What the father needs to do

Job 1:4-5 read:

And his sons went and feasted [in their] houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of [their] feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings [according] to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

Today is the New Year's Eve and Esther and Tim are excited about the parties they are planning to attend. Since the winter breaks started and Esther arrived to Korea, they went out each night to meet with their friends.

They are like Job's children who went and feasted in their houses.

What did the father do when his children were enjoying themselves? Job "sanctified them" by rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings.

May I learn from Job how to be a good father!

Sons of God

As I was reading Genesis and Job, I came upon the phrase "sons of God". People explain the meaning of the phrase in various ways but I wanted to know what the Bible say about it. Rather than relying on what theologians say about it, I like what the Bible explains itself.


Here are the instances where the phrase comes up in the Bible:

Gen 6:2	That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:4	There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.
Job 1:6	Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job 2:1	Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 38:7	When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Jhn 1:12	But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
Rom 8:14	For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:19	For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Phl 2:15	That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
1Jo 3:1	Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jo 3:2	Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

for in his days was the earth divided

Genesis 10:25 reads:

And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.

I used to think that this verse had something to do with continental drift. However Dr. John Morris of ICR points out in "What Happened in the Days of Peleg?" that

while continental separation is well supported, it is still unproven, and very likely unprovable ... The traditional interpretation relates Peleg's day to the division of language/family groups at the Tower of Babel.

Outer Darkenss

Today I heard a message on Matthew 8:5-13, which talks about a centurion's sick servant. Jesus

marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

He continued, saying,

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In the past, I studied verses about "weeping and gnashing of teeth" and decided that people who were not saved were cast into the hell and there they were weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Today, though, the phrase "outer darkness" gave me a pause: Is outer darkness the hell or somewhere else? Who were the people that "shall be cast out into outer darkness", where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth?

John MacArthur answered similar questions at http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/70-13-17.htm:

Question

I have a question from Matthew 8:12. It says, “the sons of the kingdom should be cast into outer darkness, where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth.” I came from an organization where they teach that there are born-again Christians who, because they don’t live a holy, godly, Christian life, can forfeit the kingdom and wind up in this place of outer darkness. Do you believe in this? Or do you believe that all Christians will get into the kingdom, no matter how they live?

Answer

First of all, I don’t believe that kind of stuff, that Christians are going to wind up cast out of the kingdom, weeping, with gnashing of teeth. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and I have lost none of them,” John 6. None of them are going to be lost--none of them. Paul said, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul said, “What shall separate you from the love of God? Nothing. Life, death, principalities, powers--nothing,” Roman 8, “shall separate you.” Nothing. And, you’re saved because you were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that you might become like Jesus Christ. That is not going to be interrupted.

Now, you can’t lose your salvation. That’s clear as it can be in scripture. Second point: a Christian, by very nature, and by very desire, longs to live a holy life. That’s not the perfection of His life, but that’s the direction of it. So, a Christian--a true Christian--isn’t going to choose to live like that, or he’s not a true Christian. Right? Because a true Christian loves God, hates sin, and desires to obey. Doesn’t love God as fully as he should, doesn’t hate sin as much as he should, doesn’t obey as often as he should, but that’s the desire of his heart or her heart. If you’re truly saved, you’re going to pursue the right thing, you’re going to pursue the things of God, and you can’t lose your salvation.

Question (continued)

Just one more question? Who are the “sons of the kingdom” there in Matthew 8:12--who’s that talking about?

Answer (continued)

Jews. Jews, who had every right by birth into the line of Israel to inherit the kingdom promised to Israel, but they were going to wind up cast out of the very kingdom which was their inheritance and their birthright because they rejected the Messiah. They rejected Jesus Christ.

Matthew Henry said of this passage:

(2.) As to others. Christ takes occasion from hence to make a comparison between Jews and Gentiles, and tells them two things, which could not but be very surprising to them who had been taught that salvation was of the Jews.

[1.] That a great many of the Gentiles should be saved, v. 11. The faith of the centurion was but a specimen of the conversion of the Gentiles, and a preface to their adoption into the church. This was a topic our Lord Jesus touched often upon; he speaks it with assurance; I say unto you, "I that know all men;’’ and he could not say any thing more pleasing to himself, or more displeasing to the Jews; an intimation of this kind enraged the Nazarenes against him, Lu. 4:27. Christ gives us here an idea, First, of the persons that shall be saved; many from the east and the west: he had said (ch. 7:14), Few there be that find the way of life; and yet here many shall come. Few at one time, and in one place; yet, when they come altogether, they will be a great many. We now see but here and there one brought to grace; but we shall shortly see the Captain of our salvation bringing many sons to glory, Heb. 2:10. He will come with ten thousands of his saints (Jude 14), with such a company as no man can number (Rev. 7:9); with nations of them that are saved, Rev. 21:24. They shall come from the east and from the west; places far distant from each other; and yet they shall all meet at the right hand of Christ, the Centre of their unity. Note, God has his remnant in all places; from the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, Mal. 1:11. The elect will be gathered from the four winds, ch. 24:31. They are sown in the earth, some scattered in every corner of the field. The Gentile world lay from east to west, and they are especially meant here; though they were strangers to the covenant of promise now, and had been long, yet who knows what hidden ones God had among them then? As in Elijah’s time in Israel (1 Ki. 19:14), soon after which they flocked into the church in great multitudes, Isa. 60:3, 4. Note, When we come to heaven, as we shall miss a great many there, that we thought had been going thither, so we shall meet a great many there, that we did not expect. Secondly, Christ gives us an idea of the salvation itself. They shall come, shall come together, shall come together to Christ, 2 Th. 2:1. 1. They shall be admitted into the kingdom of grace on earth, into the covenant of grace made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; they shall be blessed with faithful Abraham, whose blessing comes upon the Gentiles, Gal. 3:14. This makes Zaccheus a son of Abraham, Lu. 19:9. 2. They shall be admitted into the kingdom of glory in heaven. They shall come cheerfully, flying as doves to their windows; they shall sit down to rest from their labours, as having done their day’s work; sitting denotes continuance: while we stand, we are going; where we sit, we mean to stay; heaven is a remaining rest, it is a continuing city; they shall sit down, as upon a throne (Rev. 3:21); as at a table; that is the metaphor here; they shall sit down to be feasted; which denotes both fulness of communication, and freedom and familiarity of communion, Lu. 22:30. They shall sit down with Abraham. They who in this world were ever so far distant from each other in time, place, or outward condition, shall all meet together in heaven; ancients and moderns, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor. The rich man in hell sees Abraham, but Lazarus sits down with him, leaning on his breast. Note, Holy society is a part of the felicity of heaven; and they on whom the ends of the world are come, and who are most obscure, shall share in glory with the renowned patriarchs.

[2.] That a great many of the Jews should perish, v. 12. Observe,

First, A strange sentence passed; The children of the kingdom shall be cast out; the Jews that persist in unbelief, though they were by birth children of the kingdom, yet shall be cut off from being members of the visible church: the kingdom of God, of which they boasted that they were the children, shall be taken from them, and they shall become not a people, not obtaining mercy, Rom. 11:20; 9:31. In the great day it will not avail men to have been children of the kingdom, either as Jews or as Christians; for men will then be judged, not by what they were called, but by what they were. If children indeed, then heirs; but many are children in profession, in the family, but not of it, that will come short of the inheritance. Being born of professing parents denominates us children of the kingdom; but if we rest in that, and have nothing else to show for heaven but that, we shall be cast out.

Secondly, A strange punishment for the workers of iniquity described; They shall be cast into outer darkness, the darkness of those that are without, of the Gentiles that were out of the church; into that the Jews were cast, and into worse; they were blinded, and hardened, and filled with terrors, as the apostle shows, Rom. 11:8–10. A people so unchurched and given up to spiritual judgments, are in utter darkness already: but it looks further, to the state of damned sinners in hell, to which the other is a dismal preface. They shall be cast out from God, and all true comfort, and cast into darkness. In hell there is fire, but no light; it is utter darkness; darkness in extremity; the highest degree of darkness, without any remainder, or mixture, or hope, of light; not the least gleam or glimpse of it; it is darkness that results from their being shut out of heaven, the land of light; they who are without, are in the regions of darkness; yet that is not the worst of it, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 1. In hell there will be great grief, floods of tears shed to no purpose; anguish of spirit preying eternally upon the vitals, in the sense of the wrath of God, is the torment of the damned. 2. Great indignation: damned sinners will gnash their teeth for spite and vexation, full of the fury of the Lord; seeing with envy the happiness of others, and reflecting with horror upon the former possibility of their own being happy, which is now past.

More Bible Verses

에베소서 2:8-9
너희가 그 은혜를 인하여 믿음으로 말미암아 구원을 얻었나니 이것이 너희에게서 난 것이 아니요 하나님의 선물이라
행위에서 난 것이 아니니 이는 누구든지 자랑치 못하게 함이니라

로마서 12:2
너희는 이 세대를 본받지 말고 오직 마음을 새롭게 함으로 변화를 받아 하나님의 선하시고 기뻐하시고 온전하신 뜻이 무엇인지 분별하도록 하라

사무엘상 17:47
또 여호와의 구원하심이 칼과 창에 있지 아니함을 이 무리로 알게 하리라 전쟁은 여호와께 속한 것인즉 그가 너희를 우리 손에 붙이시리라

잠언 1:7
여호와를 경외하는 것이 지식의 근본이어늘 미련한 자는 지혜와 훈계를 멸시하느니라

다니엘 2:44
이 열왕의 때에 하늘의 하나님이 한 나라를 세우시리니 이것은 영원히 망하지도 아니할 것이요 그 국권이 다른 백성에게로 돌아가지도 아니할 것이요 도리어 이 모든 나라를 쳐서 멸하고 영원히 설 것이라

마태복음 7:15
거짓 선지자들을 삼가라 양의 옷을 입고 너희에게 나아오나 속에는 노략질하는 이리라

에베소서 5:3
음행과 온갖 더러운 것과 탐욕은 너희 중에서 그 이름이라도 부르지 말라 이는 성도의 마땅한 바니라

사도행전 9:15
주께서 가라사대 가라 이 사람은 내 이름을 이방인과 임금들과 이스라엘 자손들 앞에 전하기 위하여 택한 나의 그릇이라

고린도후서 13:13
주 예수 그리스도의 은혜와 하나님의 사랑과 성령의 교통하심이 너희 무리와 함께 있을찌어다

Bible Verses

주께서 호령과 천사장의 소리와 하나님의 나팔로 친히 하늘로 좇아 강림하시리니 그리스도 안에서 죽은 자들이 먼저 일어나고 그 후에 우리 살아 남은 자도 저희와 함께 구름 속으로 끌어 올려 공중에서 주를 영접하게 하시리니 그리하여 우리가 항상 주와 함께 있으리라 (살전 4:16-17)

근신하라 깨어라 너희 대적 마귀가 우는 사자 같이 두루 다니며 삼킬 자를 찾나니 너희는 믿음을 굳게 하여 저를 대적하라 이는 세상에 있는 너희 형제들도 동일한 고난을 당하는 줄을 앎이니라 (벧전 5:8-9)

큰 집에는 금과 은의 그릇이 있을뿐 아니요 나무와 질그릇도 있어 귀히 쓰는 것도 있고 천히 쓰는 것도 있나니 그러므로 누구든지 이런 것에서 자기를 깨끗하게 하면 귀히 쓰는 그릇이 되어 거룩하고 주인의 쓰심에 합당하며 모든 선한 일에 예비함이 되리라 (딤후 2:20-21)

주께서 가라사대 가라 이 사람은 내 이름을 이방인과 임금들과 이스라엘 자손들 앞에 전하기 위하여 택한 나의 그릇이라 (행 9:15)

무엇이든지 구하는 바를 그에게 받나니 이는 우리가 그의 계명들을 지키고 그 앞에서 기뻐하시는 것을 행함이라 (요일 3:22)

무릇 더러운 말은 너희 입밖에도 내지 말고 오직 덕을 세우는데 소용되는대로 선한 말을 하여 듣는 자들에게 은혜를 끼치게 하라 (엡 4:29)

나는 인애를 원하고 제사를 원치 아니하며 번제보다 하나님을 아는 것을 원하노라 (호 6:6)

너는 말씀을 전파하라 때를 얻든지 못 얻든지 항상 힘쓰라 범사에 오래 참음과 가르침으로 경책하며 경계하며 권하라 (딤후 4:2)

평강의 하나님이 친히 너희로 온전히 거룩하게 하시고 또 너희 온 영과 혼과 몸이 우리 주 예수 그리스도 강림하실 때에 흠없게 보전되기를 원하노라 (살전 5:23)

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

1. My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

Refrain

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

2. Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.

Refrain

3. My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s Name,
Salvation through His blood.

Refrain

4. My great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.

Refrain