It Would Take A Kiss

The Arrest of Jesus

The scene has moved from the privacy of prayer and the relative quiet of the garden to the imposing noise of a crowd of nearly one thousand Roman soldiers, temple guards and religious rulers - all led by Judas, the traitor.

They were afraid of Jesus. They had seen the crowds around Him in the temple as He taught them. They had witnessed the adoration of the crowd calling Jesus a king. There were large crowds everywhere and the Romans were always concerned about an insurrection. They had already arrested Barrabbas at some point for leading an insurrection. They were not going to take chances with this Jesus.

The Power of Deity

The quiet of the garden was interrupted by the noise of nearly a thousand men. 600 among them were Roman soldiers brandishing swords, another large group of temple guards carried clubs (or staves). 

A smaller group among them were the religious rulers, most of them of the group called Sadducees who had control of the Jewish temple and its market for sacrificial animals.

These all were led by Judas Iscariot who was part of Jesus' inner circle. Judas was so trusted that the other disciples of Jesus made him treasurer of the group.  

However, Judas was disillusioned with Jesus when it became clear to him that Jesus was not going about the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel in the way that Judas thought it should be done.

So, Judas designed a plan that would allow him to salvage something out of the past three years that he wasted thinking that Jesus was the true Messiah of Israel. Judas made a deal to lead the religious rulers to the place and time where they could arrest Jesus without risking a riot from the Passover crowd.

Judas had no idea that He was fulfilling prophecies concerning Jesus.

The Power of Darkness

Each one of us has betrayed the Lord Jesus.

One thing about the Passover lamb that we don't give much thought to is that the command to slay the lamb is a command to betray the lamb.

In Ex 12:6 they were commanded to keep the lamb in the house for 14 days. During that time, they were to prove the worthiness of the lamb and there would naturally be a bond form between members of the family, especially if there were children in the house.

When the hour came for the lamb to be sacrificed, a dread and a horror would come on every member of the family. The lamb had come to trust them and expect to be cared for by them. Yet there was no turning back from that dark hour as the knife was laid to the throat of the family lamb and its eyes turned from a trusting gleam to the darkness of death.

You Be Ready

 I am concerned that the Bride will not be ready in time.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." Rev 19:7

We recently attended our niece's outdoor wedding in Florida. The young man that she married is a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair due to a tragic accident. Although he is a capable in many respects, one thing that he cannot do is stand up. 

The custom at most weddings is that the attendees will stand as the bride begins her procession down the aisle. However, since this would block the grooms view of her as he sat in his wheelchair,

Revival Or Revolution?

30 years ago, Dr J. Vernon McGee declared that this nation needed revival or it was headed for revolution. He warned of the need for personal revival beginning first in the church.

While there have been sporadic instances of the Holy Spirit working, there has not been the outpouring that led to sweeping changes in the nation as has occurred in the past.

So, without revival, we are in the midst of a revolution. The very notions that our parents fought several wars against have now taken root in the very heart of our government.

What Dr McGee stated then was:

Baptism and Amalek

"Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim"

My brother in law is a good man. 

He desires peace among men and he is a well liked doctor because of the excellent care he provides to his patients. He also has spiritual interests and describes himself as a Daoist promoting a universalist message of salvation. In other words, in his belief system, God is not exclusive of any who try and live in peace and harmony with man and nature.

In a recent conversation that my wife and I had with him about the bible, he became very animated in opposition to the God of the Old Testament. He refused to have anything to do with "a bunch of ignorant nomads from past centuries". It is understandable that he would react that way because in his worldview, the God represented in the Old Testament is very exclusive and militaristic.

However, the Old Testament is a record of man's sin, not God's sin. It is an example to the world that even with God's special intent for an otherwise obscure nation, man is incapable of governing himself apart from reliance upon God. When we turn from God, we are governed only by our depravity with predictably disastrous results.

Well we might ask, what do a tribe of nomadic refugee slaves from 1500 years before Christ have to do with us in 2012? 

Then Came Amalek

Our world is hurtling toward disaster. We see it, we feel it, we know it is coming. The societal fabric that we are accustomed to is unraveling before our eyes.

We are saddened by it and we may even be angered by it. Our demeanor and our attitude is affected by it. It is a trial of our faith. The workings of our depravity cause us to ask, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Or, as the new living translation puts it, "is the Lord going to take care of us or not?"

Staying True to the Trail

 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col 1:16,17

"The trail was hard, but it was wonderful..."

So writes Ruth Stull in her book, Sand and Stars as she describes the trek that she, her husband Ross and their five month old boy made through the jungles of Peru in the 1930's as they journeyed to reach the "red-skinned forest people to whom we felt called to carry the gospel"

In the 1930's their travel was a combination of train, mule and canoe. They crossed swaying bridges made of tree trunks, cable and vine; up steep mountain sides of the Andes on sure footed mules before they reached the river highway that would take them to their new home in the forest.

She writes:

What Do You See?

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Romans 11:25-27

Not all of Israel is blind to this truth, but much of it at this time is. There is a day coming when as a nation:

"...They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn."

Zechariah 12:10b, compare John 19:37

Blindness was a common condition in Israel in the first century. Those who were blind from birth or as the result of an accident were thought of as sinners whom God has judged. They were outcasts from society. On the social scale, they were ranked beneath the normal sinners and only one notch above tax collectors.

In fact, we learn from Jewish historians and from the scriptures that there were four types of people that were the most hated of Jewish society:

What Do You See? Part 2

What can learn from this blind man whose eyes the Lord has opened?

Perhaps the first thing to note is that this is the last recorded miracle related to people. It started in Cana of Galilee at a wedding in an insignificant town north of the Sea of Galilee and now ends in the south of Judea in the historically significant town of Jericho. His supernatural power

Professing But Not Possessing

One would think from the number of people that have abandoned faith in Christ that the problem is that He is just not able to keep souls from falling away. The devil is just too powerful in this world.

Really?

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled"

John 17:12

The Lord keeps all of those that have come to Him in faith. Only those, like Judas, come to Him without repentance are lost. 

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:31, 32

So, what does it really mean to 'make Jesus Lord of our lives'?

The problem is not a lack of power on the Lord's part but a lack of commitment on man's part. This is not a commitment of self will and determination to change our lives into something that we want.

Rather, this is a commitment to the will of God that places everything at His disposal and says that we are willing to let God change us into what He wants. 

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

2 Corinthians 13:5

Closing Dates

The homeowner was happy to finally have an interested buyer for their house. The buyer assured them that he would be able to close soon. He professed that he was pre-approved for a loan and all that he would have to do is notify the bank.

However, after a week passed there was no word from the potential buyer or his bank about a closing date. After a few phone calls from the closing attorney, the buyer finally had to confess that while he had been pre-approved for a loan, the amount that he was approved for was far less than the asking price of the home.

This familiar story helps to illustrate for us that there is a difference between professing and confessing. In this case, the buyer made a subjective assertion or profession that he was able to purchase the home.

The reality was however that after an objective assessment, the buyer had to confess that he did not have what was required to purchase the house.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."  

Mathew 7:21-23 

There is a sobering reality brought into focus here. Many souls have professed to know Christ, but the reality is that He never knew them. That word "know" means 'to stand in an approving relationship with.' (Vine)

In other words, they fell short of being approved for entrance into heaven. They professed to know Christ and even saw the power of God exercised in the name of Christ, but it was all outside of themselves, there was no reality in their hearts.

They saw the reality of the Lordship of Christ at work, but they never submitted themselves to His Lordship.

This is the difference between professing to know Christ as a subjective experience and actually possessing Christ as an objective reality. We fall short of being fully approved when we merely profess to know Him but fail to confess Christ as Lord of our lives. 

In short, we must ask ourselves who is in charge of our lives and our destinies? Do we live life as we please, or are we living to please God by agreeing with Him about what is sinful in our lives?

Do you have a closing date with God?

Is there a time in your life when you agreed to let Him change you into what He wants you to be?

If not, why not make today your closing date with God?

smc

Confessing or Professing?

Language can be an odd way of communicating what we really believe.

In fact, we regularly use language to communicate what we agree to be true but do not really want to apply to our lives.

In other words, we like to look righteous on the outside, but we want to live according to our own standards of right, we want wiggle room, we want...what we want.

Our language often allows us to do that, but God's language does not.

"If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:9,10 (NASB)

A lot of people take this to mean that all we have to do is say that Jesus is Lord in order to be saved. In this way we can profess Jesus is Lord but not really confess Him as Lord.

The word "confession" means literally "Saying the same thing as another". So what is it that we are agreeing to and who is it that we are agreeing with?

Furthermore, what is implied by believing that God has raised Jesus out from among the dead?

The simple answer:
We are agreeing with God that Jesus Christ is Jehovah.

Who else can we point to that is raised from the dead with  confirmation from over 500 eyewitnesses? The caveat is that what we truly believe in our heart can only be known by God.

In other words, we can fool ourselves and others about we what we believe, but we cannot fool God Himself.

Next, we need to look at what it means to profess Christ as compared to what it means to confess Christ.

smc

What we preach: 1 Corinthians 1:2-2:5

"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” 1 Cor 1:23

Contrary to popular sentiment, Christ’s death on the cross does not provide for a universal amnesty or universal salvation. The message of the cross is in fact an insult to human pride and devastates human wisdom.

Mac Arthur points out that God’s wisdom is superior in five ways:

Its’ permanence contrasted with the impermanence of man’s wisdom

            Where is the wise: the philosopher?

            Where is the scribe: the writer?

            Where is the disputer: the orator?

            The best of these are unable to solve men’s problems.

Its’ Power contrasted with the weakness of human wisdom

• The world by wisdom cannot know God.
• The love of God is impossible for man to produce in humanity.
• The power of God is not understood apart from the message of the cross.
• The greatest of man’s achievements pale in comparison to what God accomplished at the cross.

Its’ Paradox

• Not many philosophers (wisdom, education, brains), not many powerful and influential people (Popularity and famous), not many born to a high class or societal rank (royalty and rich inheritors) are called….only a few.
• God calls the simple, the uneducated, the common folk to come to know God as a rebuke to man’s vaunted wisdom.
• Calling is God’s choice and not man’s. v. 24 ‘elected’; v 26 ‘election’; v.27 ‘chosen’; v.28 ‘chosen’ We are not saved because we were smart enough to figure it out, we are saved because God chose us, we are part of God’s election, we are God’s choice, God’s elect, God’s called ones.
• Chosen not for good in us but to show His exceeding riches in grace. That is, we are chosen because of our wickedness and depravity in order for God to show His power by the paradox of His choosing us.

It’s Purpose

• By God’s choice then we are made to be wise in Christ.
• We become God’s wisdom because we are in Christ.
• It is for His glory and not our own.

2 Corinthians 4:6 makes reference to Genesis and the supernatural light that appeared out of the dark void of the universe before the sun and stars were created. This same supernatural light that separated darkness from light and shadows from substance has now illuminated the heart of the believer in the same way.

Just as God spoke and it was so, God calls and we are saved to reveal the substantive glory of God in Christ as distinct from the shadowy darkness of man’s religion and wisdom.

God not only reveals Himself to us, but also through us by the knowledge of His will. We now know who God is, what He is doing and where we are going. We now have a purpose that is not our own, but God’s,

Not only so, but we now have a righteousness not our own, but God’s. We now have a holiness that is not our own, but Gods (sanctification); We now have a redemption that we could not purchase yet has been bought for us by God.

Godly Divisiveness

Therefore, we are not to be divided on non-essentials of politics, race or anything that pertains to man’s opinion or wisdom. Don’t boast that you are rich and can buy your comforts. Likewise don’t boast that you are wise and able to provide your own comforts. Don’t take pride that you are white or black, American, Canadian, Irish or African.

Don’t take pride in these inferior points. If we are to boast or glory or have any point of pride, have it in this that we are God’s own choice and calling. Our abilities and station in life are appointed by God for the accomplishment of His purposes in Christ.

If we boast or take pride in anything but the cross, we create ungodly division. If we preach anything else but Christ crucified, we are going to cause ungodly division.

If all that we preach is Christ and not Christ crucified, we are going to cause an ungodly division. For we will be preaching Christ the example of virtue, commitment and self-actualization that we should all aspire to. We will become guilty of religious elitism and snobbishness.

If all that we do is give oratory about today’s politics and social problems and not Christ crucified, we will cause ungodly division. We will be guilty of intellectual elitism and snobbishness.

There is a division that comes from preaching Christ crucified, but it is a godly division. It is the division between those whom God has called to faith in Christ and those who remain faithful only to themselves and man’s wisdom.  

The cross of Christ divides men as to what they boast in.

The Christian should be found guilty of abandoning man’s wisdom and any hope of self-fulfillment, self actualization and self attainment through human wisdom.

This is not to say that education and scientific understanding or compassionate understanding of man’s plight is to be scoffed at. It is rather to say that a fuller understanding of all of these is only possible through death to self and being made alive in Christ. This is only possible through the cross of Christ that crucifies self and creates in our material flesh an entirely new creation in Christ.

It’s Plan: 1 Cor 2:1-5

We are to preach the testimony of God without reliance upon excellent oratory or philosophical debate. It’s power is not to be seen in human ability. Instead, with fear and trembling, with simplicity and earnestness we are to bear witness to God’s power by our calling to bear witness to truth. (For all truth is God’s truth)

So, what is it that we are called to be? We are called to be martyrs (witnesses). We are called to bear witness to the true nature of God. In particular, it that true nature of God as displayed at the cross of Christ. 

It is God’s willingness to become the gory display of where man’s pride leads…

It is the unrivaled display of God’s amazing Grace.

That is what we are to preach, to teach and to apply to our lives. 1 Tim 4:13 is Paul’s explanation of what Timothy was to do as a minister of the gospel of Christ.

He is to read it, to exhort or apply it and he is to teach it or explain it. In other words, before he teaches it to others, he has to be an example of application, an encourager for others to follow. He is not a divider of men over non-essentials but rather an effectual soldier of the cross; A slayer of man’s wisdom and intellect.

This does not tickle the ears of the public; it does not give us what we (in our flesh) want to hear. That is why the gospel is to us who are being saved, the savor of life unto life and to those who perish, the savor of death unto death. 2 Cor. 2:14-17

The Plan of God is that by the preaching of the Word through a small, foolish and weak band of redeemed humanity, He is to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2:1). 

The folly of preaching is by these means shown to be wiser than men.


For more study on this subject:

Supremacy of God in Preaching (John Piper)

Preaching: How to Preach Biblically (MacArthur Pastor's Library)

The Gift of preaching: The power of the Holy Spirit

The following is adapted from John Piper's

Supremacy of God in Preaching 

It is impossible to suggest that one depraved soul can save another depraved soul from eternal damnation by mere words. Yet it is God's wisdom to choose this very method to show that the power to save cannot come from man himself, it must come entirely from God. 

The gift of preaching then is where God condescends to allow man to be an agent of change through the Holy Spirit's application of God's Word.

The Holy Spirit reveals Christ as He is and not as we wish Him to be. The following quotations run contrary to popular notions about God and His Christ... 

[51] Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! [52] From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against--or the other way around. [53] There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law." [54] Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, "When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, `Here comes a shower.' And you are right. [55] When the south wind blows, you say, `Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. [56] You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but you can't interpret these present times. - Luk 12:51-56 NLT 

[1] About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. [2] "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?" he asked. "Is that why they suffered? [3] Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. [4] And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? [5] No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish." - Luk 13:1-5 NLT

 [8] "Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new, for I know so well what traitors you are. You have been rebels from your earliest childhood, rotten through and through. [9] Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out. [10] I have refined you but not in the way silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering. [11] I will rescue you for my sake--yes, for my own sake! That way, the pagan nations will not be able to claim that their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory! [12] "Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last. [13] It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth. The palm of my right hand spread out the heavens above. I spoke, and they came into being.  Isa 48:8-13 NLT

For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard.

Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.

For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. 

God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No,because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith.

Romans 3:23-26 NLT

Our hypocrisy, self righteousness and pride are all laid low by the Word of the Lord. The choice is clear between faith in God or faith in ourselves. We cannot rightly have confidence in both.

Only the Spirit of God can bring us to submission of this reality.

His power is the gift of faith;  

"not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, 

not of works, lest any should boast

(Ephesians 2:8-10)

Ping your blog

The Ground of preaching: The Cross of Christ

The following is adapted from John Piper's

Supremacy of God in Preaching
If the goal of preaching is to bring Glory to God and the Pride of man resists it, what is to be gained by preaching, and how is this goal to be reached?

The goal of preaching is met with two massive obstacles: 
The righteousness of God and the Pride of man:

God is righteous in desiring His Glory to be manifest.

Man is sinful in desiring that his own glory be manifest.

The cross overcomes both the objective, external obstacle of God’s righteous opposition to human pride and it overcomes the subjective, internal obstacle of our proud opposition to the Glory of God.

The cross is the ground of the objective validity of preaching. What hope do we have in light of God’s righteousness and our sinfulness? 

Luke 13:1-5 This has been called the misplaced locus of amazement...
Man wonders that God should deny life, Heaven’s righteousness wonders that God should deny death to such sinful creatures as ourselves.

The cross of Christ is the only solution... 

Rom 3:23-26 Even though all scorn God’s Glory and God is committed to uphold that Glory, God has designed a way to reconcile the sinner to God.

My pride causes me to attach some sense of worth based on the idea that Christ went to the cross to purchase me because I was worth it.

That's wrong. 
I am not worth it. 
I have to die. 
Only the life of Christ living through me attaches any worth to my pitiful being. 

The Cross is not a witness to my infinite worth but to the immensity of the sin of my pride.

It witnesses to the infinite worth of God and the infinite outrage of sin.

The cross is the ground of the subjective humility of preaching. It is the power of God to crucify both the preacher and the congregation.

Gal 6:14 Crucified to the world.
Throughout the Apostle Paul's writings, he shows us that we may glory in the greatness of the Lord, not in ourselves. Pride stands in the way, the cross crucifies pride bringing us to a glad reliance on the mercies of God.

The problem of Corinth was that loft oratory and intellect would violate the very thing that the cross is intended to bring.

1 Cor 1:17 shows us that unless the preacher is crucified, the preaching is nullified.  What we are is crucial to what we say. 

Therefore, faith must not rest in the wisdom of men. 
Saving faith can only rest in the power of God.

Goal of preaching: The Glory of God

The following is adapted from John Piper's

Supremacy of God in Preaching

The Problem of preaching: The righteousness of God that judges sin and the pride of man that refuses to give God glory.

None of us like to be preached at,  

None of us like to be silenced, 

None of us wants to be exposed. 

Yet preaching is designed to do exactly that

As one preacher has stated, the goal is:

To Quicken the conscience by the holiness of God

To feed the mind with the truth of God

To purge the imagination by the beauty of God

To open the heart to the love of God

To devote the will to the purpose of God

                                    James Stewart, Scottish preacher

This is all contrary to the natural man. Only one whose conscience is purged by God can rightly respond...Romans 10:14-16 

Here we learn how the gospel is made effectual. It is the heralding of good news from a messenger sent by God. He chooses sinful men to speak to sinful men and women...

The overall plan and scope of the good news is found in  Isaiah 52:7 

Cotton Mather breaks it down for us:

God reigns. He will not suffer His Glory to be scorned indefinitely.

He will vindicate His name in great and terrible wrath. But for now a full and free amnesty is offered to all the rebel subjects who will turn from their rebellion, call on Him for mercy, bow before His throne and swear allegiance and fealty to Him forever.

The Amnesty is signed in the blood of His Son.

What drives God to this? Isa 48:9-11

“For my own sake I do it…for my Glory will I not give to another.”

According to Revelation 5:9: God’s deepest purpose for the world is to fill the earth with reverberations of His Glory in the lives of a new humanity ransomed from every tribe and nation.

Yet there is no glory of submission in servile fear by an act of raw authority. He wants glad submission rather than begrudging submission.

Many people make professions out of a fear of judgment and hell rather than appreciation of His Glory and worth. A true work of the Spirit is what brings to the sinner the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor 4:6

One great lesson that ought to be learned from gospel preaching is that God’s deepest commitment to be glorified and our deepest commitment to be satisfied are not incompatible. They find simultaneous consummation in the display of God’s Glory and my delight in it.

The natural man is not satisfied with the Glory of God...it is the savor of death unto death, but to we who are continually renewed unto salvation, it is the savor of life unto life.

In this we see that:

The one who satisfies gets the glory, 
the one who gives the pleasure is the treasure.

When the Kingdom is a treasure, submission is a pleasure. The Grand design of preaching is restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men.

What can bring this about?....

You Would Not

1)    Hear: 
Genesis 42:22; Deuteronomy 1:43; Jeremiah 29:19
2)    Go up: 
Deuteronomy 1:26 (excel, follow, extend your boundary; by extension, leave your comfort zone)
3)    Be obedient to God's voice: 
Deuteronomy 8:20
4)    Accept returning and rest; quietness and confidence: 
Isaiah 30:15
5)    Be gathered to God: 
Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34
6)    Have condemned the guiltless:  
If you only knew what God is really like. Matthew 12:7

Insisting on Resisting

The young  man stared at the graffiti laden prison walls. Each bitter tome scribbled there echoed his bitter, accusing conscience. The voices never stop, the accusations ring loud in the silence of his isolation. He hears his sister's voice calling him a loser, he hears his mother's sobs, he hears the self pitying whine of his own voice resisting his embattled conscience.

Another DUI charge, this time barely escaping with his life. Fortunately no one else was killed. Another car lost, another job lost, another opportunity lost. He tells himself that it would have been better if he had lost his life - except for one thing. 
He knows that he must meet God.

That early profession of faith in Jesus Christ rings pretty hollow now. A life resisting God's claim on his life has brought him to this desperation...

A similar sad scenario could be told and repeated by many throughout our fallen world. There are also many whose lives appear to be going well. They may be well respected church members. They are caring mothers and fathers in the community but they are likewise insisting on resisting the claims of Christ.


The Lord Jesus told a story to a group of religious people called Pharisees who were resisting the Lord's teaching. These Pharisees were the leaders of Jewish society at that time. They were control freaks who insisted on telling everyone else how to run their lives while hypocritically refusing to live by the same rules that they taught.


The Lord asked them a series of questions and one of them was about a king going to war.

Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 


So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:31-33 (ESV) 

 This thoughtful king considers how his meager resources will fare against a much larger and well equipped army. Realizing his position he has a choice to try and negotiate the best position that he can for his people, or he can continue to resist and sacrifice thousands of their lives in a futile attempt to maintain control.

Of course, a wise king will not continue to resist. In fact he will not even wait for the invading army to show up but will take care of the matter as early as possible. He will send a delegation while the army is still at a distance.  


This delegation will learn what conditions need to be met in order to maintain peace. The weaker king will not claim his rights to the throne or his possessions, but he will hand them over to the stronger king.

The point that the Lord Jesus is making is this. Death is coming and you will meet God. The guilt that presses upon you like an invading army is driving your addiction. It has robbed you of your will and your possessions anyway. You are already a slave to it, why lose your life for eternity also? Why sacrifice your family and friends on the altar of your own pride and self will?

It is better to accept terms of peace now. Turn your will and your possessions over to God now and you will be granted eternal life and peace. Submit to His Lordship and He becomes your Savior. He removes the burden of your guilt and sets you free from your addiction.  If you wait, you will lose everything, you will injure the people that you claim to love and you will lose your soul for eternity.

It seems like a no-brainer. 

Why not ask God for forgiveness now instead of insisting on resisting?

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What God Hates

Proverbs 6:19
There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

1. Haughty eyes, 
2. A lying tongue, 
3. Hands that shed innocent blood,
4. A heart that devises wicked plans, 
5. Feet that make haste to run to evil, 
6. A false witness who breathes out lies, 
7. One who sows discord among brothers.  

For I the LORD love judgment (justice), I hate robbery (something plundered to be used) for burnt offering;     

Isaiah 61:8a

"...in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods, whom they knew not, [neither] they, ye, nor your fathers.  Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them], saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate."

Jeremiah 44:3,4

Neither shalt thou set thee up [any] image; which the LORD thy God hates. 

Deuteronomy 6:22

I hate (hypocrisy), I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 

Amos 5:21,22

And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these [are things] that I hate, saith the LORD.  

Zechariah 8:17

The LORD tries the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates.

Psalm 11:5

For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hates putting away (divorce):  

Malachi 2:16

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans*, which I also hate.

Revelation 2:6

 *A sect that taught sexual immorality and pagan practices could be a part of Christian worship. It began as a small sect and in the time of Constantine became the dominant form of Christendom. True Christianity remains the practice of a relatively small number of souls.

This sowing of discord among the brethren of the Lord is an abomination to Him.

Hate Crimes

When is it okay to hate?

Is hate itself a crime, or only when it is directed against certain people?

If that is so, does that mean that it is okay to hate some people and not others?

Are we not all haters of something or someone? Even God hates sin and injustice. We are even told of certain things that we, as Christians are to hate. So then, who really has the authority to determine what is a hate crime directed against certain people?

These are vexing questions and in our society, the answers to them seem to be delegated to a group of elites, some are self-ordained arbiters of social justice and others are ordained by 'the people'. The rest of us plebeians are left to fret whether our hate crime is less legal than the elites' hate crime.

This is how tyranny reigns. A well meaning effort on the part of some to protect others is used by charismatic tyrants to define for the masses what - or who - it is okay to hate. Political and religious rulers alike have done this throughout history. They use nationalistic pride or religious zeal to incite one group to commit hate crimes against another group.

What happens then when something someone says is defined as hate speech? Does that then become a 'hate crime'?

In other words, in our zeal to criminalize 'hate' do we not then have to criminalize certain kinds of speech?

If there is no higher authority than man's government, who is to have the authority to determine when hate speech is a hate crime? How can we not become victim to tyrants?

Whenever we cede authority to man without regard to God's authority, liberty is doomed by idolatry and the real hate crime is against God. 

That's not good.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Exodus 20:5

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;  And repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hate him, he will repay him to his face. 
Deuteronomy 7: 9,10

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God's Healing Embrace

The carpet was soaked with the fluid draining from his blisters. Everywhere that he walked or laid there was a stain and a stench.


After completing an evaluation of his wounds and mobility problems, I left his home with the odor still fresh in my nostrils. The stench would not leave my clothing until there had been a thorough cleaning.


Even after, everything that I had touched became defiled by the odor of those rancid fluids.


So when I read of the Lord laying hold of a man with 'dropsy', I can identify a little with the revulsion that any who watched Him do this may have had. 


This is especially true for the fastidious Pharisees who were deeply concerned about defilements of every kind.


Would you embrace a man with bloated limbs, weeping wounds and a foul odor?


I can imagine that there are few who would. What would be the point or the benefit? Who could know what kind of infectious organisms might be passed on by simple contact?


Luke, chapter 14 tells us that a man with 'dropsy' (water retention or edema) was brought to Jesus in the house of a Pharisee - at meal time no less. This is strange behavior indeed for a Pharisee. What was he trying to prove? Was the Pharisee showing compassion to this poor man?


We understand that quite the opposite was true. The Pharisee was risking defilement in order to prove that Jesus was not of God. It was the Sabbath and no work is to be done on the Sabbath. Even a miraculous healing of a man would be considered by the Pharisees as the devil's doing if it were done on the Sabbath.


So, we see that this poor man with the dropsy was an outcast of Jewish society. He was considered to be a sinner; an obvious example of God's judgment for sin and yet he was worthy of being used by the elites of Jewish society to maintain their power and position as Scriptural authorities.


There are many in our world who have likewise been used by the religious. While providing a show of compassion, the only motive of the religious man or woman is to advance their own standing and prestige.


These are the 'politically religious' who presume to set the standard for everyone else to follow while hiding behind a veneer of righteousness.


Many of this type today hide behind the name of Jesus to cover their sin. Others portray themselves as champions of the little guy or the 'Righteous enemies of social evils'. Many names could come to mind of false teachers and politicians who have used others to gain prestige and riches only to be exposed as a sham.


The Lord Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of our hearts. As He did during His sojourn on earth, so He does today through the application of His Word by His Spirit to our hearts. None are exempt from His searching gaze.


What I really love about this story is how the Lord shatters every perception of Himself by His remarkable healing embrace. He goes directly to the outcast and without a word 'takes hold' of him. In an instant, all that had set this man with the dropsy apart as a sinner was changed. 


His foul, soiled, bloated flesh and clothing were made whole again. Sabbath or no Sabbath, this was an undeniable work of God.


This is the same work that applies to any and all of us who come to Him in simple faith. We acknowledge that 'all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags'. We are nothing but prideful, bloated, rancid smelling flesh. 


By our pride we have become the abused and the abusers of others.


We may be convinced that God would have nothing to do with the likes of us. The truth is that He longs to 'take hold' of us that we may be instantly and forever healed.


Have you allowed Him to 'take hold' of you, dear reader?
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Sad desperation

There was a look of sad desperation in her eyes.


Her eyes welled up with tears as she described how her legs had begun to swell and then blister. The doctors were giving her antibiotics to decrease the infection. The wounds required cleansing and redressing twice a day because the dressings became so soaked with fluid oozing from the open sores.


Just getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was excruciating as her knees and ankles could hardly bend with all of the fluid pressure in her joints. The skin on her legs and toes was taut and shiny, evidence that the tissue could expand no further without blisters forming. The existing wounds could not heal because the congested veins and lymph channels starved these tissues of necessary blood flow.


The doctor was growing increasingly concerned because even though her kidney function was returning to normal, her legs were not. With each day there was increasing danger of infection from resistant bacteria.


External compression pumps were prescribed and applied twice daily. Compression wraps were used between treatments. Dramatic improvement was seen in the first 24 hours as the fluid drained from her legs. Within three days, her wounds were clean and healing. Within 3 weeks her wounds healed and she was returning to more normal activity levels.


Like this woman, the condition of a man with fluid retention is referred to as 'dropsy' in Luke's gospel, ch 14. The man described there served to illustrate the spiritual condition of the lawyers and Pharisees that the Lord Jesus was speaking with.


What condition is that? Bloated flesh...pride. 


A haughty spirit denies God His place, creates a toxic ooze of painful, malodorous decay and disfigures its host.


We have witnessed this in our loved ones; our children; our spouses...our mirrors. After the damage is created we wonder how we became so vile. Why did we say what we said, why did we do what we do? 

Pride goes before destruction, 

and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18 

The Pharisees really got ticked off when the Lord healed somebody on the Sabbath. Each time that He does this, the Pharisees are silenced by the Lord's Words. Even so, they keep trying to trip Him up and their hypocrisy was exposed.


In Luke's gospel, he describes things that the Pharisees claimed violated the Sabbath. They each illustrate for us what a legalistic spirit produces.


For instance, in ch.6 the Lord's disciples picked grains of wheat to eat violating a rule against harvesting on the Sabbath. This becomes a metaphor illustrating how legalism starves the soul from the knowledge of God.

The Lord also healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Lord restored it to usefulness just as He restores all who are made useless by man made rules and traditions.


There was a woman who was oppressed of an evil spirit so that she was bent over in two and could not straighten herself to walk uprightly. How often have souls doubled over in discouragement at their inability to walk according to the law. The evil one presses hard upon them with accusations of guilt. 


The Lord provides a rest from all of these. He is the sabbath rest that we long for. 
He is the spiritual nourishment that we crave.
He is the empowerment to live before God.
He is the liberator from oppressive guilt.


He is also the antidote of a proud heart. Much to the chagrin of all who watched Him, the Lord embraced this man with the dropsy. Suddenly that bloated, oozing flesh became vibrant, supple and sound before their eyes.


Often this condition is a result of congestive heart failure. Could it be that this man received a new heart by the embrace of His Savior?

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. 

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh.      Ezekiel 36:26

  

Now that is exactly what I need.

smc

 

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Already Gone

Answers in Genesis conducted  a survey of 1000 young adults who have left church produced the following results:


44 percent said that they did not believe that the Bible accounts were true and accurate.


Of that 44 percent the following reasons were given for that conclusion:
24% - The Bible was written by men
18% - It was not translated correctly
15% - The Bible contradicts itself
11% - The Bible has errors


This is a survey of those already gone from church. This shows that there are wrong assumptions made by teachers of the Bible. There is an assumption made that the hearers accept the Bible as the Word of God. 


The evidence that the Bible is God's Word is either not presented clearly and consistently enough or there is simply a willful ignorance on the part of those already gone.


Since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), make errors (Psalm 12:6; Deuteronomy 32:4) or deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13), those surveyed in one way or another are disputing that a perfect God was responsible for the Bible.


While this is a common worldview, to make the assertion that the Bible was written by men and not God is an absolute statement showing a bias that asserts we have a transcendent power to discern when God has spoken and when He has not.


If we take the place of those already gone, doesn't it make us like gods, sitting in judgment on God's Word?


This sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?...

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-5  

The writer was among the company of those already gone for many years. I did not realize that my own arrogant assumptions about what is true were just excuses for not facing the truth about my standing before God.

And what about you, dear reader?

Marvel not

This weekend is the opening of Marvel comics epic 3D movie, "The Avengers". From all accounts it is a box office smash up.

It has an appeal for all. Adults can Marvel at the progress of  the 3D cinematic experience. Children can Marvel at their favorite superheros; Women can Marvel at the 'beefcake' actors; Men can Marvel that this is a movie that he can wholeheartedly enjoy with his date without having to 'show his sensitive side'.

What I marvel at is that we eagerly escape from pressures of everyday life by going to a make believe movie without ever calling it a crutch. Yet when it comes to learning about a man who really did rise from the dead, the story is dismissed as a crutch for weak minds to believe.

Perhaps it because that same man said, "Marvel not..."

In other words, don't be surprised by what I am about to say to you.
It may seem strange, but don't let that stop you from understanding this vital truth... "You must be born again".

How can that be and what will happen if I am not born again?

This man was speaking of a spiritual birth, without which we can not see God. (John 3:3)

Not just any religious experience will do.  This spiritual birth comes only by one means, we can only believe in one person.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; 

whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, 

but the wrath of God remains on him."

John 3:36

Surprised? Don't be. Marvel not. Even though this may be strange to all that you have heard or thought, do not let this keep you from absorbing this truth as a real escape from eternal reality.

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, 

you will be saved."

Romans 10:9

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Paying Texas

A little girl had saved her allowance money for a birthday gift for her mother. After considering her options as to what she could buy for $2.00, she and her big sister took their place at the cashier's counter. The little girl carefully laid two new ice trays on the counter before the cashier.

"That will be $2.13 sweetie" the cashier said.

The little girl didn't understand...

Her big sister informed her, "you have to pay taxes, that's why you need $2.13"

Looking even more perplexed, the little girl furrowed her brow and said: "We live in Ohio, why should we have to pay Texas?"...

Like this little girl, sometimes we hear, but we just can't understand. Her recent geography lessons biased her understanding.  


In the same way, our assumptions about what is true can often bias our understanding. This leaves us perplexed by the truth when we hear it.


The writer of the letter to the Hebrews was concerned that the expectations of the Jews had biased their understanding of who Jesus Christ really is. After laying out a foundation for his argument that Jesus is not created but He is the eternal Son of God, he writes:

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let [them] slip. 

Hebrews 2:1

There is a danger for each of us that our biased understanding of the world blinds us to the truth. When we do not or will not recognize the truth, we will suffer the consequences of missing it.

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord...?

Hebrews 2:3

This may be a good time to ask ourselves if our worldview leaves us perplexed as to what is really true.

smc

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From small things...

It is easy to think that this is a day of small things that our efforts seem so inconsequential. 

It is good to be encouraged in a day of seemingly small things that this is exactly what the Lord taught concerning the Kingdom of God. 

Luke records the Lord's parables of growth concerning the Kingdom, He likened the Kingdom of God to three things:
 

1.     The mustard seed in its disproportionate external growth. (13:19)

2.     Leaven in its disproportionate internal influence. (13:21)

3.     Believers in their disproportionate global expansion. (13:29)

After 2000 years, we are in a better position than the first disciples to see the growth, influence and expanse of the gospel message. It must have been a huge thing for these early believers to imagine that the glorious Kingdom spoken of by the prophets could start from such small, insignificant and restricted beginnings.

This was so different from what was anticipated that the disappointment may have in part at least, motivated Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus.

Yet, still we lose sight of just how powerful the simple preaching of the Kingdom of God is in our world today. To be a part of this phenomenal, majestic, celestial movement brought to this small earth is an honor beyond expression.

With man's increase in knowledge comes the awareness of how small the earth is in relation to the heavens. Yet it is here that the Sovereign of the universe chose to reveal Himself.

Of all of the world's kingdoms, Israel is just a tiny speck of land. Surrounded by her enemies, at the time of Christ, subject to Roman rule. Yet, it is here that the Sovereign of the nations chose to make the center of His rule.

Among the mighty men of earth, A poor, teenage carpenter and his virgin fiancee were chosen to give birth and care for the object of demonic fury.

From a tiny hill emblematic of death and rejection, the Lord of Glory suffers the ignominy of a felon's punishment. His death outside the city of a captive people in a small spit of land upon an insignificant globe among the millions of galaxies in a vast universe is the means that God chooses to redeem that same decaying universe.

Out of the chaos of religious philosophies, a ragtag group of poor fishermen, political rebels and reprobate Jews were chosen of the Lord to sow the tiny seed of the Kingdom among Jews and Gentiles. From this disparate band a global body of believers trained to serve as co-regents with the Sovereign of all creation.

God sums up this message of eternity in simple emblems of bread and wine shared among small gatherings of souls redeemed from an eternally damning depravity. Like children whose hearts long to embrace loving parents, the simplest believer longs for the full embrace of Him who has chosen them to be co-heirs of an eternal, glorious kingdom.

No wonder that He permits the children to come to Him, 'for of such are the kingdom of God'. 

In contrast, the world by wisdom failed to know God (1Cor 1:21) and by hiding the kingdom from the wise and prudent, it is revealed to babes. (Matthew 11:25)

The Kingdom of God is small enough for the feeblest to understand yet large enough for whosoever will;

The Kingdom of God is hidden from those who help themselves, but  it is an enlightening influence to those who admit that they are helpless;

The Kingdom of God is observed among a mere two or three gathered to His name, yet inclusive of every tongue, kindred, nation and tribe of the earth.

Contributed by Steve McMurray