November 17

John 11:45-57

[45] Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, [46] but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. [47] So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. [48] If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” [49] But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. [50] Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” [51] He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, [52] and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. [53] So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

[54] Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

[55] Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. [56] They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” [57] Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

1 John 4:1-6

[1] Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. [2] By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, [3] and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. [4] Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. [5] They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. [6] We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Job 15:17-35

    [17] “I will show you; hear me,

        and what I have seen I will declare 

    [18] (what wise men have told,

        without hiding it from their fathers, 

    [19] to whom alone the land was given,

        and no stranger passed among them). 

    [20] The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

        through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. 

    [21] Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

        in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. 

    [22] He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

        and he is marked for the sword. 

    [23] He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

        He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; 

    [24] distress and anguish terrify him;

        they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle. 

    [25] Because he has stretched out his hand against God

        and defies the Almighty, 

    [26] running stubbornly against him

        with a thickly bossed shield; 

    [27] because he has covered his face with his fat

        and gathered fat upon his waist 

    [28] and has lived in desolate cities,

        in houses that none should inhabit,

        which were ready to become heaps of ruins; 

    [29] he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

        nor will his possessions spread over the earth; 

    [30] he will not depart from darkness;

        the flame will dry up his shoots,

        and by the breath of his mouth he will depart. 

    [31] Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

        for emptiness will be his payment. 

    [32] It will be paid in full before his time,

        and his branch will not be green. 

    [33] He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

        and cast off his blossom like the olive tree. 

    [34] For the company of the godless is barren,

        and fire consumes the tents of bribery. 

    [35] They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,

        and their womb prepares deceit.”

Ezekiel 42

[1] Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. [2] The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits. [3] Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. [4] And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long, and their doors were on the north. [5] Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. [6] For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones. [7] And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. [8] For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the nave were a hundred cubits long. [9] Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

[10] In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers [11] with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits and arrangements and doors, [12] as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.

[13] Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the LORD shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. [14] When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people.”

[15] Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. [16] He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. [17] He measured the north side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. [18] He measured the south side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. [19] Then he turned to the west side and measured, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. [20] He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, 500 cubits long and 500 cubits broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common.

Ezekiel 43

[1] Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. [2] And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. [3] And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. [4] As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, [5] the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

[6] While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, [7] and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, [8] by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. [9] Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

[10] “As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. [11] And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. [12] This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

[13] “These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: [14] from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; [15] and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. [16] The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. [17] The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

[18] And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, [19] you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. [20] And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. [21] You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. [22] And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. [23] When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. [24] You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. [25] For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. [26] Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it. [27] And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 44

[1] Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. [2] And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. [3] Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

[4] Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face. [5] And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. [6] And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, [7] in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. [8] And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

[9] “Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. [10] But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. [11] They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. [12] Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment. [13] They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. [14] Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

[15] “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD. [16] They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. [17] When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. [18] They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. [19] And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. [20] They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. [21] No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. [22] They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. [23] They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. [24] In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. [25] They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. [26] After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. [27] And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

[28] “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. [29] They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. [30] And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. [31] The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

Change Is Possible

Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

Christianity means change is possible. Deep, fundamental change. It is possible to become tenderhearted when once you were callous and insensitive. It is possible to stop being dominated by bitterness and anger. It is possible to become a loving person, no matter what your background has been.

The Bible assumes that God is the decisive factor in making us what we should be. With wonderful bluntness, the Bible says, “Put away . . . all malice” and be “tenderhearted” (Ephesians 4:31–32). It does not say, “If you can . . . ” Or, “If your parents were tenderhearted . . . ” Or, “If you have not been terribly abused . . . ” It says, “Be . . . tenderhearted.”

This is wonderfully freeing. It frees us from the terrible fatalism that says change is impossible for me. It frees me from mechanistic views that make my background my destiny.

And God’s commands always come with freeing, life-changing truth to believe. For example,

God adopted us as his children. We have a new Father and a new family. This breaks the fatalistic forces of our “family-of-origin.” “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

God loves us as his children. We are “loved children” (Ephesians 5:1). The command to imitate the love of God does not hang in the air, it comes with power: “Be imitators of God, as loved children.” “Love!” is the command and being loved by God is the power.

God has forgiven us in Christ. Be tenderhearted and forgiving just as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). What God did in Christ is powerful. It makes change possible. The command to be tenderhearted has more to do with what God did for you than what your mother or your father did to you. This kind of command means you can change.

Christ loved you and gave himself up for you. “Walk in love, as Christ loved [you]” (Ephesians 5:2). The command comes with life-changing truth. “Christ loved you.” At the moment when there is a chance to love, and some voice says, “You are not a loving person,” you can say, “Christ’s love for me makes me a new kind of person. His command to love is just as surely possible for me as his promise of love is true for me.”

Don’t be a fatalist. Be a Christian. Change is possible. God is alive. Christ is risen. The promises are true.

John Piper 

Out of the Grave, Into Newness of Life

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”  ROMANS 6:5-6

 

PONDER THIS

I'm buried with Christ, and therefore, Satan cannot intimidate me with the bones of my own life. Your sin is in the grave of God's forgetfulness. That means when Satan comes looking for the old Adrian, I can say he's not here. Not only have we died with Him and not only were we buried with Him, but we have also been raised with Him.

Now we walk in newness of life. I'm not with Christ still in the grave because He's not in the grave. He has a life that the tomb could not keep, and when He came out of that grave, I also came out to walk in newness of life. I'm not just a forgiven, patched-up old self. I'm a brand-new person. I have resurrection life.

This reality changes your everyday life. Instead of getting caught in your old habits or way of life, you can look to Jesus to see the new way to live. Instead of being haunted by the mistakes you have made, you are free to live a new life with God.

What are some ways you still feel bound to your past? What are some of the choices you have made that still hurt you?

What are some ways you can embrace new life in Christ? Who has been an example of that for you?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to someone you know who embraces new life in Christ. Ask how you can grow in this.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

November 16

John 11:38-44

[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. [39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” [41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” [43] When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

1 John 3:19-24

[19] By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; [20] for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. [21] Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; [22] and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. [23] And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. [24] Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Job 15:1-16

[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

    [2] “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,

        and fill his belly with the east wind? 

    [3] Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

        or in words with which he can do no good? 

    [4] But you are doing away with the fear of God

        and hindering meditation before God. 

    [5] For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

        and you choose the tongue of the crafty. 

    [6] Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

        your own lips testify against you.

    [7] “Are you the first man who was born?

        Or were you brought forth before the hills? 

    [8] Have you listened in the council of God?

        And do you limit wisdom to yourself? 

    [9] What do you know that we do not know?

        What do you understand that is not clear to us? 

    [10] Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

        older than your father. 

    [11] Are the comforts of God too small for you,

        or the word that deals gently with you? 

    [12] Why does your heart carry you away,

        and why do your eyes flash, 

    [13] that you turn your spirit against God

        and bring such words out of your mouth? 

    [14] What is man, that he can be pure?

        Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? 

    [15] Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones,

        and the heavens are not pure in his sight; 

    [16] how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

        a man who drinks injustice like water!

Ezekiel 40

[1] In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me to the city. [2] In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. [3] When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. [4] And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

[5] And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. [6] Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep. [7] And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. [8] Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. [9] Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. [10] And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. [11] Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. [12] There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. [13] Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other. [14] He measured also the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court. [15] From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. [16] And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.

[17] Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement. [18] And the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. [19] Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.

[20] As for the gate that faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth. [21] Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. [22] And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps people would go up to it, and find its vestibule before them. [23] And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

[24] And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And he measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the others. [25] Both it and its vestibule had windows all around, like the windows of the others. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. [26] And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side. [27] And there was a gate on the south of the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

[28] Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. [29] Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. [30] And there were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad. [31] Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.

[32] Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate. It was of the same size as the others. [33] Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. [34] Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

[35] Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it. It had the same size as the others. [36] Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and it had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. [37] Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

[38] There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed. [39] And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered. [40] And off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. [41] Four tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, on which to slaughter. [42] And there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. [43] And hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

[44] On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south gate facing north. [45] And he said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple, [46] and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the LORD to minister to him.” [47] And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple.

[48] Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate were three cubits on either side. [49] The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps. And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side.

Ezekiel 41

[1] Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits was the breadth of the jambs. [2] And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. [3] Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side of the entrance, seven cubits. [4] And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

[5] Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. [6] And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. [7] And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. [8] I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. [9] The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the [10] other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. [11] And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.

[12] The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

[13] Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; [14] also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.

[15] Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleries on either side, a hundred cubits. 

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court,  [16] the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), [17] to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern. [18] It was carved of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: [19] a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. [20] From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.

[21] The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling [22] an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad. Its corners, its base, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.” [23] The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door. [24] The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. [25] And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a canopy of wood in front of  the vestibule outside. [26] And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.

When I Am Anxious

. . . casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

There is a promise suited to every sin you are tempted to commit and every form of unbelief that takes you off guard and makes you anxious. For example:

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). And I take the promise with trembling, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3–5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise: “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7–9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6); and, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

So, let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins.

So, let us fix our eyes on the precious and very great promises of God. Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace.

John Piper 

The Down Payment of Heaven

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” EPHESIANS 1:13-14

 

PONDER THIS

Because of Jesus, we are justified by God’s grace. We are made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life. That's what is coming for the follower of Christ. That is your future when you belong to Him—heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ. What a hope we have when we look ahead as children of God. The best is yet to come. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit in our hearts a down payment. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. Do you know what the word guarantee means? When you're going to buy a house, you put down earnest money to say you are committed to buying the house. The Holy Spirit in your heart is the earnest money. You'll get the full legacy later.

If I were to offer you my wallet, when you get the wallet, you get the money that's in it. When you receive Jesus, you receive the eternal life that's in Him. You can't have that life without having Jesus. Receive Him and find life.

How hopeful are you about the future? Why?

How should the promise of inheritance in Christ change how you see the future? Who can you share this hope with?

PRACTICE THIS

Share with someone today about the current guarantee of the Holy Spirit and the future hope of an inheritance from God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

November 15

John 11:17-37

[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. [20] So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” [23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” [24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [27] She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” [29] And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” [33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [34] And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” [37] But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

1 John 3:11-18

[11] For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [12] We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. [13] Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. [14] We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. [15] Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

[16] By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Job 14

    [1] “Man who is born of a woman

        is few of days and full of trouble. 

    [2] He comes out like a flower and withers;

        he flees like a shadow and continues not. 

    [3] And do you open your eyes on such a one

        and bring me into judgment with you? 

    [4] Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

        There is not one. 

    [5] Since his days are determined,

        and the number of his months is with you,

        and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, 

    [6] look away from him and leave him alone,

        that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

    [7] “For there is hope for a tree,

        if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

        and that its shoots will not cease. 

    [8] Though its root grow old in the earth,

        and its stump die in the soil, 

    [9] yet at the scent of water it will bud

        and put out branches like a young plant. 

    [10] But a man dies and is laid low;

        man breathes his last, and where is he? 

    [11] As waters fail from a lake

        and a river wastes away and dries up, 

    [12] so a man lies down and rises not again;

        till the heavens are no more he will not awake

        or be roused out of his sleep. 

    [13] Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,

        that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

        that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 

    [14] If a man dies, shall he live again?

        All the days of my service I would wait,

        till my renewal should come. 

    [15] You would call, and I would answer you;

        you would long for the work of your hands. 

    [16] For then you would number my steps;

        you would not keep watch over my sin; 

    [17] my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

        and you would cover over my iniquity.

    [18] “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

        and the rock is removed from its place; 

    [19] the waters wear away the stones;

        the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

        so you destroy the hope of man. 

    [20] You prevail forever against him, and he passes;

        you change his countenance, and send him away. 

    [21] His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;

        they are brought low, and he perceives it not. 

    [22] He feels only the pain of his own body,

        and he mourns only for himself.”

Ezekiel 38

[1] The word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him [3] and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. [4] And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. [5] Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; [6] Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

[7] “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. [8] After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. [9] You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

[10] “Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme [11] and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ [12] to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. [13] Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

[14] “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it? [15] You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. [16] You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

[17] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? [18] But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger. [19] For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. [20] The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. [21] I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. [22] With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. [23] So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 39

[1] “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. [2] And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. [3] Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. [4] You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. [5] You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. [6] I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

[7] “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. [8] Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord GOD. That is the day of which I have spoken.

[9] “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, [10] so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.

[11] “On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. [12] For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. [13] All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord GOD. [14] They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make their search. [15] And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. [16] (Hamonah is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.

[17] “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. [18] You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. [19] And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. [20] And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord GOD.

[21] “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. [22] The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. [23] And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. [24] I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

[25] “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. [26] They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, [27] when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. [28] Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. [29] And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”