely from a life of sin, reckoning ourselves dead to sin, so that we can be raised to new life in Jesus Christ and be found righteous through our faith in him – a faith that will culminate in our obedience to his words and to his commands for our lives. So, if someone is telling you that you don’t have to do anything and that Jesus does it all, though there is partial truth to that in that we, of our flesh and of our own human efforts, cannot come to Jesus, do not listen to him or her, because what they are trying to do is to minimize the requirements God has of us for his salvation which is that we stop what we are doing (sinning), we yield the right-of-way to Jesus (via repentance and obedience), so that we can go forward in his righteousness.
Jesus Paid It All / Elvina M. Hall / John T. Grape
… your sins… they shall be as white as snow… Isaiah 1:18
I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”
For nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt the heart of stone.
And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down all down at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Sources: Encarta Dictionary - http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/dictionaryhome.aspx
FLASHING RED TRAFFIC SIGNAL - http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/dmanual/chapter04-manual.htm
Jonah 3 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%203&version=NIV1984
Matthew 6 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206&version=NIV1984
Romans 16 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2016&version=NIV1984
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