Jerusalem stands in the life of Our Lord as the place where He reached the climax of His Father’s will. “I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.” That was the one dominating interest all through Our Lord’s life, and the things He met with on the way, joy or sorrow, success or failure, never deterred Him from His purpose. “He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The great thing to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfil God’s purpose, not our own. Naturally, our ambitions are our own; in the Christian life we have no aim of our own. There is so much said to-day about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament it is the aspect of God’s compelling that is brought out. “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God’s purpose, we are taken up into God’s purpose without any consciousness at all. We have no conception of what God is aiming at, and as we go on it gets more and more vague. God’s aim looks like missing the mark because we are too short-sighted to see what He is aiming at. At the beginning of the Christian life we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is—‘I am meant to go here or there’; ‘God has called me to do this special work’; and we go and do the thing, and still the big compelling of God remains. The work we do is of no account, it is so much scaffolding compared with the big coming of God. “He took unto Him the twelve,” He takes us all the time. There is more than we have got at as yet.
DO not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. —Phillips Brooks. We must remember that it is not in any easy or self-indulgent life that Christ will lead us to greatness. The easy life leads not upward, but downward. Heaven always is above us, and we must ever be looking up toward it. There are some people who always avoid things that are costly, that require self-denial, or self-restraint and sacrifice, but toil and hardship show us the only way to nobleness. Greatness comes not by having a mossy path made for you through the meadow, but by being sent to hew out a roadway by your own hands. Are you going to reach the mountain splendors? —Selected. Be strong! We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. Shun not the struggle; face it. ’Tis God’s gift.
Be strong!
Say not the days are evil—Who’s to blame? And fold the hands and acquiesce—O shame! Stand up, speak out, and bravely, In God’s name.
Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong, How hard the battle goes, the day how long, Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song. —Maltbie D. Babcock.
‘And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him tithes of all.’ Genesis 14:18–20 SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 6:13–20
Observe: (i) Melchizedek came forth to meet Abraham. Believers, like Abraham, are called to a warfare. Jesus their King and High Priest teaches them to fight and conquer and often comes forth to meet them, as Melchizedek. (ii) he brought bread and wine. Thus the Lord refreshes, strengthens his warriors—he comes forth in the ordinances. (iii) he blessed him in the name of God. Jesus had obtained the blessing and he blesses all his people; yea, and they shall be blessed. (iv) Abraham gave him tithes of all—as an acknowledgement to the Lord by his priest. And thus believers render to God their services and sacrifices of praise, by Jesus Christ. Happy are the subjects of this King, the people who have such a great High Priest—no enemy shall hurt them, no weapon formed against them prosper, no charge to their prejudice be received. But what must become of those who reject his mediation and will not have him reign over them? FOR MEDITATION: But JESUS invitations sends, Weak in myself for help I cried, Treating with rebels as his friends; LORD, I am pressed on every side; And holds the promise forth in view, The cause is thine, they fight with me, To all who for his mercy sue. But every blow is aimed at thee.
Too long his goodness I disdained, With speed to my relief he came, Yet went at last and peace obtained; And put my enemies to shame; But soon the noise of war I heard, Thus saved by grace I live to sing, And former friends in arms appeared. The love and triumphs of my King.
I have heard this interpretation before and it does line up with the final judgement of the book of revelation. those who arise to everlasting peace with God and those who have done evil activities during their life times in their own bodies to the resurrection of condemnation. vessels moulded for destruction because of evil actions done in their own vessels or bodies.
In Romans 9, Paul deals with the sovereignty of God in election, picturing God as a potter working with clay: “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Romans 9:21–23). The vessels of wrath are contrasted with the vessels of mercy; one set is slated for destruction, and the other for glory.
Let’s take a quick review of the letter to the Romans: Paul highlights the need everyone has for God’s righteousness (Romans 1—3) and how God provided for humanity to have that righteousness by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This gift is available because of Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross (Romans 3—4). In Romans, Paul also describes the results for everyone who has received God’s grace (Romans 5—8) and provides evidence of God’s trustworthiness in how He provides salvation to Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9—11). Paul concludes his letter by outlining the responsibilities of believers to live righteously (Romans 12—16). In Romans 9:22 Paul mentions vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, reminding his readers that the story doesn’t end happily for everyone.
Even as he is challenging his readers to trust in God, Paul laments the fact that many of his fellow countrymen (Israelites) were unbelieving (Romans 9:1–5). Paul explains, however, that this sad state of affairs was not a failure of God or His Word (Romans 9:6). God had promised that Abraham’s descendants would be blessed but had chosen Abraham’s line through Isaac and then Jacob (Romans 9:7–13). Not everyone who would come from Abraham would be blessed through that specific promise. God had certainly promised blessing for all the families of the earth through Abraham’s specific descendant (Genesis 12:3b)—Jesus Christ—but the promises pertaining to a great and blessed nation would be for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The question is whether God has the right to choose whom He will bless and how. If God is sovereign, then we should trust Him as the One who knows how to deliver us. But Paul introduces the idea in Romans 9:22 that there are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Not everyone will trust in Him, apparently.
If God has the right to choose who will be blessed and how, then some might question whether God is unjust by not ensuring the same outcome for everyone. Paul addresses this question in Romans 9:14–18, explaining that God has the right (as the Creator) to have mercy on whom He will have mercy and the right to harden whom He will harden (Romans 9:18). Paul cites God’s dealings with Pharaoh in Exodus as an example.
Paul then anticipates the question of how God can hold people accountable if, ultimately, He is making these kinds of choices (Romans 9:19). Rather than answer directly, Paul appeals to God’s sovereignty as the Creator and the owner of what He has created (Romans 9:20–21). Pottery doesn’t question the right of the potter to fashion it in a particular way. The potter has the right to fashion from the clay whatever he wants. Paul elaborates by asking a series of questions: what if God—who has the power to judge and exert His authority—was patient with vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (Romans 9:22)? Does God have the right to be patient? Or is He restricted in His ability to show mercy and patience? Clearly, God has that right with no restrictions.
Some have wrestled with Paul’s statement that there are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Some have even concluded that he is teaching a doctrine often called double election—that God chooses who will not be saved in the same way He chooses who will be saved. But, like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:6, we should not go beyond what is written. We need to be careful about making inferences when a verse is not explicit.
In the case of the vessels of wrath, Paul raises a hypothetical—a “what if”—to remind readers that God has the right to make such choices if He so desires. But Paul stops short of asserting that God is making such choices. Paul’s point is that God has the right to have mercy on whom He chooses and harden whom He chooses (Romans 9:18), but that is different from asserting that God chooses some not to be saved. Paul isn’t addressing that question; he is making a point about God’s sovereign authority. Thus, if someone is not receiving a blessing because God didn’t promise him that blessing, neither God nor His Word has failed. If He is indeed the Creator, He has the right to bless whom He will, and He has the right to harden whom He will. If He is the Potter, how He deals with vessels of wrath prepared for destruction is His prerogative.
as what the Lord Said to nicodemas , what is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit etc we must be reborn from the Holy Spirit given to all who believe on Jesus for Salvation, or take the parable of the wine skins for an example of the spirit must fill new born anew believers in order for both to be preserved.
This is my personal collection of thoughts and writings, mainly from much smarter people than I, which challenge me in my discipleship walk. Don't rush by these thoughts, but ponder them.
Milo 