I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Mt 16:17

When Jesus speaks of the church, the first thing he tells us is that it is his. We forget this at our peril. It is so easy to forget that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the church, that he bought it with his precious blood. As such, anything the church does must be in accordance with his word, so that his will may be done and that his name might be glorified.

When Jesus speaks of his church, he refers to the body of his people. Later in Mt 18, he speaks of the church speaking and hearing. Buildings don’t speak and hear, people do. This is the people redeemed by his blood, by faith, and who have received the Holy Spirit who enables them and works through them.

Also in Mt 18, Jesus speaks of the importance of a church to be holy, for its members to exercise self-discipline, and if they cannot, then they should be disciplined appropriately.

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Mt 18:20

Additionally, we are to meet together, expressing our membership of the universal church, by being committed to a local church. We are not to wander through our spiritual journey as hermits, but in fellowship with other believers. For the church is the kingdom of God on earth, our haven through which we may find support and encouragement.

As we live and work together in the church, if we holy then there will be harmony. We will love one another, just as our Lord loved us. This is not to say we will all be clones, but that we might be able to use our different distinctiveness’s in unity.

A church which does the will of her Lord will be a happy church. For in him we find our chief enjoyment.

×’Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.
My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands.
Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes.
Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.
Your statutes are my delight; they are my counsellors.

Psalm 119:17-24

As a disciple of Jesus, Peter was beginning to understand who Jesus was and why he was on earth. In order to help him along, Jesus gave him a glimpse of his true glory, transfigured with Moses and Elijah. This wasn’t some escape from reality, but it was reality revealed. This was a glimpse of the world as it really is, not just the material, but the spiritual as well.

Peter was right when he remarked

Rabbi, it is good for us to be here… Mk 9:5

but had misunderstood the point of him being there when he said

Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Mk 9:5

For this glimpse of reality was to be merely that. A lesson in what it meant to follow Jesus, to listen to him because his authority came from heaven. They weren’t meant to stay in this state, but to go out into the world to spread the good news of the messiah, the Lamb of God who had come to deliver them from sin.

Just as Peter needed a glimpse of reality in order to be able to do his work, we need glimpses of reality through the word of God. We are so prone to forgetting that there is more to reality than what we can sense. We are to listen to his word, both in private study, and in meeting together to listen and to discuss, that we may know God better and so have a true view of reality.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mk 8:34-38

Here, Jesus speaks of the costs associated with following him.

1. Those who follow Christ will seek to put Christ first, rather than themselves. It is expressed in one of the earliest and most fundamental Christian confessions – Jesus is Lord. It is important to note that self-denial doesn’t make one a Christian, but being a Christian causes one to be self-denying.
   Just as litmus paper turning red doesn’t make a substance acidic, but shows the acidity of a substance, self-denial is the mark of a Christian.
   This is not to say Christians will be perfect, for there are still remnants of the old sinful, self-seeking, nature, but someone who claims to be a Christian but shows no hint of self-denial needs to examine themselves.
   It is also important to note that this self-denial is not the same as being joyless or ascetic, for if we put Christ first, his joy will be in us and will be made complete.
2. This self-denial won’t be easy – Jesus likens it to taking up a cross. For although our salvation is given freely, it will be cost us many things in this world. It requires a constant battle against the old, self-seeking, nature. It may cost us many things which this world counts as worthy, such as money and status. However, we can take none of this with us when we die.
3. Despite how much personal cost is involved, a look at the bigger picture brings it all into perspective. When you consider how much this cost God, who gave his Son as a ransom for many. When you consider that Jesus Christ laid down his life of his own accord for his people.
   

   Were the whole realm of nature mine,
   That were a present far too small;
   Love so amazing, so divine,
   Demands my soul, my life, my all. Isaac Watts

Of the many subjects the bible speaks about, and the book of Proverbs in particular, money is one of the most frequent. Wise use of money is a mark of godliness.

It can be easy to fall into a simplistic trap of thinking that being poor is a virtue and that being rich is sinful, yet the writer of Proverbs thinks otherwise…

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. Pr 30:8,9

Money can be used wisely, for the glory of God. For money is the means by which we, and our families, physically are sustained. If we are unable to provide for our families, Paul is quite unequivocal.

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Ti 5:8

Whether this is as a husband, or a father to provide daily bread for one’s family, or as a son or daughter who earns enough to pay for their keep and maybe even support one’s parents. We are to work to earn money that we may support our families. In keeping with this, we are to spend our money wisely, not frivolously, to spend only that which we have, and not borrow unnecessarily.

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Pr 22:7

We are even to save, but not hoard, such that we are able to provide for others in the future. In our investments, we are to be ethical, being careful to see our money is used wisely. Money may provide some measure of security – a roof over our head and food on the table, but we are not to trust in it.

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. Pr 13:11

As well as spending and saving money for our families, we are to share it, giving generously to those in need.

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Pr 11:24,25

This is not to say we’ll be a soft-touch for those seeking a lazy life, but we are to give those who really are in need of, and would benefit greatly from, financial assistance. Nor are we to pay the debts, or put our money down as security, of those who are unwise with money.

He who puts up security for another will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe. Pr 11:15

We must be careful who we lend money, that it may be used wisely.

Finally, money cannot buy salvation. He who dies with the most toys leaves the most toys. It cannot be taken with us when we die. The debt we owe God cannot be repaid with money.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Pe 1:18,19

Will we place priority on settling our accounts with God?

ב
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Ps 119:9-16

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 Jn  5:21

As John closes his letter, he exhorts his readers to keep themselves from worshipping anything which isn’t the true and living God. We so easily take that which God has given us for our benefit, in its rightful place, and place it above God. To take the created and put it in place of the Creator. He writes as though to children, those who are vulnerable and in need of protection from Satan and the world.

Whilst we may not necessarily bow down to graven images, we can so easily form other idols. Saying that, it’s even possible to Christianise idolatory of the graven image kind and refer to it as veneration.

Less obvious forms of idolatory may include the worship of things.

No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Mt 6:24

This may happen through the accumulation of wealth, in search of security and influence, and the over indulgence of the care of these things. Whilst possession of things is not sinful in and of itself, it can easily become our god. Whether it is the stockpile of money to increase our power, or the car which is more than well-maintained, but ‘pimped’, it becomes more than it should be.

Following on from that, the desire to own things may also be an idol – coveteousness.

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. Ex 20:17

This can easily beset both rich and poor, married and single, and become an idol as one seeks to gain relationships and things in the belief they will bring that which only God can provide.

Idolatory can be in the form of people worship, whether it is the adoration of footballers, through to Christianised adoration of preachers and ministers. It can leave us unthinking and uncritical, following men instead of the word of God.

In addition, we may place traditions above that of the word of God. The justification of something by tradition, that “We’ve always done things this way”, is not always sufficient. This is not to say tradition is bad, but that we must always think about why it is done.

Our jobs, the status they bring, the salaries they command can become our god. We can end up living to work, instead of living for God.

One final possible form of idolatory may be our interests. They may take more time than is reasonable, they may become an obsession. Keeping a garden beautiful can be a good thing, but it may become a bad thing and be all-consuming.

With all this in mind, we realise we are so susceptible to idolatory, and must seek to be on our guard that we avoid temptation, that we might worship the one true living God, that he alone might be glorified.

During his reign, King David looked at his palace and compared it with the tabernacle of the Lord. He considered that God should dwell in a structure more magnificent than his own. Of course, the tabernacle was merely a tent for meeting with God, in which the Ark resided containing the covenant God had made with his people. God could never be contained within a tent, building or even the whole universe. It was left to his son, Solomon to build a permanent structure in which God could be met.

After the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, when the people approached, they pleaded not in their name but in the name of David, the anointed one of God. They knew they weren’t worthy themselves to approach God, to plead the covenant God had made with David.

For though God had declined David’s desire to build him a house, God promised to build a house for David. A house which would never fall, but would last for ever. For it is through the line of David, that the King of kings and Lord of lords would be, Jesus Christ.

For through Jesus Christ, God would truly dwell amongst men, in the hearts of all who believed in the Christ. Through Jesus Christ, men would be able to plead before God, not claiming any righteousness of their own for they have none, but pleading solely in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

After healing the woman, some servants of Jairus told their master his daughter had died and so he might as well leave Jesus. If Jesus were a mere man, this would’ve been a reasonable thing to do, but Jesus wasn’t merely a man. Their response demonstrated they didn’t really know who Jesus was. Jesus told Jairus to believe in him, and Jairus did just that. Jarirus continued with Jesus back to his home, along with Peter, James and John. Jesus was careful who the witnesses to his next miracle would be. He dismissed the professional mourners, and then demonstrates his uniqueness – with a word Jairus’ daughter is reanimated, she has been brought back to life. This same God who said “Let there be…” at the beginning, now says “Get up”, and at his command it happens. He is not content just to leave it at that though, for Jesus shows his compassion by remembering the important things amongst the commotion of the celebration – he requests food for the girl.

Similarly, Jesus is uniquely able to save us from death, to save us from our sin, if we turn to him and believe in him. With the same creating power he is able take us as we are and to make us a new creation, not leaving us as we are, but supplying his Spirit for our spiritual growth.