Can You Be A Sign?

Posted on by July 11, 2015
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Luke 11:29-32 — And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

While I was having my quiet time this morning I had an experience that I have fairly often. I don’t know if you’re ever reading your Bible and realize that you might have been completely misinterpreting a familiar passage? It happens to me uncomfortably often! This morning I was reading Luke 11 and realized I might have been looking at Jesus’s comments about the sign of Jonah from completely the wrong angle.

I’ve always thought that the sign of Jonah was about him being in the belly of the whale for three days and that Jesus was talking about His coming crucifixion. Maybe I wasn’t wrong — plenty of commentators look at the passage that way — but today I realized it could be something quite different.

The Ninevites didn’t know Jonah had been in the whale. The people Jesus was addressing didn’t know that He would be crucified, dead and buried, only to rise again after three days. So what did they know?

The Ninevites knew that an Israelite, who had every reason to fear and hate them, had taken a long and dangerous journey to bring them the word of God. Jesus had laid down His powers and undertaken the ultimate dangerous journey to bring the word of God to the people of Israel. Perhaps that’s the sign Jesus was really talking about? Something that makes me think that might be the point is that He goes on to talk about the way the Queen of the South traveled to hear the wisdom of Solomon and the way the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah. The Word of God, and the one sharing it is the really important sign.

So if I’m right about looking at these verses in a new way, what might that mean for me? Two things came to mind.

First, when preaching is on offer, I’d better be listening and letting it have it’s way with my heart.

Second, the Word of God is a sign, and the one sharing it is a sign. I need to be that sign.

It’s not a comfortable experience having to rethink my understanding of scripture … But it can be rewarding.

Build The House!

Posted on by July 10, 2015
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Haggai 1:6-8 — Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. 

One of the besetting sins of modern times is that we pursue the wrong priorities. Jesus was quite clear — “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). When we should be focused on building the church we are chasing after “all these things” that seem to matter so much …

It’s not a new problem. The Lord sent a very clear message to the Israelites. “You’ve been working so hard but you’re hungry, thirsty, cold and broke. Why do you think that is?”

In 586 BC the temple has been destroyed and the Israelites taken into exile. It wasn’t until the reign of Cyrus the Great that a party led by Zerubbabel, Joshua the high priest and the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah was allowed to return and begin the rebuilding of the temple. After a couple of years, though, the local Samaritan leadership and a group of Persian nobles collaborated to have the work stopped. Apathy had set in, and the people set about pursuing a living, and ignored the temple. God had not blessed their efforts, and now sent the message to Haggai to rebuke them and spur them on to finish the work.

So here we are, two thousand five hundred years later. Look around. How are we doing at building the house? There are lots of physical properties — but the real house, the Church, isn’t doing so well is it? And so many of us spend so much time on “all these things“. “And”, (to quote Doctor Phil), “how’s that working for you?” Look around … I’m going to suggest that, in many ways, we’re hungering and thirsting, naked and poor.

It’s past time to get on with building the house. I’m not suggesting that working in the place where God has set us isn’t what we should be doing. Nothing like it! But that work should be part of seeking the kingdom, and part of building the house — or we’ll end up like the apathetic Israelites — short of blessings!

 

Get Over Yourself!

Posted on by July 9, 2015
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Zephaniah 2:1-3 — Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. 
Did anybody ever tell you to “get over yourself”? They thought you thought you were more important than they thought you were — maybe when you were moaning about something.
An over-inflated self image seems to be a “popular” problem at the moment — there are already eighteen people who think they would be just great as President! It’s not a new problem. The people of Judah seem to have been suffering from it when God gave Zephaniah a message for them, some six or seven hundred years before the birth of Christ.

Zephaniah brought a shocking message. These few verses at the start of chapter 3 go to the heart of it. God was not pleased with the people of Judah. They had been engaged in “blended” worship, just as likely to bow down to Ba’al as to Jehovah. They had become arrogant. The image is clear, the Day of the Lord is coming when the grain will be separated from the chaff, and the chaff will be burnt — and the Judeans are chaff!

A merciful God, though, always provides His people with an escape clause. In this case, it’s contained in verse 3: “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger“. God’s people are never meant to be proud. They are to be a humble people, and separate from the arrogant people around them. 

There is always a risk of the religious becoming the self-righteous. It’s made very clear in the Old Testament and the New that it’s not what God wants! “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8). “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

God’s people should be a humble group, seeking the Lord in these difficult times. It may be that we shall be hidden in the coming day of His anger. If any of us think we’re getting smart, it’s time to get over ourselves!

It’s Not What It Seems

Posted on by July 8, 2015
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Proverbs 18:16-18 — A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbor cometh and searcheth him. The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.

Myra and I have been reading the account of Paul’s trial before he appealed to Caesar and was sent to Rome. It’s impossible to review the events without being reminded of Jesus’s trial.

The two trials serve as a good example of something it’s important to remember when reading the Bible. Things change! It’s a great mistake to overlay our understanding of our own culture on the scripture that we’re studying.

At first blush the trials are scandalous. Let’s set aside the Jewish elements. We know that the Jews were implacable enemies of Jesus and His followers. There could be no fair trial for Jesus or Paul from then. But what about the Romans?

Historians tell us that the Romans formulated an elaborate legal system, over a thousand years from the “twelve tablets” to the Justinian codex. Many elements of our own legal system can be traced back to the Romans. So surely the Roman trials would have been fair? Not so much …

One thousand years after the time of Solomon, his wisdom still seemed a pretty good picture of the way things worked. A Roman trial would take place before a judge who could be one of any number of officials. There were very few rules about how a trial could be run. There was a concept of a jury trial, but little notion of facts as the basis for a decision. Trials were won by the most eloquent advocate. As Solomon put it, “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbor cometh and searcheth him.” The judge would make his decision based on how impressed he was — and by the mood of any bystanders.

Of course great advocacy wasn’t the only way judges could be swayed. Solomon had that right too … “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men” — without palms being greased there was no guarantee of a trial, and decisions could be bought.

If we thought that Roman justice matched up to the laws as they were written, Paul’s appeal to Caesar would make very little sense. The “facts” in evidence, as Aggrippa acknowledged, would not have condemned him — “Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.” (Acts 26:32). Our quick look at the practice of law makes it clear that Paul could not take the risk.

Well I know it was a bit theoretical … but I hope you get my point. It’s easy to read the Bible, to see things that look like the way they are today and not realize that the practice has changed completely. Step back in time!

Out Of True

Posted on by July 6, 2015
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Amos 7:7-9 — Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
I was helping Myra assemble a shelving unit for the garage this afternoon. The key to success was getting the corner posts lined up correctly — if they were out of true the unit wouldn’t really work. Maybe that’s what brought this passage to mind.
Amos was a practical man. He was a shepherd, from Tekoa. He wasn’t a professional prophet. There’s no doubt that he knew what a plumbline was, and what it was for. He knew exactly what the Lord was “promising” for Israel! The prophesy has the Lord saying three important things about Israel. First, for the first time in the Book of Amos, He claims Israel for His own — they are “my” people. Second, He notes that He has been forbearing with them — “I will not again pass them by”. Finally, by that same statement, He declares His intention, at last, to straighten them out.

The prophecy is potentially frightening for Christians in America. For many years we have claimed to be a New Testament people of God. That would be fine if our track record was all we would wish — but what if it isn’t?

The prophecy starts with a warning for the people, and a warning for the leaders.

The warning for the people speaks of the “high places of Isaac” being desolate. It seems the people have been worshiping where their fathers worshiped, depending on their fathers’ faith and not their own. Is there some part of our own faith that suffers from the same flaw? Has any part of our own worship become formulaic, not from the heart?

The warning for the leaders is straightforward. The house of Jeroboam will die by the sword. A crooked dynasty will be destroyed. In fact the destruction will be by the “sword” of Assyria, and when it comes it will mark the effective end of the Jewish monarchy. As the people turn away from God, so He brings the nation to ruin. If we are a people of God, and are “out of true”, what should we beware?

No Really, Trust!

Posted on by July 5, 2015
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Psalm 57:1 — Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

The fugitive David knew something. He might have been in a cave, fleeing from Saul, but He knew God would somehow make it right.
There’s a couple of scriptures that place David in a cave, on the run from Saul. We don’t know if this psalm is talking about when David was holed up in the cave of Adullam, or the cave of Engedi, or some completely different cave. There was quite a time when he was on the run, from place to place. It would have been natural for him to despair, and take on Saul face to face. It would have been natural for him to take matters into his own hands and seize one of the opportunities that would have allowed him to kill a sleeping Saul. But he didn’t.

David had the most perfect relationship with God. He loved Him, and trusted Him, and knew that His promises were entirely, unquestionably true.

Does all this mean that David was always happy? Was life one long happy story? Of course not. This very psalm is just one example of the many times that he freely expressed the trials he was going through, and the way he was feeling. He’s dealing with calamities. But his confidence is wonderful. “I will take my refuge, until these calamities be overpast“! David had absolute trust that God would take care of him, that He had everything in hand.

Faith isn’t what it used to be. Am I wrong do you think? Well I think I can make my case. Go back and reread the Old Testament. People believed God. It didn’t matter if they were good or bad. Whichever they were, they believed that if God said something He meant it. How many people, today, can really say that?

I wrote yesterday about “trust and obey” as the key to glorifying God. Saul failed the test. He could not wait a few days for Samuel (1 Kings 13) nor would he obey God perfectly (1 Kings 15). David waited with no knowing when God would deliver on His promises. He obeyed without question. He is a gold standard against which we can measure our faith. 

So how about it. Whatever God promises, and whatever He asks, will you really trust?

So how do I do that?

Posted on by July 4, 2015
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Acts 1:8 — But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

I’ve been struggling a bit with this glorifying God business. As I wrote in my last piece, I’m sure that the process is tied to the business of loving God, and loving my fellow man. What does that really look like?
We say it so often, “love God”. What does that really mean? How do I love the omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent God? 

The great theologian Karl Barth once said that the greatest theology he knew was in the little hymn, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I have a similar feeling about another little hymn:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Loving God, in the end amounts to placing total trust in Him, for everything, and being unconditionally willing to return to Him everything that He has given to us.
What then, about loving my fellow man? 

Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40). But He said another thing about the law and the prophets — the force of scripture — “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

What it amounts to is that I should be seeking for others what I would think of as the highest good for myself. And that highest good is my salvation. That puts me into a straightforward position. “Loving my neighbor” takes me right back to “trust and obey” — obedience in this case being to “make disciples in all the world” and to be a witness in “Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The trust comes in knowing that God will do His great part if I do my tiny part.

Giving glory to God. In the end it’s very simple. Play my part in bringing others into the kingdom …

What’s It All For?

Posted on by July 2, 2015
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2 Kings 25:8-11 — And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

In our devotions recently, Myra and I have been on the march through 2 Kings. Honestly, it can get a bit depressing as one failed ruler follows another.
Now, I don’t want to gross you out — but I was in the shower this morning when it occurred to me that the succession of rulers of my home country England — from the House of Wessex to the House of Windsor across nearly 1300 years — might soon peter out into the same futility — just like the Egyptian, Assyrian, Roman, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires before it …

My gloomy thought led me to think about the point of the whole thing. I mean, what’s the point of mankind if all our great successes crumble into nothing much?

I know better than that of course … 

The Bible is full of verses about man’s purpose. Not much about the purpose of empires and dynasties. I don’t really think that empires and dynasties are much to the point except in so far as they provide structure for men and women to live out their lives … but there is a real purpose for man.

Those verses I was taking about … It seems to me that the passage at the heart of the matter is:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

It might seem that this passage defines the real point of man … but there is more to it. Love, it seems to me, is the “how” of our purpose. English Puritan, Thomas Watson wrote a wonderful sermon to answer the question, to define the “what” and provides the definitive answer:

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

Here are two ends of life specified. 1. The glorifying of God. 2. The enjoying of God.

First. The glorifying of God, 1 Pet. 4:11. “That God in all things may be glorified.” The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. l Cor. 10:31. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial; now, man being a rational creature, must propose some end to himself, and that should be, that he may lift up God in the world. He had better lose his life than the end of his living. The great truth asserted is that the end of every man’s living should be to glorify God. Glorifying God has respect to all the persons in the Trinity; it respects God the Father who gave us life; God the Son, who lost his life for us; and God the Holy Ghost, who produces a new life in us; we must bring glory to the whole Trinity.

This is what I have come to. Man’s purpose is to glorify God. Man’s process is to love God and his fellow man. The process and the purpose work together. The more we love, the more we glorify God. I have been meditating on these thoughts for three days now, wondering how to explain the ways I believe love and glory interact. I can’t say it any better. God has given us a process and a purpose and they work together … and that’s what life is all for.

Fair Return

Posted on by June 29, 2015
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Nehemiah 9:33-34 — Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

I long for the day when we will have a leader who will lead the nation to repentance, and will stand before God to confess our sins. I long for it, but I very much doubt that I will see it.

Inspired by God, Nehemiah, the young cup bearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes boldly petitioned for resources and led his troop of supporters fifteen hundred miles to Israel to drive the rebuilding of Jerusalem to completion.

Nehemiah didn’t just rebuild the city walls. He rebuilt the Judaean community that lived within them.

The rebuilt community recommitted to the law and to their God — and was the foundation of a renewed Judaean state over succeeding centuries.

The people were persecuted, and eventually determined to find a new home, in a new country. In that new country, reached after many perils, there were many hardships but eventually the people overcame them all. And became a great nation. Sadly the nation, having risen to great heights fell to great depths. The people turned away from God and His laws. They descended from religious neglect to moral depravity. A patient God, eventually punished them with devastation and banishment.

The people were devastated, and banished — but the covenant still stood. God would not punish His people forever, and the young leader was called to lead them back to their roots.

How I wish that the story of Judaea was a true prophecy of the future of America. Unfortunately, the differences under the surface are much greater than the similarities. Judaea may have neglected it’s God, but it didn’t forget Him — and there was no deliberate attempt to drive Him away. The Judaeans knew that their sufferings were, in the end, their own fault. 

There is no doubt that America needs a leader to call the people back to repentance and to rebuild the walls. To be sure the walls are not city walls, but the walls of law and morality — but they are in increasingly desperate need of repair. If a leader arises we must take care. It would be easy to fall for the shiny attractions of a charismatic star. We need to return to the roots, but it must be a fair return, built on a foundation of repentance and built to God’s plan. Accept no substitutes!

Victorious

Posted on by June 28, 2015
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Matthew 12:20 — A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

Yesterday I talked about the historical perspective that all Christians should have. Today I want to talk about the logical end of that perspective … the victory that is coming.

There is a battle coming at the end of days. In chapter 19 of the Revelation we read that Jesus will lead The armies of heaven to victory over the armies of the world’s governments. It is often understood (or more properly misunderstood) that the battle will be limited to the Mountain of Meggido, but Ezekiel and Jeremiah make it clear that it will spread over all the earth.

There is a battle coming, and a great victory — but that is not THE victory.

This passage in Matthew 12:17-21 points to another, greater, victory. It’s an interesting passage in a way, because the prophecy in Isaiah to which it refers was talking about the Persian king, Cyrus. Matthew uses it, however, to talk about how Jesus creates victory for every Christian. 

Jesus will bring justice — a world in which it is possible for us to love God and our neighbors as we should.

Jesus will bring His victory by the power of love. It is a mistake to believe that His victory ultimately rests on the use of force. There will be a battle … but in the end, it is a battle of His enemies choosing. Jesus is not a violent warrior King and nor is He a harsh master. We may be weak and failing servants, but He will not punish us, but build us up to victory.

Jesus brings hope — and the victory of love — to all the world.

The victory in the battle at the end of time is yet to be. The victory of our release from the eternal bondage of sin is a continuous victory. Yet there is one more victory to talk about. It is the victory which has already been completely and finally won. It is the victory that makes the other victories possible. It is the victory that Jesus won upon the cross.

Now is a good time to remember, perhaps, that for a moment victory on the cross looked like defeat. At a time, perhaps, when it seems that there has been a great defeat it might be well to remember that victory might look like defeat, that strength might look like weakness … and that there will be a final reckoning at the end of days.