Delightful Light

Jesus explains why Moses gave the command (made the rule) to send a married woman away with a certificate of divorce in Matthew 19:7-8 . That reason was the hardness of hearts which refuses to forgive as our Heavenly Father forgives, Matthew 6:14 , Mark 11:26 . In addition, Jesus reminds the people that divorce was not God's original design, Matthew 19:4-6 . By the time Jesus walked the face of the dust, woman were sent away with certificates of divorce for any reason at all, Matthew 19:3 . The result produced divorced woman like the woman at the well who had been married five times, John 4:16-18 which is the same as forcing them into adultery for survival. Moses gave the certificate of divorce rule to keep the peace in spite of the fact that Moses wrote: You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2 Moses saw the Deuteronomy 4:2 cause and eff...

Every society, whether defined by geographic boarders, economic classes, and religious/scientific interpretations of some sort all have a set of rules either unspoken and assumed or written into legal law. Their rules will govern whatever they arbitrarily dictate as acceptable from murder or sex trafficking to simply what color of nail polish to where. Thus, society defines their own rules of etiquette in order to commonly agree upon or be unified with that particular culture. So, how do today's rules of etiquette passed down by various customs, feel good platitudes, or popular song lyrics nullify the words of God? When rules of etiquette are presented as love or kindness, how do rules of etiquette destroy peace and faith? Since, there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:9 , let's start with an Old Testament example of the problem and work our way forward in time to todays rules of etiquette.  Moses' Example   Pharisee Examples   Today's Application ...

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Now that we are familiar with Timothy 3:16-17 , let us remember that rebuke will not feel good for those who exalt their own interpretations, assumptions, and opinions over God's written word. However, rebuke is necessary for... Faith comes from hearing the words of truth, Romans 10:17 . Without faith we cannot please God, Hebrews 11:6 , because faith produces obedience, Acts 6:7 ; Romans 1:5 , 16:26 ; Hebrews 11:8 . Obedience to the point of self denial and its resulting persecution from others demonstrates love for God, John 14:15 , through fellowship in Christ's sufferings, Philippians 3:10 , and filling up in our flesh the sufferings of Christ, Colossians 1:24 . Such love mirrors God's love for us and thus moves Him to reveal Himself to us, John...

False security will result from a belief that God's rebuke must always feel good. God is faithful and that means we can count on Him keeping His words. God promises the consequences of Deuteronomy 28  for keeping and failing to keep His commands. The following witnesses have said the same thing. For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up. Hosea 8:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Galatians 6:7 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it. Job 4:8 So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. Proverbs 1:31 False security from platitudes like "mercy is not getting what we deserve" produces people who nullify God's words for the sake of their own wants and wills. The Pharisees did this and look what Jesus ...

Over time leaven or lies work their way through the entire body, Matthew 13:33 . Just like leaven puffs up dough the body of Christ is puffed up with knowledge, 1 Corinthians 8:1 . This is why Jesus warned us to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees, Matthew 16:12 , Mark 12:38 . Jesus was not condemning the Pharisees with His warning. He was addressing the issue that they are human and as humans make mistakes in their teachings. That is why we are commanded to "test the spirits." Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 Testing the spirits is what the Bereans did to the apostle Paul in Acts 17 . Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11 (NIV) Did you notice how the Bereans were de...

As previously mentioned, rebuke is needed to prepare the man of God for good works. Jesus suffered many unfounded rebukes which is why it is written that Jesus had to learn obedience from the things He suffered, Hebrews 5:8 . Did Jesus sin and therefore deserve such rebukes and was therefore forced to repent? No, but He still suffered man's evil with long suffering just like His Father does so that people will not perish, 2 Peter 3:9 . Yet because He had the eyes to see, He learned to not do the evil deeds that were done to Him. Hence, you will have trouble in this world because He had troubles. "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:33   Jesus suffered because man is the ruler of the world just as God said in Genesis 1:26  and because sin comes into the world via man not Satan, Romans 5:12 . This is why Jesus said "woe ...

"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9  Because of this, a standard of measurement must exist outside the human frame in order for humans to make a right judgment concerning rebukers and rebukees. (I'm using the terms "rebuker" and "rebukee" as they seam the least emotionally charged.) That standard is the word of God found in the Holy Bible. The Bereans of Acts 17:11  are a fine example of using God's words as that standard. They were called noble-minded because they compared the words of God to the words coming out of Paul's mouth instead of relying upon human testimony that comes out of deceitful hearts. A wise man will repent at the harshest rebuke simply because he loves knowledge while the fool will scoff at the gentlest rebuke simply because he hates knowledge. The success of the reproach has nothing to do with the one who administered it as evidenced by the fact that...