Category “Faith”

November 10, 2013
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Last Words of Murdered Men

There are two surprisingly similar yet startlingly different passages in the Bible that involve the stoning of God’s messengers. The first involves the prophet Zechariah:

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.'” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The LORD look on, and repay!”1

The second involves another prophet of God, Stephen:

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth… Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him… Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”2

Both men addressed the leadership. Both men spoke with conviction from God. Both induced a violent reaction. Both had something to say before they expired. But what they had to say is the startling difference. Zechariah said,  “look on and repay.” Stephen said, “do not charge them with this sin.” What happened to create such a dichotomy of response? Zechariah operated under the dispensation of the law. His example was Moses, communicating the Law of Jehovah God. “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death… you shall give life for life.”3 Stephen operated under the dispensation of grace.  His example was Jesus Christ, communicating the Love of Jehovah God. “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him… Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'”4 Praise God for his Son, whose substitutionary sacrifice both fulfilled the demands of the law and became the archetype of love. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”5  Because of his sacrifice, we too can pray for our enemies, recognizing with pity their blindness even as they seek to injure us.

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 [↩]
  2. Acts 7:51-60 [↩]
  3. Exodus 21:12, 23 [↩]
  4. Luk 23:33-34 [↩]
  5. Romans 5:8 [↩]
November 9, 2013
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Works on Fire

There will come a day when the works of believers will be tried with fire. 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 states, “If anyone’s work which he has built on [Christ] endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss…”

Fire is seen throughout the Bible as consuming the impure. Fiery swords guarded the entrance to Eden from the sin of Adam. Fire consumed the cities of Sodom and Gomorra. Fire from the Angel of the Lord consumed Gideon’s sacrifice. Fire devoured the offering of Elijah so thoroughly that the altar and surrounding water was consumed as well. In the end, fire will consume the Earth. Most importantly, from the lighting of the sin offering’s fire by God in Leviticus 9:24 until the time of Christ, offering after offering was burned up. No offering was perfect, so all were consumed.

The Bible describes works that are not satisfactory as wood, hay, and stubble. These are works that are performed outside the will of God. “Bondservants, be obedient… with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”1

It is sure that a portion of our works will be destroyed at the seat of reward, less for some, but sadly more for others. Fortunately, this isn’t a question of our eternal security. “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”2

The Bible likewise describes works that are satisfactory as gold, silver, and precious stones. These are works performed in the will of God, and they will last forever.3

There is only one person who had or will have no works burned. Jesus Christ said, “I do nothing of myself,” and, “I always do those things that please Him.”4 Even at the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus stated, “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done.”5 There was not one action in his life that was selfish or insincere or willful.

His works were flawless.

When Jesus Christ went to the cross and became sin for us (his greatest work), the fire of God’s wrath toward that sin fell on him. Under the cload of darkness, the penalty of our sins was poured out on the Savior… but praise God he was not consumed! Fire consumed the impure, but the perfect Savior was still there. Hebrews 10 records this glorious revelation: “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…”6

We see then, that there is no work of ourselves that can be pleasing to the Father. If we would have works that will be preserved for eternity, monuments to magnify the glory of God, then our works must be done in Christ’s will.

In the words of C. T. Studd,

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

 Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

  1. Ephesians 6:5-6 [↩]
  2. 1 Corinthians 3:15 [↩]
  3. 1 John 2:17b – …he who does the will of God abides forever. [↩]
  4. John 8:28-29 [↩]
  5. Luke 22:42 [↩]
  6. Hebrews 10:11-12 [↩]
October 27, 2013
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As a follower of Christ I should be both a warrior and a child, possessing a warrior’s self-discipline and child’s complete dependence. All to often I reverse those roles, instead possessing the self-dependence of a warrior and the self-discipline of a child.

October 14, 2013
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Bits and Bridles

Horse with blindersDavid was a man in tune to the desires of God. The Bible describes him as “a man after God’s own heart.” But even he acted against the will of God in his life and was forced to endure painful discipline as a result. In Psalm 33:8-9, God lovingly instructs David after an episode of sin, discipline, and confession.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.”

I have said before that there are three levels in our relationship with God. The first is fear, where obedience springs from an understanding of God’s power and his wrath toward sin. The second is duty, where we obey out of an understanding of God’s will for us and a sense of personal obligation to our Savior. The third is love, where we obey out of a recognition of his unconditional love toward us and a desire to return that affection.

Most horses are at level one in their relationship with their riders. They have no understanding and must be controlled with a bit and bridle. The bit is uncomfortable and can be used to exert pain if the horse refuses to obey its master’s commands. The bridle keeps the bit in place and gives the master control of the horse’s head.

God does not desire this type of relationship except as a step toward closer intimacy. He wants us to draw near to him and if we resist he will pull us about by the bit, exerting pressure and pain to guide us back into his will.

Some horses, however, are in tune with the will of their rider. The horse and rider relationship is so close, so familiar, that all it takes is a glance, a little shifting weight, or the pressure of a knee on the horse’s side to turn the horse. The steed becomes an extension of its master’s will.

God wants this type of relationship with us. He wants to guide us with his eye. He will exert pain if necessary, but he desires a relationship so familiar that at the mere glance of his will, we immediately notice and obey. He wants us to be “people after God’s own heart.” May God help us to have a relationship this intimate!

 

September 14, 2013
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Faltering Fellowship

I have experienced a life of rich friendships and sweet fellowships. I have relationships with beloved siblings in Christ all over the United States and in distant countries as well. God has greatly blessed me in this area. But maintaining fellowship can be difficult, and it is not always possible to maintain all fellowships.

I’ve identified three types of “faltering fellowships” in my life. The first is a fellowship damaged due to personality conflict. As sad as it is to admit it, there are some believers I don’t get along with and as long as I’m in the flesh I probably never will. I know I should love them, and maybe I do, but I don’t really like them. There are various reasons but that’s beyond the scope of this post. Needless to say, this is probably the most damaged of the three faltering fellowship but not necessarily the most irreparable.

The second faltering fellowship is due to distance. It’s hard to maintain a strong fellowship over long distances and time. Some of my fellowships that are in this category tend to pick up right where they left off when last we met, but communication between those rare meetings is sparse. I experience this type of faltering fellowship the most, though it is also the least damaged and easiest to repair. It is mainly an issue of determination and discipline in communications.

The third faltering fellowship is due to exclusivity. What I mean by this is that strong relationships with friends of the opposite sex have been diminished in order to respect the exclusivity of my relationship with my wife. I have seen the awful carnage that an inappropriate friendship can wreak on a marriage and I believe with all my heart that exclusivity is needed. This is the most irreparable of the three faltering fellowships because it is necessary, voluntary, and barring some tragedy, permanent.  I hesitate to call this type of relationship damaged. I think that diminished describes it best.

The amazing part of all this is that these pride damaged, long distant, and deliberately dimmed relationships will be fixed one day. There is a brother in [redacted] whose legalism has damaged his relationship with his family, with the body of Christ, and with me. [Redacted], we are both going to be in heaven sometime in the next 60 years or so, and I’m elated with the recognition that our relationship will be not only be repaired, it will be intimate. Praise God!

Those of you my friends, separated by the gulfs of time, space, and propriety, we will soon be in a place where distance, time, and temptation is irrelevant. I can’t tell you how happy I will be to see you there!

 

August 10, 2013
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Thy Broken Body, Gracious Lord

I stumbled across a beautiful little hymn today, squirreled away in the footnotes of a convicting article by C. H. Mackintosh. The hymn was written during the formation of the Plymouth Brethren, between 1837 and 1838, and published in the first brethren songbook, Hymns for the Poor of the Flock. The author is Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, and he penned these words some where around the age of twenty-five. I think this song really brings out both the wonder and importance of the remembrance meeting.

Thy broken body, gracious Lord,
Is shadowed by this broken bread,
The wine which in this cup is pour’d,
Points to the blood which Thou hast shed.

And while we meet together thus,

We show that we are one in Thee.
Thy precious blood was shed for us,
Thy death, O Lord, has set us free.

Brethren in Thee, in union sweet,
(For ever be thy grace ador’d),
‘Tis in Thy name, that now we meet,
And know Thou’rt with us, gracious Lord.

We have one hope—that Thou wilt come,
Thee in the air we wait to see,
When Thou wilt take Thy people home
And we shall ever reign with Thee.

 

July 24, 2013
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Padina’s Story

This is an interview with dramatization of how a young Iranian girl named Padina discovered Jesus Christ. The video is produced by Voice of the Martyrs in association with Iranian Alive Ministries for International Day of Prayer 2011.

Do yourself a favor and take 7 minutes of your time to watch this. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

July 23, 2013
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A Staggering Dichotomy

Dichotomy: Two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities

trevon is murder abortion is a right

In the 20 days of the trial, the lives of approximately 63,000 unborn children in the United States were extinguished – silently, deliberately and legally murdered.1

#nojustice

  1. Based on 2009 rates of abortion. http://www.abort73.com/images/states-data.jpg [↩]
July 22, 2013
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A Drunken Sailor and a Sinner

During a stop at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico I  was assigned shore duty. The night before the ship was to get underway I went to the sailor center on base to tell my shipmates to head back to the ship. One sailor was missing, however. This sailor’s alcohol issues had caused trouble for me in the past. During a stay at my home he damaged the interior walls and during a drunken fit he kicked a hole in an acoustic guitar that I had let another sailor borrow. Based on this, I guessed alcohol was involved his disappearance. Sure enough, I found him semi-conscious in a bathroom stall. He had vomited and urinated on himself and the smells of bile and urine combined with the smell of alcohol to make a terrible odor.

I tried to walk him the 3/4 of a mile or so back to the ship, but quickly realized I’d have to hoist him, putting one arm over my shoulder and one hand on his belt. During the long trip back to the ship he would occasionally gain enough lucidity to curse at me for a few moments before lapsing back into a semi-conscious state. When I finally got him to the ship and the BMC took him down to his bunk, I was happy to be rid of him.

Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:3, 6-7

When I carried this sailor back to the ship, I saved him from the wrath of the chain of command. I didn’t bear his punishment for him, I merely moved him from a position of danger to one of relative safety. When I finished, I didn’t want to see him again. I liked him less then than I ever had before. All I wanted to do was change clothes and take a shower. But when Christ died on the cross, he satisfied the just requirements of the holiness of God toward the sins of the world – every sin – past, present, and future.1 Understand this: The sin of mankind is far more horrendous and obnoxious to God than any physical filthiness that has ever existed on human skin. Jesus Christ was not merely exposed to this sin, he became our sin.2  God the Father was required by his very nature to smite his Son with all the wrath that mankind has ever deserved. This is why we who believe are free from sin: Christ died for us. When we identify with him, we receive the benefits of the crucifixion – The removal of “the body of sin.” We are dead to it.

Now that’s a good deal in itself, far better than we ever could have hoped for. But it gets better.

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.  Romans 6:4-5,8

The sacrificial death of Christ freed us from the power of sin. Even better, he was resurrected by the Glory of God to new life. Again, in identifying with him, we also receive new life. I never wanted to see that drunken sailor again and even after he was sober and clean smelling I avoided him as much as possible. God the Son does the opposite. He pursues us, he woos us, he wants us to live with him. Not only that, he compares our relationship to a marriage relationship3 – the most intimate relationship mankind can boast of, a relationship which functions on the closest thing to unconditional love humans can muster. He didn’t just save us from sin, he brought us into his family – to be treated as a bride, a kinsman, as sons and daughters.

I’m glad that God’s ways aren’t my ways, and his thoughts aren’t my thoughts. I’m glad that Jesus Christ, God the Son, wants me to be identified with him. I’m glad that when God the Father looks at me, he sees Jesus Christ, his Son. In him I have died to sin, and in him I live a resurrected life.

  1. 1 John 2:2 – And he himself is the propitiation [satisfying sacrifice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. [↩]
  2. 2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. [↩]
  3. Romans 7:4 – Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead… [↩]
July 22, 2013
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Suitable Suitors

Camp BabiesMy wife and I joke about betrothing our daughter Elanor (orange shoes) to our friend’s children. But when I saw this picture I was impacted with a feeling of hope that rather surprised me. I think this is why: When I think about Elanor’s future husband, I think about Job – Kathleen and Rafa’s son, being raised in Mexico as his parents serve the Lord in the squalor and risk of a third world country. I think about Machiah, the red-head in the picture above. His parents are moving to Niger this year in order to spread the gospel to the sprawling masses of Niamey. I think about Marshall, sitting next to Elanor, a boy who is being brought up by a parents who have endured much to conform to the will of their Father. I think about Griffith, born in the decay of Detroit where his parents moved in order to support a faltering assembly. There are many boys like these, and they give me hope for Elanor’s future. We joke about who she will marry but we really have no idea who that man will be. Still, these children remind me that there are God-followers out there, men and women who will do anything to see that their boys grow to love God as their parents do. I hope one day my daughter marries one of them.

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