Acts 12:10, 11
I was reading Matthew this morning and was struck by the phrase in Matthew 15:25 where this woman worshiped Christ simply by making request of Him. I then read this article and found it very encouraging. Matthew 15:21, 22
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
The phraseology this Canaanite woman uses is most enlightening. She approaches Jesus using a phrase made popular by Jews who were in need of healing. “Have mercy on me, Son of David,” they would cry whenever Jesus approached. Why did they refer to Jesus as “Son of David”? A thousand years earlier, a prophecy was given to David that he would have a Son, a descendant who would reign forever—Messiah. And when Messiah came, the lame would walk and blind eyes would be opened. Consequently, the Jews who recognized Jesus as their Messiah called Him “Son of David.” Now suddenly, this Canaanite lady, upon hearing of Jesus’ coming, searched for the most appropriate way to address Him. Having heard Him referred to as “Son of David” by Jews lining His path, she borrowed the phrase from them.
Matthew 15:23 (a)
But he answered her not a word.
If ever there were a situation to which I would think Jesus would respond quickly, it would be to a mother crying helplessly over her child. Yet, here this crying woman came to Jesus, and He answered her not a word.
Matthew 15:23 (b)
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Her tears, no doubt, were having an effect on the disciples, and they came to Jesus, saying, “Lord, send her away. She’s bothering us.”
Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
If I were this woman, I think at this point I would have slunk away in despair. After all, she had nothing going for her. Her race was against her. She was a Canaanite—an enemy of the Israelites. Her sex was against her. She was a woman—in a time where women were held in low esteem. Even the disciples were against her, as they begged Jesus to send her away. But you’ve got to admire this lady because she didn’t give up. And Jesus knew she wouldn’t. You see, Jesus was not trying to be difficult with her. Rather, He was drawing out an understanding from her that would be helpful not only in her situation specifically, but to us and to all generations historically. Watch what happens.
Matthew 15:25
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
No longer concerned about the right phraseology and the proper presentation, in desperation and openness, she worships Jesus. In simplicity, she says, “Lord, save me,” and a miracle was underway.
Sometimes when we’re going through tough times, we hear how someone else prays, and we think, That must be the key. King James English is what moves the hand of God. So we pray, “Father, I thankest Thee that Thou beholdest the cries of all of Thy creation. Now, Father, in Thy magnificence and benevolence, have mercy upon me in my situation.” And nothing happens. Or we hear someone share how they lifted their hand to the Lord, and He reached down and pulled them out of their depression. And we say, “Now how high did you hold your hand? Was it your right hand or your left hand?”
This Canaanite woman was in that same situation. She had the formula, but she failed miserably until she threw her formula aside and came in brokenness and openness to worship Jesus. Worship works where formulas fail. The word “worship,” or proskuneo in Greek means, “to turn and kiss.” Guys, when you kiss your wives, hopefully you don’t follow a ten-step program to better kissing. I mean, it needs to be spontaneous and expressive, simple and sincere. The same is true of worship. Worship is not a procedure we follow. It’s creative and spontaneous, simple and sincere....
We usually think our way is the only way. Or worse: We think our path is God’s path.
The Danites of ancient Israel sought their own way and, in doing so, attempted to justify their own actions. God had already allotted the Danites land (Josh 19:40–48), but between Joshua and Judges, something happened.
Why does Joshua say the Danites had land while Judges says they didn’t? Let’s use a Bible atlas and a commentary to sort this out.If we search through the Holman Bible Atlas, we find that the territory allotted to Dan “touched the western slopes of the central mountains down through the Shephelah along the Sorek Valley and turned northward to the Kanah River (Yarkon River) along the coast.” Much of this allotment lay along the fertile region of the Mediterranean coast—a prime territory.The Judges’ New American Commentary suggests that Dan had not been able to establish control of their territory beyond the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol (see Judg 18:2). Judges 1:34–36 tells us that the Amorites had “pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.” Being in the hill country, these cities became a refuge from the Amorites as well as the Philistines (see Judges 13–16). Dan was imprisoned between foreign nations. This explains why the Danites were angry and insistent on their own methods.Nonetheless, God had promised to help Dan take their inheritance: “The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you” (Josh 23:5). Rather than trust in the LORD, Dan took an easier path. On their spies’ recommendation, the Danites attack Laish, a prosperous city north of the Sea of Galilee.The Danites’ journey to Laish reads like a novel that you know won’t end well. As an afterthought, the Danite spies ask a Levite, who was a priest in the house of Micah, if God will bless their endeavors (18:5). He responds positively. Consequently, they steal Micah’s ephod (the symbol of the priesthood), idols and household gods. They then convince the Levite to join their cause (18:20). (Who doesn’t like people who pronounce that God will bless them?)Brutality ensues, and everyone is simultaneously seeking favor, idols and the presence of the priest. When Micah realizes that the Levite and his gods have been taken, he pursues the Danites. They taunt and threaten him: “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household” (18:25).The narrative reaches a climax as it tells of the demise of the people of Laish—“a people quiet and unsuspecting”—in sympathetic terms (18:27). In the aftermath, we find the Danites setting up Micah’s carved images. The Danites corruptive influence is far-reaching: “Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites” (18:31). Even Moses’ grandson is corrupt.God’s ways seem obvious in retrospect. But when we’re in the midst of difficult decisions and complex problems, we’re tempted to react like the Danites did. We too often lose sight of what’s really important by focusing on what we’ve claimed is God’s path. But God asked for more than that from the Danites, and he asks for more than that from us.Rebecca Kruyswijk, Finkbeiner David, “Chasing an Inheritance,” in Study Like a Pro: Explore Difficult Passages from Every Book of the Bible, ed. John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
I must confess that sometimes I read about the forgetfulness of Bible characters and chide them in my mind. I think, “If God showed me a burning bush, I would never doubt him again.” But I would. And so would you.
God knows our propensity to forget. That is why he is adamant that his people be intentional about remembering his goodness. He also knows that remembering helps us.
Christy Tennant, “Remembering to Remember the Goodness of God,” in Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book, ed. John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
For as thankfulness is an express acknowledgment of the goodness of God towards you, so repinings and complaints are as plain accusations of God’s want of goodness towards you.
WILLIAM LAW
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
When you’re in a storm with the wind raging and the waves pounding, and you feel like you’re sinking, know this: The same Lord who stills the storm allows the storm. Why does God allow storms?
Scripturally, storms appear for two reasons. First, there are storms of correction. Ask Jonah about them. If we’re out of the Lord’s will, He will use a storm to get us back to where we need to be. Storms of correction discipline us. Second, there are storms of perfection that develop us. In this passage, the disciples were obeying Jesus’ command to go to the other side. Thus, this was not a storm to correct them, but to perfect them. In this storm, Jesus was saying, “I want to test you now. I’ve been teaching you. I’ve been with you. And now I want you to exercise your faith to go through this storm.”
When Jesus came to His disciples, they thought He was a ghost. So, too, we can look around and say, “The Lord is nowhere.” Or we can slow down and say, “Wait a minute. Is the Lord speaking to me through my sister, through my mother, through that preacher, or through the radio?”
And suddenly, “The Lord is nowhere” becomes “The Lord is now here” by adding a little space.
I find if I slow down and give the Lord a little space, He appears through my brother who shares with me, through my wife who gives encouragement to me, or through my children who challenge me. He sent you into the storm, He’s praying for you through the storm, and He’ll come to you in the storm—perhaps when you least expect Him.
Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 115.
There is a great decision that every denomination has to make sometime in the development of its history. Every church also has to make it either at its beginning or a little later—usually a little later. Eventually every board is faced with the decision and has to keep making it, not by one great decision made once for all, but by a series of little decisions adding up to one great big one. Every pastor has to face it and keep renewing his decision on his knees before God. Finally, every church member, every evangelist, every Christian has to make this decision. It is a matter of judgment upon that denomination, that church, that board, that pastor, that leader and upon their descendants and spiritual children.
The question is this: Shall we modify the truth in doctrine or practice to gain more adherents? Or shall we preserve the truth in doctrine and practice and take the consequences? If the decision is that we modify the truth and practice of the church, then we are responsible for the consequences, whatever they may be. God already knows what the consequences are, and history has shown what they are. But if we choose to preserve the truth, then God accepts the responsibility.
Business people have to make that choice in business. Everyone has to make it at income tax time. Students have to make it in school. We have to make it everywhere in our lives as we touch society. Shall we preserve the truth and the practice of the truth, or shall we alter it just comfortably in order to be more popular, gain more adherents and get along easier in the world?
Actually such a question should never need to be asked. It is like asking, “Should a man be faithful to his wife?” There is only one answer to that question. When we ask, “Shall we preserve the truth and practice of the church, or shall we modify it for immediate and visible results?” we ought to have only one answer. It is not a debatable question, and yet it is one that has to be constantly debated in the secret prayer chamber. It is constantly debated when conferences meet, when boards meet and when a pastor must make a decision.
A commitment to preserving the truth and practice of the church is what separates me from a great many people who are perhaps far greater than I am in ability. This is my conviction, long held and deeply confirmed by a knowledge of the fact that modern gospel churches, almost without exception, have decided to modify the truth and practice a little in order to have more adherents and get along better. When we make a decision to modify the truth, we bring the consequences of that choice upon ourselves. What have the consequences been?
One has been an absence of a spirit of worship in the church. Many people do not even know what is meant by a spirit of worship. That is tragic. I wish God would either change things a little or give me a sight of His glory among His people. I admit that sometimes I feel like the man of God who said,
And I said, Oh that I had wings, like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. (Psalm 55:6–7)
Many of the Lord’s people do not know what you mean when you mention a spirit of worship in the church. They are poor victims of boards, churches, denominations and pastors who have made the noble decision to modify the truth and practice a little. But God responded, “If you do, I will withdraw from you the spirit of worship. I will remove your candlestick.”
Taken from Aiden Wilson Tozer, Rut, Rot or Revival, 1st ed. (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2006), 151–153.
The only reason, then, that the church could be lured into a false religious discipline was if it removed itself too far from the Head who had done these acts. Just as in some way in Paul’s analogy, the body’s vitality and life is related to its closeness to the head, so the church begins to die as it separates itself from the Head to unite with others.
Gary Weedman, Philippians–Thessalonians: Unlocking the Scriptures for You, Standard Bible Studies (Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1988), 104.
One Nation Under God
The most vital fact about any nation is what it thinks of God. I am not a historian, neither by profession nor by any great amount of study. But I do believe I could predict the future of any nation if I could discover exactly what that nation’s concept of God is—if I could learn exactly what America thinks of God, what the rank and file, the masses, the lower echelon leadership in America thinks about God; if I could send out a questionnaire and ask the question, “When you think of God, what do you think of? What concept enters your mind when you think about God?”
If I could find an instrument that would tell me what the majority of the people thought about God, I could predict the future of the nation, barring of course the possibility of revival, which would change all that. But even a revival cannot come where a concept of God is low. A missionary cannot go to a heathen land and immediately preach the gospel. One of the first things they have to do is talk about the high God and purge the minds of the people from low and unworthy and ignoble concepts of God. We cannot rise higher than our concept of God.
Personal faith cannot rise higher than a person’s concept of God. That is why I for one am indignantly crusading against this concept of God as “the man upstairs.” The nice, lovely God that you can slap on the back, laugh, and tell Him a joke; the God that will condescend to anything and pal along with anybody. That kind of God is not the kind of God of the Bible. That is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is not the God that gave the law to Moses; it is not the God that led the children of Israel out of Egypt; it is not the God of Isaiah or David, John or Paul; it is not the God of Martin Luther or John Wesley; it is not the God of the Church. It is another kind of God, a soft God that will condescend to anything and overlook anything, with no spine and no character. That God is the divine teddy bear, the huge panda that everybody can cuddle to and coo about but they have no respect for Him because they have no concept of Him.
One Church Under God
I say that not only of a nation but also of a church. You say, “Oh well, every church has the same concept of God, every church knows about God; they read their Bible. They have a Christian concept of God.”
Our concept of God could be thought of as a river where we receive tributaries from everywhere—from books and unworthy songs and fiction and religious literature of various kind—until even a church that ought to be a sound, biblical church is a poor, anemic imitation. Our concept of God is likely to be down so that instead of thinking of God as He is—high and lofty, inhabiting eternity, He whose train fills the temple and who walks on the wings of the wind and makes the clouds His chariot—instead of our thinking about that high God, the God we know about or think about or conceive is a very much smaller God.
I believe in evangelism, but I have listened to evangelistic sermons that set forth a God I could not respect and would not want to go to heaven and live with for another few million eternities. I do not want to live with a God like that, the kind of God I have heard set forth in pitiful, nose-wringing, eye-drenching stories as though God were like one of us. The poor little undersized, small-minded preacher gets up and begins to chatter about a God he has made in his own image, and then I’m supposed to want to go to heaven and sit beside the throne of a God I could not respect on earth?
No, I want the God of the Old Testament and the God and Father of the New, or else I do not want to go to heaven. I would rather go somewhere in some neutral place. I have not courage enough to say I would rather go to hell, but maybe a limbo in between where I can stay as far as possible from these teddy bear gods that are being preached now and again.
Some have a lot against John Calvin. I do not go along with everything John Calvin believed, but there is one thing he did believe that I go along with. He had a high concept of God. He believed in God’s sovereignty—God high and lifted up. And so do I.
If we could find out exactly what a church thinks about God, we would know that church’s future. We would know where they are going for the next several years.
A. W. Tozer, And He Dwelt among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2009), 205–207.
James 3:13–15 — Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Here we learn that wisdom is rooted in humility and shown through actions. For James, these actions are obvious: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).
When I fail to have discernment—when I lack wisdom and neglect asking for it—the problem is usually rooted in the selfish ambitions of my heart. When I act in wisdom, by caring for the hurting in our world, I have my eyes opened to the ways of God. This offers clarity; my vision is corrected and I walk in the light. Suddenly, the difference between God’s way and every other way is obvious. Wisdom is present. Asking is the first step towards wisdom—but only the first.
John D. Barry, “If You Lack Wisdom, Do This,” in Study Like a Pro: Explore Difficult Passages from Every Book of the Bible, ed. John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
A curious sight to the eyes of American tourists in the Holy Land is the Bedouin tent-dwellers. The dirty, worn tents with holes near the top for ventilation stand determinedly in the stark, arid desert. Usually a woman tending a small herd of sheep and goats will be nearby.
It seems that a number of years earlier the government decided to improve the lot of these wanderers. They built and furnished nice apartment houses for the Bedouins, and officials assisted them in moving into their new homes—the height of luxury in comparison with their battered tents. Everyone was pleased with the way the nomads had been helped to improve their way of living.
Several days later the officials went back to check on the Bedouins and see how they were doing. To their surprise, the apartments were full of animals. Where were the Bedouins? Back in their tents, living exactly as they had for centuries. They refused to give up their old ways for a better life. But they did decide that the apartments would make good pens for their sheep and goats.
This story illustrates the resistance to change that seems to be built into human nature—in every culture. Consider how many people sit in the same pew every Sunday at church and become visibly upset if a visitor happens to make the terrible mistake of sitting in their place. And how many of us drive exactly the same route to and from work every day, not varying our path by even one turn?
Because we are people of habit, successfully moving a church to a new location presents some of the greatest challenges in communicating effectively. Certainly there are many opportunities for excitement and elation, but there are also numerous chances for misunderstanding and conflict.
Wanda Vassallo, Church Communications Handbook: A Complete Guide to Developing a Strategy, Using Technology, Writing Effectively, Reaching the Unchurched (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Resources, 1998), 141.
James 1:6–8 — But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
With this context in mind, we see that in times of difficulty, we can ask for wisdom and God will grant it; he will help us discern the situation. But we must ask in faith, without doubting, for otherwise we will lack focus on God, being tossed back and forth like the surf of the sea. Thus, it is through focus on God that we are granted what we need. It is this focus that dispels the darkness, allowing us to see—with glasses on, in the light.
When we don’t experience clarity through prayer, it’s because we are either doubting or not understanding the ways of God. When we don’t hear from God at all, that actually could be an answer; perhaps we are meant to stay put until we hear him speak into the situation. If God wanted us to change our direction, and we were patiently waiting on his answer through prayer, then we would hear from him.
John D. Barry, “If You Lack Wisdom, Do This,” in Study Like a Pro: Explore Difficult Passages from Every Book of the Bible, ed. John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
1 Chronicles 4:24–5:26; 1 Timothy 4:1–5; Psalm 78:1–12
Biblical lists can be annoying, but they’re also a testament to God’s faithfulness. It’s a true gift when someone in a faith community records the history of the group and their work—particularly when God has answered prayers. By looking through a recorded history, like a prayer journal, faith communities can see how God used them both collectively and as individuals. They can see where He interceded and begin to see how He intends to use them in the future.
God’s past faithfulness points to His future faithfulness. His specific dealings in the past point to likely dealings in the future: they show us what He has gifted us to do and thus the type of thing He is likely to call us to down the road.
First Chronicles 4:24–5:26 records God’s acts among His people and points to His future faithfulness. Similarly, Psalm 78:1–12 calls God’s people to hear their story told, but it’s really God’s story. The first account focuses on the individuals, whereas the second (Psa 78) recalls God’s work among a group of people. All of God’s work—among individuals and groups of people—is unique, but it is also interconnected. It is all a manifestation of His presence. Paul makes a similar remark to Timothy: “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thankfulness” (1 Tim 4:4).
Although God may manifest Himself in different and unique ways among individuals and groups, everything He does is for good—from the beginning until now (compare Gen 1; John 1). God desires for us to experience Him, as individuals and as members of faith communities, doing His good work. In being both, we come to understand what it means to truly follow Jesus.
How can you embark more fully into God’s great work, both in your own life and in a faith community?
JOHN D. BARRY
John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
Institutional worship is something done to you, in front of you, or for you, but not by you. The congregants come as passive recipients, unconsciously thinking, “I hope this is good today.” People arriving for corporate worship in this frame of mind can leave worship as unmoved as when they arrived. After all, pastors are paid to put together the order of worship, exude charisma, insert moving musical selections, and then preach a stirring message. Since the dynamic is essentially a performer-audience relationship, the worshipers are put in the position of being critics of the latest pastoral effort.
Somehow we don’t think it unusual for the remarks at the door after a church service to focus on evaluating the morning message or worship service. This audience-performer mentality had become so much a part of our mind-set that George Plagenz, who wrote a weekly column for a Cleveland newspaper, took to rating the quality of worship. Churches dreaded this clandestine reporter sneaking in and slipping out of worship, for the next day a review of their service would appear in the local newspaper.
Greg Ogden, Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministry to the People of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).
This spirit of Babylon, in the form of entertainment, has not only seeped into the Church but has also been welcomed through the front door with inviting arms and has come in like a flood. It seems so incongruent to me that a generation of Christians should so loathe the accomplishments of their forefathers and the sacrifice associated with the faith once delivered that they would court the frivolous attitude and spirit of “entertainmentism.” We are not worshiping God on the throne but have come to the point of worshiping the shadow of the throne.
The average Christian today is addicted to exterior pleasures. Can any Christian church survive today without a heavy dose of entertainment? It is the culture of fun, fun and more fun. Performance has replaced worship. We no longer have worshipers but rather observers and spectators who sit in awe of the performance. The demand is for something that will make us feel good about ourselves and make us forget about all of our troubles.
The Church Fathers were fanatic worshipers, and their worship carried with it a heavy cost, which incidentally, they gladly and eagerly paid. The grandsons are now observers with an appetite for entertainment that has gone wild. They are addicted, with an insatiable appetite, to have one thrill followed by an even bigger thrill. They are as fanatic about entertainment as their fathers were about worship, which explains the difference.
To confuse the matter and make it even worse, we have now what I shall call a performance-oriented worship. Just because you tack the word “worship” onto a phrase does not mean that it is worship acceptable to God. We dance before God, wearing our silly little costumes and doing our silly little jingles, thinking that this in some way impresses the God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth.
The Church Fathers came into the presence of God with a sense of overwhelming reverence, which captivated them and brought them before God in holy silence. What has happened to reverence today? Where are those who get caught up in the spirit of reverence before their God? Where are those who have experienced the holy hush in the presence of God?
Then we have celebrities who are leading our so-called worship today. This mirrors the culture around us. To be a leader in the Church, a man does not have to have spiritual qualifications as much as a personality and a celebrity status. The converted football player wields more influence in churches today than the man who is before God on his knees with a broken heart for his community. Celebrities are now leading us, but they are not leading us down the same pathway the Fathers of the Church established.
A. W. Tozer, The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2012), 18–20.
The people of Israel did not perceive the sweetness of every taste in the manna, though it was there, because they would not limit their desires to it alone. The sweetness and strength of the manna was not for them, not because it was not there, but because they longed for other meats beside it. He who loves any other thing with God makes light of Him, because he puts into the balance with Him that which is infinitely beneath Him.
John D. Barry et al., eds., DIY Bible Study (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Tozer was a man driven by a desire to know God in His fullness. Jon Graf, in his study guide to The Pursuit of God, said that Tozer once confessed to his lifelong friend Robert Battles, “I want to love God more than anyone in my generation.” Graf goes on to say, “To some of us that may sound selfish and arrogant, but for Tozer it wasn’t. It simply came out of an honest desire to enrich his relationship with the Lord.”
The desire to know God more deeply and more intimately naturally led Tozer to study God’s attributes. As he himself said in this very volume,
Christianity at any given time is strong or weak depending upon her concept of God. And I insist upon this and I have said it many times, that the basic trouble with the Church today is her unworthy conception of God. (p. 41)
A. W. Tozer and David E. Fessenden, The Attributes of God: Study Guide, vol. 1 (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2003–), 5.
