Jesus, the long-expected Messiah, came to earth, fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, and ushered in the Christian age. Many who lived in previous ages would have given anything to see Jesus and hear Him teach. Jesus acknowledged this: “And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Lk. 10:23, 24).

Imagine having only the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. No doubt serious readers waited with anxious anticipation to see the fulfillment of all its promises. The New Testament provides the answers to these prospective assurances of the Old Testament. When would the seed of woman come and bruise Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4-5)? When would the prophet like unto Moses come (Deut. 18:15; Jn. 6:14)? When would the king of Israel come, the son of David, (2 Sam. 7:13, 14; Heb. 1:5)—the one born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Lk. 2:4-6) upon whose shoulders the government would be (Isa. 9:6,7)? Who is the Son of God (Psa. 2:7; Mk. 1:11)? What about Immanuel (God with us) born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:23-25)? And who is God’s suffering servant who would justify many by bearing their sins (Isa. 53:11; 1 Pet. 2:24)? These and many more promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled when Jesus came to earth. Not long after the resurrection of Jesus, the inspired apostle Peter preached to people in Jerusalem, affirming that God had fulfilled what He had showed through the mouth of all His prophets (Acts 3:18), stating further: “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days” (Acts 3:24).

What Jesus Christ brought in His mission to earth was so amazing that not only did men of former times desire to see the fulfillment, but also the angels of God desired to peer into the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation:

“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” (1 Pet. 1:10-12.)

The Scriptures are the very words of God that outfit us with all we need to be pleasing to Him and make us wise to salvation (2 Tim. 3:15-17). In His word, God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). In the New Testament, He has taken the veil away and shown us the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 3:6-18). We have the privilege to open the completed book, to see the marvelous words of Jesus and the explanation of the fulfillment of prophecies from long ago. O, how we should appreciate what we have in the Bible! Let us not neglect such a wonderful treasure.

In chapters 8 and 9 of Leviticus, “as the Lord commanded” is a recurring phrase. The priests—Aaron and his sons (Ex. 28:1)—were following the commands God gave regarding tabernacle worship. God had given the specifics of how He was to be approached in worship; thus, all was well when Aaron and his sons did as God commanded.

Leviticus 10, however, is when things go wrong. It provides an important lesson regarding approaching God in worship. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not” (Lev. 10:1). Trouble arose when these men did something other than what God had commanded. It was not that the Lord had explicitly said, “Thou shalt not offer another kind of fire.” No, the text says the offering was not accepted by God because the Lord had not commanded them to use that kind of fire. The fire was “strange”—different from God’s commanded fire. Evidently, they had used coals from outside the temple area, something other than what God had specified. The HCSB renders this “unauthorized fire” giving the sense that without God’s command, Nadab and Abihu were not operating under the authority of the Lord.

Was this a big deal? One might say, “Well, they were still offering something to the Lord. Why get all bent out of shape about the particulars if they are still offering worship to God?” But notice the Lord’s response: “And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Lev. 10:2). God made sure at the very outset of tabernacle worship that He was to be sanctified and His laws were to be taken seriously lest Israel develop a flippant approach to the entirety of God’s law. While God on some occasions appeared as a fire in a beneficial way in the Old Testament, He also appeared in judgment as a devouring fire as He does here (cf. Ex. 24:17; Deut. 5:22; Num. 11:1; 16:35; 2 Kgs. 1:10, 12). Let us remember to “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28, 29).

Today, we are under the new and better covenant of Jesus Christ (Heb. 8:6; 12:24). Every Christian is a priest to God today (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). Jesus is our great high priest (Heb. 8:1, 2). “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13:15). The Old Testament was written for our learning (Rom. 15:4). The sins of Israel in the Old Testament provide examples for us of what not to do (1 Cor. 10:6). We must remember that worship to God is holy. Let us not profane it by bringing in worldly elements that we desire which differ from what God has commanded. What I bring to God in worship matters. If I bring in elements that have no authorization from Him in His word, then I commit the same sin Nadab and Abihu committed. Remember, worship is not ultimately about what I want, but rather is about honoring God the way He has commanded us to pay homage to Him.              -Mark Day

Just as a serious athlete exercises self-control in all things, Paul disciplined his body so that he would not be disqualified in the endurance race that leads to eternal life (1 Cor. 9:25-27). We choose whether we will indulge the flesh or give priority to spiritual aspect of our lives. The last in the list of the fruit of the Spirit is temperance or self-control (Gal. 5:23). The fruit of the Spirit comes on the heels of a list of vices known as the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). From the list it is obvious that Christians must keep their desires in check to avoid envy, pride, violence against others, sexual sins, and drunkenness. Paul makes sure that his readers know that the “liberty” of Christ he mentioned in Galatians 5:1 is not to be interpreted as an antinomian “freedom” to pursue our passions. Paul said the Christian walk involves “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Our thoughts, motives, tongues, and bodies must be brought under control to follow the will of God. If I am a follower of Christ, then I deny myself, take up my cross daily, and follow Him (Lk. 9:23). Christians need to realize how much self-mastery is crucial in the many areas of our lives; we must add this to our Christian walk to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:6, 10).

When I see something that I want to buy, I must exercise self-control to determine if it is right to purchase it or if it is covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5). If someone is ill-mannered and petty in their remarks towards me, I must exercise self-control to bridle my tongue (James 3:1-12). When I see something on TV or the internet that stirs up lustful desire in my heart, I must exercise self-control to not dwell on it nor pursue it (Mt. 5:28; Col. 3:5; James 1:14, 15). When things go well for me and I have reached an achievement, I must exercise self-control to not be proud and conceited (Rom. 12:3; Gal. 5:26; Phil. 2:3). When I am in poor circumstances, I must exercise self-control to not envy the way of the wicked (Prov. 23:17), but instead to continue to trust in the Lord (Prov. 3:5-6).

Remember the commands in Romans 6:12-13: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Because Christians are dead to sin—having buried the man of sin in baptism to be raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-7)—they are free from sin; their obedience has been transferred from sin to righteousness. God is our master now, not sin. Though we have died in relationship to sin, we are still alive and render the rest of our days to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2).

We cannot be what God has called us to be if we lack self-control. We live in an age where lack of self-control is not only excused but is in many cases viewed as an entitlement—and even lauded. As Christians, we must be different as the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13).

The evidence that God exists is all around us. Even though God is invisible, what He has created in the physical word shows His eternal power so strongly that there is no excuse for those who deny His existence (Rom. 1:20). However, man has been given the freedom to choose to know God or to reject Him. Man can deceive himself into believing foolishness if the world deems it wise (Rom. 1:22; 1 Cor. 3:18).

Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The Genesis record also declares that there are kinds of the living things that were here from the beginning—grass kind, whale kind, cat kind, dog kind, horse kind, etc. (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25). However, the theory that has been in vogue for the last century and half proposes that all living things came from one common ancestor and have developed over a very long period of time by minute changes. Instead of purposeful design by God, the world around us is thought to be the product of random occurrences. The wisdom of the world has rejected God as the Creator. One century after the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species,[1] George Gaylord Simpson stated, “Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind.”[2] Even today people in general are more likely to believe a scientist who makes an outlandish claim over that of a spiritual leader.[3] The General Theory of Evolution has insurmountable problems, yet it still remains the respectable view in the eyes of the masses.

Think of pioneers of this godless theory who made inroads in the educational arena which then trickled into popular thinking. They caused so many to reject God; where are they now? Though they are not on earth, they have not ceased to exist. Unlike the animals—from which they proposed we descended—humans have eternal souls which stand before God in judgment (Ecc. 12:7; James 2:26; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb 9:27; Rev. 20:12). Like the rich man of Luke 16, they have a very different view of God now that they have died; like him, their realization of their responsibility to God and their fellow man has come too late for their salvation.

Ungodly people who have lived before our time serve as an example for us today to avoid the path that leads to the punishment they are presently undergoing (Jude 7). Instead, of teaching people to reject God and His standards, may our lives be devoted to promoting healthy teaching of the gospel which is able to save man’s eternal soul (Rom. 1:16; James 1:21). What we teach will affect our salvation and the salvation of those who hear us (1 Tim. 4:16).

[1] The full title of Darwin’s work published in 1859 is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

[2] George Gaylord Simpson, The Meaning of Evolution (New York: Mentor, 1959), p. 19.

[3]  “Credibility Score: People Put Their Trust in Scientists” (2022), Nature cited in “Should ‘Science’ Trump Scripture?” by Jeff Miller (Apologetics Press) < https://apologeticspress.org/should-science-trump-scripture/>

All Christians should seek to make wisdom an attribute of their lives. God will help us to be wise if we seek Him and ask Him (James 1:5). Wisdom is not a vast vocabulary, a degree from a prestigious school, or the ability to quote hundreds of verses. James shows us that wisdom can be seen practically in one’s daily conduct by asking, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13). Just as James earlier challenges one’s faith to be evidenced by works (James 2:18), so here the challenge is wisdom evidenced by conduct.

While worldly wisdom puffs one up in pride (1 Cor. 1:20-31), receiving heavenly wisdom requires meekness (James 1:21). The good works that a wise Christian does are not done before men to be seen by them (Matt. 6:1-4), but rather are done in the meekness of wisdom which respects God. The wise man understands his proper position under God and does not seek the glory that belongs to the divine. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7).

In contrast to heavenly wisdom is the description of selfish ambition described in the next two verses: “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic” (James 3:14, 15). We must remember it is the Lord who gives wisdom (Prov. 2:6). Paul asked the puffed-up Corinthians, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). To seek greater glory for oneself is to not be content with the place God has assigned. This follows the path of the angels who sinned and are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness (Jude 6). Selfish ambition is devilish. To be envious of another’s place or success has led to all sorts of sins throughout history. The first murder occurred because Cain despised the fact that his brother’s works were righteous while his own were evil (1 Jn. 3:12). That the chief priests delivered Jesus to be crucified because of envy was so obvious that even Pilate could see it (Mt. 27:18; Mk. 15:10).

 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the LORD.” (Jer. 9:23, 24). Heavenly wisdom produces the greatest quality of life. Consider the fruit of the Spirit and those you have known whose lives prove they have been thoroughly influenced by God’s instruction (Gal. 5:22, 23). In contrast to the strife that comes from people with mixed motives and hidden personal agendas, the wisdom from heaven results in purity of heart and peace among the people of God. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17, 18). Does your conduct show you are wise in the way God has set forth in James 3:13-18?