Psalm 5, 6; Dan. 2:1-16; 1 John 2:1-11; John 17:12-19
The request of the king is unreasonable in the extreme. He has a dream and calls the wise men of Babylon, those who can discern the meaning of dreams and perform enchantments, and demands that they not only interpret the dream but that they also tell him what the dream was. He tells them only that he has had a dream that troubled him and refuses to tell them the dream. The wise men know it is impossible for anyone to read the mind of the king to know the dream and plead ignorance in the matter. Did the king have any right to be angry or to expect that anyone could know such things? Daniel, however, trusts in God that he is here for a reason and that the Lord will protect him from harm by showing him the king’s dream.
We are sanctified by truth. What does that mean? It means that we are set apart from the world by the truth of God, the same truth Jesus spoke and which set Him apart from the world. It isn’t a popular truth, it got Him crucified. He knows that it won’t be more popular now and He prays for the disciples whom the world will hate for their proclamation of Him. The church has become so timid in its proclamation of Jesus, so afraid of the scandal of particularity, that Jesus is the only way to eternal life, that we are no longer a problem for the world. We have failed to be set apart in truth and we have lost our savor. In my lifetime, the church has almost lost its moral voice to the culture and have failed to point to an alternate way of life that has always been the mission of the church to the world. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin. That isn’t the same as saying the world will repent of sin, only that it will know and be forced to choose. How can the Holy Spirit do that work if the church no longer speaks on such matters?
John says there is a very simple test for whether we know Jesus, do we keep to His teaching. In the Great Commission we were commanded to teach people to obey or observe everything Jesus had commanded the disciples. There has never been a standard that says believing in Jesus as the one crucified for our sins is good enough for heaven. It is important that we live in accord with His ways and His teaching, morally and ethically. If we truly believe He is God and that He willingly gave His life so that we might live forever then we have an obligation to know what it means to be the people of a holy God who created us and who has high expectations for us. Loving the brothers and sisters is the command John gives here. How is the church doing with that commandment? It is important that we call one another to task for this one in particular and remind one another of this great obligation. If it were easy or natural we wouldn’t need the commandment.
His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
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