John 4:3-6

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob"s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.  John 4:3-6

At this point in His ministry, Jesus was gaining attention, and to avoid arousing even more attention and directly clashing with the Pharisees, He moved His work north into Galilee. The shortest route there was through Samaria, the land of the Samaritans. Verse 4 says He needed to go that way. He had a choice of two roads to get to Galilee. One went around Samaria, the other through it. The latter was obviously the shorter route. Most Jews took the longer route to avoid having to deal with the Samaritans. The Greek indicates that Jesus was led to choose the shorter route: He had to go that way.

By the time the group reached Jacob's well, Jesus was exhausted. Most of the modern versions fail to give the force of His tiredness because it takes a great number of English words to parallel it. They may say He sat down, "just as He was." It indicates He wearily flopped down, as if it was more than just being tired from traveling. We can easily think of Jesus as the all-conquering and mighty Messiah who swept aside every obstacle in His path as if they did not exist. John, however, shows us a Jesus who had to struggle against His humanity.

It is good for us to remember that the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Hebrews 4:15 says He was tested in all things as we are. Yet, even when He was bone weary, He did not allow his weariness to justify sin or failure to carry out His God-assigned obligations in serving and setting an example for mankind. Experiencing the kinds of obstacles we must overcome fully prepared Him to function as our High Priest. When Jesus speaks, we need to be confident that He has every right to speak, not merely because He is God but also because He has experienced the limitations and weaknesses of humanity. Jesus' manhood was not something that was merely apparent but a real participation in humanity's frailties. His work was just as fatiguing to Him as it would be to us.

This story of the woman at the well begins with a bone-weary, physically worn out Jesus. The disciples leave Him to go into the city to buy some food. When they return, they find Him in an entirely different state: His hunger is gone, His exhaustion ended, and He is full of fresh vigor, ready to go on doing His work.

Their first thought is that someone else had supplied Him with food and reinvigorated Him, but this is not the case at all. Jesus' reply is that something entirely different re-energized Him. Commentators commonly conclude that Jesus said doing God's work stimulated him. It is true that involvement in work produces further stimulation. From our own experience, we know that a job we dread doing seems to erect a barrier that keeps us from even starting, leading to procrastination. Finally, we drag ourselves into beginning, but once we get going, the work produces its own energy in us, our attitude changes, and we really get into the job.

Yet, that is not quite what Christ said. McClaren's Commentary on this verse makes an interesting observation, one worth mentioning because it more accurately reflects what He said:

Notice that the language of the original is so constructed as to give prominence to the idea that the aim of the Christ's life was the doing of the Father's will; and that it is the aim rather than the actual performance and realization of the aim which is pointed at by our Lord.

His words, then, are better rendered, "My food is that I may do the will of Him that sent Me and finish His work." His reinvigorate derived from making the accomplishment of the Father's will His every impelling motive. In this case, it was not the actual doing of the work but the motive for doing it that was so energizing and stimulating.

The Revised English Bible translates this verse as, "But Jesus said, 'For Me it is meat and drink to do the will of Him who sent me until I have finished His work.'" "Until" properly indicates He was being sustained and energized from the motivation to see the work done. The apostle Paul expresses a similar motivation in I Corinthians 9:16, "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" These men felt driven to do the work God had appointed for them.

If our lives are going to be at all worthy, it will be because of two factors: What we aim for in life and recognizing who we are. The first may be simply described by saying, "You gotta have high hopes," and we can have no higher aim in life than to do the will of the Father. The second can be understood by grasping why psychologists keep trying to persuade parents to work to build their children's self-esteem. They have observed that, if children do not think they are anything or can do anything, are of no value and unloved, or have absolutely no skills, they will not do anything. They will spend their lives cowering in self-pity and spinning their wheels in ineffective, low-level activity.

Anything connected to doing the will of the Father supersedes all other ambitions in life. Jesus Himself says in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Matthew 11:29

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Matthew 11:29

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus links meekness with lowliness: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek, KJV] and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Ephesians 4:1-3 states:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness [meekness, KJV], with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The King James version is correct, as the Greek text uses prautes. "Gentle" and "gentleness" are incorrect because in this context they are only an aspect of the meekness we should express in our dealings with others.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus is explaining why we should embrace His way of life. As our Lord and Master, He is not harsh, overbearing, and oppressive, but gentle in His government. His laws are also reasonable and easy to obey; neither He nor they enslave. He emphasizes the gentle aspect of meekness toward others. From this, we begin to see why meekness must be a virtue of those who will receive the Kingdom and govern. Because God governs in meekness, His children must also.

Ephesians 4 teaches how to build and maintain unity within a more social context, and here, prautes appears with humility, patience, forbearance, and love. Paul demands that, for unity to be built and maintained, we should receive offenses without retaliation, bearing them patiently without a desire for revenge. We are, in short, to have a forgiving spirit. Without it, we will surely promote divisiveness.

The association of humility and meekness is natural, and is yet another facet of meekness. Whereas humility deals with a correct assessment of his merits, meekness covers a correct assessment of personal rights. This does not in any way mean a lowering of the standards of justice or of right and wrong. Meekness can be accompanied by a war to the death against evil, but the meek Christian directs this warfare first against the evil in his own heart. He is a repentant sinner, and his recognition of this state radically alters his relations with fellow man. A sinner forgiven must have a forgiving attitude.

Matthew 24:15-20

"Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  Matthew 24:15-20

The times are so bad at this point, He says not even to come down and get one's clothes. How can a person, in coming down off his housetop, not go through his house and pick up some clothing? The answer involves the way the homes were built in Jerusalem. It was entirely possible to run from one housetop to another because they butted up against one another. The top of the houses were built flat, and the people used it in the same way that we would use a patio. In the cool of the evening, they went to the top of their house and sat there and talked to their neighbors on the adjacent rooftops.

So if a person was on his rooftop when the time came to get out of Jerusalem, he could literally run from housetop to housetop to housetop without ever coming down on the street for a long distance. Such a thing would never happen in the U.S. and Canada. But, nonetheless, it conveys an intense sense of urgency. If indeed a person happens to be there in Jerusalem at that time, he would have to flee immediately for his life.

The question always arises, "Was this fulfilled when the Temple was destroyed in AD 70?" It is interesting when one looks into church history (apart from the Bible), though not necessarily true church history - call it "secular church history," in which the people call themselves Christians but their doctrines do not conform to the Bible. These people left a record of events of the time. The church historian, Eusebius, had this to say regarding the true church in Jerusalem during the period between AD 66 and 70:

That it [the church] was instructed to leave Jerusalem and take up residence in one of the cities of Perea.

The church did not flee in the sense that Jesus means in Matthew 24. It migrated from Jerusalem to one of the cities of Perea, Pella. Pella is not in a wilderness area but one of the cities of the Decapolis. Decapolis means "ten cities"; there were ten small cities in a small area right around the Sea of Galilee. It is not in the mountains, though it is near some. The church probably left somewhere in late AD 69. If they had left earlier than that, they would have run headlong into Vespasian's army, because Vespasian's army was stalled fighting in the area of Galilee. In AD 69, Vespasian was recalled to Rome where he was crowned Emperor. His son Titus took over the army and came down on Jerusalem. Now by moving his army toward Jerusalem, it became safe for the church to migrate away from Jerusalem.

Josephus records that on the Day of Pentecost, while a great multitude was in the Temple, the people heard a voice say, "Let us go from hence." The church, then, left in an orderly way without urgency, migrating to the area of Pella. This is the exact opposite direction the Bible indicates the Place of Safety is located. So we would have to conclude that what happened in AD 66-70 was a "type" of the church being removed to a place of safety so that it could survive. However, it was not what Jesus was talking about for the end-time church, when some will flee with such urgency that they do not even come down into their house for their clothing.

I Timothy 5:8

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.  I Timothy 5:8

We owe a duty to God and to the affairs of this life. We are to be diligent in our business in providing for ourselves and our families. God, at the very beginning of the Book (Genesis 1-3), when He put Adam and Eve in the Garden, says that they are to dress and keep it, meaning that they are to embellish it, to add to it, and to guard it from deterioration.

Part of our responsibility is to be diligent in doing our job for our employer. We are to be careful not to squander and waste what we have. We are to look ahead and plan to provide for future demands, taking into consideration that there will be emergencies like accidents, illness, death, natural disasters. We are to prepare for such things.

If we fail to do that, it is not showing faith that "God will provide," but rather presumption and irresponsibility in throwing all the responsibility on God while we ignore ours, failing to fulfill what God instructs us to do. There is much to be learned about God's Kingdom and getting prepared for it by carefully using our resources.

The danger lies in our human proclivity to tend toward extremes. The most common is following human nature's inclination to be overly concerned about the things of this life and devoting too much time and energy to it. Jesus points this out in Matthew 6:25, advising us to “take no anxious thought.”

Psalm 41:1-3

Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.  Psalm 41:1-3

This should not be the major reason for being kind. Yet God, who is ever ready to give and bless, has of His own will inspired these words for our benefit, so we understand that our efforts in glorifying Him and His way do not go unnoticed. It is a promise we can claim whenever we get into a bind. He who enabled us to be kind and generous to others in their need will respond by providing us a helper in our need. Jesus says in Luke 6:38:

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

This is very wonderful motivation for those who believe God's Word, but perhaps there is even greater. Being merciful and kind is evidence that God has given us His Spirit—that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts and is producing fruit. For proof of the importance of passing on God's kindness—expressed in His calling, forgiving, giving us His Spirit, and promising we will receive yet more mercy for being merciful—listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 25:34-36, 40:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." . . . And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."

Jeremiah 14:11-12

Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for this people, for their good.  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." Jeremiah 14:11-12

Some feel God's words to Jeremiah are commands for His people from that time forward never to pray for the people of the world. Is that the correct interpretation?

The prophet Daniel is taken captive early in Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Judah, and soon after arriving in Babylon, he is handpicked to advise the emperor. As the years pass, Daniel is well aware of Jeremiah's prophecy that the Jews would return to Jerusalem at the end of seventy years in exile (Jeremiah 29:10-14). Near the end of that seventy-year period, what do we find Daniel doing? He implores God so fervently on behalf of his nation that God sends Gabriel, one of the highest-ranking angels, to deliver a message directly from Him (Daniel 9:1-24).

What stands out in Daniel's prayer for his nation is his use of "we," not "they." He puts himself in the same boat with the sinning Jews. Daniel cries out, ". . . we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments" (verse 5).

In his prayer's conclusion (Daniel 9:16-19), Daniel is clearly praying for forgiveness for his sinful countrymen and for himself. He prays for good things to start happening to his unconverted neighbors. And God hears: "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision" (verses 22-23).

As we study the inspired Scripture, we find holy men moved with deep feeling for their people, their city, their country—all the while realizing that they simultaneously look for another city with eternal "foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10).

Ezekiel, another captive of the Babylonians, reminds us that God puts some kind of identifying mark on those who "sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done" around us (Ezekiel 9:4). Those who are moved by events spiraling out of control pray about the situation, entreating God to act, to come soon. Ezekiel records that God spares such concerned people.

By contrast, he records the horrific scene of thousands being slaughtered who do not grieve over the condition of the nation (verses 5-6). As the slaughter commences, Ezekiel prays and begs God to reconsider what He is doing: "Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?" (verse 8). God answers that, this time, He must punish and punish hard (verses 9-10). The point is that Ezekiel felt so deeply for his countrymen and nation that he implored God to extend mercy.

How did we do on September 11, 12, 13, and in the days since? Are we sighing and crying when we see "acts of God"—natural catastrophes like floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes—ripping through the countryside? God is moved when He sees us moved by the pain and suffering occurring around us, and not just that affecting our immediate circle of family and friends.

We know God will punish the nations of modern-day Israel increasingly in the years ahead. We will witness a great deal of sorrow and woe, but God is pleased when He sees us wholeheartedly interceding even for those who deserve the discipline.

Mark 3:3-5

And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Mark 3:3-5

Jesus asks the man to do what had seemed impossible a moment before. At His command, the man places himself in full view of the synagogue's audience so that everyone present can witness it, and without even touching him, Jesus immediately heals him. When the man stretches out his hand for all to see, the crowd witnesses positive proof of Christ's power and holiness.

Despite the shame of his withered hand, the man still attends Sabbath services at the synagogue. He places a higher priority on worshiping God than on his personal discomfort. The principle illustrated here is that people should not use physical problems as an excuse for not going to church. A person should attend services when able.

The downside of missing services is that, eventually, spiritual problems with far more serious consequences will develop. No one can do much in service to God if he allows physical problems or handicaps to impede his worship and service of his Creator. In a sense, many of us suffer from withered hands. Sin so paralyzes us that we cannot serve God as we would like. Yet, anyone in God's church can be empowered to do the needed things for our Healer.

The real issue is faith. Jesus fulfills God's intention for the Sabbath day by restoring this man to health and strength. In answering Christ's call to step forward, the man shows what a little faith and obedience can do. This tests his courage and faith as he rises above his human fears. He entirely trusts Christ, and his healing is God's response.

A Virtuous Woman

Ruth the Moabitess had done everything her mother-in-law, Naomi, had instructed her to do. Waiting until Boaz had eaten and drunk enough to feel relaxed and sleepy, she had noted precisely where he had lain down near the end of a heap of grain. Once the night was pitch black, she had tiptoed over to the place, uncovered his feet to be exposed to the cool night air, and lain down herself (Ruth 3:1-7). Now all she had to do was wait.

At midnight, Boaz woke suddenly, probably because his feet had become cold, and he immediately knew he was not alone. He was surprised to find, of all things, a woman lying at his feet, putting him in a compromising if not completely scandalous situation! In response to his question about who she was, Ruth identifies herself and essentially proposes marriage to him, all in the same breath.

Most men, befuddled by wine and sleep, would probably sputter and gape at her, eventually saying something like, "Are you crazy?!" Others might say, "What? Me marry you? No way!" or "Can't we talk about this after coffee?" Some, having evil intentions, would have taken advantage of her, deeming her forwardness to be an invitation.

But Boaz is no ordinary man. Chapter 2 implies that he is a man of stature in the community, having "great wealth." His name means "in him is strength." While some commentators believe he was not significantly older than Ruth, tradition says that he was likely twice her age, perhaps as old as or older than Naomi.

So, instead of overreacting as a younger man might, being a mature man, Boaz—now wide awake and all his faculties humming—responds:

Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. (Ruth 3:10-11)

This final piece of information may strike the reader as a bit ironic considering her sexually charged actions of uncovering his feet (which may be an Israelite sexual euphemism) and proposing to him by the dark of the moon! We would not normally consider these virtuous deeds, but Boaz does, praising her kindness for choosing him instead of a younger, more exciting man and remarking that everyone in Bethlehem held her in esteem for her virtue. In her short time among the Israelites, she had made quite a positive impression. If nothing else, her reputation for virtue informed Boaz that her actions that night were nothing but honorable.

The phrase "a virtuous woman" translates the Hebrew words ʾēšet ḥayl, meaning "woman of worth," "woman of strength," or "woman of noble character." It appears in only two other places in Scripture, Proverbs 12:4 ("an excellent wife") and Proverbs 31:10 ("a virtuous wife"). It is a similar phrase to the one describing Boaz in Ruth 2:1 as "a man of great wealth," which likely implies more than just riches. In general, ʾēšet ḥayl denotes a woman of skill, aptitude, proficiency, or achievement in one or any number of areas of life. The New King James translation of "virtuous" in Ruth 3:11 is good but limited, while "worthy" or even "excellent" is broader and more appropriate. It would not be wrong even to render it as "an ideal woman."

Based on the three occurrences of this phrase in Scripture, with Ruth 3:11 being its first mention, some students of the Bible have proposed that Ruth the Moabitess is the original model for the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31. Solomon, the author of Proverbs, was Ruth's great-great-grandson, and it would not be unfounded to believe that stories of her many virtues and upright character circulated among her descendants for many generations. Since the author of Ruth is not revealed in the book—or even anywhere in Scripture—it is not beyond the pale to speculate that Solomon may be the author of both Ruth and Proverbs. (Jewish tradition ascribes Ruth's authorship to the prophet Samuel, but there are problems with this supposition.) While scholars posit various dates for the book, a date in the early Israelite monarchy seems likely.

Beyond the fact that ʾēšet ḥayl appears in both books, a few details in Proverbs 31 could be taken as references to Ruth. The general description of the virtuous wife—"She does [her husband] good and not evil all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:12)—clearly fits her character, aligning with Ruth's kind treatment of her mother-in-law, always seeking her good. Ruth 2 describes Ruth as working all day in Boaz' field, gleaning grain in the hot sun, and Proverbs 31:13 tells us the virtuous wife "willingly works with her hands." The very next verse says that "she brings her food from afar," reminiscent of both Ruth 2:17-18 and Ruth 3:15-17, which relate Ruth's carrying of grain from the fields and the threshing floor back to the dwelling she shared with Naomi.

Another possible reference—this time to Boaz—is found in Proverbs 31:23: "Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land." Ruth 4 takes place primarily in Bethlehem's city gate, where Boaz redeems Ruth and Elimelech's land. We see there that Boaz was well-versed in the conducting of business and legal matters in the gate, as was the custom in Israel at the time. There may be a second reference to Boaz in Proverbs 31:28-29: "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.'" Boaz frequently called Ruth "my daughter," and of course, he was the one who originally described her as "a virtuous woman."

Perhaps most significantly, Proverbs 31:26 describes the virtuous wife with these words: "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness." Ruth's famous words to Naomi, "Entreat me not to leave you. . . . Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God" (Ruth 1:16), are her first words in the book, and they are the epitome of wisdom, especially coming from the mouth of a Moabitess! She never misspeaks or says anything foolish in the entire book.

Moreover, Solomon's mention of "kindness" (ḥesed) is the same word Boaz uses in Ruth 3:10, when he tells her that she has "shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning." This kindness or covenant loyalty is a significant theme in the book of Ruth, and Ruth is the one—a Gentile among Israelites—who expresses it best. This virtuous woman was indeed a worthy and excellent ancestress of David and Jesus Christ.

Exodus 31:13

It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.  Exodus 31:13

An interesting and significant term is used in Exodus 31:13, 17: The Sabbath is a sign, not a mark. Bible usage shows that a sign is something voluntarily accepted, whereas a mark is placed on a person against his will. The Sabbath is a special sign of a special covenant between God and His people. In the wilderness, His people were the Israelites; today, it is the Israel of God, the church of God (Galatians 6:16).

A sign can identify a person's occupation or an individual's or group's purpose. Signs can give directions (like traffic signs), or they can bring people together with shared interests and a common purpose (like flags). A sign can be the pledge of mutual fidelity and commitment (as in putting a hand over one's heart). Organizations use signs to designate membership so that members can recognize each other (as with secret handshakes).

In the church's case, the Sabbath serves as an external and visible bond that simultaneously unites and sanctifies us from everyone else. Almost everybody else keeps Sunday or nothing. Through the Sabbath, the Christian knows that God is sanctifying him. Everyone who has kept both Sabbath and Sunday knows this. Sunday sets no one apart from this world because so many in this world observe it.

God has a purpose He is working out. He has made a tremendous investment in us, in His creation, and in the death of His Son. The Sabbath is a major means by which He identifies and protects His investment.

If the only reason He created the Sabbath were because we need physical rest, any old time would do. Ultimately, however, the real sign appears in how and why one keeps the Sabbath. Thus, God made a specific period of time special so that He could meet with His people during that sanctified period to help them become even more different for their benefit.

What is His major goal in doing this? He educates His people in His way of life. In part, He prepares His people to witness for Him by this means. As an analogy, suppose a basketball coach told his players, "Come to the gym at 8 AM Monday, and I will teach you how my team plays ball." Yet, what if some players went to a different gym at a different time with a different coach?

Players on a team who take the game seriously begin to take on the qualities and philosophy of their coach. People who involve themselves deeply in athletics say they can often tell by a player's characteristics that he has trained under a certain coach. They remark that he has the John Wooden or John Thompson "way" about him. What has happened is that the player has taken on the "sign" of his coach, and it has "sanctified" him from other players who were not trained by that particular coach.

The Sabbath was created because it both enhances and protects a Christian's relationship with God. It also provides a witness to God, to the person keeping it, and to the world. It exists to help keep a Christian pointed in the right direction and in a proper frame of mind, and it provides him with the right knowledge and understanding to negotiate the way to God's Kingdom.

How Can We Trust the Bible?

One of the buzzwords of this generation is "authentic." Young people, especially, want to live authentic lives, eat authentic foods, travel to authentic places, enjoy authentic music or theater, and engage in authentic conversation and debate. They tend to sneer at things and people whom they deem not to be authentic, that is, fakes or copies of realities in the world. For instance, the truly authentic dismiss "Mexican" food served in America because it is not what Mexicans in Mexico eat.

In times not too far removed, a catchphrase was "Keep it real." Coca-Cola was "The Real Thing." "Authentic" is merely the Millennial version of the same idea, updated and modified to fit their priorities and expectations. For some, authenticity is simply any actual experience, not something that is learned secondhand. So, classroom instruction about Thailand is not authentic; one must travel to Thailand and experience the culture to be authentic. Ditto for reading books or watching a movie.

Another more disturbing definition of authentic is "being true to one's own nature in the face of pressures to conform to norms; a life that rejects modern expectations" (a definition slightly modified from one in the online Urban Dictionary). For some, this means that they will not wear makeup, have plastic surgery, or put on deodorant—the rest of us must accept them as they are. Taken to an extreme, authenticity is living a life that spurns all social standards to do whatever feels good at the moment. Such an attitude is a severe form of narcissism, as well as idolatry, making oneself a god who submits to no one or no standard.

In this milieu, some young adults look askance at religion, especially Christianity. It, they judge, is not authentic. Why? Traditional Christianity depends heavily—almost exclusively—upon what is written in a book, the Bible, and it is not authentic to believe based on other peoples' experiences with Deity. To be truly authentic, one must have similar experiences oneself, not trusting in the honesty, accuracy, or authenticity of others to report reality.

In addition, no two people will react the same way to any experience, supernatural or not, so each must experience "God" in his or her own way. This kind of thinking has led to an increasing number of young people leaving their parents' religion behind for a "spirituality" that they construct for themselves. To them, their spirituality is more authentic, real, actual, than anything passed down from ancient history.

Under this twisted definition, the Bible is not authentic. It does not contain an individual's personal experience, so it cannot be trusted to report the truth—because, as post-modern thinking suggests, no absolute truth can exist since each individual establishes his own truth. One may agree with some of what is written in Scripture, but ultimately, the individual is the final arbiter of what is true for him or her. So, what many do is pick out the parts they agree with and chuck the rest over their shoulders.

Those who have swallowed these satanic, self-centered lies will only through God's grace accept the Bible as authentic. But what about the rest of us? How do we know that the words of Scripture are accurate and trustworthy? This question has always been a point of contention between Christians and secularists because, before a person can believe in the teachings of Christianity, he must accept that the Bible presents God's Word to humanity. To most people in this world—even to a great many professing Christians—that is a bridge too far.

So, on what do we base our trust? If we would ask a hundred Christians, "How do you know the Bible is God's truth?" we would likely get a bevy of different answers from them:

• "I grew up believing it because my parents did, and they've been blessed by it."
• "The prophecies that have been fulfilled have been 100% accurate."
• "God is our Creator, and He wouldn't leave us without an Instruction Manual."
• "I saw my mother healed after being anointed, so I know God's promises are true."
• "God has answered so many of my prayers—down to the very detail!"
• "No other book has been preserved so accurately for so long. God must be behind it."
• "I've seen so many people completely changed by following what it says."
• "Proverbs 30:5 says, ‘Every word of God is pure,' and I believe it!"
• "Jesus said, ‘The gates of Hades shall not prevail against' His church, and since the Bible is vital for the church, God's Word will continue forever!"

Each of these responses and many others contains an element of truth that we can use to anchor our trust in the Bible. Perhaps together, they add up to a substantial proof for the reliability of God's Word. As individuals, we are impressed and convicted in different ways to believe in the divine origin and authority of Scripture.

However, our affirmations of these proofs will not convince the skeptic. He will call them "subjective" and dismiss them as inconclusive. Just as the Pharisees criticized Jesus' witness of Himself in John 8:13-18, the doubter will scoff at the Bible's self-proclamation of being God's pure and truthful Word. He will say, "A person's or thing's testimony about himself or itself is worthless. Doesn't even the Bible demand two or three witnesses for a truth to be established?"

However, in the passage in John 8 where Jesus defends His self-witness, He provides a clue or two about why we can trust the Bible. Since He is the Word of God, we can use His defense of Himself as a defense of the reliability of Scripture.

First, He points out to the Pharisees, "You judge according to the flesh" (John 8:15). The critics, skeptics, and post-modern thinkers who reject the Bible are following the Pharisaical method in evaluating God's Word. They examine and judge it by entirely physical, sensory, human means. To them, it is ink on pages between two covers—nothing more special than any other book—so why should they base their lives on it?

Second, Jesus tells them, "The Father who sent Me bears witness of Me" (John 8:18). In this sentence, He inserts the spiritual element the Pharisees ignored, one that critics of the Bible overlook too. Jesus says in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." Before our calling, we were just as likely as anyone to doubt what the Bible says, especially if it stepped on our toes in some area of life we enjoyed. But once the Father opened our minds to His truth—His Word, both Christ and the Bible—we began to believe and trust it.

This spiritual intervention by the Father is why we can trust the Bible. It is God's means of providing the knowledge that we can rely on to illuminate our path toward His Kingdom. We can trust it because it is a gift of God personally presented to His children to teach them to live abundant lives.

John 6:20

But He said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid.'  John 6:20

The three words, "It is I," are in Greek only two words (ego eimi), and they are much more powerful and significant than most Bible readers realize. Jesus says not, "It is I" but "I am," which is a direct assertion of His deity. Moses had asked God:

"Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14).

Clearly, Jesus is declaring that He is the Yahweh of the Old Testament. Throughout the New Testament, there are a number of significant amplifications of this: Christ is the "I AM" that is the bread of life; the light of the world; the good shepherd; the resurrection; the way, the truth, and the life; and the Alpha and Omega, among other things (John 6:35; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; Revelation 1:8).

In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion, the "I AM" lesson was made unambiguous. When soldiers came to arrest Christ,

He went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He" ["He" has been inserted by the translators]. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:4-6)

The disciples in their peril at sea needed the great "I AM." These two words alone should have removed all their fear.

In this incident, the disciples show that they were growing in faith. In the earlier miracle of Christ stilling the storm on the sea, they asked, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Matthew 8:27). Now they have advanced in their knowledge to recognizing Jesus as God (as "Son of God" indicates) and worshiping Him.

Recognizing that Jesus is God means that their worship was correct doctrinally. True worship cannot be separate from true doctrine. Jesus says to the woman at the well, "You worship what you do not know" (John 4:22). He could say this to some even in the greater churches of God today who sadly do not know enough about the Father and Christ. We, too, must know Him as the Son of God and fully divine to worship Him acceptably.

'Let Brotherly Love Continue'

The author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 13:1, "Let brotherly love continue." Brotherly love should be a significant part of a Christian's life, and the Bible instructs us how we can show this love for one another. The term "brotherly love" is translated from one Greek word, philadelphia, which is a compound of two ancient Greek words, philéō, which means "I love," and adelphós, "brother."

Acronyms are a great way to get a point across, making the focus of the instruction easy to remember, so we will use philéō in this way. Besides learning a little Greek, understanding this word's meaning can also help us to remember how to love our brothers and sisters with godly affection.

P: Have patience with one another. In Ephesians 4:2 (New International Version, Paul writes, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Our perfect example is our heavenly Father, who shows extreme patience with us throughout our conversion. On the contrary, none of us is perfect; and we are all at different stages of spiritual growth, so we need to leave the spiritual correction of our brethren to Him. Instead, we must bear with each other in the love of God. Our Father, being patient, can take a situation that we think looks hopeless and make it turn out for good.

H: Be hospitable. In Romans 12:13 (English Standard Version [ESV]), Paul tells us to "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality." To be hospitable means to be friendly and generous, to be welcoming, warm, courteous, kind, and neighborly. The apostle instructs in Galatians 6:9-10, "[L]et us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

I: Be an inspiration. Hebrews 10:24 (ESV) says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works." Faithfully setting a good example motivates others to do the same.

David Miller, in a blog post, "10 lessons from nature to inspire our everyday lives," made some interesting observations. First, he wrote, "Everything in nature is always moving, always working. Even when animals and plants are in dormant phases, this rest is a kind of active measure for conserving energy." Second, he reflected that the harder something struggles, the stronger it becomes: "The oldest known organism on Earth is the bristle cone pine, which can live over 5,000 years. Gnarled and stunted-looking, grotesquely wind-flagged and seemingly half-alive, they grow near treeline (sic) in the super harsh alpine environments of the Rockies and Sierra[s], with extreme conditions almost year round." He concluded, "Struggle isn't a bad thing; it's the foundation of vitality."

We must work hard, persevere, and overcome our sins and trials. We need to show faith, relying on the power of God, and never, ever give up! If we do this, we will be an inspiration to other Christians.

L: Love as brethren. We need to love each other as brothers and sisters—as members of the same spiritual Family. This means we are to love each other in an exceptional and unique way, even more than members of our own physical families! As John Piper, founder of desiringGod.org, puts it, "We share the same spiritual DNA."

The apostle Peter teaches, "Finally, all of you must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love as brothers, and be compassionate and humble" (I Peter 3:8, International Standard Version). In addition to calling us to brotherly love, Peter also tells us to have compassion for one another. Compassion means "to suffer or feel pain together." It could be defined as "co-suffering."

As individual members of the Body of Christ, we are in a special category. Those of us who are related by His Spirit in us are His true brothers and sisters. I Corinthians 12:26 tells us, "[I]f one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." When we truly love someone, we share everything with him or her whether good or bad. We must come to love our brethren with that same love.

E: Be a source of encouragement. Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV), "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." In a blog post at jamesriver.org, Savannah Lindell writes:

We all battle moments of self-doubt, insecurity, and discouragement; where we feel like giving up rather than going on. And most often, all a person needs is a little encouragement to continue. . . . When we encourage someone, we are imparting courage to them. . . . The truth is that if you're living and breathing, you need encouragement! No matter a person's age, position or stature, as human beings, we are wired with the innate desire and need for encouragement. . . . Encouragement is a gift that we all have the ability and resource to give. There is no I.Q. requirement or special talent needed to be an encourager. All you have to do is have a desire to use your life and your words to encourage the people positioned around you.

O: Outdo others in doing good. Notice Hebrews 10:24 from The Living Bible: "In response to all [Christ] has done for us, let us outdo each other in being helpful and kind to each other and in doing good." The Greek word underlying "outdo" means "to encourage," "to motivate," and even "to provoke." It is not a competition, but we are to seek to outdo each other by setting the very best examples in expressing God's love to one another in word and in deed. If everyone did this, it is hard to imagine how great a church we would be!

We have all heard of the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" (see Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). We all desire to be treated with brotherly love, especially within the fellowship of the church of God. Therefore, philéō, "the love for our brethren," should be the minimum that we do toward others.

The apostle Peter admonishes us in I Peter 1:22 (ESV), "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love (philadelphia), love (agapaō) one another earnestly from a pure heart," showing that as Christians we must go above and beyond and have God's love (agape) dwelling in us. Jesus says in John 15:13, "Greater love (agapē) has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends." Let us love and serve each other with our whole hearts and become a church of brotherly love.