All Glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ
From Westminster Shorter Catechism, questions 47 to 50:
Q47: What is forbidden in the First Commandment?
A47: The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God, [and our God,] and the giving of that worship and glory to any other which is due to Him alone.
Q48: What are we specially taught by these words, “before me” in the First Commandment?
A48: These words “before me” in the First Commandment, teach us, That God who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
Q49: Which is the Second Commandment?
A49: The Second Commandment is, “thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep my commandments.”
Q50: What is required in the Second Commandment?
A50: The Second Commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His Word.
Today we will come back to John 1 and continue where we left off. Christ has been gathering His disciples. In verse 37 of John’s epistle, Andrew and another had encountered Christ, by John the Baptist proclaiming “Behold, the Lamb of God!” as Jesus walked by. They were immediately drawn to the One True Light: “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)
And they were drawn to him as a moth would be to a flame, an irresistible force to be reckoned with. When God places His focus on you, all you can do is submit, for we are his creation: “For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we may walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
I bring this up because of confusion in many people’s minds as to how to deal with this year of 2020. I remind you that He who created you, also created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). So when your anxious mind dwells upon whatever trouble you have chosen to worry about, ask yourself, who created all you see?
If you have read the whole bible, not just easy parts or a passage here or there, you will know that David, a man after God’s own heart, had many a day of anxious thoughts: “How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?” (Psalm 13:2)
David knew that anxious thoughts are the result of sin: “So I confess my guilt; I am anxious because of my sin.” (Psalm 38:18)
But David also knew this: “When my anxious inner thoughts become overwhelming, your comfort encourages me.” (Psalm 94:19)
God’s comfort encourages him. So to keep that comfort coming, and remember, Obey God and you’re blessed, disobey God and you are cursed (Duet 28), David asked God to keep an eye on him: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;” (Psalm 139:23)
And just because those around you act like they have no faith in any other but man, (Psalm 146:3–4) David’s son Solomon gave this advice: “Don’t be anxious about those who practice evil, and don’t be envious of the wicked.” (Proverbs 24:19)
Remember, Solomon was blessed to be the smartest man in the world (1 Kings 4-29), so good advice to listen to. Proverbs as a whole are very interesting, so give it a read and ponder upon it.
You may be puzzled as to why I am going through this little stroll through the old testament. The bible, the Living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12): “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
This book gives us the tools we need to handle troubled times. We learn from those that came before us, standing on the shoulders of righteous men. Learn to handle your troubles by going to God and reading what he wanted us to read. Isn’t that better than wringing your hands and not sleeping at night? Why would you choose misery over comfort, that comes from Faith, that was provided by Grace, by He who has created all? You are not too old to learn, you may be too stubborn, but that’s a topic of another bible study.
So David and Solomon knew, from instruction from their God, our God, and they put down those thoughts, at the behest of the Holy Spirit, and these boys who had been following John the Baptist around and studied those words, probably scrolls that resided in a temple, and Jews were very good at teaching these things to young minds. Funny that while teachers taught what they did, most of them didn’t see the forest for the trees, because they missed the most important point, that the Messiah was coming to serve, not conquer (Isaiah 53) and He was now in their midst. John the Baptist was sent to proclaim His coming, (Acts 13:24) and now He is walking around and gathering in His disciples: “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (John 15:16)
Know that as these men were chosen, so are we:
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love” (Ephesians 1:4)
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
All of these texts demonstrate God’s love for us and His expectation that we will be obedient to His word. How are you going to know that if you don’t study the scripture? Obey God (Romans 6:16) and gather His blessing.
Now onto the scripture for this bible study:
John 1:43-51
43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Here we see men who knew the words that had been taught to them, but until they met the Messiah, it was just head knowledge. It was brought to their hearts when Christ spoke to them. Learn from this. Take that head knowledge, learned in Sunday School, or by a preacher or wherever, and bring it to your heart. Then thank God for the blessings and daily bread (1 Thessalonians 5:18) that is yours though His Grace and Mercy: “He said, ‘I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (John 6:35)
And know also in these trying days, there is one who listens to you, stands by you, loves you and will not abandon you. And as a loving Father, He will discipline those that He loves (Hebrews 12:4-11). Accept it, learn from it and know that it is part of the process of sanctification, which will bring you closer to righteousness. Love God, fear God and love thy neighbor as thyself. Do these things and accept the Joy of Salvation that is yours. The year 2020 is not frightening when you put it into perspective. He who created all, our Father, has you within His loving grasp that none can tear you from. (John 10:28)
Go forth and act like children of El Shaddai, which is translated from Hebrew as God Almighty.