God's Call and Commission - Lessons in Ezra 1:1-4

 GOD'S CALL AND COMMISSION - EZRA 1:1-4

By Ezekiel Kimosop

I am starting a new study series through the Book of Ezra. 

In the opening four verses of Ezra 1, God did an unusual thing. He stirred up the heart of Cyrus, a heathen ruler of Persia, and he wrote a royal proclamation or decree. In his decree, Cyrus acknowledged that God had given him the kingdoms of the earth (Ezra 1:2). 

This declaration is important in recognizing what God was about to do using this Persian ruler that God fondly spoke of 150 years earlier in Isaiah 44:28 saying "Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,

And he shall perform all My pleasure,

Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”

And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’

Cyrus confesses that God had commanded him to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. This is definitely a fulfilment of prophecy with divine precision!

Notice that the people of Judah were his captives who had been brought there by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 BC. Bible scholars say that Cyrus had defeated the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, and God graciously used him to release the Jews to return to their homelands about 50 years after their humiliation under the Babylonians.

Not all the people however returned at this point. The first lot returned under Zerubabbel in 538 BC and started rebuilding the Temple (cf Haggai 1-2). 

Ezra the priest led the second group in 458 BC and he instituted the religious reforms associated with him (Ezra 7-10). 

Nehemiah led the third group in 444 BC (see Nehemiah 1-6). 

The reformation period associated with Nehemiah and Ezra covered the reigns of Artaxerxes (464-424BC) and Darius II (423-405 BC). 

Now back to our passage.

In Ezra 1:3-4, Cyrus makes a plea to the Jewish captives, asking for volunteers who were willing to return to Jerusalem on the assignment of the reconstruction work on the Temple. He also calls for financial support towards the task. This was awesome.

What do we learn from the opening verses of Ezra?

First, we learn that all kingdoms and resources primarily belong to God. There's nothing at our disposal that never came from Him. We are therefore stewards of God's resources.

Secondly, we learn that God is in the business of using people to accomplish His purposes even under unusual circumstances. He is also not a respecter of persons. He can use any vessel at His disposal to accomplish His purposes in Christ.

If God can use the heathen to proclaim His glory and to serve Him, how much more is He pleased to use us who know Him in Christ and who understand His mind and His purposes for the Church? 

God is now calling people not only to a covenant relationship with Him in Christ, but into the service of ministry. 

The Jews perhaps had reasons to complain about, some having imagined that God had abandoned them to the heathen or that they lacked resources. In these trying seasons of pain and afflictions under difficult economic times brought by the COVID 19 pandemic, God is still calling us to faithfulness.

Think about the call of ministry and the gifts and skills that God has graciously placed at your disposal. Think about the glaring gaps in the Church ministry programs that cry out for stewardship and service. 

For those of us who are privileged to live in cities urban centres, what is the status of our Church Ministry in your rural village? When did you last visit that Christian community and worshipped with them? What challenges are they facing? 

Perhaps a dilapidated church sanctuary that our grandfather's generation founded 70 years earlier still serves the community. 

What can you and I do about that?

Think of the opportunity at our disposal to reach out to the lost... even if we cannot physically go on a particular evangelism mission or lack the skills to accomplish a given ministry task, we can send our resources so that others can stand in for us. Cyrus didn't build the temple but no one can discount his influence in getting it done!

If God has stirred your heart towards serving Him, look no further!

Arise and shine for the glory of God has shone upon you! Walk the stairs of ministry service...

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2020

Counting on the Example of Christ's Suffering

STRENGTH IN THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST'S SUFFERING

By Ezekiel Kimosop

I have been going through the Letter of 1 Peter as my devotional Book this month. Today, my devotion was centered on the passage of 1 Peter 4:1-6. 

This passage carries on the theme of Christian suffering which the writer commenced in the previous passage 1 Peter 3:13-22.

In that passage, Peter encourages us to stand with our spiritual convictions and be prepared not only to offer our defense to anyone who seeks to understand our hope in Christ, but to be prepared to suffer for our faith (3:15-17).

He also spoke of Christ's triumph over death through His resurrection and His ministry to the spirits of those who were bound for their disobedience during the flood of Noah. 

Christ finally ascended to heaven where He now reigns (3:19-22). 

Now back to our passage.

1 Peter 4:1-6, is a section of the longer passage of 1 Peter 4:1-19 that concludes the long exhortation on Christian suffering with the illustration of Christ's suffering as our example.  

The Scripture encourages us here that, being conscious of the example of Christ's suffering in the flesh, we are to arm ourselves also "with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."(4:1-2). 

The purpose of Christian suffering is to prepare believers to remain strong and steadfast in the Christian faith in the midst of trials, temptations and afflictions. 

Suffering should draw out of us a stronger resolve for our obedience to Christ based on the conviction of His word in us. When we face trials or unpleasant circumstances that call into question our moral convictions, we should not despair but place our hope in Him who "...was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). 

We are not perfect but He who calls us is faithful to preserve us in those difficult times.

APPLICATION

I don't know what you could be going through even as you read this exhortation. You may perhaps be facing lots of afflictions that you are unable to comprehend.

Some Christians face daily discrimination in their communities or work places simply because of their convictions as believers. 

Some of us may have been sidelined or even fired from our jobs because we won't compromise on our faith.

Others have been forced to choose between fostering some beneficial relationships founded on ungodly practice and upholding our Christian convictions when the interests clash. 

These examples may not specifically touch on your circumstances but they simply serve to illustrate the veracity of afflictions that we may face.

Every child of God is called upon to choose the path of obedience. It is not an easy path. It wasn't easy for Christ, neither for us. It comes with sacrifices, pains but it is God's way for us. We ought to walk the narrow path.

Here's the conclusion... 

No matter what we go through in this world, we should bear in mind that Christ is always with us by His Spirit (John 14:15-18). He daily guides us and comforts us. He reminds us in His word about our eternal destiny in Him and the hope of glory that awaits us when He returns to take us to be eternally in His presence (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).

Keep it Christ.

Why Spiritual Regeneration Cannot Precede Faith

WHY SPIRITUAL REGENERATION OR REBIRTH CANNOT PRECEDE FAITHBy Ezekiel KimosopCalvinism teaches that a sinner must first be regenerated or reborn by God before he can believe in Christ. They further claim that those who will never respond to the gospel have been predestined by God to eternal damnation in hell. This teaching is theologically referred to as the double predestination doctrine. It inescapably implies that the sinner is not responsible for his decision to reject the gospel!My view is that this doctrine, which is historically identified with Augustine of Hippo and later outlined by John Calvin in his writings, is not supported by any passage of Scripture.This article seeks to clarify the Biblical basis for my objection to the Calvinism notion that sinners are so "dead in sin" that they are unable to respond to the salvation call before first being regenerated by God into faith.Those who subscribe to the notion that regeneration must precede faith often point to a number of proof texts to support their arguments.Sections of the passage of Ephesians 2:1-10, among others, are often quoted in defense of this notion. Let us briefly examine the passage below.Ephesians 2:1-3 says "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (NKJV).The second text is Ephesians 2:5 which repeats the phrase "dead in trespasses" in relation to the sinner's spiritual condition.These texts are then literally interpreted by Calvinism to imply that the sinner's condition cannot allow him to respond to Christ.Calvinists then supply an analogical inference outside Scripture to state that God must first regenerate (recreate) the sinner's heart before he can believe so that he can exercise faith in Christ. My view is that this analogy is nowhere taught or implied in the Bible! It is consistent with, and derives from a second inference drawn from the false doctrine of Limited Atonement held by Calvinism under the TULIP theory. Calvinism teaches that if the sinner is listed among those who God predestined or appointed to eternal life from the foundation of the world, then God must of essence first conduct a "spiritual surgery" of sorts to restore the "dead  sinner" and facilitate his exercise of faith!On the other hand, Calvinism argues that if the sinner is among those ordained for eternal damnation in hell, God would flatly ignore him and he will never come to faith. Instead the condemned sinner will ultimately perish in his trespasses! Simply put, God, according to Calvinism, discriminates between sinners without any objective basis.Why? Because under Calvinism theology, God, in the exercise of His sovereignty, has already predestined sinners to their respective destinations and only those specifically chosen by God have been appointed for redemption in Christ. They teach that the damned (or reprobate) sinner simply cannot hear the gospel or make a moral choice for obedience to Christ because his destiny was sealed by God from the foundation of the world. It is instructive that, in the world of Calvinism, the conviction of the sinner by the Holy Spirit is not the same thing as regeneration. They teach that conviction only comes to the chosen sinner after regeneration by God!I have never found a worse soteriological heresy than this!These Calvinism philosophical  analogies do not find the support of Scripture when read in context and in whole. One doesn't have to be a PhD in Biblical studies to discern that Paul has employed several metaphors in Ephesians 2:1-10, including the one we have just outlined. The metaphors are as follows:A) "Dead in trespasses" (2:1,5); B) "made us alive together with Christ"  (2:5), C) "raised  us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (2:6); D) "workmanship , created in Christ Jesus for good works" (2:10). These are four solid metaphors or figures of speech that describe our relationship with God in context. They cannot be subjected to literal interpretation without distorting the Scriptures.For instance, if the phrase "dead in trespasses" is to be understood in a literal context, how does one retain the rest as metaphors? Do we (believers) now literally sit in heavenly places? Has Christ literally raised us up and made us sit in heavenly places? If so why are we still on this side of the sun? Scripture is replete with teachings and illustrations that affirm God's offer of unlimited grace to sinners and the sinner's responsibility for obedience to  the call of the gospel. The Bible nowhere teaches or implies that God manipulates one set of sinners to obedience while preventing another from receiving His grace. John 3:16 is explicit on this. Similarly, those who interpret Acts 16:14 to infer that God first regenerated the heart of Lydia often fail to notice that in the same chapter Paul responded to the jailer's question saying "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:30-31).Why was regeneration or opening of the heart not mentioned in the second case or even elsewhere taught in the Bible?Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul rhetorically proclaims "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how Shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written" (Acts 10:14-15). The procedure outlined in Scripture is clear. The gospel must first be preached and on this basis, the sinner is convicted of sin. At the point of conviction, the sinner has an open opportunity to respond to Christ in faith. He can also resist or reject the gospel. No sinner is forcibly saved!Romans 10:10-11 says " For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."When a doctrinal system is based on convictions that lie outside the authority of Scripture, it should not be blindly embraced even if they were developed by theologians of repute. No commentary or set of theological works should take the place of Scripture.The Bible is the ultimate tool by which the integrity of any Christian doctrine must be proven.My concluding view is that faith must precede (or come before) the regeneration of the sinner and not vice versa. Regeneration is the beginning of the sanctification process through which the believer is reborn in Christ and grows in the knowledge of the truths of Scripture.In the teaching of Scripture, God cannot, and will not, regenerate a sinful vessel who has not repented of his sins otherwise the efficacy of the atonement of Christ will be thrown into doubt.May the word of God eternally illuminate our hearts and minds and remain the exclusive source of our spiritual instruction. May it daily guide our practical Christian living. Shalom© Ezekiel Kimosop August 2020.