Deuteronomy 24:10-11 - “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge.  Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.”

Waiting for a Pledge - Just as this passage describes the lender waiting outside at the door of his debtor, so also the New Testament says that Jesus waits at the door of our lives, waiting for us.  “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.”  (Revelation 3:20).  This is a prophetic illustration of how we as sinners (spiritual debtors) interact with the Lord Jesus in receiving the benefits of His salvation.  Jesus is the one who has everything we need – forgiveness for sin, new birth, the revelation of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, sanctification, etc.  We come to him in need of everything.  In ourselves, in our flesh, we have none of the things we really need for eternity.  When Jesus freely gives us his blessings, he charges nothing in return (just as the Israelites could not charge their neighbors interest on a loan).  No one can purchase salvation.

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Acts 16:25-28 - About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Paul was on his second extended missionary journey.  Originally, he planned to revisit the churches in planted on his first tour and assess their progress (Acts 15:36-41).  The churches back then had no means of communicating with each other regularly, and there was no centralized management or control.  Each church had to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s direction, receiving only occasional visits or letters from Apostles or other leaders.

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Leviticus 5:5-6 - ”When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for his sin”

Animal sacrifice was the only way to atone for sins in the Old Testament.  Without the shedding of blood, there was no forgiveness (see the description in Hebrews 9:22).  The book of Leviticus is entirely about priestly sacrifices, ceremonial cleanness, and other priestly duties – all of which foreshadow the work of Jesus, our Great High Priest.  The various sacrifices described in Leviticus all foreshadow different aspects of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross.  His atonement was multi-faceted, and we see all the facets in different Old Testament passages.  This passage describes the “sin offering,” the most basic sacrifice of atonement.

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John 15:1-6 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

In John 15, Jesus describes himself as the VINE, and explains that we are branches of the Vine (that is, of Him).  The teachings in this passage took place at the Last Supper, the night they arrested Jesus and took him away to his trial.  What is the meaning of the statement that Jesus is the Vine?

Jesus uses the image of the Vine and branches to make four basic points about our salvation:

1)     God expects and requires that we are spiritually fruitful

2)    Close connection – we “remain in him” and he “remains in us,” sharing the same spiritual life and sustenance from eternity, in the same way that a vine and its branches share the same life and are part of the same organism

3)    Absolute dependence – we can accomplish nothing (fruit) on our own, but only through our close connection with Him

4)    If we lose our close connection with him, there are dire consequences – lack of fruit, and eventually, permanent severance and judgment.

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John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

God’s plan for his people is for them to have abundant life. He challenges us to give Him the opportunity for this by putting Him first, before everything else in our lives. God does not ask us to ignore or neglect our families, or jobs, or personal needs.

He only asks that we put Him first, and then attend to these other things. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.”

Abundant life includes two types of “abundance.” There is material abundance and spiritual abundance. The second type is much more important, but many churches unfortunately focus on material abundance instead.

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John 3:1-8 - “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’

Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ “

Physically, our birth was on the day that we celebrate every year as our birthday – there was a time, years ago, when our mother gave birth, and we came into this world as a baby.  Yet this is only physical, not spiritual.  We also need a spiritual birth.  Spiritual birth happens when the Holy Spirit produces a miracle inside of us – regeneration, the creation of a new person whose life is identified with Jesus Christ.  We receive this only by coming to Christ in faith and complete surrender.  Jesus give us new birth.

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Esther 7:3-4 – “Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition.  And spare my people—this is my request.  For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation.  If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.’ ”

This passage records Esther’s third request of the King.  Here, Esther finally explains to the King what she really needs.  She asks the king to save her life.  We see in her request a prayer for salvation.

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Nehemiah 2:17-18 – Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.”  So they began this good work.

After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, the nation of Israel was returning from exile. The gates and walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins. Nehemiah was among those who returned to start rebuilding. These gates prophetically describe aspects of Jesus’ work, and stages in our walk with Him.

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Zechariah 3:1-7 - “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’

“Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”  Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.  The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here…’ ”

Joshua in his filthy garments represents man in his natural state (all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23). The filthy garments speak of our lives stained by sin and its consequences, causing man to live in disarray, without peace and without aim. Clothes refer to our testimony or overall lifestyle. Jesus said, “Be dressed and ready for service…” (Luke 12:35); see also Revelation 3:18, where he said, “Buy from me white garments for you to wear...”

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Lamentations 3:22-23 – “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

The Work of God in our lives should be a process of daily renewal. Salvation is not merely a static, once-for-all event. It is also a process, in which we grow and develop. We gradually become more of the person God wants us to be. Each new day is a new step in this process of salvation.

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