Living In A Cess Pit

Posted on by October 7, 2014
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Romans 1:22-25 — Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

This is not the sort of piece I really enjoy writing. Then again, although I often do get great pleasure from them, my pleasure is not really the point. So let’s get to it.
We are living in a rising pool of moral sewage. How else could a book described as “an erotic romance series about the sexual exploits of a domineering billionaire and an inexperienced coed” sell ten million copies within six weeks of its publication in the United States? How else would official estimates in Great Britain reckon that more than twenty percent of marriages are now bogus, for the purpose of illegal immigration? How would there be nearly four thousand reports a year of children being trafficked for sexual purposes in the U.S.?
I could go on quoting these dreadful statistics for a long time. But why is it happening, and what can we do about it?
I say there’s no mystery about the causes of corruption. They are the same in our day as they were in Paul’s day. First people deny what they know about God. Then they deny God. Then they replace God’s laws with their own “wisdom” — “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves”. Let us not be surprised, then that, where God is denied and His word driven out of schools, depravity is rife.
So what are we to do about this mess? Well don’t expect any amazing new ideas from me. The reasons are old, and so are the remedies. Psalm 101 says it well:

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. (Psalm 101:2-3)

It’s straightforward. We have to have zero tolerance for any kind of immorality. We have to have nothing to do with it — not ourselves, nor our children, nor our children’s children.
So there it is. Not my favorite topic – but every so often it seems we have to revisit it.

What’s Your Security?

Posted on by October 6, 2014
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Hebrews 6:18-19 — that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

I have written about security as the main difference about my life after salvation. These verses from Hebrews say what that security consists of. It is the hope of eternal life, secured by God’s word and His faithful character — faithful beyond what we can imagine.
There’s a wonderful song by Ray Boltz. Perhaps you know it — it starts:

I have journeyed through the long dark night out on the open sea
By faith alone sight unknown and yet His eyes were watching me

It’s a perfect statement of how life has often seemed to me — like being in a tiny boat on an open sea. Before I was saved that boat was blown to and fro, and I had no idea where I was going or how I was going to get there. Now I know where I’m going — it’s still dark and stormy, and I often cannot see forward, but I know the Captain of my soul is in the wheelhouse, and I am secure.
The other verses of the song are as beautiful, and as comforting. They speak of the beauty that we see, as well as the fallibility of man’s vision, the transitory nature of dreams, but also of the certainty that God is always present — and most surely when the storm seems wildest and the night seems darkest.
There’s a gentleman in our choir who sings this song, wonderfully. When he sings the chorus it’s like hearing someone who fits the image of an old time sailor, standing four square, declaring his faith.

The anchor holds though the ship is battered
The anchor holds though the sails are torn
I have fallen on my knees as I faced the raging seas
The anchor holds in spite of the storm

The anchor holds. That promise cannot be broken. God’s character guarantees it. His word makes it certain.
The song is marvelous — but the verses from Hebrews say something more marvelous still. The marvel is in the phrase “within the veil”. Before Jesus came the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, could be entered by one man — the High Priest — and that only once a year. Jesus, like a pilot for a ship, has gone before us into the presence of God, which the Holy of Holies represented. He is gone into a safe harbor, into which we can follow, and sink our anchor permanently! That is my security, and I am grateful for it every day.

Less Blessed …

Posted on by October 5, 2014
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Acts 20:35 — I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

I’m going to talk about something Myra and I used to be really bad at. We’ve improved, although we still have a way to go! We’ve always been O.K. at giving, but not nearly so good at receiving. We were brought up, both of us, in ways that left us with a false pride about telling people about needs, asking for what we needed, and gracefully receiving.
Something, I can’t recall what, brought this to mind today and it set me thinking. My mind naturally turned to this verse.
Let me clear away a couple of things about this verse. The first is a controversy about whether Jesus ever said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive”. It’s not in any of the Gospels … Well so what? There’s plenty of stuff Jesus said and did that are not in the Gospels. Remember what John said: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25)
The other thing to clear out is the thing the verse doesn’t say! It doesn’t say that it’s not blessed to receive. It just says it’s more blessed to give. In fact it clearly implies that receiving is blessed!
Let us start remembering the the obvious — “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:14) — we receive salvation. I can think of no greater blessing!
There is another aspect to this. There is a sense in which refusing to receive is to deny the blessing of giving to someone else, to assume as it were a spurious position of superiority.
The heart of Christianity is a principle of self-emptying — that surrender of any superiority that Jesus Himself exemplified:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:5-7)
This principle applies to every aspect of our faith. Denominations should be willing to lay aside cherished “distinctives” to further the union of Christ’s church. Husband should defer to wife, and wife to husband … and we all should be prepared to lay aside strength, and take up weakness, and be blessed to receive what each other would give — if only we would ask.

Frustration

Posted on by October 4, 2014
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Job 7:3-4 — so am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

O.K. I’m not going to whine … but I do — sort of — know a little of what’s going on with Job.
It’s been so hard for Job. He’s been stricken down in so many ways, and now his sickness makes every day seem like the long, tedious, days of mindless toil that the least fortunate laborer works at every day. It feels to him like he’s been dealing with fruitless toil,day in and day out For months on end. Then he gets to the end of the day and starts a long wait through the night. After each endless day comes a seemingly endless night … And when the sun rises it’s only to usher in the start of another long, tedious day.
I’ve known times like that. Not with the degree of suffering of poor Job, of course, but I have known periods of months on end where it felt like some aspect or another of my life was mindless toil with no visible fruit. And today I suffered another sort of frustration as something just wouldn’t work on my computer!
Job was remarkable in so many ways. He was able to see beyond his own suffering, and use it to understand some part of the general life of mankind. When you look at the first five verses of Job 7 it might look like he’s understanding his own situation in the light of the general plight of mankind:
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hireling? As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a hireling looketh for the reward of his work; (Job 7:1-2)
In reality though, Job was looking beyond his own suffering, and usIng it to understand some part of the general life of mankind. We all go through those periods of frustration and dreariness. Whether they be times of fruitless labor, or times of sickness, or times of relationship struggles … we all go through it. Job says it again later — “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1)
But Job has the answer too … hidden away in the depths of his despair Is the most glorious affirmation:
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: (Job 19:25)
As Christians, of course, we cannot but see this as a wonderful messianic prophesy, but it would be wrong not to see it also as Job’s straightforward certainty that God would redeem the months of his frustration. That’s a promise we can rely on. There’s another great promise in the book of Joel, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25) God can as easily bring fruitfulness as he can the long years of frustration.
So am I naive? Do I believe God always takes frustration away if we wait long enough? I do not. Sometimes that frustration is exactly what we need. But what I do believe is that he will always redeem the time …

A Prayer Of David

Posted on by October 3, 2014
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Psalm 86:1-5 — Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

This is just a fan piece! I love this Psalm. Alexander Maclaren describes it beautifully, ” We have here a sheaf of arrows out of a good man’s quiver, shot into heaven.” What a wonderful description of prayer. I’ll be thinking of it as I pray over the next few days. I hope my prayers are straight arrows launched heavenwards!
As well as being a masterclass in prayer, this psalm is a window directly into David’s heart. Here is a man who knew he was chosen by God. He could, like his predecessor, have become proud. Instead he developed an evermore vivid sense of his true position. “Poor and needy” — not just poor, without supplies, but needy, without the resources to obtain them. But David was not just appropriately humble. He was also confident in his God: “Thou For thou, Lord, art good”.
As I said, as well as being a look into David’s heart, this psalm is a master class in prayer. Let me look at just these five verses to see if I can show what I mean.
First, David knows to whom he is praying. He honors God with three names — Yahweh, Elohim and Adonai. “Yahweh” is simply translated as “I Am”. But this “covenant” name of God carries so much more weight. Simply, it might be said, it testifies to God’s presence — His commitment to be present — before time, after time, and through time. “Elohim” is simply translated as “The strong ones”. This name, too, conveys much more. It speaks of the power, might, and glory of God — as well, as a plural form, hinting at the Trinity. “Adonai” Is another plural form — “Lords”. Again, though, the name carries more weight. It speaks of relationship between the Lord and His people, of the Lord as lord, father and foundation.
David knows what to prayer for. First, he asks for God’s attention. You might think it unnecessary, as God’s attention is surely everywhere — yet it might be assumed that God, like a loving Father, likes to be asked. Next David seeks God’s help. He asks for comfort in trouble, and then relief from trouble, and then for his Lord’s favor. Finally, David asks for joy. It’s an interesting request, in a way, as it is a request for what David knows God will gladly grant.
Lastly, David knows the conditions on which God will grant his prayers. He knows first, that there must be need and a recognition of need. Second, he knows that he must have a relationship with God — that is the implication here of “holy”. He knows to that he must trust in God. Finally, David knows that He cannot take God for granted: “I cry unto the daily, I lift up my soul”.
There! A masterclass in prayer in just five verses. Actually, there’s more to be learned from those five verses … but perhaps this piece is long enough — and the remaining twelve verses are left to the student for an example!

Loneliness

Posted on by October 8, 2014
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Matthew 8:19-20 — And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Loneliness is a terrible condition. Not solitude … which is sometimes a wonderful balm to the soul, but that feeling of being alone, unsupported, unwanted even. So how are you feeling right now? If you are lonely right now, I have good news for you. You are in the best of company! There is no doubt in my mind that there were times when Jesus was lonely.
Some of my certainty has no scriptural basis. It has no better basis than common sense. Do you think the young Jesus was a popular kid? I don’t. The playmate who NEVER sinned? The one moms said “Don’t play with” because of the questionable circumstances of His birth? That child was the outsider.
I do have some Biblical basis for my belief in Jesus’s loneliness though. The man who had nowhere to lay His head sound lonely. The leader who said to His closest followers, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67) was lonely. The man of whom Isaiah said, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3) — He was lonely. So you’re in good company.
Of course, you’re not just in good company because Jesus was lonely too. You’re in good company because He is the best and most reliable of companions. There’s a beautiful hymn written In the eighteenth century by German mystic Gerhard Tersteegen. It starts and ends (I left out the seven middle verses!):

Art thou weary, sad, and lonely All thy summer past? One remaineth, and One only– Hear His Voice at last.
Voice that called thee all unheeded, Love that knocked in vain; Now, forsaken, dost thou need it? Hear that Voice again. …
…”Sorrow, sin, and desolation, These thy claim to Me; Love that won thee full salvation, This My claim to thee.
“Soul, I knock, I stand beseeching, Turn me not away;Heart that craves thee, love that needs thee– Wilt thou say Me nay?”

It’s beautiful. It says so clearly that Jesus longs to be the answer to loneliness. It’s almost as though He’s saying “I will always be lonely — until you come to me”. Are you lonely? There is a friend that is closer than a brother.

It’s A Bird’s Life

Posted on by October 1, 2014
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84:1-4 — How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.
Selah.

These verses of Psalm 84 are wonderful to me. It is a psalm of the Sons of Korah – that is, the Temple gatekeepers. Not just the gatekeepers, but those charged with making the showbread, looking after the temple vessels and leading worship. Yet for all this the psalmist sighs and longs for the courts of the Lord, comparing his lot unfavorably with the sparrows and swallows that fluttered around the altars. How can this be?
It seems that the writer of this psalm might have been one of those who fled, with David, into exile. If that were the case, it seems that he might have felt his exile and absence very acutely. He could not take his part in the service and worship while he was away and for the Priests and Levites worship and temple ritual were surely inseparable.
The passage, it seems to me, is inescapably echoed in Jesus’ reply to the over-eager scribe in Matthew 8:
And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:19-20)
One point about Jesus’ response is, of course, that He never provides soft false encouragement. He always sets expectations fairly. But let’s lay that aside for today.
The other point is that Jesus has set aside all the comforts of home to carry out His Father’s will – and what a setting aside it is. “In My Father’s house are many mansions”! He had set aside His powers and glory, and had nowhere to lay His head. He too, like the exiled son of Korah, was away from home.
There’s another more remote echo in 1 Peter which is, of course, addressed to the believers scattered abroad in Peter’s time. He calls them “strangers and aliens” (1 Peter 2:11). We too, are strangers and aliens, though we are perhaps fortunate to be somewhere between the state of the sons of Korah exiled from the temple, and our Lord, exiled from Heaven. We, at least, can gather together for worship. We are not entirely without a nest, or anywhere to lay our spiritual heads! We can worship together. We are blessed.

I Can’t Witness

Posted on by September 29, 2014
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Acts 22:14-15 — And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

I know that there are people who are “natural” witnesses. They can walk up to somebody, or sit down next to them, and be the channel for the Word. Not me. Witnessing is something I’ve had to learn to do, and maybe I’ll never be great at it. However that may be, today I’m writing about some lessons I’ve learned.
The first, and most important, lesson I learned is that witnessing is not about being an outgoing, confident, extrovert personality. It’s about being a receptive, open, listening personality.
The second thing I’ve learnt is that you don’t have to be a great Bible scholar or a brilliant debater. I’ve learnt the truth of one of the verses of one of the first songs I learned with a choir. The second verse of a great old spiritual called “There Is A Balm In Gilead” says:

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

That’s the key story of witnessing. Tell the story of Jesus and let the Spirit work.
The key story is supported by another story though. I have a story that has a real impact when I’m telling the story of Jesus. It’s the story of what Jesus has done for me.
Before I got saved I was always worried about the future, and I’d have to admit that there was a lot about my life that I’m not proud of now. Since I got saved I’m confident about the future … and maybe I’ve shaken off a few bad habits! My point though, isn’t the detail of my story — it’s just that I do have a story, and when I’m trying to show Jesus, talking about what He’s done for me helps me connect like nothing else. “That’s fine for you”, I hear you say, ‘but so what?” The “so what” is that everybody has a story. Maybe yours, like mine, is a salvation story. Or, as for many other people, perhaps it’s a story of how God intervened in your life and changed your direction. Whatever the story, your story is your best witness!”I don’t know”, do I hear you say? “I still don’t think I can do it.” Too bad. You don’t have a choice. What does the Word say? “For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.” “Shalt” provides no room for negotiation. There can be no “I can’t witness”

Friendly Fire

Posted on by September 28, 2014
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Romans 5:1-5 — Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Our Pastor preached a great message today. It helped me out with something that’s been on my mind recently.
Myra and I have both been dealing with what you might call “friendly fire” recently. We’ve been attacked unfairly by people who really have no reason to be anywhere but in our corner. I won’t go into details — they are not significant — but the events have raised a question in my mind: “How are we suppose to deal with that?”
Pastor preached on one of my many “favorite” passages of scripture — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. He mentioned the way the text is structured in the Greek and I do like the Young’s Literal Bible translation:

always rejoice ye; continually pray ye; in every thing give thanks, for this [is] the will of God in Christ Jesus in regard to you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 YLT98)

There’s no wiggle room. “Always”, “Continually”, “Everything”. There is no room for whining in the Christian life. Jesus laid out the cost of discipleship:
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The passage from Romans at the head of this piece lays out what I’ve come to think of as a typical “God mechanism”.
Tribulation makes us patient. Patience brings experience. That word “experience” needs explaining. Albert Barnes provides the explanation:

The word rendered experience means trial, testing, or that thorough examination by which we ascertain the quality or nature of a thing, as when we test a metal by fire, or in any other way, to ascertain that it is genuine. It also means approbation, or the result of such a trial; the being approved, and accepted as the effect of a trying process.

That proving process provides hope — that Christian hope which is the vision of Heaven’s gate … A vision that will not be unfulfilled.
It is not automatic, or magical. But in tribulation, we will rejoice. In tribulation we will pray. In tribulation we will give thanks to God — for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus in regard to us. Under friendly fire we will rejoice, pray and give thanks … always, continually and in everything.

Global Warming

Posted on by September 27, 2014
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Jude 1:12-13 — These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

As Myra and I did our devotions this morning, she commented that there seem to be more and more criminal outrages happening in the world about us, and fewer and fewer islands of decency. I couldn’t disagree, and “global warming” popped into my mind.
Now I don’t want to get into any eco-controversies! I’m just drawing an analogy between the idea of an ever-warming climate and an increasingly sinful world.
It seems to me that just as it is said that an increasing global temperature cause the waters to rise and land to be eroded, so an increasingly “hot” moral climate has caused the tide of sin to rise and the islands of decency to be eroded.
So what are we to do? I think we need to plant some trees! O.K., not literal trees … but see what you think of this.
Our moral atmosphere is being choked by the exhaust gases of a million sinful activities — many of them “industrialized” and generating a lot of money for a lot of people. So I say we need to breathe some pure spiritual oxygen out, and there’s nothing better for creating oxygen than trees!
So how do we go about it, this planting of trees? It’s a process that needs to be carefully followed.
First, you have to pick your time. Planting seeds or saplings needs to be done at the right time … which is to say that there are times when the seed of the gospel will be sown on barren ground!
Next, you have to prepare the ground. It is possible to witness to a complete stranger, all unprepared. It’s much more likely though that somebody who already knows that you are interested in them and care for them will be receptive to the seeds!
It’s not just the ground that needs preparing. The tree needs preparing too. Mostly, that means choosing the right specimen — or in our case the right scripture — for where the ground is prepared.
When it comes to the actual planting, there needs to be the right combination of gentleness and firmness … the planting has to go just deep enough!
Afterwards, of course, there needs to be feeding and watering. Here’s a bit of good news. If the planting is successful the feeding will come from many sources, and the Holy Spirit will take care of the watering!
So that’s my plan. If we plant trees, we’ll have more oxygen. More oxygen will help us clean up the atmosphere — and then more of us will stand on solid rock, and the tide of sin will be rolled back, and the moral climate will cool down!