“Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 4:6
Busy is good, but peace and a settled life is better, or a combination of both things, each in its proper context.
Better to have a bit less of this worlds good and have a peaceable life, than to be constantly striving for more and more, either money or success. To be constantly working and wearing yourself out, is a striving after the wind and therefore a fools game.
Many work very hard to get the so-called better things in life, but fill their life with sorrow and hard labour, that benefits them nothing and is wasted by others. Let other people make their own way and find ways to do the things they want to do, through their own ingenuity. Constantly labouring for the riches that will never satisfy anyone, is folly.
Less is better with peace…
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
1 Timothy 6:6-10
This expands the idea that Solomon is telling us, but with the perspective of the gospel age. Christ has come. God has invaded the territory of humankind and has provided a salvation that deals with our deepest of needs. God has made it possible for us to know eternal life, and the things of this world pale into insignificance. To be a godly person and be content with that, is great gain. We are thankful for the temporal provisions of this life, and are happy and thankful for them.
To chase after the wind and want all the other things in life that riches can buy, leads us into many hurtful and foolish desires, that harm our souls and lead us into slavery again. Paul, writes to Timothy, and talks about drowning people who chase the vanity and are ruined in the process. Many walk in these shoes, but we don’t have to. Even some Christians have been led astray and have pierced their life through with many sorrows from their greed and love of money and what it can buy.
Once again, we leave it all behind and enter the eternal kingdom with nothing but our souls and what they have become. It is futile to chase the physical provisions of life and lose our peace. Many choose them and lose their souls, preferring the pleasures of a sinful life, rather than the riches of eternity.
Less is more. Have a little of what you need and be at peace, rather than pursue the desire for more things, and the money you need to buy them, ending up spending your life striving for things that never satisfy you, or those around you.
“But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.”
“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
Genesis 5:24
Walking with God is not a romantic pursuit. We are not holy people, and our human heart is always at enmity with the Lord. Our will does not want to cooperate and we will not conform to the image of Christ. The heart wants it own way and will wriggle and squirm and justify itself until it gets what it wants.
‘I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.”
Romans 7:21-23
The writer of Romans, Paul, is speaking to Christians. There remains in our being the indwelling presence and power of sin, which causes the Christian much discomfort. God has given His gracious Holy Spirit within us, and we now desire the good and we delight to do God’s will and obey His commands, but there is another law of sin right there, making a constant war in our minds and seeking to bring us again under its captivity.
The life of the Christian is a war zone, in the fight against this now unwanted part of our being. We desire Christ and His ways, but there is always the in dwelling influence of sin aggravating us and wanting to put itself forward to be noticed and fed and obeyed.
Walking with God always involves this fight. It is not a peaceable road with ourselves, but the constant acquiescing to the grace and mercy of God, and the putting to death the old sinful self that will carp and scratch right to the every end. Our minds will wander and deceive us, which is why we need the Scriptures to keep us right and true. Our hearts will desire any number of things that we think we need and should have, and will never be satisfied with the daily provision of the Lord.
Our desires must always be kept in check. We wander all over the world to find what we want, and in the end, nothing actually satisfies us, because we have the Spirit of Christ, which is only satisfied in God.
The daily use and skilful battles using the sword of the Spirit, is our only hope. Without this sword of the Word of God, we are without defence and leave ourselves open to attack and lack of defence without it’s eternal wisdom. We learn to wield it with skill and precision and learn to interpret it according to the truth of God, as revealed in it. As we understand and meditate and obey it, we are made strong in the Lord our God and our desires are better served to follow and walk with Him.
Everything goes on the altar. Nothing is held back, no secret or favoured sins that we justify and enjoy. The sinful part of us will hide and try to keep back something for itself, but we are ruthless with the sword and bring all things into subjection under the rule of Christ in our life. Temptations will come and we have to learn to lay straight paths for our feet, so that we do not fall into these temptations easily.
We pray against the enemy and this is our constant petition, that we enter not into temptation, but are delivered from the evil, that our pathway with God is not disturbed and interrupted with foolish disobedience and self-seeking.
The promotion of self is a big problem. The desire to be seen and known is huge within us and the idea of spending a quiet life with God, is not really what we want. The risings of the inner selfish person, must be dealt with and we examine ourselves at every point to ensure we are walking in the will of the Lord and not our own conceits.
Self will overcome and blot out the sight of the Saviour. Self will want to be seen and known, rather than allow God to shine through. Self will put itself on the throne of our lives really quickly and efficiently, for it is the great usurper.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.”
Romans 8:5-8
It we pander to our flesh, it will quickly overcome us and the door will open for all kinds of iniquities that we dont even recognise or notice. The Christian who walks with God will have a sensitive conscience and will be very sensitive to the inroads of sin in their life. This is the awareness of the growing holiness that God desires and requires of us as His people.
“Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13-16
This is a directive and not a request. It involves every part of us, mind, emotions, desires and actions. We are ignorant no longer, for we have the very Word of God to direct us and give us the motivation and power to obey its precepts. We fight to follow them and live our life for the Lord. We have the power of the Spirit within to enable us to obey and encourage us to turn from sin and obey in every circumstance. We will do this as we learn to fight and learn to walk humbly with the Lord in each passing moment.
“Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.”
1 Peter 1:17
We don’t belong in this world any longer and do not conform to this ways and strategies. God will judge each of us in an impartial manner because he is holy and has no favourites. He does not regard one child in His family above another, and looks for holiness of life and demeanour first and foremost. We do not disappoint Him, but put down all that belongs to the old way of life that we have left to follow our Saviour and Lord.
We are redeemed by Christ away from the empty life we learned from our forefathers, and we follow the way of the Word. This is the walk of holiness with God and the sure and certain way to heaven.
There is no record in Scripture of anything Enoch said or did, only that he walked with God. There are no great exploits that he seemed to do which warranted a Bible book about him, but he remains a spiritual giant in the holy record. We learn from him and learn to walk humbly with our God and love Him first and foremost. All other loves pale into insignificance, and our life is and given over to the Lord and to follow beside Him and walk in His ways.
As we step over the threshold of life an death, there will be no difference in our soul, for we will walk close to our Master, and be so like Him, that we will want Him above all others. This is the end of life for the Christian person, who loves the Lord their God with a true heart and has walked with Him all the weary days of this present life. Glory will unfold and we will see Him, who we desire most and our fight will be over. We can lay down our weapons and enter into the joy of the Lord.
When we are bereft of all human love, this love holds us fast – the love of the Saviour who laid down His life, so that we could live.
No other love is like this love. This love is eternal, beginning in eternity and never ending. A love for His people that transcended time and space and laid aside all glory, so that the rescue plan to save His lost ones could be effected.
A love so great is caused Him to sweat great drops of blood in the anticipation of the horror He would have to face. A devotion to His people, so great, that it kept Him on the cruel cross until the exacting price was paid. A depth of emotion so great, that it faced hell, rather than loose the sinners He so loved. This is the quality of our Beloved Lord and God and the quality of the work He accomplished in Calvary’s cross.
He paid it all and shed His precious blood, so that He could redeem us back to God from the prison of eternal damnation and a life without this love. We are that precious to Him and nothing can take us away from Him. We cost the highest of prices, and the depths of despair for our Saviour, because His everlasting love surpassed the contemplation of the cost to Himself.
He saved us, but did not save Himself. He loved us so perfectly, that He held back nothing so that we could belong to Him forever. His love is so strong, nothing can break it, water it down, or cause it to leave. His love is perfect because He is perfect, and no one or no force created can lead us away from His heart.
We are forever safe in the loving arms of the shepherd and sanctifier of our souls. We should be the happiest people in the world. There is no one like the Lord Jesus, and He is ours because we are His.
Why look for another? The other will surely fail, because no one can measure up to eternal love, except the eternal God. All other loves will disappoint us and only make us cynical and untrusting. The love of Christ can never fail and to rest on Him is life and peace. His love is able to make us worthy of such a love, and lift us out of the disappointment in human life and the degradation of our natural human hearts.
We can also have this love, for the righteousness of Christ is transferred to us, that we might love Him back and love each other with the same, unending love. We can trust and we can express this deepest of loves as we love and serve each other.
Even if I never know another love but this love, I have experienced the greatest of loves and am satisfied. To know this love is the greatest love story of all time and to walk with Him is the love story the human heart most craves.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
It is a statement of unconditional fact, that we are eternally loved. It is based on the promises of God and therefore cannot fail.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
It is a promise of eternal worth, because of who who has spoken it.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
It is a statement that will hold true through the countless ages of eternity and will never lessen or lose its potency.
Who would pass over the opportunity to know such a love? Who would miss out on being the recipient of such a love? Who would not want to have such a love to experience and to have for others too?
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord…”
The blood of Christ atones for our sin. After the sin was confessed onto the head of the animal, and the animal was killed, one of the things the priest did was to put the blood on the horns of the altar.
The horns of the altar was the place of the authority and justice of the Holy God. God is holy and His righteous laws must be obeyed. Human beings deliberately disobey His laws and are therefore separated from God. Because God is holy He will punish sin, which is the one thing that destroys our world and will lead us into spiritual death forever. God is not willing that we should perish in this way, so He has provided a way of escape. This is why Jesus came to die. These Old Testament scenes of the sacrifices for sin, were just pictures of what Jesus was coming to do.
So the righteousness of God must be satisfied. The price of sin is very serious, it results in death, and therefore the animal had to die. The blood was shed to make recompense for the sin of the person who made the sacrifice. The blood was applied to the place of the authority and justice of God, to show that the applied blood could make the payment for the sin of the person.
The blood on the horns of the altar would satisfy the justice of God, because the price of sin had been paid. God was pleased because the sin was wiped out and He could forgive the person for their sin against Him.
So this picture shows us the aspects of the death of the Lord Jesus, as the atonement for sin. He is the perfect sacrifice for sin, and is able to save all those who come to Him. The shedding of His blood has paid the price for our sin and He can wipe it out. Only he can make us clean. His sacrifice was so powerful and so deep, and His blood is so righteous, that he is able to save us. He has paid the awful price for our sin, so that we can go free. He lost His life, so that we could gain ours. This is the love of the Saviour of the world. He is willing and able to to take on the punishment that we should have had, and take the blame and the shame and pay that price to set us free from these things.
The death of Christ was what it took to satisfy the holiness of God and to deal with sin. This speaks to us of the purity and righteousness of God, and also the very deep sinfulness of sin in us. We should run from our sin and run to Christ for forgiveness. All who come to Him in faith are never sent away. He is the loving Lord and ready to forgive us.
His blood is sufficient to cleanse us and keep us and bring us safely to heaven at the end.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7
Jesus is able to save us, and what a Saviour, that He can wipe out all sin and make us clean and holy before God the Father. How good to know that there is no more punishment hanging over us and we are free people.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1
We are therefore free people, and we can now stand in the presence of the Father and speak with Him, serve Him and worship Him. What privileges we enjoy and what peace we have with God, because of Jesus our Saviour and Lord. It is no wonder that Christians love Jesus, and when we see the pictures in the Word of God more clearly, it makes us love Him more.
What He endured for us, we can never really contemplate, but it was such a deep work, that it satisfied the righteous requirements of the holy law of God, and we get to enjoy the outcome of what He did on the cross. We will never have to suffer for our sin, because of Jesus.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:2-4
The law could never save us, but the love of the eternal Saviour has done so. We can now walk in the power of the Spirit of God and live righteous lives before the Lord. The power of the hold of the flesh is now broken in us, and we are free to obey and do what is right.
Such is the power of the shed blood and the righteousness of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We can now walk as he walked and please the Lord.
“The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind. Again, I saw futility under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 4:5-7
The folly of not trying and not striving leads to loss. The road to ruin is that we are lazy and complacent and do not get what we want, because we do not try. We are constantly dissatisfied and unhappy. We lack because we do not work and do not work because we are lazy…
The complacent are happy with very little and sit down, fold there hands in peace and tranquility and are therefore ruined, as their business fails.
Hard work does pay off, both for the person working and for the people they are serving. To try to do well is a positive characteristic of a good worker. A constant person will strive to be excellent and not settle for second best. The lazy person is careless and settles for less than acceptable. Their work goes unrewarded and they remain at the bottom of the ladder of success with very little to show for it.
Sitting down on the job, is the lazy person’s folly. The busy person will do well and be noticed for doing a good job in the end. Everyone benefits from the example and work of a busy person.
Busy is good, but peace and a settled life is better, or a combination of both things, each in its proper context.
Better to have a bit less of this worlds good and have a peaceable life, than to be constantly striving for more and more, either money or success. To be constantly working and wearing yourself out, is a striving after the wind and therefore a fools game.
Many work very hard to get so-called better things in life, but fill their life with sorrow and hard labour, that benefits them nothing and is wasted by others. Let other people make their own way and find ways to do the things they want to do, through their own ingenuity.
Less is better with peace…
Everything is futile and ultimately, a striving to catch the wind.
This is a repeated message. Everything that is pointed out here in this book, except one thing, is futility. Vanity dogs the steps of everything we do and touch. Only the worship and remembrance of our Creator is worth anything. To know Him is everything, and He gives life, peace and meaning to it all.
We listen to the words of the wise Teacher and learn…
“He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:39
If I try to keep my life to myself, I will lose it… but if I give it away to God, I will find it…
When we come to God for a new life, we give ourselves away to Him, and our life becomes a sacrifice of praise to the Lord. He will take us and take away our sin and give us new desires after Himself. We will want to the things that He wants and want to please Him by keeping our lives free from the guilt of sin. Sin only spoils us and the sins that infest our hearts will only ruin our lives. It will also drag us down to an eternity without the Lord and we will find ourselves in a place where our souls are lost to God and all goodness and love forever. The stakes here, are high, they couldn’t be higher.
If we refuse God and try to hold onto our lives, we will eventually lose our lives and find ourselves just living for this life. We will lose heaven and the blessed life there, with God in peace and joy. We will gain only the punishment for our own sin and an eternity away from all goodness, joy, peace and love. We will find ourselves in darkness and destitution forever.
Not only will we lose heaven, but there will be no real spiritual life in our earthly life at all, and we will not have the presence and help of God in our daily life. We may find ourselves in the situation of having a false confession in the first place, and perhaps we did not really repent at all. There will be those who think they belong to God but do not, they are just keeping rules to make themselves feel better. Their lives are still their own, and they are living them in their own way.
To lose our life to God, means that we find it. We find out the person we could be and find ourselves desiring holiness and goodness and to wanting to obey and please the Lord. This person pleases the Lord and knows His closeness and blessing in all things. This person is never alone, though all others forsake them and leave them, God never will. Their life is a sacrifice and they give up the right to the easy life, following the crowd in sinful pursuits. They deliberately turn from the ways of self and selfishness and turn to the ways of the Lord.
It is a big challenge, as we find that everything must go, and all secret and favourite sins must be relinquished. If we do not, we cannot enter in and will not be walking with God. Only the person who is living in the power of the Holy Spirit can do this, or even have the desire to do this. This lifestyle is unattractive to the unforgiven person, since they have no gratefulness to the Lord for what He has done for them. They will have no appreciation of the spiritual and will only be concerned about the fleshly desires of their human heart. There is no sacrifice of praise and no peace offerings made in gratefulness to the Lord.
We follow the pathways of soul and not the ways of the flesh. The soul must first be alive to God, have the sin dealt with in the heart, and have a complete change of mind and will towards God. The pathway of the Christian can only be walked in the power of the Spirit, because we can only overcome our sin, our sinful desires, the temptations of the evil one and the lure of this world, in God’s power. This is how we save our lives. We give our lives away to God, and He gives us the ability to have the spiritual victory and practical victory too, over our sin, temptation and weaknesses.
There is a war in our hearts against the Lord, and to get the victory over ourselves, we must surrender to the Lord. We can never win this war and it is foolish to try. Only as we give ourselves away to Him, do we find that we actually have the victory over our sinful self, in His strength. The defeat of self, is the whole point. We ask God to make us the people we should be, not what our faulty judgment wants for ourselves.! God remakes us and conquers the deadening effects on sin in our hearts, minds and souls, when we come to Him. He gives the victory and we find ourselves doing and saying things that please Him and give us joy. There is no other way, for we are dead in sin without the forgiveness and power of God in our lives.
If I lose my life by giving it to God as a sweet sacrifice, I will find will my life in all its fullness. It will be different from what I would choose, but it will be perfect for me. God will work our His purposes in my life and I will experience joy and peace in trusting in Him and not in myself.
“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.”
“If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar;”
Leviticus 1:14-15
The people of God had to continually offer sacrifices of blood to the Lord as recompense for their sins. The Word of God is clear about the seriousness of sin and the price that must be exacted to pay for its deadly outcomes and hold over the soul that sins.
“According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Hebrews 9:22
God brings home to us the seriousness of sin, and continuing to sin, by requiring such sacrifices from the people. We do not realise the seriousness of the wrong that we harbour in our minds, because we have a sinful nature that is at enmity with God. God is not willing that anyone should perish, so He makes a way for salvation through the shedding of blood.
The shed blood is not the blood of animals or birds, but the blood of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has willingly given His own life on the cross to pay for our rottenness and deal with our guilt. When we put our trust in what are did for us, the sin is removed forever and the guilt is covered. The death of animals does not take away sin, but the perfect sacrifice of Christ is able to remove the sin and deal with the sinful nature, putting a new nature within us and making us righteous before the holy God.
Because of the death of our Saviour, He can take away the guilt and fear that surrounds the awareness of our sin in us, and set us free for its deadly grip. What a privilege it is to belong to Him and to have such an amazing salvation.!
“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation–which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;”
Hebrews 2:3
How will we be able to stand before God if we have deliberately neglected to take possession of this salvation? There is no other remedy for sin and we can never pay for it ourselves. When we hear this message it should bring us to the love of Christ and we should embrace it with gladness. But we do not. We run away and try to not think about it, preferring our own sinful lives rather than the new life we are promised in Christ. We don’t want to give up our sin, but want to hold on to the familiarity of our mindset and cold heart toward the Lord. This is a dangerous place to be.
“Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”
Hebrews 3:15
The people of God refused to believe and hardened their hearts towards the Lord. They rebelled and God gave them what they chose. They wandered for forty years in the wildness and all died in that wilderness because of their refusal to accept what God had provided for them. So also we face the inevitable condemnation of God if we refuse such a great salvation. There is nothing we have to do, but accept the gift of love and repent of our wrong ways. God gives us this complete forgiveness and brings us in to His own family circle and makes us kings and priests to God. What would we pass over such an amazing offer of forgiveness? It is indeed folly…
The birds were given as sacrifice by the poorer people in the community, who could not afford an animal. God provided a way of escape from the punishment of sin for everyone, not just those who could afford it. The birds were not grand bird of prey, of colourful birds for show, but humble and gentle birds, of pigeons or turtle doves. The gentle and the innocent had to die for the guilty. So we see another picture of the suffering Saviour, innocent and kind, suffering on a cruel cross for the sins of you and I. The birds were as acceptable to God as much as the animals, and were the expression of complete sacrifice of self on the altar of God. The sacrifice was of the whole bird and and complete death of the creature. So we put to death our sinful life and place our broken lives on the altar of God, as a sweet sacrifice to the Lord. He will take us up and make us worthy to receive the salvation He has promised to all who come to Him in repentance and faith.
Why would we not come to Him in deep reverence and love reciprocated? He must come to our senses and accept the free offer of His mercy’s towards us.
“He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.”
Like 14:17
The Lord Jesus calls to us again, to come and enjoy the banquet of love He has prepared for us. It is all ready. It is completed. There is nothing else for us to do, but accept the offer of mercy and relinquish our hold on foolish sinful self determination and give our lives to Him. We will find Him to be everything we desire, if we just repent and believe.
“Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.”
Ecclesiastes 4:1
Solomon now turns his attention on the relationships between the various layers of society and the relationships between workers and managers or controllers of work situations. He is going to examine oppression and the suppression of the human spirit by the cares and circumstances of this life we live on earth, and by the hierarchical relationships in work and social settings.
Solomon looks at the work of all the oppressors under the sun, those who control the work place, or other organisational settings, according to the principles of this world. He sees the compulsion to work in order to live, and the necessity of putting the person’s life under the authority of the manager or “bosses.” The oppression that goes along with it, is systemic, and it radiates from the human heart as the desire to control others and situations for ones own ends. It is the accepted way of this world, and the systems and structures that are set up, contribute to the support of all the regimes that we all find ourselves under.
He sees the tears of the oppressed and there is no comfort for them in this life, or refuge for them to go. The oppressors hold all the cards and all authority and power is on their side, but the oppressed have nothing to comfort them in their pains. Those in control take control and keep control.
This is true for every generation and every era in human history. This is the way of the world and the way of politics and economics. It is the world system and it ruins people’s lives.
“Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
Psalm 12:5
God is always on the side of the oppressed. He will not stand by and see them ruined and constantly maligned. But the suffering of those who are taken advantage of is real, and we can see it in our world today and also in our own lives. The way the world has been set up by humans is that the oppressor always gets the upper hand, but not with God. God will not let oppression last forever, but will step in with justice and equity, and so also should we. We should have regard for those who suffer in this way. We should be on the side of those who fight for justice and equity and equal rights for all people. It is difficult to do this because groups that get together to do so, have other agendas too, which can lead us into other kinds of folly.
We all live in this world, wether we are Christians or not, and we all suffer from the effects of unfairness in some way at some time. We long for a different way, and revolutions start to try to release people from the vice they are held in with the “bosses” always holding the upper hand, but it ends in more oppression.
“You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. “‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
“‘You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbour in righteousness. “‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:13-18
God has another way, but it is not of this world. It will not take hold until the kingdom is come in all it’s fullness and evil is finally and irrevocably cast out by God. Until then, we have to live under the system – in the world, but not of the world.
It is easy to become an oppressor. You don’t have to be a big leader or a manager in an exalted position, or a “boss.” It is the motivation of the heart and the mindset of the person what makes them behave and speak in a particular way. You do not have to be in charge of big business or of some organisation, but just have the self- righteous mindset that you are always in the right and are in change of life. We can easily set ourself up as God and become the judge, jury and executioner of other people’s lives. We do this through what we say.
Slandering someone either outwardly or inwardly is speaking against the person unjustly. It is the same thing as gossip and should be strenuously avoided. If you have been on the wrong side of gossip, you will know how damaging it is and how unjust. The person being gossiped about has no recompense and no opportunity to defend themselves, therefore bad things are spoken with impunity and injustice is said and done. Slander and gossip affect the way we view the person being talked about, and can damage another person’s point of view, and cause unrest and heartache. We must not indulgence ourselves in this oppression, because it hurts the person being talked about and also damages our own credibility.
Oppression will never succeed, because God is against it, and neither will gossip or slander. It is easy to fall into it, and we have all done so, and must repent and return to the Lord. It is the way of the backslider, and engenders self-righteousness, which God hates. It also comes from self-righteousness, which is a heart sin and one we will always have to fight. This is the case for all sin, and what makes the Christian life difficult.
Most people who are oppressed at work, or in social settings have no place of comfort or refuge, but there is a refuge with the Lord. Those who turn to Him are not disappointed for let down, for He will surely rescue the innocent and convict the guilty. The Christian walks through life in the strength of the Lord, and not in their own strength, and this is what makes them over-comers. We fight unfairness with faith in God and the resilience that comes through the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
“ the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down. The LORD loves the righteous. The LORD preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.”
Psalm 146:8-9
This does not just apply to the issues of this life, but to spiritual life too. Those who are oppressed by their own sin, can find release and forgiveness in Christ. The Lord can open our spiritual eyes, and lift us up when we are sorrowful and repentant because of our sin, and He will make us righteous. He will not let us be oppressed by the wicked of this world, but will protect His people from harm and keep them in safety. Sin will not always rule in our mortal bodies, but one day we will be free from this arch-enemy. Until then, we fight our temptations one by one and deal with the sin that so easily besets us and put it away for us every time.
Not so the wicked who persist with their sins and find excuses for them. We must subdue the evil intent of our hearts and the wickedness that comes from our lips, and and deeds that follow on from them.
“… who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins;”
Colossians 1:13-14
As a Christian I am constantly oppressed by the sinfulness of my human, fleshly heart, and it always seeks to have the upper hand. It must be put to death and dealt with ruthlessly. I must identify this oppressor, and kill it dead or it will kill my spiritual life with God and render me an unprofitable servant.
“ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James 4:8-10
As we deal with the oppressor of sin, in our own lives, we can deal with the oppression of life on the outside music better and fight the fight of faith effectively. We will have the strength to pray and fight for others, so that they are over-comers too.
“You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ, doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching, the same has both the Father and the Son.”
2 John 1:7-9
What we believe about the person of Christ is of supreme importance. Jesus Christ is who He claims to be, the only begotten Son of the Father. The doctrine of Christ is the key belief in this short letter of the Apostle John to the elect lady referred to at the beginning of the letter. What we believe about Him is key, for we must put our faith in the real Jesus and not in a false God.
The first truth presented here, is the eternal existence of the Saviour. He is with the Father before the world was. He has always been with the Father and is the eternal Son of God, second person of the holy and loving trinity.
“…and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:22
The eternal Son of God humbled himself and laid aside His glory and took upon Himself human flesh, so that He could identify with us and be our Saviour.
“…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14
Jesus the eternal Son dwelt among us and walked the roads of earth, as an example for us, to live our lives in obedience to God, just as He did. He humbled Himself so that He could be the Saviour of the world, and die the death of a criminal to pay for the sin of his people.
“…And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:8
Jesus is the chosen servant of God, to bring many daughters and sons to glory in His purposes. Jesus is the perfect Saviour and the only worthy Lord of all things. He is the head of the church, which is His body. His suffering brought salvation for us and He is the only way to God.
“For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Hebrews 2:10
There is no other Saviour and no other hope for the human race, except faith in the one and only Son of the living God.
“Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole. He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’ There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
Acts 4:10-12
Jesus the Christ is the only mediator between God and humankind, and is the only one who can bring peace with God, through the atoning sacrifice of Himself on the cruel cross at Calvary. This was His express purpose in coming into the world, to be its Saviour and Lord.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
1 Timothy 2:5
There is no one else like the Lord Jesus. He is the supreme one, high above all others. No one is like Him, because of who He is. All things were made by Him, and everything that exists belongs to Him. He also upholds all things and keeps all things in existence and at work. He came into the world to die for sin, and when He had finished that work of redemption, He sat in His place of honour at the right Hand of God. This only is His prerogative.
“God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.”
Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus is so exalted because of who He is, what He has done and because He is perfect in his love of righteousness. Therefore, He is exalted to the highest place and is alone worthy of our praises.
“You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”
Hebrews 1:9
The only appropriate response to Him, our Saviour and Lord, is to put our complete faith in Him and what He has done for us. We repent of all our known sins and secret sins, which keep us away from Him and give our whole lives to Him. We fall at His feet and worship Him…
“I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honour, glory, and blessing!” I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honour, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” The four living creatures said, “Amen!” The elders fell down and worshiped.”
Daughters of the Kingdom 