A Servant's Heart

1 Samuel 15:35 KJV
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

See in Samuel the heart of this man of God.

First, when instructed of God to pronounce judgment against Saul he wept all night.
There is no pleasure in pronouncing such judgment. The man of God loves the men whom God has created. Saul had already been judged and had demonstrated himself to be less than spiritual but that did not affect Samuel's care of him. We are to love the most unlovely of sinners.

Secondly, though Samuel loved him, his allegiance was to the Lord.
The ministry must be a ministry unto the Lord or our love for people will corrupt it. First and foremost under all circumstances, the Preacher's devotion must be toward the Lord. Loving people must appear as hatred for our great love of God. Otherwise our ministry is lost in compromise.

Thirdly, though Samuel never again met with Saul, yet he mourned for him the rest of his life.
This was rebuked of the Lord, but I think that rebuke should be considered before being applied. We must never grieve those who fall away so much that it haunts us from forward progression. Though Saul was lost, God had a king after His own heart waiting in the background. Though one is lost, God is not done. It is appropriate to mourn the fact that some are lost to God. Our hearts are rightly grieved that multitudes of men and women are bent to rebel from the grace of God. But that grief need not overtake us. Look up! Just ahead is another who is anxious to serve the Lord.

Somewhere...

Acts 8:8 KJV
And there was great joy in that city.

Poole remarks, "The despised Samaria rejoices while the formerly beloved Jerusalem repines at the Gospel; such strange alterations does the free grace of God make."

It serves us to remember when we are in any spiritual distress that there is another place where the grace of God is causing great joy. This is not to encourage us to run there because even in Samaria there was later persecution of their own, but it does demonstrate that God works as He will and where He will. The saints in Jerusalem were in no such straits through sin which they had done, but as a course of God's work in our world. We need not depress ourselves that our state is due to our somehow displeasing God; unless God has shown us sin we ought to repent of.

This also reminds me that, in those times when I am especially filled with joy, there is somewhere a believer who is suffering. In my time of blessing I would do very well to reach out to be a blessing to one who may not be so blessed right now.

Advancement

1 Samuel 12:6 KJV
And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

Advancement is supposed to come of the Lord
• Not from the popularity of the candidate by the people.
• Not from the ambitions of the candidate
• Not even from the endorsement of religious leaders
It is the Lord's business to advance men as He will and not as many wills.

Saul's Excuses, the Servant's Solutions

1 Samuel 9:6 KJV
And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go.

My oldest son, Bohannan, preached on the "structural flaws" of Saul in our last Wednesday night service. The next day both of my boys were at my home and we visited about that message; especially Saul's lack of spiritual desire. My youngest son, Caleb, remarked, "Saul kept making excuses and the servant kept giving solutions."

The work of the servant of the Lord is just that, to bring the things of the Lord to the minds of those they meet and, when those people offer excuses for not coming to the Lord, provide solutions to their excuses. In other words we clear the way between the lost and the Lord; we remove the excuses that prevent them from coming to Christ and from growing in the knowledge and the grace of the Lord.

Praise God for those Who Don't Join

Acts 5:13 KJV
And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.

I have read that in the old Anabaptist churches the policy was to make it difficult for a person join and easy for a person to leave. The policy was meant to preserve the purity of the congregation. While no church is perfectly pure while on this earth, after all the work being done is to present her chaste before the Lord, still part of that purifying process will include refusing to admit those whose motives and spiritual inclination is not for spiritual advancement and then to allow for the removal of those who choose not to advance in the graces of purity.

This policy seems to be supported by the baptism of John which became a clear gatekeeper, distinguishing between those who did or did not produce evidence of repentance. It is also supported by this passage that, though followed with a verse that says believers were the more added, tells us that many would not join with them because of the account of Ananias and Sapphira.

We want to see believers added.

We don't need to see just anybody added.

Tenacity

1 Samuel 7:2 KJV
And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

There are a number of questions that a person might ask concerning this moment in the history of Israel;
Where was Samuel for those twenty years?
I am imagining that Samuel may not have been ten years old when Eli died. If that is so, he would have had little influence in Israel until he was thirty years old. Perhaps that is why twenty years is mentioned. Who raised him, how he was nurtured in the things of the Lord is a mystery. However, having now a relationship with God it is not difficult to see the Lord raising him up Himself.

What happened to the priesthood after the death of Eliezer, Hophni and Phinehas?
There is no mention of the priesthood that I can recall until David re-establishes it in his reign it could be that nearly a whole generation of priests wasted their lives in worldly living.

Why didn't Israel return the ark to Shiloh when they got the ark back from the Philistines?
I can only assume that Shiloh had been abandoned if not destroyed.
It is amazing how easily men may be removed from the things of the Lord. As traumatic event as the taking of the ark was, still it was no cause for an abandonment of God. And yet even in this abandonment Israel had a clan of people who kept their eyes upon the Lord. It does not appear that the men of Kirjathjearim or Abinadab normal his son Eliazar were of the tribe of Levi, only that they cared for the ark and cared that it be cared for properly.

For me, one of the greatest testaments of the veracity of the Christian faith is that, as easily as men are removed from believing, after more than two thousand years there are still those who tenaciously hold to faith and there are still new souls latching on to this faith daily. Satan has attacked with vigor but still believers raise up.

Dagon

1 Samuel 5:7 KJV
And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

The Philistines had adequate and tangible proof that the God of Israel was greater than their false god, Dagon. But their response was not at all what we might expect. Instead of trusting living and true God, they rejected Him and drove Him out of their country.

This illustrates the fact that facts are not what make people believers. It also illustrates that knowing a biblical truth to be true is not the same as believing and trusting God. We will never make Christians of the lost simply by giving them evidence and proof of the reality of the Lord. Only as we give our faith away will we see people come to be true believers.

Believing God is not an exercise of the mind and intellect, it is a gift from God passed on from one believer to another. The soul winner needs more than a plan and a memorized script; He needs faith and a passion to share it.

Knowing Things of Christ but Not Knowing Christ

1 Samuel 3:7 KJV
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

An interesting contrast is established in this chapter where Samuel is said to minister unto the Lord in verse one but here the Word declares he did not yet know the Lord. Woe to the world when its ministers do not know the Lord!

Of course Samuel was only a child. He was maturing and we who have read on in the book know that he will soon know the Lord. Gill says Samuel knew
• That Jehovah is the true God
• That he knew something of the Word of God and of the practice of worship
• That he had been instructed by Eli in the ordinances
But as yet he did not know the Lord in any personal way. He could not distinguish the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the priest.

Way too much of that kind of Christianity exists today, and I think most pastors would like to keep it so. It gives him control when the congregation only expects God to instruct them through the pastor and he never encourages them to listen for the voice of the Lord on their own.

Not that I dismiss the place of the preacher.
• God has called him to equip and to feed the saints
• God has charged him to have oversight of the house of God but
• God has not given him to block the line of vision between the Lord and His flock

We have to help people to both learn the ways and ordinances of God AND to know God in a personal way.

Grace at Work

1 Samuel 2:18 KJV
But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

I am reminded if Genesis, "But Noah found grace..."

The circumstances could hardly have been worse in Israel. These were the days of the judges when every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
• There is no leadership
• There is little to no devotion to the Lord and the priests are a wreck
• Eli has lost control of his sons who are in the ministry with their father but have made the people to despise the offerings to God

But in the middle of this wretched description we find that word, "But Samuel ministered before the Lord..." God had a man, though only a child at this time, waiting in the wings for that day when God would raise him up to give spiritual restoration and to anoint the King, David.

Whatever time we might find ourselves in we may rest in the assurance that God has somebody prepared to bring His people back to Him. Who that might be, When that might be, Where that might be, I do not know. I do know God has not left us without a witness and a way to return to Him.

It could be that the next one is Jesus Christ Himself. What a day that will be when Jesus we shall see!

He Won't Rest

Ruth 3:18 KJV
Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

Although the portrait can be carried too far, it is still appropriate, I think to view Boaz as a biblical type of Christ and Ruth as a biblical type of the church and of the Christians within a church.

• Ruth had asked Boaz to be the redeemer
• Boaz had agreed to meet the legal demands of the redeemer and now
Naomi advised Ruth to rest herself and be still in the assurance that he would not rest until he had performed his promise.

That is exactly the picture of salvation found in the New Testament.

• Christ has shown us kindness
• We respond in asking for redemption
• He agreed to meet those legal demands in fulfilling the law during His thirty three years and in paying our sin debt on the cross
And now we wait for His return to claim us.

The Apostle said "I am persuaded that he is able" and that "He which began a good work in you will perform it." Ours is to rest in that promise and wait. We may and we should witness to others so that they may enter into this promise as well but we never need believe there's more we must do to make the promise come to pass.

We can trust Christ to never rest until those who have sought redemption from him find that redemption perfectly fulfilled.

He Missed It

John 20:24 KJV
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

This is the first day of the week. And though it was not yet an established truth, Jesus was there but Thomas was not. One of the reasons we gather on Sunday is because it became the practice of the Lord to meet with the disciples on the first day of the week.

But on that first, first day of the week, Thomas was missing. I don't know why; the Bible doesn't say.
• He could have been discouraged and contemplating returning to his old life
• He could have been disillusioned having witnessed the crucifixion of Christ whom He believed to be the next king in Israel.
• He could have been in hiding, wondering if that would be his fate next
Whatever the reason, we are sure it wasn't a good one. His response to the disciples when they told him they had seen the Lord is evidence of that.

And whatever our reasons for missing the assembly of the saints will not make up for the fact that we missed the Lord. People who are doubters think little of those missed spiritual opportunities. Christ is not that great of a priority to them. They doubt whether we really were blessed of God anyway, probably because they have been in some of the services when others were ministered to of the Lord and they didn't sense His presence.

Being assembled with the saints means more than being there in the flesh. We need to be there in the spirit too.

I am thankful that Thomas had a later opportunity to meet with Christ. But I notice that happened on a first day of the week and at the gathering of the saints too.

Two Fer ... I wrote two today

Look for the second one below this...

Ruth 1:1 KJV
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

It is fascinating to me that no sooner have we finished the book of the Judges, where every man does that which is right in his own eyes, than God gives us the answer for that sin in the book of Ruth. Of course I am reading ahead some because the answer isn't found until the end of this little book. But even then I am reading ahead (as does the writer of Ruth) to King David and far beyond him to King Jesus.

This narrative takes us back in the time of the judges. God isolates one of those crazy events of the time into its own record. It begins with a family moving away from God and experiencing tragedy and heartache because of it. The boys marry outside of their faith. Then the three men all die leaving their wives to fend for themselves and leaving Naomi crushed emotionally and spiritually.

The devastation of backsliding is hardest on those who are the survivors of it.

But even in the midst of the backsliding the devastation and the heartache God was at work. God took what man meant for selfish purposes and turned it for good in bringing Ruth to Boaz and using them as the parents of that line that would deliver to our world, the Saviour.

I look at the world in which I live and see a terrible mess.
• The lost numbers are swelling
• The false religions are growing
• The Christian faith has lost its way, being much more about the business of the church than the ministry of the Lord.

But there is nothing to fret. God is alive and even now, I am confident, at work.
• It may be in some family we would never imagine
• It might be in some far off country
• It could be in some young person we would never dream of
God is working. And, in an hour that we think not, Jesus Christ will come again.

I want to be walking in the will of the Lord when He visits His people.

Ruth 1:6 KJV
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

Naomi's husband had taken her and the family to a distant country because there was a famine in the Promised Land. I meet a lot of people who have done the same.
• They have looked at the Christian faith
• They have seen things they did not like there
• They have been disappointed because of some trial they faced as a believer
So they have gone to another land.

It's not like things were any better outside of the Promised Land. Sure, their sons found wives, but they were strangers to their faith. And all three men died outside of the Promised Land. They could just as well died at home. But then Naomi heard that the Lord had visited in Israel. While they were away from the Promised Land; God blessed in the Promised Land.

I take that as an ironic warning to stay with the Lord and in His church even if it seems like there is a famine there. When the Lord visits, He will visit His churches. In the letters to the seven churches of Asia, Jesus rebuked the sin in the churches but He did visit the churches. He had no word for those outside of those churches except tribulation.

No Kidding

Judges 21:25 KJV
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The last verse of the book of judges repeats a well worn phrase in the book, "…every man did that which was right in his own eyes." My thought this morning was, "No kidding!" The only possible way to explain the weird, worldly and wicked events recorded in here is, "every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

But an interesting thing is that they very frequently attempted to include God in what they were doing what was right in their own eyes, or in their attempts to clean up the mess they made doing what was right in their own eyes. (Most of the time those attempts were just them doing what was right in their own eyes again.)

I got to thinking; that is exactly where we are today. Very few people believe God has the right to lead our lives - to tell us what is right. Still fewer believe that there is a resource to know what God says is right and wrong. The Bible is denied by most and, even among those who in some way claim to respect the Bible few believe it is without error and an absolute in discerning right and wrong in our day. What we are left with is a crowd of people doing as they will, choosing their own right and wrong. In some cases they interject the name of God in their actions. But the plain truth is most people just do what they want and blame God for the trouble it causes.

There is only one solution. That is to have a king. No, not one who leads on the earth, but one who is of heaven; One who commands the heart. The Word of God has the answer man needs. But not until Jesus, who is the living Word, rules our hearts will His written word, the Bible have the force it is intended.

We need a king: King Jesus.

They Wept When They Prayed

Judges 20:26 KJV
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

The children of Israel were called upon to do a difficult thing. There was wickedness in Benjamin and, even though the whole tribe (of Benjamin) stood together in defense of the offender, to confront the offense was the right thing to do. But doing right was expensive:

They lost in battle two days
When we stand for right we will see some who are innocent fall. It is heartbreaking and it sometimes causes us to question whether we are doing the right thing. But since must be confronted.

They wept in prayer
Their hearts were broken both for having to fight their brethren of Benjamin and because of those who had fallen of Israel in the fight. Every spiritual battle ought to be soaked in tears.

Eventually Benjamin was defeated
And though this might seem a victory they could not view it that way. These were their brethren. They had fought alongside them. How could they now rejoice in fighting and winning against them?

Even so must it be with us. When we must separate from another for any reason we must also remember that they are our brother and our heart is to see them restored.

A Little While

John 16:18 KJV
They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.

The disciples that stood before Jesus that day just didn't understand His term, "a little while." They were confused about when Christ would depart and when He would return.

The disciples of today are no less confused. Christ's "little while" has turned into two thousand years. But that has not changed the thrust of the meaning of the Lord. Though God is longsuffering and patient, every Christian ought to live every day knowing that it is only "a little while" before Christ comes again.

A Bittersweet Victor

Judges 16:30 KJV
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

The story of Samson is the story of all of Israel in a microcosm. We could say Samson's story is, "How Not To Be Used of God." God did use him but that doesn't mean Samson is in any way an example to follow.
• He was self willed
• He was fleshly
• He was arrogant
• He was disobedient to his parents
• He was rebellious with the Word of God
Yet through all of that he knew God had a plan for his life.

Too many Christians today are Samson-like. They boast all of their unbiblical qualities but insist that, because they have liberty in Christ, they are just fine.

And I am afraid that too many Christians will find that their end is not much different than was Samson's. They will end their lives with the victory of heaven, but then see the bittersweet reality that they were saved, yet so as by fire.

Though Shalt Know Hereafter

John 13:7 KJV

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Jesus told Peter that even though he did not know what He was doing at the moment, he would know hereafter. I have found that much of the Christian life is lived in this realm. We frequently do not know what the Lord is doing or why the Lord is doing those things He does. So many things that happen in our lives are beyond our understanding at the moment that they happen.

Some of them we come to understand fairly quickly after they happen.

One man who went through our addictions recovery ministry turned to me at his court sentencing and questioned why he had bothered doing all the work. But it was not long after that he realized God had equipped him to minister to others in the prison through his training at our ministry.

Sometimes we don't understand what God has done until years later.

The early days of the ministry were hard years in many ways. But I look back at them now and rejoice that the Lord proved Himself in my life through difficulty.

Some things we won't understand until we get to heaven.

But I have learned, or should I say I am learning, simply to rest in the Lord concerning them. He has proven Himself to be the very God He declares Himself to be in the Bible. In those times when I do not now know what He is doing, I want to move out of His way and let Him do it. It will all make good sense hereafter.

Jesus Gave Me Life

John 12:10 KJV
But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;

Clarke says, "How blind were these men not to perceive that He who had raised him to life after he had been dead four days could raise Him again though they kill him a thousand times."

What an irony that they want to kill the one who had already been dead. Their devotion to their religion refused to accept either that a miracle had happened or else that the miracle was of God. I do not know what became of Lazarus. But this man's testimony is that which any Christian can share again and again. "I was dead in trespasses and sins, but Jesus gave me life."

Where Did You Get That Honey?

Judges 14:8 KJV
And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

There are several opinions proffered concerning Samson's eating of the honey from the lion's carcass.

• One says that it was perfectly fine to eat because by the time the bees would have made the hive and produced the honey (they suggest about a year) it would have been the dry skeleton and could be considered clean.
• Another suggests that the carcass would have been unclean but if Samson had not touched the carcass in retrieving the honey he would not have broken God's Word.
• Still another says that taking the honey would have been technically unlawful but, as in the case of David's taking the hallowed bread, was lawful for necessary reasons.

I can't help but believe that Samson's eating the honey was simply a demonstration of his already rebellious spirit toward both his parents and his God.

My oldest son, Bohannan, recently used this incident to describe receiving something good from a defiled source. Although the honey was a good food for the Jews the fact that it came from an unclean source defiles it. And so, to receive even good material, say interpretations of Scriptures, from defiled sources, like the pedobaptists; Protestants and Reformed Theologians, necessarily taints their interpretation.

Already Baptists have been so influenced by Protestant doctrines that we may have difficulty filtering what has been developed in the carcass of the flesh and what has been preserved by the Holy Spirit. We must learn to avoid the theology and teachings of those who have so obviously imbibed their message from churches whom the gates of he'll have prevailed against.

I am thankful for the fact that there are, in these many denominations, saved souls. I am thankful for their preaching of Jesus Christ. But
• Our calling is to be separated
• Our calling is to come out of the flesh
• Our calling is to receive with meekness the engraved Word

I want the honey God gives. But I will look for it in cleaner stores.

Some Other Way

John 10:1 KJV
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

It seems to me that these words could be the motto of the world. There is always, in the eyes of the world, "some other way. "

There is "some other way" to govern a nation
• A democracy
• A republic
• A monarchy, and
• A dictatorship


• Socialism
• Capitalism


• Conservative or
• Liberal

There is "some other way" to view philosophy
• Utilitarianism
• Egalitarianism
• Elitism

There is "some other way" of politics
• Democrat
• Republican or
• Independent

Politics is the epitome of the "some other way" way of doing things. The fact is, politics is so much about compromise that a person's political views are rendered nearly irrelevant.

And then
There is "some other way" of religion and faith
• Some other way to describe the after life
• Some other way to attain that after life
• Some other way to practice our faith while we wait for the after life

But Jesus offers no other way. True Christianity is truly different and thus hated by this world because true Christianity insists in only one way, Christ's way. Even within the proclaiming Christian world a myriad of "ways" has emerged. But contrary to the popular opinion, only one way is the way to Go; Jesus. Every other way belongs to the thief and the robber. Jesus said that He alone is the door. Jesus said no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.

This world hates that. And they think that we must hate them because we preach it. Not so. Love for Jesus Christ insists that we love those for whom He died. There is no hatred in our position, only loyalty; loyalty to Christ and loyalty to His Word. True love for people demands that we tell them the truth of the Bible.

There is no other way
• No other way to be saved
• No other way to peace with God
• No other way to be forgiven of sin
• No other way into heaven

These Words; Not Loosely Spoken

John 9:38 KJV
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

The most important words a man can say are these three; "Lord, I believe." But I notice that they were not loosely spoken by the man of our text.
• He had spent years in blindness.
• He faced testing by the religious elite.
• He experienced alienation and rejection from his parents.
Finally, after several conversations concerning Christ,
• He conversed with Christ again
and it was then that his own speculations turned into faith.

I rather expect that true believers all experience some situations similar to this man. There's the initial meeting with Christ and accompanying joy. That is quickly followed by a period of trial.
• Doubters and mockers arrive on the scene to shake away that first but perhaps shallow pleasure that came from meeting Christ
• Religious zealots contend with our experience to keep us under their thumb and away from Jesus
• Even family may try to dissuade us fearing their own loss and repercussions
But those who pass these fires meet Chris afresh on the other side and find a faith that is confident and enduring.

Too Many

Judges 7:2 KJV
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

The ways of God and of man could not be more different.
• Man says work; God says believe.
• Man says serve; God says yield
• Man says more; God says less

Before God would give Gideon victory he had to pare down his army to a number that provided only one explanation for victory; God. Twenty two thousand went home because they were fearful. But there were still too many. God divided the remainder by having Gideon observe how they took a drink from the brook. No explanation of why God chose those He did is given in the text, but I have heard the flesh creep up in the preaching of the passage. Those I refer to have preached that God selected the three hundred because they remained alert and on the ready even while drinking water. Sounds reasonable; if God needed alert and ready soldiers. The fact is, we don't know why God picked them. This one thing we do know, God would not let the army vaunt themselves in victory.

We don't need more to succeed in the work God has led us in to; we need God. In our weakness He is made strong. Most gladly then, let us rejoice in weakness. Let us not seek our own strength, but the strength of the Lord.

Pure Water

John 7:37 KJV
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

It seems to me that most men are thirsty but most attempt to quench their thirst in bad waters. Just as Americans have gotten to the place where we reach for a pop, or an alcoholic beverage or, if we are trying to be health conscious, some sort called "vitamin water" and avoid at about any cost drinking plain water, so we do with spiritual thirst. The need is there but the choice of wells is too broad and those wells flavored with the sweet syrup of worldliness or with the intoxicating spirits of religion draw our tastes away from the pure and refreshing taste of the Spirit of God.

I see little doubt that men thirst. My calling, and the calling of all true Christians, is to bring those we can to Jesus Christ who will give them to drink of the pure Holy Spirit.

Christianity is to frequently infused with flavors we believe make Christ and His church more appealing but render the drink harmful rather than holy and healthful. We must press people to pure Christianity. We must help them to have a taste for pure water and not the doctored kind.

The Labor in Labor

John 6:27 KJV
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

And here is the great battle that every human being is engaged to fight.

There is that which stares us in the face each day
It beckons us to follow it, to claim it as our own. It is soft and comfortable and easy to attain. But
• It is of the earth
• It will never last and worse still
• It will lead us to perish just as it does

Then there is that which endures to eternal life
It seems so distant, so far away. At times we wonder if it is even real. Perhaps it is only a mirage, a dream a fancy painted by those artists who can't seem to accept reality.

Even after coming to Christ for salvation, we still face the battle between that which is so easy in hand versus that which moth and rust can't corrupt. It is labor just to labor for better, the eternal thing.

That is why it is so important to attach ourselves not just to a church, but to the sort of church that urges us in the right work. Too many congregations have themselves succumbed to the temporal meat. If we are to keep our focus on the eternal we must be reminded daily where our focus ought to be. On that meat which endures to eternal life.

Jesus Brings the Solution

John 5:45 KJV
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

A preacher friend of mine pointed out to me that it is a misunderstanding to see Christ as angry with the wicked. The righteous role of God the Father is as a consuming fire. But the role of Christ, though equally God, is of compassion for the sinner.

There is, of course, the righteous indignation of Christ when He drove the money changers from the Temple. But even in that the purpose was to bring souls to salvation.

This passage is an indicator of the work of Jesus Christ. He said He did not accuse. The accuser in this case, is the Word of God. The Bible brings conviction. We also know that the Holy Spirit brings conviction. But Jesus; He brings the solution.

As witnesses then it is always wise to discern when conviction has happened and bring them the solution. We are to preach the Word of God concerning
• Sin
• Righteousness and
• Judgment
but when conviction happens, preach Jesus Christ
• Crucified
• Risen and
• Coming again
Preach Him as possessing life and liberty for all who believe. Preach Jesus Christ as He who, while we were yet sinners, died for us.

Far Better

Judges 2:10 KJV
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

Joshua's generation did not completely drive out the enemies. They became powerful enough that, instead, they put those enemies under tribute. They should have, even if they could not yet utterly defeat them, continue in their war against them.

I think I see a parallel in Christianity when we have grown to the place as Christians that, though still having besetting sins, we have them "under control."
• Our Christian life is, in our eyes, certainly better than our former life
• We have an acceptable degree of spiritual victory, and
• Those sins we still have some attachment to do not directly interfere with our worship and fellowship with the brethren
So, having some control, we relax.

The problem is that our concern should be not only for our own condition but that of those generations that come after us. In Israel's case it only took one generation before there was a generation who knew not God or the works He had done for them; one generation and their fellowship with God was gone. I have witnessed the same heartbreaking scenario in many families. Praise the Lord His grace spares many families, but I have witnessed the destruction of the spiritual family in just one generation. The children, having personal knowledge of their Christian parents' compromise with worldliness, just immerse themselves full on in worldliness.

Far better would be for our children to see us battle those besetting sins all of our lives than for them to see us settle for a deal with some sins because we are happy with our spiritual position now.

Far better for our children to see us as "prisoners of the Lord" than to ever see us as "compromisers with the world."

Just Speak What We Know

John 3:11 KJV
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

This is such a famous passage of the Bible, and no wonder; it is packed with blessings easy to gather.

But some people have difficulty even with these things. Nicodemus, though a ruler of the Jews, couldn't grasp the difference between that which was of the flesh and that which is of the Spirit. And though his case might have been exceptional enough to warrant inclusion in the eternal Word of God, there are still plenty of things in the Word of God that baffle us today. What are we to do with them?

First, the Bible tells us to study the Word of God.
The benefits of time in the book are nearly too numerous to tell. Every Christian should not only try but insist upon their flesh to learn the Word.

Second, we must bring ourselves to the assembly of the saints in the church.
God's design in the church is that those who have been equipped equip the believers in the church.

Finally, even after all of that there will be much we do not know.
But don't let that stop you. Just speak what you do know. Whatever God has given you in your time alone with him and in your faithful time in the church is plenty to tell others. You don't have to make up things; you don't have to guess. If you haven't got the answer, that's all right. Just tell them what you do know. And as you do that, and continue in study and faithful church assembly, you'll know more and more to tell.

The Other Side of the Flood

Joshua 24:3 KJV
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

The flood here spoken of is obviously not that in Noah's day because of the mention of Abraham and Isaac. The word is one that means shimmering, like the sun reflecting off a stream and developed to mean a river. Commentaries claim the river to be the Euphrates because Abraham came originally from the other side of it. I think the reference must mean the Jordan as the Jews crossed it at flood stage when God parted its waters for Joshua to bring them over and possess God's promise for them.

The type of the flood is a traumatic and dramatic one.
• There was risk
• There was thrill
• There was potential victory

And that is the case with every person who follows the Lord into the life He has for us. We view ourselves as possessing this kinship because coming to live for Christ is such a huge life event. Those who have taken those steps see them as like crossing flood waters; we made it through the help of the Lord. We see ourselves as coming from the other side of the flood and we view ourselves as pre and post crossing.

I am praying for those yet on the other side and for those who are today midstream.

It's Not That Easy

Joshua 22:17 KJV
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

Israel had just taken the Promised Land and the two and half tribes who took their possession short of the Promised Land had just returned to their homes, when a controversy arose concerning them. Word got back to Israel that they had constructed their own alter. Immediately a delegation was dispatched to confront this sin. Phinehas, the son of Eliezer was the spokesman and reminds the two and half tribes of the sin of Peor. He then makes the comment that Israel was, to that day, not entirely cleansed of the sin.
• They were still dealing with the consequences and
• There were still people among them predisposed to the sin of idolatry

Often people who have committed some sin will insist that they have asked God to forgive them and that should be the end of it. What they refuse to accept is that the consequences of their sin is more far reaching than that. Though they have been immediately forgiven they may never, this side of eternity, experience complete freedom from the consequences of their sin.

Failure to accept that will certainly lead to a falling if not into the old sin, perhaps a sin much worse.

Others With Them

Luke 24:1 KJV
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

Sometimes the simplest phrase can come to life with meaning.

As the women came that morning to anoint the body of Jesus this verse says they brought with them the spices they had prepared. They came prepared to meet and minister to the Lord. And it says they brought with them some others.

These two phrases should be the example of every Christian when we come to meet the Lord on His day.

Come prepared
• Come prepared to teach a class if that is your ministry
• Come prepared to spend time in prayer
• Come prepared to give your tithes and offerings
• Come with a heart that has been prepared to both serve the Lord and hear his Word.

Come with some others
As Christians
• We ought always desire to be a help and a witness to others
• We ought to always be meeting new people and building friendships and reaching out to them on a spiritual level and
• We ought always to try to bring them with us to the church house that they might come to know our Saviour.

Get it Done

Joshua 17:18 KJV
But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

A portion of this chapter covers the conquest of Ephraim and Manasseh of the hill country on the northern end of the Promised Land. It also tells us that they were not able to defeat the people in the valleys and that they complained to Joshua about it. Apparently they wanted help in defeating that land and Joshua wouldn't budge to do it. The tribes came in to the Promised Land together and took the land as a team. But the possession of individual properties of each tribe fell on the tribe itself.

I am reminded of Galatians six where we are to both bear one another's burdens and bear our own burdens. Believers are brethren, a family and we are to help one another. But each family within the family is also a whole unto itself and there are responsibilities that each family must bear on their own. Indeed, each family is made of individuals who in turn have responsibilities that no one can bear for them; they must bear them alone.

• Perhaps we are too uncaring today.
• Perhaps there should be a stronger sense of community within even the local church.

But we would also have to recognize that a huge number of people in our day look for someone else to take care of them.

Joshua charged the sons of Joseph to get busy and take those cities of the Valley. He then charged those seven tribes who had not yet taken a land to get up and do so.

Someone needs to give us the same charge.

An Unholy Unity

Luke 23:12 KJV
And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

I am reminded of Luke 16:13 where Jesus says of the one who tries to serve two masters, "…either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other."

Christ unites the souls of people either for Him or against Him.
People who are from all sorts of backgrounds and interests find common ground and fellowship in their devotion to Jesus Christ. On the other hand, people of such divergent backgrounds as to have been enemies also often find a commonality in their opposition to Christ.

• The people of Jerusalem, from different homes and occupations joined together in calling for crucifixion of Christ.
• At the end of the seven years Tribulation Anti Christ will have no difficulty assembling an army to stand against the King of kings and Lord of lords even as He descends from heaven.

Christ brings people together either for or against. We who claim to love the Lord then ought to be united in that love. Too many others will be united against it.

Satan

Luke 22:3 KJV
Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

Luke 22:31 KJV
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

The Bible is so matter of fact about the existence of Satan that to deny that he exists is to deny that the Word of God is true. Twice in this one chapter, and in two different contexts, the name of Satan is mentioned. I may deduce from these references that
• He is real
• He is a person, (he is more than a bad attitude)
• He is dangerous

To underestimate the working of Satan, to refuse to accept that he influences many of the evil actions of mankind, to fail to see him as desiring to sift us as wheat is to leave ourselves exposed to his threats. Jesus is praying for us and greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. But we do not lean as we need to on the Lord until we realize how desperate our circumstances are with so great an enemy.

What Happens After Death

Luke 21:16-18 KJV
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

The Jews were conditioned to hear a prophet speak of things that bare future so to hear Christ speak of future events in Jerusalem was par for their understanding of the ministry of the prophet/preacher. We are so conditioned today after hearing two thousand years of Bible preaching, to expect passages like this one.

But this passage is startling to say the least. Jesus said in practically the same breath that they would be killed and that not a hair from their head should perish.

• Was Jesus confused?
• Was He speaking out of both sides of His mouth like some politician? or
• Did Jesus say exactly what He meant to say?

I take number three. And I take it to mean that perishing is something other than and even after death. We must never forget that. The message of the Bible, though set in this world and having benefit to this world, is a message about what happens after death. It addresses the other world. People like today's Joel Osteen deceive their congregations. They lull their followers into a false sense of spiritual security by filling their minds with self help fluff while omitting the weightier and much more important topics. Honestly, given the fact that Christ Himself preached of both heaven and hell do we really want our best life now? So what if a person is able to manipulate himself into thirty or forty years of earthly wonder? (I am supposing an adult who gets hold of an Osteen type book and is successful in obtaining that best life now. Suppose that he is thirty when he succeeds in obtaining that life and lives his average seventy years.) What would those few years be worth if in all of eternal life, His life is less? Suppose there is forty years of blessing followed by eternal hell? Suppose he is saved, but His focus on his best life now means in heaven he is saved yet so as by fire? Would you really want heaven to be worse than forty years of health and prosperity? Jesus mocked those who already have their reward. No true Christian could seek such a thing.

This Side

Joshua 12:1 KJV
Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

Joshua 12:7 KJV
And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;

The perspective of the book of Joshua, as in the Bible as a whole, from inside the boundaries of Israel.
• There were those kings Moses defeated on the other side of Jordan and
• There are those Joshua defeated on this side Jordan
The Bible does not condemn the two and half tribes who chose their inheritance on the other side Jordan, but neither does it ever really focus on them again. They come just short of God's promise.

Too many people in our world are like that. They trust the Lord for salvation but they never fully embrace the life God has for them. While they are not condemned neither are they included in many of God's blessings for His people. God in effect seems to "ignore" them. It is not that He doesn't love them; it is merely that they don't account for the working of God in this world. God never gave up on those two and half tribes. Their names are recorded in the Word. But God's dealings with His people only records what happened inside the Promised Land.

If we have gotten saved, we would be better off being immersed in the life God plans for us.

Enough Already!

Luke 19:25 KJV
(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)

Jesus added to His own parable the shock expressed by onlookers that God would take from one with little and give to one with much. The point is not that God doesn't care for the least. The point is that one who is unfaithful is not rewarded.

God's intent is to teach Christians faithfulness; to so mold and make us that we are presented to Himself without spot or blemish or any such thing. What should not shock us is that God is not finished with us. It should not amaze us that God will allow Christians to be conformed by the image of this world.
• He expects growth
• He expects faithfulness
• He expects fruit

When we get to heaven we will be shocked at who does and doesn't receive rewards. We will also be shocked by the fact that those rewards will not be based on equality and fairness but upon faithfulness and fruitfulness.

The lesson then is to not settle in our faith but allow the Lord to build using our faith.

Where The Danger Lies

Luke 18:7-8 KJV
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Barnes notes keeps this passage in context and points out that the message here is that there is more danger that men will quit praying with the same fervency as the widow of the parable than that God will not answer our prayers.

There are huge implications in the text that God will not answer our prayers and avenge our adversaries quickly. We have to settle that in our hearts; Christianity is not for the fast food mind set. We had better plan to be in this thing for the long haul. We had better expect that there will be challenges for our faith and we had better get hold of the principles of importunate prayer.

The passage also assures us absolutely that God will answer and prayers and will avenge our adversaries "speedily" when it happens it will happen suddenly and without their opportunity to prepare themselves.

But the passage also warns us that when Jesus comes and when Jesus answers, very few will be left on their knees.

And so He urges us to pray and not faint.

There Are Three Sides to Every Story

Joshua 5:14 KJV
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

I have read that during the Civil War President Lincoln was asked if he thought God was on his side. To this question it is said that Lincoln replied, "My concern, sir, is not that God is on my side but that I am on His."

When Joshua saw the captain of the Lord has immediate question was, "Whose side are you on?" But Joshua made the mistake of only offering two sides; his and his adversary. The captain of the host of the Lord reminded Joshua that the third side to every conflict, and the only one that really matters, is the Lord's side.

It would help us in our own disputes if we would always remember that there is this third side and that His is the only side that matters eternally.

When Do I Get My Own?

Luke 16:12 KJV
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

I recently reviewed a series of short videos designed to introduce concepts of logic and thinking. The videos cleverly illustrated how easily our minds can be deceived. For instance the in the gamblers problem, a coin is flipped nine times. Of those nine, three of them are heads and six are tails. The mind is so quick to recognize patterns that it immediately assumes that the probability is it will be tails in the tenth toss (or else reasons that heads is due). But the fact is, even if it had been nine for nine, as long as the coin has not been tampered with the toss is always a fifty-fifty chance. There is no predictable pattern.

The point is that our minds, unless carefully trained, may deceive us. (The Bible says the same thing of our hearts.)

Now this illustrates the passage in this way; Jesus implied in this parable that no one on this earth owns anything. We are merely stewards of another man's goods. However, it is difficult for any of us to grasp hold of that. What we hold seems so really ours that the largest numbers of people alive accept it and use it as their own. It takes discipline and training and great faith to come finally to see that all that is in our hands today, including life itself, belongs to God and we will give account of its use to Him.

But then Jesus implied that those who are stewards will receive riches of their own one day. That day is of course in heaven. The natural mind cannot conceive of this thing so it takes what is not its own and uses it as if it was its own, rejecting the notion that one day it will give account and ruining its hope of true ownership in eternity. The heart that lays up its treasure there is a heart that has been purposefully trained.

What About the Ninety Nine?

Luke 15:4 KJV
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

At first glance this looks like a bad business model. What wisdom could there be in obsessing in the one that is lost to at the neglect and the risk of the ninety nine? Many a business, many a church, many a family has been completely obliterated by those who obsess on what they do not have and ignore what they do. While the shepherd is gone after the one could not a worse thing happen to the ninety nine?

The clue is found in the phrase "just persons which need no repentance." The ninety and nine then could only represent those saints who have already been glorified and are now in heaven. Only they need no repentance and they are completely secure. Christ left them in perfect peace to come to earth for those who are still lost. The picture then is of the extreme measure that Jesus took to win those who are lost. He left perfect security. He left absolute fellowship. He left what is sure to reach those whose security was unsure.

Jesus is not giving permission to be irresponsible with what He has given us in order to gain what we do not have; He is teaching us what price He paid in order to save those in peril.

Why Does The Lord Allow It?

Luke 14:10 KJV
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

I have been thinking that perhaps the reason that the Lord allows this world to so abuse the Christian faith and to mock spiritual principles is because if He were to make his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, so to speak, sinful man would pervert it into some sort of money making scheme or means of self advancement. We would take to our sinful heart those words in Luke 14:10, "then shalt thou have worship... "and we would fight for the lowest rooms, they would have to build more lowest rooms to accommodate the numbers making their way into them. Perhaps the Lord allows this world to get away with so much evil
• To prove those who will believe without immediate reward and
• To find out those who will do right even when no one acknowledges them for doing it.

Moses Wrote This Song

Deuteronomy 31:19 KJV
Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:22 KJV
Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

One of the things a person picks up from the Bible concerning songs and music is that God's people used them for either worship or for education and not for entertainment. Moses wrote this song (recorded in chapter thirty two) and sang it the same day he was "gathered to his people"; he died. The song was not celebratory in nature, though Moses had written one that was after the soldiers of Egypt died in the Red Sea. This song was meant to rehearse what God had said to Israel.

Moses was inspired in his writing I know. But songs that entertain aren't generally written and sung the same day. The writer has motives behind his music that necessitate his care when first releasing the song. He needs music to be scored and rehearsals to be done. Why, the couple who sang America the Beautiful at the 2012 Superbowl practiced it a week before the actual performance: and that is a song they have surely known since childhood. Entertainment requires careful preparation.

No, Moses did neither write nor sing for the sake of entertainment. And I conclude from that that far too much entertainment emphasis is placed upon even spiritual music in our day. The purpose of music among the believers must be an act of worship and an expression of a spiritual truth. If it is not that, it is not Christian.

When Men Won't Say...

Deuteronomy 29:25 KJV
Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

Chapter twenty eight and twenty nine of Deuteronomy are weighty to say the least. There are the blessings prescribed early in chapter twenty eight but then there are the curses, most of which have already come to pass in Israel. Twenty nine ends by saying God's design is for men to see the judgment of Israel and ascribe it to God.

Today much of Israel is nationalistic, not spiritualistic. They, I am led to understand, have not only rejected Christ as Messiah but have abandoned faith in a coming Messiah.

And what can be said of America? The sentiment of the average American, and probably of the average Christian in America is that God would not dare judge anybody anywhere. How dare a preacher suggest such a thing?

Jesus implied that when He returns most will have stopped looking for Him and faith will be difficult to find on the earth. One sign of a lack of faith is a lack of the recognition of the blessings and especially the judgments of God on our world. It looks to me like the fact that men refuse to acknowledge the judgment of God is a sign that Jesus' return is not far off.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

A Place Chosen by God

Deuteronomy 26:2 KJV
That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.

A challenge for every Christian I know, and a point of contention for those who are not believers, is the thought that all religion is man made. It would not have been difficult for someone in leadership in Israel to survey the land and decide for himself where would be the best place for the center of their worship. This, in fact, became the situation when the woman at the well told Jesus that her fathers said they should worship in one place and the Jews said people should worship in another. Too much religion is just the design of designing men.

This is not what true faith is. Christianity is not to be our following those who seem successful and have found the most effective means to gather and lead a crowd. Christianity is to be following the leadership of the Lord and our leaders, if it is even right to call them leader (I have begun to question that more and more), are not to make plans and create ideas and call men to follow them. The ministers of God have only one real responsibility; to serve the Lord and His people in the place God chooses. That sort of Christian practice will not be any more loved by the world than the designing kind. But it is an honest faith, and it is the one God calls us to.

Choosing the Good Part

Luke 10:20 KJV
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Luke 10:42 KJV
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Luke 9:44 KJV
Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

In the passage that came to my attention yesterday, Luke 9:44, there is a contrast between the excitement of Christ's casting out the devil from the boy and what Jesus said should sink down deeply into our ears, namely, the gospel of Christ. In Luke 10:20 Jesus told His disciples not to rejoice that the spirits were subject to them but instead that their names were written in heaven. And then in verse 42 Jesus says the good choice was to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His word.

Life is based on choices. We make them every moment of every day. The good choices have to do with
• The Gospel
• Our salvation and then
• Learning God's Word

Never Let Down

Luke 9:44 KJV
Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

Jesus had just healed the boy with the devil. His disciples had attempted and failed in the same, so that a greater contrast was made when Christ, without effort, rebuked the unclean spirit and it left. The people were amazed and glowing with praises toward Jesus.

But Jesus softened those praises in the ears of His disciples and told them to let those words He was about to say sink down deeply into them. He then proceeded to speak about His death.

People are very often anxious to hear stories of great miracles, hoping for something similar in their case. This world has such trouble that nearly everybody has some miracle they would like to see. The greater accomplishments a man has in his life only means the miracles he hopes for are that much greater. A man who has little could praise God for fifty dollars to buy gas to get to work; the President of our country looks for a peace treaty between nations. The point is, those are all secondary to the truth of the gospel.

Sometimes wonderful things happen and the fifty dollars is found or the treaty is signed. But sometimes all that falls through. But every time and all the time the truth of the death burial and resurrection applies.

• If we live for the other we will be often disillusioned
• If we focus on the gospel we will never be let down

Jesus Suffered Them

Luke 8:32 KJV

And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

Barnes has an interesting observation in answer to those who object to Jesus "suffering" the devils to enter the swine and kill them. It isn't an answer that is easy, but it is one that brings forth reason for thought. He reminds us that God "suffers" evil of all kinds on this earth today.

• He suffers the conflicts that are taking place in the Middle East where right now they say the Syrian government is killing one hundred or more of their own people per day.
• He suffered Josh Powell to kill himself his own children by first hacking them with a hatchet and then blowing them up in a fiery inferno last weekend.
• He suffers unbelieving men and women into government offices where they have now legalized gay marriage; a lifestyle that is overtly anti biblical.

Why would God suffer such wickedness when He has the obvious ability to prevent it?

The answer is in the eternal plan of God for a people who are redeemed not of coercion but out of pure love for Him. I do not pretend to understand God's plan but I have just enough of a grasp of it to know that even the evil Satan inflicts (God doesn't inflict evil, but only "suffers" Satan) will be turned for good and will, in the end bring glory to God. 

True Greatness

Luke 7:28 KJV

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

There is no doubt but that John the Baptist is a great character in the New Testament. Though his work was short lived, it introduced that which is eternal. John the Baptist, Jesus said, was the greatest of all prophets. But his ministry is much more than that, extending into the New Testament and introducing that ordinance which distinguishes the church of Jesus Christ from all others; baptism of

• A proper candidate  (saved) for
• A proper reason (obedience, profession), using
• A proper method (immersion) and under
• A proper authority (a Baptist church)
•  

Why then would Jesus say that the least in the kingdom would be greater than John? Does this mean, as many have preached, that John is not a New Testament preacher, that his message was in some way inferior? Not in the least. Consider the biblical lesson after this verse. John's baptism is the dividing line between glorifying God and rejecting God's counsel.

But what John began blossomed after his death. Like that grain of wheat that dies in the ground and then yields a hundred fold;

• After John the Baptist came the death burial and resurrection of Christ and
• After John the Baptist came the entirety of the New Testament
• After John the Baptist came not only the salvation and baptism of those in Israel but all around the world
• After John the Baptist has come two centuries of preaching that very message John preached.

True greatness inspires even greater greatness. It was his greatness that has led to greater things for Christ than he himself could have done. 

All The Days of Our Lives

Deuteronomy 17:19 KJV
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

The King of Israel was instructed to write out his own copy of God's law and to read from it every day. It was from the basis of that understanding of the Word of God that he was to judge the people (the context of the chapter deals with judgment - not necessarily all of it by the King, but in difficult cases, by the priest's who, obviously, were to know the Word of God.) The King was to read from that law "all the days of his life." He wasn't merely to study it and have a good understanding of it; he was to stay in it.

I have attempted to write out my own copy of the Bible. I am still working on it and I keep those parts I have finished. I can attest this is no easy task. But the real task, and one that no Christian has an excuse, is to read the Bible daily.
• Not just sometimes
• Not just until he has a decent understanding of it
• Not only in church services, but all the days of his life

What a difference it would make in the lives of people if they spent some time every day reading and thinking about and coming to understand the Bible.

He Withdrew Himself and Prayed

Luke 5:16 KJV
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Though the crowds of people pressed upon the Lord and Jesus did preach and teach and heal them, Christ also withdrew himself from them frequently.

The man who would minister to men has to realize that he also is a man and must be ministered to. It is an error to believe that we cannot be done without long enough to withdraw and be spiritually refreshed.

Jesus withdrew and prayed. It does not say He withdrew to pray, that would be with the intention of praying. No, He withdrew and actually prayed. The ministry we must have is the ministry of the Lord toward us and that is met in communion with Him.

Paganism Wrapped in a Christian Package

Luke 4:36 KJV
And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Jesus preached in the synagogues of Galilee with varied responses. But in the synagogue of His own home town the response was wrath. The people there tried to kill Him for the message He had preached.

Too much preaching today is geared to comfort and please and influence the hearers. There is a place for a "peace I leave with you" sort of sermon, but in many cases that's the only message some congregations ever hear. In the largest so-called churches in America the preachers have become famous for refusing to preach anything else. And while others preach a theological message that can be blunt, they salve their congregations with a social message that is down right promiscuous.

We need preachers who stand before their congregations without fear of the reaction. The task can be tough, but it is the only Christ honoring one. Anything else is paganism wrapped in a Christian package.

As He Promised Thee

Deuteronomy 15:6 KJV
For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

God made a promise to Israel that if they obeyed his voice He would bless them in such a way that
• There would be no poor in the land
• They would loan money to other nations but never have to borrow money from those nations.

But then God said there would be poor in the land always and they were to open their hands wide to them. It does not appear to me that the poor were in the land as a consequence of their personal sin but as a consequence of the corporate sin of the nation. Therefore those who were wealthy and those who were poor were in the state they found themselves through no real merit or demerit of their own, but because of an overriding nature of disobedience to God. And therefore those who had much were not to see themselves as more righteous than others. They were not to think that they were in the place they were in because they worked harder or studied more or had more motivation. They were to, in no way, judge the poor but open wide their hands and help them.

We, who have been so blessed, have been conformed to believe we have because we earned it. We are conditioned to pick on the weak and make them that much weaker. That is not the Spirit of God in us and it must be resisted. We must chose instead to reach out to those who are in pain and hurting to do all that we can to be a blessing to them.

Proving

Deuteronomy 13:3 KJV
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

When I was younger and riding bulls I went with a group of friends to a place outside of Clarkston, Washington where a stock contractor was "proving" a herd of new bucking bulls. These animals had never been out of the chute before and there was no telling what they would do. The only way to find out was to get a cowboy on them and let 'em buck.

The Bible is filled with passages that tell us God proves us. Like Peter, who so boldly claimed he would never deny Christ but ended up denying not once, but three times, and that, within the sight of the Lord, none of us know whether we will obey the Lord or not until we have been put to the test; proven. We might think that God would be more gracious to us if He protected us from such proving, but protecting the flesh never really helps anything. It is similar to our distaste for exercise. It hurts, it takes time and we would much prefer comforting the flesh than inflicting pain upon it. But experience has shown that to protect the body from the discomfort of exercise is indeed harmful, not helpful. If we love ourselves we will exercise. And like disciplining ourselves not to eat so much. Eating is necessary, enjoyable and can give a sense of comfort in difficult times. But in America, where food is in overabundance, we would be better off to deny our bodies the pleasure of food rather than giving in to it. To suffer a few hunger pains would do us a world of good. In other words, if we love our bodies, we will let them suffer.

In similar manner then, because God loves us He proves us, not because the proving is pleasant but because its product is best.

There is a Hunger Riches Cannot Fill

Luke 1:53 KJV
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

The Bible says that both Elizabeth and Zacharias were righteous people, but they were childless. Blessings are sometimes withheld, not because of sin, but for the greater glory of God. And a greater glory was manifested when, in their elderly years, Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to John the Baptist.

In those months of pregnancy, Mary also conceived and carried within her body Jesus Christ. She went to visit Elizabeth who, among other things, proclaimed that God fills the hungry but sends the rich away empty.

There is an interesting thought. The rich would normally be thought of as having all of their needs met. They are certainly never hungry. But God fills the poor and hungry and leaves the rich to their own.

Wealth is no treasure without the blessing of the Lord.
• It may buy food for the belly
• It may provide transportation instead of walking
• It might purchase a vacation to conceal the misery of soul
But wealth can never satisfy the hunger that even the rich man feels.

That Thing We Cannot Do

Mark 16:3 KJV
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

• The women agreed on a time to be at the tomb
• The women rose up early to be at the tomb at first light and
• The women had purchased. Spices with which to anoint Christ's body

But they had not found someone to roll away the stone. Despite all the rest of their preparations, this they could not do.

I doubt whether they would have been allowed to roll it away had they found someone who would do it for them. Pilate had put his seal on the tomb and placed guards there for the very purpose of keeping the tomb closed. But they came anyway and they came prepared to care for Christ's body.

And when they got there, that one thing that was bigger than them was already taken care of.

It's an illustration of walking by faith in Christ. While we may wonder how the Lord will do it, our concern is to concentrate on obeying the Lord and doing what we can do. We can plan, we can congregate, we can gather together those things in our reach with which to minister unto the Lord.

And we can come to where Christ is. And when we do that, the Lord will do what we cannot do.

Idols in the Homes of Saints?

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 KJV
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Here is a principle that seems to be ignored amongst today. God doesn't want those things that have roots in idolatry and paganism in our homes. They are an abomination to Him.

I think part of the reason for this cavalier attitude concerning idols is traced to a misunderstanding of Paul's counsel that we know an idol is nothing in the world. That is an obvious truth. There is no god besides God. The idol has no supernatural power. It is a piece of wood or stone or precious metal and nothing more. But it is an abomination to God because it represents a person's love for some power other than God.

But the homes of Christians who are otherwise faithful and Christ honoring are often containers for those things that represent what God has clearly declared He abhors. Statues and figures of false gods adorn the shelves of Christians who simply see them as cultural art. Playing cards, whose roots trace to witchcraft or Islamic or both, and that today represent the gambling industry may be found in homes and are frequently played by Christians.

I know there's no false god in them, but they are an abomination to God and should not be in the homes of serious Christians.