A DEARTH OF BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE

http://www.bibleliteracy.org/Site/PressRoom/Video/press_lenovideo.htm

The number of “bible verses” regularly quoted by men and women that do not appear anywhere within the bible is astounding: God helps those who help themselves, the three wise men, or all those verse quoted from Acts chapter 29!  The problem is that many do not read the Bible or they stopped have any self-induced biblical input on the final day of their last third grade Sunday school class.  The only input they get now is what they hear on Sunday morning if they are there, if they are awake, if their iPhone won’t pick up the big game on the church’s Wi-Fi!

I don’t mean to bemoan the present state of biblical literacy, but let’s face it: if you aren’t putting the Word of God in then it ain’t going in!  If the average man or woman does not do their own personal devotions then they will have trouble answering Jay Leno’s questions. 

The real shame of biblical illiteracy is that it is sooooooo easy in today’s society to have the very best Bible teachers from around the world on your car radio, on your iPod, on your iPhone (you can even download the likes of me from i-tunes), you can go to almost any bookstore and buy quality theological material, you can order it onto your Kindle, or you can even take your pastor to lunch and pick his brain. 

But let me warn you, pure knowledge of the bible is not enough.  People throughout history have memorize vast sections of the bible and their lives have never given any evidence of a change.  It takes the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to what God’s Word says.  I am not talking about just the words on the page, but what it means to believe and follow the teachings and life of Jesus Christ.  

Here is the plan: Ask the Lord to send His Holy Spirit to open your eyes and quiet your heart; open the Bible and begin to read the Gospel of John or the letter to the Romans; sit quietly before the Lord and ask Him to show you how you are to live because of what you just read.

WHAT IS PRICELESS

What do we consider to be “priceless?”  It’s hard to say in this day and age: two days after a tornado or hurricane and we have already put a 2 billion dollar value on the damage; your cancer treatment will cost you 1 million dollars; “I’m sorry doctor, the mistake you made reading that x-ray will cost you 200 million after lawyer’s fees.” 

Scripture seems to have a few definitions of priceless: What I am willing to give everything else in my life to obtain, or that which I cannot obtain on my own.  The pearl of great price is obtained by the man selling everything else he owns.  I always wondered what he then did to live!  Did he then go out and sell the pearl?  Would sell everything you have to obtain a single item: the Hope Diamond, a Villa at the Riviera, your health?  What would you then do with your life?

To obtain that which I cannot obtain on my own means it must be given to me.  If the item is priceless, because I could never afford to obtain it (nor anyone else for that matter) then what does that say about the one who gives it to me?  If the item in question is truly priceless, no man could ever obtain it or actually place a monetary worth upon it, then the one who gives it must be the owner of all things!  That makes the priceless item something that only God can provide.

Mary pours a vial of “priceless” (in her world) nard on the heat torso and feet of Jesus Christ and the proceeds to wipe His feet with her hair.  The Lord had given her much: His time, He had raised her brother from the dead, and He was about to give His life to atone for her sin.  In an expression of love she opens the vial and anoints the Messiah.  For the one who has received the priceless, no act of thanks is too great.

THE KINGDOM

This will be a little more academic than usual and I am using material from The Reformation Study Bible (p. 1489),  Systematic Theology by Berkhof (p. 569-70) and the Reformed Reader.

The theme of the Kingdom of God runs through both the Old and New Testaments, focusing on God’s purpose for this world.  God has declared that He would exercise His kingship (Dan. 4:34-35) by ruling over His chosen people through His chosen King (Jesus - Is. 9:6-7).  Jesus is ruler over all (Matt. 28:18; Col 1:13), King of kings and Lord of lords (Re. 17:14; 19:16).  The kingdom is present in its beginning but future in it fullness; in one sense it is here already, but in the richest sense still to come (Luke 11:20; 16:16; 17:12; 22:16-30). 

The kingdom came bring mercy and judgment (Matt. 3:1-2).  Those who repented and believe would find mercy, those who did not would find judgment.  The task of the church is to make this kingdom visible in our action and words. How the rule of God is established and demonstrated in our lives, along with the powerful regenerative influence or the Holy Spirit, will help this be realized on earth in an imperfect form.  Jesus taught the present spiritual realization and the universal character of the Kingdom; while at the same time holding out to the future the perfect blessings of salvation yet to be realized.  It is in heaven that the believers will understand the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is not to be found in an organization, but is to be demonstrated by those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.  This does not mean that the organized church has no responsibility in the Kingdom here on earth, but it points to the necessity of groups of believers applying these principles of the Kingdom to every domain of life.  This interaction with humanity necessitates the Kingdom being imperfect in form until the return of Christ.  The parables of the Wheat and Tares and the Fishnet show the imperfections in the visible church.  The Kingdom may be said to be a broader concept than the Church, because it aims at nothing less than the complete control of the areas of life.  It represents the domain of God in every sphere of human endeavor.

For a short review of the Kingdom read:

http://beginningwithmoses.org/bt-articles/232/the-kingdom-of-god

For those of you a little more serious about things Jonathan Edwards has some great material at:

http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/JE-pressing.htm

This selection is from the Reformed Reader:

What is the Kingdom of God? The idea is so pervasive in Scripture that it is very difficult to be comprehensive. There is much that can be said in trying to give a definition. It must be asserted that the kingdom of God is not a place—though we usually think of kingdoms in geographic terms. It is better understood in terms of the dynamic reign of God. Geerhardus Vos identified three strands which he called its essence: (1) the supremacy of God in the sphere of saving power; (2) the sphere of righteousness; and (3) the state of blessedness. Paul says, "The kingdom of God is . . . in power" (1 Cor. 4:20). The sermon on the mount is, in many ways, an explication of the nature of the righteousness of the kingdom, evident even in the blessedness promised in the beatitudes. The kingdom of God is the sphere in which he reigns—that is—the place where his sovereignty and dominion express themselves. When the Pharisees came to him and asked him when the kingdom was to come, Jesus could tell his hearers, that the Kingdom of God was in their midst. Imagine how confused they must have been when he said "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the Kingdom of God is in your midst." It was present in the ministry of Jesus—his teaching, his acts of compassion, his miracles. Isn’t this what Jesus was intending when, after his temptations in the wilderness, he sat in the synagogue in Nazareth and read on the Sabbath Day from Isaiah the prophet: "18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18&19? These are the acts of the reign of God—proof that he had come on a divine mission—that he was the unique son, who fulfills the words of Scripture. The Pharisees were confused, because they did not expect this kind of kingdom.

DO I REALLY WANT TO BE FREE?

I have decided to write about free will.  Did I really decide to do that or was it foreordained from all eternity that on this day I would write about how I am free to act in any way I wish to act?  I dressed myself this morning.  I chose to eat cereal not waffles this morning.  I decided against stepping on a bug this morning.  Why did I choose these things instead of other or even contrary actions?  The journal, Scientific American, did a study a few years ago in an attempt to explain why things happen in the way they do.  There conclusion were that, “everything that happens is determined by what happened before — our actions are inevitable consequences of the events leading up to the action.”  There once was a theological view similar to this called “Process Theology.”  This view held that everything is in the processes of becoming, so your next action is determined by your previous action and won’t “become” until the process of “now” has worked itself out; thereby determine what will happen “then.”  This theological view was abandoned by all but some of the most liberal scholars years ago.

But back to our question of free will; was this topic determined for me by our study of the Gospel of John, is it the natural outcome of that study, or could it be that I chose to highlight this particular aspect of chapter 18?  How about throwing sin into the mix?  Could I ever really have a free will if I am totally depraved? (For those of you who are not Calvinist you will have to look up Total Depravity on your own)

Let me quote R. C. Sproul as he elaborates on Luther’s famous work, “Martin Luther struggled greatly with the relationship of God’s sovereignty to human free will and sin. In fact, one of the greatest books ever written on the subject, The Bondage of the Will, is from Luther’s pen. When Luther grappled with this issue, he especially struggled with the Old Testament passages where we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 4:21; 7:3–4, 13–14, 22–23; 8:15, 19, 30–32; 9:27–10:2; 10:16–20, 24–28). When we read these passages, we tend to think, “Doesn’t this suggest that God not only works through the desires and actions of humans, but that He actually forces evil upon people?” After all, the Bible does say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. When Luther discussed this, he observed that when the Bible says that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, God did not create fresh evil in the heart of an innocent man. Luther said that God didn’t harden people by putting evil in their hearts. All that God must do to harden anyone’s heart is to withhold His own grace; that is, He gives a person over to himself.”  (RTJ - For even more on this topic read Jonathan Edwards: Freedom of the Will)

I have seen what I am like; therefore I don’t want to be given over to my own will!  Maybe free will isn’t all that I had hoped for?  Maybe the Providence of God is starting to look better all the time?  He did created me, form me in my mother’s womb, shape me into what He wanted me to be, save me from my sin, and guaranteed my salvation for all eternity.  Definitely – I like His will more than mine. 

THE GIVER OF ETERNAL LIFE

Almost every religion has some sort of idea or concept of what Christians call Heaven.  It is, to some extent, the carrot at the end of the stick; if you are good enough, nice enough, jump through all of our hoops, do the right things in your life, give enough…blah…blah…blah – then you can get to “heaven” when you die.  For some religions “heaven” is not even someplace else, it’s just that you get to come back to this existence in a better form or a higher caste.  

I guess a big question is; who determines if I get to go to “heaven?”   If I have to do the work then I guess I am the determiner of whether or not I go.  How good do you think my work needs to be?  From my rudimentary understanding of Islam if I do the 5 Pillars then I can get there.  It’s nice to know eternal life is that easily obtained!  But if the determiner of who goes to heaven is perfect and won’t let anything that is imperfect into heaven, then my works have to be perfect – that will certainly be a problem for me!

When we read John 17 we come face-to-face with a rather disturbing sentence, “Since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him.”  This is particularly upsetting to all who look to their own efforts or other means for eternal life.  It seems, and from the passage it is, the Father who gives to the Son the authority to grant eternal life, and that eternal life is granted only to those whom the Father has given the Son.  Sure sounds like those who get eternal life are determined by the Father!  Of course, He is perfect in righteousness, holiness, justice, etc. so maybe He is the only One who is qualified to give eternal life.  If He is the only One qualified then He also determines how it will be given, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

JOY, UNSPEAKABLE JOY

A famous philosopher, whose name escapes me at the moment, is said to have written three pages in his journal with nothing but the word “joy” on them upon his conversion to Christianity.  He was apparently known for his rather melancholy disposition and when Christ entered his life a joy that he had never before known also entered his life.

I have seen happy people come to Christ and their lives seem not to change all that much as far as their joy goes.  I have seen the “worst” of sinners come to Christ and their lives have changed completely and they have found joy outside of drugs and abuse.  What we know for certain about the Christian life is that it comes with a joy the non-believing world does not know and can never understand.  

Joy is something that undergirds the life of the believer.  Joy contrasts with happiness in the same way in the same way Scripture contrast the man who built his house on the rock with the man who built his house on sand.  The biblical illustration is clear if you understand what a Wadi is. A Wadi is a dry river bed found in the Middle East.  It seems peaceful enough since it hardly ever rains where you find them.  It looks like a great place for a house; wide, flat with plenty of room to let the kids play.  Unfortunately, when it rains 20 miles away and the waters begin to collect and rush downhill, the Wadi you built your house in becomes a raging river.  Because of the nature of sand – your house is now gone.  If you build a house on a rock (The Rock) then when the rains come your foundation is not moved and your house remains.  This is the way happiness and joy are; happiness can be washed away by the rains of the week, day, even the hour or minute.  Joy is part of the foundation that everything is laid upon; of course this type of joy on comes with Christ.  He is the Cornerstone and Foundation, and He brings a joy that can never be taken from us, because it, just like His love, is eternal.

Where is your joy, or are you still just hoping to have happiness?  I wouldn’t build my house there if I were you!

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I heard the phrase, “guilt is the gift that keeps on giving” a few years ago.  It’s true, isn’t it?  We feel guilty, sometimes because we are guilty of something and should feel that way, sometimes because someone wants us to because they think we should or they just like to make others feel guilty because of their own issues, or maybe even sometimes because we think we should feel guilty.

There is good guilt – “yes officer I was going too fast.”  This type is a necessary function of an informed conscience.  If you never feel guilty then you have no understanding of sin, right and wrong, or the feelings of others. 

There is bad guilt – Freud blamed everything on his mother, so we will too.

There is satanic guilt – This is when you know you have been forgiven, but you still feel this weight of guilt that keeps you from experiencing the freedom you have in Christ.

Under the category of “good guilt” we must include the word “conviction.”  This is what the Holy Spirit does to us, although it is not exactly guilt.  Conviction is becoming aware of what we were not aware of – theologically speaking that means sin.  The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our sin, we are convicted of it, and the Lord draws us unto Himself in the act of justification.  When the believer understands sin he wants to get away from it because he knows how God hates it.

We can’t blame our guilt on God – sin belongs to us.  We can blame the knowledge of our sin on the Holy Spirit because He opens our eyes to it.  We can also blame our way out of sin on God, because He provides our salvation.  So not only is guilt the gift that keeps on giving, at least in this life, but salvation is the gift that keeps on giving on into the next!

MR. PERSONALITY

I was once told that if everybody loved me that meant I had no personality.  Perhaps this was just that person’s way of excusing his behavior and the fact that almost everyone had some issue with him.  I have since learned that you can be a nice enough person that most people will love you, but eventually even the sweetest, kindest and most gentle person will be hated. 

I recall a man who lived quite some time ago who demonstrated love, healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, and eventually asked God to forgive the ones who crucified Him; Jesus was not universally loved!  His love threatened the religious status quo, it threatened those who had power and it threatened the way of life of the entire world; that’s enough to be hated.

If Jesus, who lived and loved in a perfect fashion, was hated by the world is there any hope that those who attempt to live like Him might escape the hatred of the world?  No, there is not; and Jesus tells us this in a straight forward fashion – “The world will hate you.”  Believers should not be disheartened with this news; what should upset us is if the world doesn’t hate us.  Maybe we should question the veracity of our faith if we aren’t persecuted!  Not that I am looking for persecution, but I am looking for genuine faith and the best way to live out the grace the Lord gives me. 

Let’s make this simple: Have you ever been hated because you were a Christian?  Not an obnoxious Christian, a pushy Christian, a legalistic Christian…you see where I am going.  Have you ever been hated because your life was a clear demonstration of Jesus, because you loved like Him, served like Him, or had compassion like Him?  If so, I congratulate you.  If not, get to work and be hated.

I HAVE COMMANDMENTS TO KEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

It’s not really an issue of “can” I do what the Lord wants me to do; it’s an issue of “will” I.  How many times have we acted in ways that we know we shouldn’t, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves?  I know what the Lord commands so why don’t I do it all the time?  I am weak, just like you!

Let’s put it in a way we can all understand: I walk out of the house and my dog goes for the trashcan.  I come back home some time later to find the can tipped over and assorted items on the floor (usually a discarded butter wrapper that has been licked clean).  My faithful dog slinks, and I mean slinks, over to see me; knowing full well that he has done something he is not supposed to do.  I speak to him harshly and send him to the garage.  He knows he is not supposed to get into the trash, he is rather smart, but yet he still gets into it.  Is he really smart?  Is he really stupid?  Why would he do something he knows he should not do?  He is a dog and I doubt his conscience is as developed or as informed by Scripture as is mine.  That’s his excuse.  What is my excuse?

I, like any believer, know what Scripture says, “If you love me you will obey my commandments.”  It’s as easy as that, isn’t it?   Yes, I love the Lord; no I am not always obedient.  This is a problem; not just for me but for every believer.

Perhaps a tool to aid my/our obedience is a greater focus on His love for me?  My love for Christ is obviously imperfect; His love for me is perfect.  His sacrifice for me was without any thought to Himself.  His joy was to do the will of His Father in heaven.  His atoning death was the ultimate demonstration of love.  Perhaps a better application, maybe a fuller appropriation, of His love would help my obedience? 

In The Saints Everlasting Rest, Richard Baxter basically says that a better focus on what is in store for the believer for all eternity will aid our lives here in this temporary world.  He means that if we spent more time contemplating heaven we will be better prepared for it when we arrive because we will have given ourselves over to it while still in this mortal body.  Maybe an emphasis on being obedient is the wrong place to put our focus.  Perhaps our emphasis should be on Christ’s love and sacrifice for us, and from that our hearts will strive longingly to live in the same fashion?  Christ was obedient to the Father out of His love for Him and desire for the Father’s glory.  What do you want most in life, the Father’s glory or more of this temporary world? 

THE SPIRITUAL CANDY SHOP

If you are a chocolate lover like me then perhaps you have had some form of this dream.  You walk into a fine confectionery shop, enjoy a chocolate selection and a coffee at the corner table, close your eyes for a moment and when you awake you find that they have closed the store around you.  There you are, poor soul, locked in a veritable Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory for the night – whatever will you do!  You have your pick: apples covered in layers of chocolate, strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, mints, caramels, you name it and it has been dipped, sprinkled with or injected with chocolate.  They find you in the morning, dead, but with a smile and a tell tale smear of chocolate on your face.  Death by chocolate.

Spiritually speaking, some have interpreted John 14:12-14 in a similar fashion as my “night in the confectionery shop” story.  Jesus says that if you ask it in my name you will get it.  If this is so, why have so many of my dinners not ended with chocolate pudding!  Perhaps a more important question would be, “If I ask the Lord for something in the name of Jesus, then why have my friends still died, their marriages fallen apart or their lives been shattered through suffering that I specifically asked the Lord, in the name of Jesus, to relieve them of?”

“In the name of Jesus” is not the same as the magician’s “hocus pocus” and out comes a rabbit from the hat.  There is no magic formula to access the power of God.  There is God’s will, and that is perfect; there is my will and that is far from perfect.  If we are to understand the passage we must come to grips with the distinction between His perfect will and my imperfect will.  We must understand that His perfect will is what we need to have; whether or not we like it. 

I dare you – start to pray for His will and His glory to be done in your life without limiting it to what might be considered good, pleasing, or helpful according to the standards of society or to you personally.  Go ahead, ask the Lord for His glory to be demonstrated in your life regardless of what it may cost you or do to you personally.  Seek His will with all that you are; then you will begin to understand that “God’s candy shop” is not always stocked with what we like, but is filled with what will best glorify Him.  When you are satisfied with that, then you will understand John 14:12-14.  Then, whether it is life or death, it will still be God’s glory – and you will know your purpose.      

WHAT CAN THE DEAD TELL US?

My first real exposure to the dead (up close and personal) was the day I went to the local hospital and had to find the “necrology” department.  Let me give you some background; Judy and I had moved into the upstairs apartment of a local funeral home and, as our third job between the two of us, we were the live-in caretakers.  Our job description included, but was not limited to: working visitations, keeping the place clean, answering the phone throughout the night, helping during services, and making removals from homes, or the hospitals.  The first time I went to the necrology department by myself was the first time I ever went there.  Naturally it was an old hospital and necrology was in the basement.  I will spare you the details, but it was just like in the movies: a long hallway with half the light bulbs burned out, not another soul around, just me and…you know…it’s the necrology department.

I think most people have at least some aversion to the dead.  Most of us don’t spend any great deal of time around those who are deceased and I have found an awkwardness exhibited by most when they have to come in contact with someone who has died. 

There are those among us who claim they can make contact with the dead – we call them: spiritualist, mediums, or necromancers.  In a more “culturally sensitive” form there are also fortune tellers, palm readers, and those who play with Ouija Boards.  Scripture says that these people are all to be avoided.  We are to have nothing to do with them or anyone else who thinks they can communicate with the dead or tell the future.  There are only two sources of knowledge of the future or communication with any other realm of existence: Satan and the Lord.  The Lord will contact us if He deems it necessary.  If we go looking for Satan, he is only too happy to oblige our ignorant search for what we are forbidden to seek.

All of this is an introduction to the prophet Isaiah’s world where necromancers were operating with the blessing of king Ahaz.  The kingdom of Judah is seemingly going down the drain, so Ahaz has made a bargain with the Assyrians, seeking their protection against lesser invaders, and now the Assyrians have decided that the kingdom of Judah is “easy pickings” and they will take the land for their own.  Where is God when His covenant people need Him most?  God is still around…His people are the ones who have trusted in gods of lesser abilities.

I don’t know the attraction, but in this day people are moving away from church and yet studies show they are more interested in ‘spiritual” things than ever before, so why is it that they turn to horoscopes, mediums, and even all sorts of false ways to seek the Truth?

Even though Ahaz was seeking after other gods, the Lord was still about the business of keeping His people safe.  He told Ahaz this and even gave him the chance to ask for a sign as proof of His promise to act to keep His covenant people secure.  When Ahaz declined to ask for a sign God gave him one anyway – a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel. 

My friends, anything other than the God of Scripture, the God who created all we see and the God who knows your very thoughts is a false god and one that will provide false assurance, false knowledge and false hope.  Our Heavenly Father did not want there to be any misunderstandings about His intentions: He will save His people!  And to make sure we understand this He chose to achieve this in a way that could not be misunderstood as anything other than divine power – the Son of God came into this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. 

Let’s see your daily horoscope top that!

DO THEY HATE YOU ENOUGH?

“I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual life upon another; each leaves the passionate lover, or the no less passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his object.”  Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

The most hated words ever spoken were…”Lazarus, come out.”  Jesus spoke these words knowing they would drive the Sanhedrin to plot His death.  These words of love, healing, grace and resurrection; of such comfort and mercy were the very words that would send men over the edge in hatred for Him.  Why is this?  How is this possible?

It happens often enough to ask the question, “Why, in demonstrating acts of love are Christians hated?”  Jesus raised a dead man.  Four days Lazarus had been in that grave and when Jesus told the men to move the stone Martha yells out “by this time there will be a stench!”  The man was dead.  Jesus brought him back to life.  Jesus brought him back from the bliss of heaven into the sinfulness of this world in a grand demonstration of love and mercy and all the Sanhedrin could think to do was to redouble their efforts to kill Him.

It is a very tough predicament for the believer: the love of Christ compels us to act in ways that will cause those who are in darkness to hate us.  Paul says that some of the marks of a true Christian are: feeding your enemy when he is hungry, giving your enemy something to drink when he is thirsty.  What is the purpose of these actions of love?  For some non-believers it will be a physical act of Christ-like love that the Lord will use to open their eyes to the saving grace of Christ.  For others it will be like hot coals heaped upon their heads that will lead to anger, hatred or possibly shame. 

This miracle of Jesus, which could not be denied, results in greater hatred of Him by those whose expectations He was not meeting.  Their hearts were not softened by His mercy, they were hardened. 

How about this for a thought – If you have never been screamed at, threatened, spit upon or kick, maybe it’s because you haven’t acted enough like Christ? 

That is a frightening thought.  Is it true?

LORD, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!

I was 17 years old and had been a believer for 2 of those years.  I was on hiatus from the northern Presbyterian Church that I had attended since I was carried up the aisle to be baptized and was spending some time in a Full Gospel Church.  I remember the first time I heard the pastor mention a certain girl’s name and the very serious illness that she had – we, as a church, on that Sunday began to pray for the Lord to heal her…and we prayed with expectation!  Every week we heard reports on her continued decline and every week we would pray in earnest for her healing.  After all, wouldn’t God be glorified if this young girl, who medicine could not heal, got out of her sick bed and walked into church one Sunday morning perfectly well? 

She died and I faced my first great theological conflict.  Why hadn’t God healed this precious girl?  She was a believer, she was “innocent” as far as the standards of the world, it was a great chance to demonstrate His grace and power, and we were praying for it to happen.  We all wept that Sunday at the news of her death and the pastor, in all earnestness and humility said that perhaps he had not had enough faith or that there were some who doubted the possibility of her healing.  He did not mention God’s sovereignty.  He did not mention the possibility that God was glorified in this girl’s sickness and death.  He did not mention that her suffering could have been for our benefit and His glory. 

In John 11, Jesus did not rush to the sick bed of Lazarus to provide healing.  Mary and Martha were well aware that Jesus could heal their brother, even from afar, so they placed their faith in Him by simply stating that the one Jesus loved was sick.  Jesus purposely delayed His departure for two more days – Lazarus died.  Why? 

Lazarus died because those around Jesus did not need to see Him heal a sick man; he died so that their faith would be strengthened and God glorified by the raising of a dead man.  It was a greater demonstration of love to allow Lazarus to die than to heal him.  That can be a tough think to understand! 

I have seen much death, much suffering and some miraculous healing.  I have reached the point that I no longer ask the Lord “why He didn’t heal my friend.” I have been at Central long enough that every funeral I do is for one of my friends, so now I ask Him, “How is your glory manifest in their suffering and death?”  It may not always be readily visibly, but His glory is there; in fact, I may not even be able to see it in my lifetime.  Do I pray that the Lord will bring healing and manifest His glory in that fashion?  Yes, every time.  But I also realize that the greater demonstration of His love may be in a negative answer to my prayers.

COME BEFORE WINTER

Strike while the iron is hot - When you have an opportunity to do something, do it before you lose your chance.

How many wasted opportunities have we had in our lives.  Perhaps it was as simple as driving behind a slow car on a two lane road and not taking the passing lane when the chance presented itself?  Maybe you did not ask that girl out when you had the chance, only to find that when you got around to it she was already dating someone else?  Could it be that it was something far more important that you missed out on because you did not strike while the iron was hot?

In Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, he tells him to come before winter.  Paul is a prisoner in Rome and does not expect to be alive in the Spring.  If Timothy waits much longer the winds will change and he will not be able to sail against the winter breezes.  His chance to get to Paul while he is still alive will be lost.  Paul has been poured out like a drink offering and has fought the good fight.  He has expended his life in the pursuit of the will of God and in service to the cause of Christ.  He has been successful.  He counts the scars on his body as evidence of this success: beaten times without number…39 lashes…beaten with rods…stoned… three times shipwrecked…been in labor and hardship…through many sleepless nights…thirsty…without food – all for the Gospel of Christ.  Paul did not miss an opportunity to do the things he had been prepared to do by the Lord.  Now, sitting in a prison in Rome he awaited his death for preaching the Gospel.  “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.  Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because the live in a gray twilight that known neither victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt as Quoted by John MacArthur)

The Lord calls to us…do we always act when we sense His prompting?  Come before winter – act now to restore your relationships…act now to demonstrate the love you have been holding back…act now to share your faith with that friend whose response you have been uncertain of…act now to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved…Come before winter. 

GRACE ABOUNDING OR SIN ABOUNDING?

Known as the "mad monk," Grigori Rasputin was an outlandish figure in the court of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. A wandering peasant and self-styled holy man, Rasputin became a favorite of Nicholas and the Empress Alexandra in 1905 after he laid hands on their son Alexis, apparently healing the boy of hemophilia. Rasputin was soon a fixture in the royal household and a particular confidante to Alexandra. Wild-eyed and unkempt, Rasputin was strangely charismatic and his personal magnetism was legendary; at the same time his bouts of drinking, womanizing, and wild behavior created a scandal in Russian society. He was finally killed in 1916 by a cabal of aristocrats who feared Rasputin's influence had grown too great. Rasputin's death became the stuff of legend: assassins fed him poisoned cakes and wine, and when the poison failed to kill Rasputin they shot him and beat him. Still Rasputin didn't die, until finally the men bound him and tossed him into the Neva River, where he drowned (www.answers.com).  Seventies pop group Boney M summed up Rasputin's exploits very nicely: “Most people looked at him with terror and with fear / But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear.”

The theology of Rasputin centered around a virulent form of antinomianism: one must become very familiar with sin, so that God’s grace can be demonstrated to its fullest extent.  As far as we know Rasputin took full advantage of some of his theology, with plenty of evidence for the first portion (familiarity with sin) but no evidence for the second portion (familiarity with God’s grace). The “mad monk” was not the first man in history to misunderstand the graciousness of God or to ignore the teachings of Paul in Romans 5-7; he is just better known than the Gnostics, the Manicheans, those involved in Marcionism, Johannes Agricola, or Anne Hutchinson. 

Most of us today don’t recognize any of these names or even the word “antinomianism” (anti-against; nomos-law), but that does not mean it is not present in our society and even within the church today.  I believe this crazy view of God’s grace is manifest in two particular ways today: universalism and ego-centrism. 

The universal aspect of this is seen in a reduction of the value of any obedience or desire to become more Christ-like (contrary to an extraordinary number of passages in Scripture and the majority of the book of James).  The one who professes faith in Christ but does not care how he lives is surprisingly similar to the Universalist who thinks, “We are all going to heaven anyway so in the end if I cheat my brother, what does it matter?”

The ego-centric aspect of today’s antinomianism is seen in the rejection of God and any moral law as the natural result of man becoming obsessed with self.  If I am the center of my own world, then I have that great ability and even omniscience to justify my own behavior.  Why should I voluntarily limit or submit myself to any rule of God if I truly believe that I have been forgiven and God’s grace is sufficient to cover any sin?  If it covered my past sins, and God is aware that I will continue to sin and has made His grace to cover those as well, then why hold back my own desires, especially if there is grace waiting to cover my sinful actions!  If there is unlimited grace why should I ever care about obeying any moral law?

If you are so full of self and believe that because of grace no moral law has any bearing or hold upon you, then you have not been taught the truth, are so young in your knowledge of Christ and the things of faith as to be still sipping on “milk” (or not consuming the Word at all), or you are simply not a believer.  Paul’s great frustration in his personal life was that he could not get away from sin and did not always do those things he knew he should do.  God’s grace frees us from the master we had – sin.  God’s grace gives us a new Master – Christ.  Everyone will serve their master; either you will be a servant of sin or of righteousness.  Christ did not die so that we could be even further enslaved to sin.  He gave His life to free us from those chains so we could have life more abundantly.  We strive to live in obedience to God’s Word because of God’s grace. 

If you don’t want to live like Christ, perhaps it’s because you don’t know Christ?