Small ministry is a better investment than “big” ministry.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

Matthew 13:1-2

Jesus had a ministry to crowds of people. They followed Him because He healed people. But He always took the opportunity to preach good news to them without fail. And Matthew 13 records an abundance of teaching, via parables, about the kingdom of heaven as Jesus revealed it. And He spoke these illustrations in very relatable stories to the crowd. In this case He set out in a small boat and turned it into a pulpit as He faced the multitude who were standing on the beachside to hear Him.

Yet this chapter also shows Jesus interacting privately with His disciples on the same topic: the kingdom of heaven. It is to the disciples, and not the crowd, that Jesus reveals the interpretation of the parable of the sower and the soils. Later in Matthew 13:36, Jesus goes back into a private residence, away from the crowds and behind closed doors delivers even more kingdom pictures in parables to His disciples only. The truth was preached to the crowds, but it was expounded and applied in depth through its reception by the disciples.

How do we know this? The flow of the gospel of Matthew couldn’t be more poignant. In the very next section of Matthew 13:53-57, Jesus is rejected in Nazareth... His home town. The crowds who knew Him most were fickle. The rejection was real. We see that the very best investment to advance the gospel was in making disciples who made disciples. Nazareth saw His miracles and only peppered Him with doubts and scoffing questions. The disciples, however, knew His person and believed.

rejecting the light of Jesus

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

Matthew 11:20

Jesus was able to compare the fates of thes Jewish cities to some of the infamous Gentile cities of sin because He had preached and healed in them and they had not repented. They had been visited by God Himself, but did not welcome Him. This is a tragic turn in the ministry of Jesus. The disciples had been sent out to multiply the call to repentance. Jesus Himself had performed miracles in these towns. But in the end they would face judgment for rejecting Him. They would suffer fates worse than some of the notorious wicked cities about which the Old Testament had spoken God’s fiercest judgments.

When God calls all before Him at the final judgment, the people who have rejected Jesus outright will suffer the worst punishment. Jesus knew this. He said that Tyre, Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah would all fare better with lesser punishments than the cities that rejected the light of Jeus and His works among them. The degree of final judgment would be so much greater for them.

Tyre and Sidon were condemned for making their kings gods. And the sad degeneracy of Sodom and Gomorrah is a lesson in human depravity. Yet Jesus said it would be better for them as sentence is passed than for the cities we read about in the gospels where Jesus did His mighty works. The light of Jesus is a bright light and to ignore Jesus, rejecting Him, is to find no hope in the end.

staying strong

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33

Jesus says these words to the twelve apostles as they are commissioned in His name to preach the gospel of the kingdom throughout Israel. The context, starting in Matthew 10:16, is His warning to them that they will face persecution. He sent them out as sheep in a country of wolves. They would not always be warmly received. The gospel would be rejected and they would be hated men. But they are encouraged to stay bold and strong. The world would hate Jesus in them. They would suffer for His sake, but there was a bigger picture at stake.

Later, in the Book of Acts, after Jesus has ascended into heaven, His apostles were left to preach the gospel together. And the message of the gospel blazed out of Jerusalem, throughout Israel, eventually all the way to the household of Caesar himself in Rome! All that in a generation. But there was intense opposition to it as it did so. The apostles preached the gospel boldly despite this. They did so even as they were persecuted and martyred. They held true. Not a man among them denied their Savior! This was no fabricated story that unraveled under scrutiny! Every one of the apostles stood strong and true under severe opposition. Every one of them suffered under state persecution of the Christian faith. Every one of them, save John, died a martyr’s death and they tried to kill John, and when he wouldn’t die, they exiled him. These men would not deny their Lord!

The conviction to hold as tenaciously as they did to the Christian faith is still put to the test today. The world still needs the gospel. And it is still antagonistic to Jesus. We don’t fight those who oppose us, but we love them with the truth of the gospel. And we must not deny our Lord. We love and acknowledge Jesus in each moment of worship and each gospel proclamation!

There’s something in MY eye.

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:5

We’ve all got some vision problems when it comes to judging others. We tend to ignore our own faults while easily finding fault in others. Jesus calls us away from hypocritically passing judgment upon others in order to humbly practice self-examination first. This is because we tend to be blind to our obvious sins.

The picture Jesus draws is both tragic and comic. One person wants to truly help another person get a speck of something removed from his eye. And that is a difficult and common human experience. All of us have gotten something in an eye, and in the days before Visine, having a friend to help remove the speck was useful. But Jesus’ illustrations shows a bigger problem. It is impossible to get help from someone for your frustrating speck, when they’ve got an enormous log poking them in their eyeball!

And so it is with helping a brother or sister with a shortcoming. I’ve got even bigger issues to manage! Jesus DOES NOT say NOT to help another person with their faults. But He does say to make sure you are dealing with your own sinful problems first. The log in my own eye will get in the way of helping my friend. I have to take the gospel to my own heart first. I confess my own wrongs. I admit my own needs. I deal with the log my friend may point out. I humbly offer help after this, and I don’t rush in with my sawmill slab protruding from my own face! True discipleship relationships require mutual accountability, confession of sin together, willingness to hear insights from one another, and then growth occurs as we remove logs before specks, dealing with personal sins and relational struggles in order to honor Jesus and avoid hypocrisy.

forgiven... forgiving

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

Christians are forgiven people. And since we are forgiven, we must be forgiving. This is the standard of expectation set by none other than Jesus Himself, Who left the Father’s side in heaven, came to earth to live as a human being and then died to forgive our sins, effective for all who believe. And those who believe are called to live like Jesus and to be forgiving people. If we refuse to be forgiving, we won’t show ourselves to really be changed by Christ. And we will hinder our fellowship with the Father. So we must forgive.

I am so glad that Jesus died to forgive all sin, for it is His forgiveness that is behind my capacity to forgive others. I must trust the work of Christ in me to be forgiving. I totally lack the capacity as a lost sinner. But as a redeemed and reborn child of God in Christ, I can have Jesus forgive through me, and He can show me how to forgive. And that makes obedience to this command to forgive possible: as I am forgiven... so I forgive.

And in this way I forgive others and prepare myself to continue to forgive others as Christ as forgiven me. I confess my sins in the present tense. I forgive others in the present tense as well. Jesus died and rose again to give me this new life, and in that new life I can trust Him as I am forgiven and as I forgive. By being both forgiven and forgiving, I enjoy the forgiveness of God at work in my life.

the good king

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

2 Chronicles 35:26-27

The good king

led his people

back to God

he worshiped well

and modeled obedience

the good king

loved God’s law

The good king

kept the feast

led in prayer

honored the temple

respected the priests

the good king

worshiped the Lord

The good King

came to us

He is God

living without sin

He modeled obedience

the good King

died for us

The good king

by death humbled

bore our sin

and rose again

the third day!

the good King

is Jesus Christ

Humble leaders are blessed.

So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. And many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.

2 Chronicles 32:22-23

Hezekiah is a great study on humble leadership that trusts God. The worst crisis of his reign in Jerusalem cam when Assyria threatened Judah.  This was the same brutal Assyria that was known to torture captured prisoners, kill women and children for sport, and conquer through intimidation and violence. This was the people that decimated Samaria and wiped out ten of Israel’s tribes. And they brought overwhelming force against Jerusalem, seeking to intimidate them into surrender, and taunting the God of the Jews as they prepared their siege.

Hezekiah simply sought the LORD, praying with Isaiah, the prophet of the the LORD. He fervently prayed to God for deliverance. And God sent a destroying angel throughout the Assyrian camp, forcing Sennacherib to limp back home... defeated by no human sword. God rewarded the humble and powerful faith of the king of Judah.

The result of this salvation was great blessing. God provided for Jerusalem and Judah beyond just military deliverance. Hezekiah was showered with wealth and honor, and his influence was strengthened to the nations around Judah. God saved and blessed His people as their king so sincerely worshiped and trusted God. Leadership that submits to God’s rule will lead well, as God’s power provides, because God loves so well!

idol smashing

Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.

2 Chronicles 31:1

Under king Hezekiah’s godly influence, a revival swept through Judah to impact a generation. Hezekiah restored the temple, supported the priests, and urged the nation to return to the Lord in repentance. The people once again began worshiping the Lord in His temple in Jerusalem. They obeyed the covenant, prayed to the Lord, and kept the Passover. There was a spirit of renewed obedience throughout the kingdom.

As love for God and obedience to His Word spread, the idolatry that had infiltrated Judah became detestable to the Jews. The people spontaneously went on idol smashing patrols. No edict from the king motivated them as much as the real worship of God now fueled them and a remorse over their past sin was felt. Real repentance demonstrated itself in specific actions. They rid the land of idols and temptations. The text reads like they didn’t rest until every last idol and place of idolatry was torn down.

Idol smashing is hard work. It doesn’t just mean a quick prayer and a promise to be better. It is backed up by breaking down stone pillars, cutting down shrines, and dismantling altars of false worship. It means leaving no vestige of idolatry as we seek God wholeheartedly. It is rewarded in the true, undistracted worship of an almighty and holy God!

a king’s treachery

But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom.

2 Chronicles 25:20

Idolatry is a weird spiritual affliction. The way it ensnared Amaziah is a fascinating story. It begins with Amaziah leading Judah to assemble an army and to march that army south to Edomite territory. There, the king successfully re-established control over Edom, defeating 10,000 men in battle, then capturing and executing 10,000 prisoners. It was a remarkable and brutal military success where Amaziah even changed his strategy after God confronted him through the word of a prophet. It seemed perfect.

Except for the fact that Amaziah inexplicably brought back to Judah the idols of Edom, a defeated foe, and set them up as objects of worship, making offerings to them. How odd to be enamored with the worship of the gods of a defeated nation. God tells the king it makes no sense. The irrationality of idolatry is apparent. And this time, when God sent a prophet to the king, Amaziah silenced him and refused to listen. So the prophet left, warning the king that God would destroy him for this idolatry.

God then let Amaziah’s pride in his accomplishments become his undoing. A boast to Samaria, and a taunt to Israel’s king sent Judah into conflict. Israel routed Jerusalem, Amaziah was taken away captive, and the word of God came true as Amaziah’s spiritual treachery was judged. His idolatry was his downfall. God cannot be replaced with what we choose to worship!

paying a heavy price

So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

2 Chronicles 21:10

These words were spoken about Jehoram, king of Judah and this chapter details the decline in Judah due to the king’s abandonment of God and introduction of idolatry to the nation. The consequences of these actions were catastrophic. There were spiritual consequences. The idolatry instigated by Jehoram led Judah astray. Jehoram did not honor God or the Law of God. He left the path his fathers had walked and all Judah sinned with him.

There were sinful consequences. Jehoram sought to secure his claim to the throne by murdering his own family, brothers whom God said were morally better than he was (2 Chronicles 21:13). This callous evil toward his own family was fueled by selfish greed and false worship. We see that Jehoram has absolutely evil character. God will judge this.

There were physical consequences. Jehoram eventually died in agony from an excruciating bowel disease (2 Chronicles 21:18-19) and was so wicked and despised that his own people did not mourn his passing with a state funeral. The nation also suffered, with a plague ravaging Judah as a consequence of their abandonment of the covenant (2 Chronicles 21:14).

Finally, there were social consequences. God raised up outside enemies from Philistine and Arabia who ransacked Jerusalem and the king’s palace, carrying away Jehoram’s harem and family. Judah also lost control over Edom and Libnah. The toll selfish sin takes on lives is immense! How we need God’s mercy and grace! Sin demands too high a price.

Turned Away

And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

2 Chronicles 12:12

God turns away His wrath on sin

when humble repentance turns back to Him

He judges sin in holiness

but mercy comes with forgiveness

to sinners repenting in humility

God will turn away judgment in mercy

Sin makes of lives a complete destruction

for God’s judgment is often to let this happen

sin follows its ruinous course

and sinners eventually feel remorse

so real repentance means it is not too late

to turn to God so He will change their fate

God turned away wrath many times again

when Israel repented of disobeying Him

He forgave and restored yet with consequence

so they would remember and obey with diligence

blessed to be obeying His holy law

called to worship again in wonder and awe

overwhelming glory

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house.

2 Chronicles 7:1-2

There had never been a worship service like this before in the life of the people of Israel. Nothing quite like it has happened since. Solomon began the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem with a blessing on the people who were blessed by being God’s chosen nation. He then went on to pray to the Lord, thanking Him for His faithfulness to His people and remembering the covenant made with Israel and with his father David. He proclaims the greatness of God, realizing no temple can contain God in His glory. And Solomon acknowledges that God can hold all who come to this temple responsible for sin, (the vast portion of the prayer is a reminder of all the ways the law can punish sin)... and this is exactly why the temple, the priests, and the sacrifices were necessary in the first place.

Solomon’s prayer ends asking for God to come to the temple and keep His covenant. And that is what happens. In a big way! Fire from heaven consumes the sacrifices. The glory of God envelopes the temple in so much splendor that the priests cannot even enter the temple for a period of time. Spontaneous worship flows through all those gathered at the the dedication when this happened.

God in His glory is much bigger than we can handle. We are humbled and His people are in awe to be in the presence of His glory. His glory dominates our wills and humbles us with godly fear. Just reading this on a summer morning makes my soul tremble because God’s glory is an overwhelming thing.

the splendor and the glory

So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—and he carved cherubim on the walls.

2 Chronicles 3:7

Solomon built the temple of the Lord as richly as he was able. I can’t really imagine what it must have been like to enter a building that had an interior entirely lined with gold, but that is what Solomon achieved. The beams, the doorways, the walls, the entrances... every surface was lined with gold.

And then there were the giant reminders of God’s holiness in an enormous statement... the golden cherubim angels carved into the wall just like the ones on the lid of the ark of the covenant. They dominated the temple interior, with 30 foot wings spread out and touching each other. They symbolized to the worshiper the holiness of God Whose throne is constantly surrounded by His splendid, holy messengers.

But the earthly temple is just a dim symbol of the greater glory of our God. He shines even more brilliantly in Christ! In Jesus, God incarnate, is all the splendor of the majesty of our God on display. We see this when we read the gospels. Angels attended Jesus at His birth, after His temptation, and before His betrayal in the garden. They announced His victory over sin and death at His resurrection! His glory was seen by His disciples on the mount of transfiguration where Jesus outshone the gold of a billion temples! My heart should be drawn to the glory of my Savior even now.

a bold charge to leaders and generations

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

1 Chronicles 28:8

David knew that leadership was vital to the spiritual vitality of Israel, and not just the leadership of the king. In one of his last official actions, King David assembled all the leaders in Israel, the governing officials, the military officers and commanders, the stewards of the royal property, all the palace staff, and all the army’s most seasoned soldiers. And to this group David spoke reminders to be faithful to the ancient covenant.

David trusted that these people of influence would be the men and women who would be key to Israel’s future. He called them to love God and obey His Law so that the nation could thrive. And David’s vision was multi-generational. These people needed to pass this all on to their children. It was a call for leaders to lead into the future.

This same level of vision and commitment, modeled by a bronze-age warrior-king, still must accompany our commitment to the Lord. Christians must lead in loving and obeying Jesus. Christians must pass on faith, worship, honest commitment to God, and love for God’s Word to the next generation. We must be bold enough to charge and see God change the next generations so they may seek and serve the Lord!

transformed to worship and obey

Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.

1 Chronicles 22:13

This is the leadership character that David sought to encourage as his son Solomon ascended to the throne. The big task that David handed to his son was the construction of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. David had a passion for God’s worship that he wanted Solomon to continue. He wanted the king and the kingdom to prosper by obedience to the Word of God.

But it would take strength, courage, lack of fear, and trusting God beyond discouragement to do so. To obey God’s Law and build God’s temple would take not just plans, skilled workers, and resources. It would take hearts devoted to loving, worshiping, and obeying God and His Law, for it needed to be built according to all the Law demanded. This is why these words find themselves in the middle of the charge to begin the building of the temple.

Obedience to God is something our souls must pay careful attention to. It does not come naturally to sinners. It must come from a heart transformed in intense worship. When we are near to God’s heart, He can work in us and with us. Thankfully, Jesus transforms us by His new life in us as the Spirit of God makes us anew! We can trust. We can obey God. We can be made new by His power and not our own so that His Spirit can live in us as His Word changes us.

We don’t impress God.

O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Daniel 9:18

Daniel’s attitude in prayer is exactly still the way all God’s people should pray. Our prayers don’t impress God. Our righteousness doesn’t compel God to help us. We are sinners in need of God’s great mercy, and as such, we must humbly admit our need and rely upon His healing mercies when we come to Him. We need God’s mercy and forgiveness. It is by His grace we are saved for we cannot be good enough.

Daniel’s prayer came about after reading through the words of Jeremiah that were already in just one generation considered the Word of God. As he looked through the promises and curses of the exile, Daniel in Babylon realized the exile would end after 70 years. So he began praying, knowing humble repentance over sin should mark those truly humbled by God’s judgment. He knew God would keep His promise and lead them from Babylon, and when He did so, at would be a changed people who would return.

An awareness of our sinful inability and need for God’s mercy keeps us humbly awaiting God’s work. It helps us trust His Word. And that is the best place to be, the finest way to live our lives.