Ques. 68. Please explain why the Lord asked those who knew Him, not to make Him known, in Luke 9:2121And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; (Luke 9:21) and other places, when He healed their diseases and restored the blind to sight.
Ans. In Luke 9:2121And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; (Luke 9:21) it was because the Lord was rejected as Israel's Messiah, and was going to make atonement for sin on the cross, that He said, "Tell no man that thing"; then calls Himself the Son of man.
We need to read the context in each case to understand the reason. In Mark's gospel, specially, it is as the true servant hiding Himself, and doing the Father's will. What an example this is for us.
Luke 9:57-6257And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:57‑62) are tests of discipleship. Are we willing to lose our comforts to follow the Lord? (Verse 58.)
Are we willing to lose our character before men to follow the Lord? (Verses 59, 60.)
Are we willing to lose our connections to follow the Lord? (Verse 61.)
These points test whether Christ or self is our object. Quite true, we get comforts from the Lord if we follow Him. We get a new character as His servants, and new connections in His people. We also see from Ephesians 5 and 6, and Colossians 3 and 4, that "wives" and "husbands", "children" and "parents", "servants" and "masters", are all relationships given to us from Him to carry out (through grace) for Him.
The man in John 5, who was carried by the bed for 38 years, received strength to carry the same bed for Christ.
Ques. 69
What scriptures condemn the use of tobacco as a lust of the flesh? N. R. M.
Ans. Read Rom. 6:12, 13, 19; 13:1412Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:12‑13)
19I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (Romans 6:19)
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14); Gal. 5:16, 17, 2416This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:16‑17)
24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24); Eph. 2:33Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3); 2 Tim. 2:2222Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22); Titus 2:12; 3:312Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (Titus 2:12)
3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (Titus 3:3); 1 Peter 2:1111Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; (1 Peter 2:11); 2 Peter 2:10, 1810But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. (2 Peter 2:10)
18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. (2 Peter 2:18); 1 John 2:16, 1716For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:16‑17).
These and many other scriptures teach us that the flesh never walked in God's ways, but in self-pleasing. Man, away from God, does His own will. The Lord Jesus, as a man on earth, ever walked in obedience to His Father's will. His every thought and word and deed was obedience to His Father."By the word of Thy lips I have kept Me from the path of the destroyer." (Psa. 17:44Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. (Psalm 17:4).)
If we are believers, we are now "in Christ" (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)); He is our life (Col. 3:44When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)); and the Holy Spirit dwells in us (1 Cor. 6:1919What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19).) Christ is also our pattern; our lives are to be after the pattern of His. (1 John 2:66He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (1 John 2:6).) The flesh is also in us with all its evil desires; but if we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Gal. 5:1616This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16).)
In the power of this new life, and by the Spirit, we are now to yield our members, the members of our bodies, to God, as instruments of righteousness. (Rom. 6:11-14, 1911Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:11‑14)
19I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (Romans 6:19)) Once these very members were the servants of sin. Now our bodies are to be for His glory.
Apply this to your tobacco chewing, snuffing and smoking. Does your Father give it to you? Do you return thanks to Him every time you use it, as you do for your food? Is it not a worldly lust, an unclean habit that you have acquired? It sickened you at the first, and now it holds you in its grip, and you allow it; and, alas! in many instances the children of God seek an excuse to gratify their evil nature in this way. They do not want to admit that it is sin, but all lawlessness is sin. (1 John 3:44Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4). New Trans.) It is pleasing to themselves, and pleasing ourselves is not pleasing the Lord. Nor are they working out their own salvation with fear and trembling. (Phil. 2:12, 1312Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12‑13).) They are not in this respect allowing God to work in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is monstrous to say, It does not hinder the communion of those who use it. Could one in the presence of the Lord go on with it?
Ques. 70
When we go to be with the Lord, do we receive a glorified body immediately? L. M. P.
When the Lord returns for His saints (John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3); 1 Cor. 15:5252In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52); Phil. 3:20, 2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21); 1 Thess. 4:16,1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)); then the body and spirit will be united again, and it will be a glorified body. The living believers which are then on earth, will have their bodies also changed and glorified.