Distance Devotions        –        April 21, 2020

Number 13:33                –        In Our Own Sight

Numbers 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.  33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Fear is a paralyzing force.  People have frozen at a crucial moment out of fear and paid for it with their life.  Fear drives people to do almost superhuman feats.  From Wikipedia:

·  In 2012, in Glen Allen, Virginia, 22-year-old Lauren Kornacki rescued her father, Alec Kornacki, after the jack used to prop up his BMW slipped, pinning him under it. Lauren lifted the car, then performed CPR on her father and saved his life.

·  In 2012, in Michigan, Austin Smith (age 15) lifted a car to save his grandfather pinned underneath.

Fear can really move people as recorded in God’s Word: By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark.… (Hebrews 11:7)  We readily see that fear can cause a paralyzing reaction, a superhuman reaction, or a godly reaction.  Fear is not necessarily wrong.  Everybody should fear certain things, poisonous serpents, wasps, spiders (my personal worst), and many other like things.  Fear is not always the wrong reaction.  However, in our text, the fear the Israelites had was wrong.

God had told the Israelites that He was going to give them a land that flowed with milk and honey.  After making a rapid journey across the wilderness, Moses and the Jewish nation arrived at the border of Canaan.  Choosing twelve men to spy out the land and bring a report, they waited forty days.  When the men returned they spoke of the fruit of the land, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.  In fact, a bunch of grapes was so large that it required two men to carry it on a pole placed on their shoulders.  There was a problem though: they were going to have to fight.  God had already told them that this was the place and this was the time.  Was any further admonition needed?  Why did the spies fear?  The answer: in our own sight.  Instead of seeing things as the Lord said they were, the spies spewed out their fear of the giants, the sons of Anak, they saw.  Then, astoundingly, they begin to say how bad the land was: The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. (vs. 32)  Both of the statements in this verse are false.  The land was a good land, not a bad one.  Some of the people were giants, not all.

Fear distorts things.  It makes things that are small seem huge and insurmountable.  The spies were faithless men with the exception of two, Caleb and Joshua.  They exhorted the people to believe God and move forward.  Israel’s failure to do so cost them forty years in the wilderness and over six hundred thousand deaths.  The lesson to be learned is that the Lord never told us our way would be simple and without opposition.  No, in fact He told us just the opposite.  Today, some of us are standing at the border of an improved spiritual life.  We look over into the land and see the fruit and the giants.  Are we willing to make the effort required to move forward or are we going to be content with wandering in the wilderness?  12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin…19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3)  Don’t let fear of the effort or the outcome keep you from walking further with the Lord than you ever have before.

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 20, 2020

Revelation 1:10, 11         –        I was in the Spirit

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book….

John the Beloved, the last living of the apostles was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for a period of time.  It must have been hard for an old man to endure.  Some have postulated there were salt mines there and he worked in them.  I believe that he was very much alone as far as human contact.  All of us have learned a little something with the various government orders concerning our moving about and the need for and enjoyment of human contact.  Living “off the grid” only has attraction if it is by choice and not enforced by law.  I, for one, enjoy the fellowship of the saints at church.  I enjoy moving about my community and freely associating with friends.  Just as we have had that limited these past six weeks, John was set aside from church services and Christian friends.  He had no internet to use and no cellphone to contact anyone.  He was very much alone.

But, John was only alone as far as human contact.  The Emperor had ordered his exile, but the Emperor could not order God into exile away from John.  We read John saying, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…. (Revelation 1:10)  How glorious it is to know that though men may shun me or exile me, my God will still be with me.  Everything we read in the book of the Revelation keys off of this one truth, I was in the Spirit.  Until you and I learn from the Spirit Himself how to enter His presence, we are going to miss out on a lot of spiritual blessings.  Now don’t think that any kind of meditation or semi-mystical activity is what the Bible is speaking of here.  No!  It is an opening of the soul to the Creator-Redeemer God who loves us.  It is entering into His presence with holy joy and reverence listening for the still, small voice of God.  In this instance, the voice became so loud that it had the ring of a trumpet in its clarity and volume.

Where are you on the Lord’s Day?  Are you in the spirit, or, sadly are you somewhere else?  I’ve heard all the excuses you can imagine: “I worship God while fishing…We have devotions at the ballfield…My yard needed work…My car needed….”  What have you missed by not being in the spirit?  Surely if you are in the spirit, you will want to be with God’s people.  Church attendance is a barometer of your spirituality.  It is patently obvious that the Spirit of God is not going to lead you to neglect the New Testament church.  No one is so spiritual that they do not need church, the corporate worship of their God and King.  If you get in the spirit, you will be in your place.  24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24, 25)

Distance Devotions        –        April 19, 2020

Revelation 1:3                –        The Blessings of Reading God’s Word

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

There was a time in America when we trained our school children to read using the Bible and the McGuffey Reader books.  Our literacy rate was high and we were inculcating the principles of a godly population under a Constitution that was based on Judeo-Christian principles and truths.  The reading of God’s Word in our schools helped to frame a civil society different than anything else in the world.  We have long ago left that model behind and, in my opinion, are paying a high price for having done so.  Nevertheless, the promise of being blessed for reading the Word of God remains sure.

These weeks of stay at home and inability to meet together for corporate worship have provided extra opportunity for reading.  I cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is to get your children to read.  It expands the mind and helps them to think things through.  Likewise, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of every believer spending time in the Word of God.  We claim to believe it; let us also read it.  There are wondrous stories in the Bible.  Stories of heroes, heroines, great battles, and love stories.  We learn the history of the Jewish people and the forty years in the wilderness.  Specifically, our text speaks of the blessing of reading the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  It is a book of prophecy.  From chapter four and forward all is prophetic.  The rapture, the tribulation, and the return of the Lord to this earth are all contained in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  Spend time today, and every day, in the Word of God.  You will never regret having done so.

Pastor F. J. Weems III  

Distance Devotions        –        April 18, 2020

John 18:10, 11                –        Peter Drew His Sword

John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.  11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

Simon Peter has been the subject of countless sermons and used in illustrations even more so.  We point our his failings, his impetuous speech (once even attempting to rebuke the Lord Jesus), his denial of the Lord on the night before the crucifixion, and his return to fishing as an occupation taking six other disciples with him.  Old Peter sure could make a mess of things.  I wonder how many times I have spoken impetuously and unnecessarily injured or offended another believer.  Quite honestly, it hurts too much to think of my failings and shortcomings in the ministry for very long.  It drives me to seek the Lord’s face and comfort as well as forgiveness.  Have you ever spoken out of turn or out of hand and offended someone.  If so, the Lord will forgive you even if men will not.  Humility and sincere repentance asking for forgiveness of the offended party is biblical and will teach us not to be so loose lipped the next time. 

However, for all of Peter’s human faults, he was greatly used of the Lord.  He had great courage and the Bible reveals it.  Who else asked to walk on the water with Jesus?  Who of all the disciples drew their sword in defense of the Lord Jesus?  Outnumbered and without any hope of victory, yet Peter was ready to fight and to die for the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter was also the spokesman when Jesus asked the disciples who men thought He might be.  14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16)  Peter was also the preacher on the day of Pentecost when the New Testament Church was organized and energized by the descent of the Holy Spirit of God.  Peter was the apostle who was used of the Lord to open the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10). 

Peter had issues, but so do every one of us.  Peter had to mature in his faith and so should we.  In fact, it was Peter who said, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear…. (1 Peter 3:15)  Let us learn from Peter’s mistakes, but let us also learn from his victories.  Gird on your sword (the Word of God, not a sharp metal object) and go forth into a world in dire need of the message we have.  Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 16, 2020

Matthew 11:12               –        The Violent Take It By Force

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

The Bible has some hard to be understood terminology.  There are endless debates of Melchisedec whether he was a type or a preincarnate Christophany.  Hebrews chapters 6 and 10 have been the source of endless writing defending one position or another.  And, who can by-pass Genesis 6 where we read about the giants, the sons of God, and the daughters of men?  I have been on both sides of that debate sometimes almost at the same time!  But, today, we see perhaps one of the strangest texts of all.  Heaven taken by violence?  Can it be?

How do people approach God today?  Unfortunately many seem to think that God is their BFF and pal.  The overly casual approach to the Lord is distressing to me and I believe demeaning and disgusting to the Lord of the Universe.  How dare we haphazardly or lightly approach unto Him while angels cover their eyes out of reverence?  Moses, the meekest man on all the earth, the divinely chosen leader of the Jewish nation even spoke of his fear and trembling before the Triune God.  Fast forward to the year 2020, we see some “minister” in his skinny jeans, tee shirt and blazer, following the laser light show and praise band, step out and begin to speak of the God who created the universe in what can best be described as untoward familiar terms.  Where is the sense of the holy and pure?  Lost in our drive to “be real,” I can only assume. 

What does it mean then for the violent to take Heaven?  I am not going to be dogmatic about this, but I believe what I am about to write is the truth about this text.  Instead of a BFF/Pal approach to God, in the Gospels, we see men and women who were desperate to get to Him.  The woman with the issue of blood, worked her way through the crowd and crouching down near His feet, touched the hem of His garment and was immediately healed.  Jairus’ daughter lay dying and nothing would do, but that Jesus must come to his house and heal her.  The Syro-Phoenician woman begged for “the crumbs” that fell from the table.  Blind Bartimaeus cried out and when people tried to silence him cried all the louder!  Four friends, seeking some way to help their sick, bedridden friend, tore the roof up on the house where Jesus was just to lower their friend down in front of the One who could heal.  Sounds pretty violent to me.  When men are at the end of themselves, they are ready to grasp the outstretched hand of the Savior.  Have you come to that place in your life?  Have you with energy, with violence cried out to the God who alone can save?  If not, please, please, do so today.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 16, 2020

Luke 15:16, 17               –        And When He Came to Himself

Luke 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.  17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Every believer should love Luke chapter fifteen.  What riches of grace are found there!  We see the distance of the sheep, the deadness of the coin, and the departure of the son.  The sheep, of course, is a picture of a sinner wandering from God.  The shepherd went looking for the lost sheep because it could not find its way back home without the shepherd.  I am so thankful the Lord Jesus came looking for us when we were separated from our Creator by our rebelliousness and sin.  Like the coin, without any life in itself, it was lost and the woman needed to sweep and clean to find the coin.  So, we, dead in trespasses and sin, without any spiritual life, could not discover ourselves.  The Holy Spirit in His office of convicting power swept our hearts and found us hidden in our sins, but brought us to the Savior! 

Let me also say this about the deadness of the coin.  Though we are dead in trespasses and sins, it does not mean that we are like a corpse.  Sinners are active in the spiritual realm every day.  They sin every day.  A lost sinner has no spiritual life of God in him.  There is no spark of divinity to fan nor will education bring the sinner to God.  We must be drawn by the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ.  Thank God that is the function of the Spirit in this world.

Now, to our text.  The younger son, with no respect for his father, asked for and received his portion (one third) of the inheritance and quickly went away to live a life of debauchery.  I see the freeness that the father gave to the son in volition.  We are free moral agents and are responsible to believe on Christ.  I see also the patience of the father.  No doubt but that he looked every day, yearning for the return of his son.  What joy they experienced when he did return.  But note the words, when he came to himself.  Until that moment, rebellion lived in his heart.  He was not going to admit defeat.  The shame would be too great.  Yet, the goodness of the father, the riches he had, and the deep, deep longing that had been created by knowledge of the separation brought the young man to his senses.

What is it going to take to get you to your senses?  When will you come to yourself and recognize that you are lost?  The biggest obstacle to the average person coming to Christ is that they refuse to admit they are lost.  Listen to this, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  You cannot hide where He cannot find you (the coin), you cannot go so far away that He gives us looking (the sheep), and you cannot sin too deeply for Him to forgive (the son).  You have the blessed invitation of the King of Kings, the Savior of all men, the Lord Jesus Christ: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.  17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:16)

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions          –          April 15, 2020

Leviticus 16:21, 22          –          By the Hand of a Fit Man

Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

If you are like me, I can sometimes get confused as I read about the ceremonial laws governing the offerings and sacrifices of the Jewish people.  The first seven chapters in Leviticus give a great overview of the extent of sin and the fact that no one offering could fully represent the Lord Jesus Christ.  For instance, in chapter one, we read of the burnt offering.  The Hebrew word is holocaust.  We readily recognize that as being connected with the genocide of the Nazis against the Jews.  In Leviticus, it is teaching us that the Lord had to be completely consumed, given over to pay our sin debt.  A good resource to study on these first several chapters is the book, The Law of the Offerings, by Andrew Jukes.

What struck me in chapter sixteen, verse twenty-one and twenty-two, was the term a fit man.  In this offering the goat was sent away.  It is called the scapegoat.  Symbolically all of the sins was laid on the goat and he carried it off.  The fit man was a man who was near and available at the moment to fulfill that service.  For us, the Fit Man is Christ.  He and He alone was available and able to fulfill the needed service.  Our sins were more than we could carry.  If we were to try to carry them, we would perish in the attempt.  Our Fit Man, the Lord Jesus was more than able to accomplish the bearing away of sin.  John the Baptist, upon seeing him, cried, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.  I am totally satisfied with the fit man that God provided.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…. (John 3:16)

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 14, 2020

Matthew 7:24-27            –        Whosoever Heareth Correctly….

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The word whosoever  is a wonderful word.  It is where the door of the Gospel swung open and we walked into the grace of God.  Without whosoever no one would know whether they could approach the Lord or not.  Our text is using the word in a different sense.  While we are to be inviting any and all to hear and respond to the Gospel invitation, our text clearly shows some hear, but do not respond properly.  The key thought is how you hear.  In the Bible, we are told, take heed how ye hear. (Luke 8:18)  Some of us can likely remember our mother or father having a direct conversation with us as a teen and asking us, “Do you hear me?”  Of course, the issue wasn’t whether we heard, but how we were going to respond to what we had heard.  Same setting here, how will men respond?

Jesus is making it plain that everybody is not going to heaven.  There will, no doubt, be multitudes who open their eyes in Hell unexpectedly.  Fair ideas, religious emotions, and connection with a local church will not ensure that you arrive on Heaven’s bright shore.  The Lord is very clear about this.  “21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  What a frightening thought!  What has God said to you and how have you responded to Him?  Has He spoken unto you in grace and drawn you to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ?  If all you have done is agreed to be “religious,” I have shocking news for you, you are yet in your sins and He will tell you to depart as a worker of iniquity.  Failing to do what you hear is fatal.  We have been warned to flee the wrath to come, we have been told to look unto Christ, we have heard the Gospel message time after time, but we must respond to it.  Hearing alone is not enough.

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 13, 2020

Isaiah 41:10                   –        I Am Thy God

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

The first mention of the words, fear not, are recorded in Genesis 15, when the Lord was speaking comfort to Abraham after the battle to free his nephew, Lot and his family, from the captivity into which they had been taken.  From that focal point in time, the Lord has often spoken to His people, these words, Fear not, for I am with thee.  These words help to anchor us and strengthen us in our trials.   Fear is a powerful emotion.  Some of us have a phobia of snakes or other things.  Every parent knows the strength of fear when they first let the teen in the family take the car to go out.  Our hearts are often smitten with fear as our children do not always follow us in our faith in Christ.  Fear is present though our Lord wants us to not allow it to drive us and consume our thoughts.

Go through the next several chapters in Isaiah, from chapter forty one to at least chapter forty-eight, and note the many times that God speaks in comforting terms:  I will…I am…I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.  See the difference?  It is one thing to tell me fear not, but something altogether different to tell me do not fear because I am with you.  I am immediately encouraged in a way that I would not be without His presence.  All that we can possibly need, all we can possible want, all that we will ever need is bound up in His presence and He has promised to be with us.  Fear not for I am with thee!  Be of good cheer, dear Christian, He has never lost a single child in all of history and He will not start now.

Pastor F. J. Weems III

Distance Devotions        –        April 12, 2020

Matthew 28:6                 –        He Is Not Here

Matthew 28:5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

There are words, brief, concise statements that stand out across history.  Churchill’s, “…whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…” Has marked the determination of the West to maintain freedom at whatever the cost.  Margaret Thatcher’s classic statement on socialism, “The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money,” is another such classic statement.  The Lord Jesus Christ made statements that are warp and woof of how civilized society functions: The Beatitudes are filled with words that demand our attention, “Blessed are, the meek, the pure, the peacemakers,” are standards by which men and nations are judged.

Of course, he what he was referring to was that Christ was no longer in the grave.  He had abandoned it while raiding the devil’s house and took the keys of hell and of death.  (Hebrews 2:14, 15; Revelation 1:18)  He is not here… and why?  Because He was risen from the dead!  The grave, the tomb, in which the body of Jesus lay is empty and has been these 2000 years.  Words of victory, words of comfort, words that inspire the saint whose faith is shaking because of trials, and words of power…He is no longer dead.  Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes!  No one else can lay claim to what Christ did.  Declaring His death and conquering of it by rising on the third day, He lays claim to the crown of the universe as the creator and giver of life.

Pastor F. J. Weems III