Psalm 105:1-22; 2 Kings 18:28-37; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Matt. 7:22-29
The situation looked grim enough to the people, having seen the Assyrians take away their brothers in Israel to captivity and then to have the fortified cities of their own kingdom overrun by this powerful nation. Now, the emissary of the king of Assyria speaks words of extraordinary discouragement to the people of Jerusalem, they have no friends and allies capable of delivering them and the Lord cannot stop the Assyrians, offering as proof the failure of the gods of the other nations who have been defeated and destroyed by this mighty army. He promises what the Lord has promised, a land flowing with milk and honey, but not this land, another like this land. He offers them the same opportunity their brothers have had, captivity and exile. It is, however, an offer of life rather than destruction. Will they trust in the Lord or will they simply give in?
Jesus tells us that we need to be prepared for storms. The only way to do that is to build your house on a solid foundation. He doesn’t promise that life will be easy and care-free, he instead tells us to be prepared for the worst by building on the rock that is the Word of God, Jesus’ words. In the end, all we will have to stand on is His testimony concerning us. In the first part of the passage, we see Him turning away those who have called on His Name and who have done great things in that Name and He refers to them as workers of lawlessness. It seems that our lives matter, how we conduct ourselves always, not just in moments of ministry. The wise person in the parable is the one who hears His words and “does” them, not being only hearers of the Word but doers. Walking in grace and truth reveals our true beliefs.
Paul’s apostleship then and now has always been questioned by some. In Corinth it seems that it was questioned because he was not being paid by the church to proclaim the Gospel. It was “normal” for the leader to be paid for his work and Paul chose not to receive remuneration for his service. For this reason, it was questioned whether he were truly an apostle as he didn’t act like one. Today, his apostleship is questioned primarily because he speaks into situations that Jesus did not like sexual ethics and morality and since Jesus didn’t talk about those things Paul is supposed to have gone beyond Jesus. Jesus spoke primarily to Jews who had the law and Paul speaks primarily to communities of Gentiles who were ignorant of the law of God. We must always be prepared for attacks on our faith and we must, therefore, know the content of that faith.
Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.
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