A Christmas Blessing - Luke 2:10-11

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:10-11

    We all make choices in this life. While we wear the fragile mantle of humanity, we get to choose much of what life has to offer us. Of course there are always those situations and conditions that are thrust upon us regardless of our needs and desires. But belief in Christ Jesus remains not only within our reach but also our grasp. If we will only make that choice. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15.
    There has always been the argument that we either have free will or we do not. Luther insisted that the human will was in bondage and not free at all, while Erasmus contended that the human will had “wiggle room” in opposition to God sovereignly predetermining what our choices would be. And while Scripture fully supports Luther’s contention that the will is indeed bound to our flesh, we must then turn to God’s “Unconditional Election” of the saints. The doctrine states clearly that God in His infinite sovereignty chose some of us for salvation before the foundation of time. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” - Ephesians 1:3-6. If this is true, how then can we still boast of a free will? If God has already chosen some of us for salvation why do we still need to choose? Scripture answers us without ambiguity. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” - Hebrews 11:6.
    With the intercession of the Holy Spirit, we are regenerated and are blessed with faith in God.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” - Matthew 7:7-8.
    When should we ask the Holy Spirit for a life in Jesus Christ? “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:1-2.
    As we celebrate Christmas this year and every year let us be grateful for the good tidings of great joy that come with the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! If you have not yet come to faith in Christ, “now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” Do not tarry a moment longer, for we “know not the hour of our Master’s return.”
    Merry Christmas to all.

Don’t Look Back! - Genesis 19:26

But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. - Genesis 19:26

    The command of God was clear as a cold winter night. There were no ambiguous terms or conditions. The command was terse and succinct - “So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.’” - Genesis 15:17. Yet like so many of us, Lot’s wife ignored the Lord’s directive and looked back. On the other hand, unlike so many of us, she met God’s justice immediately.
    Whether it be a longing for our old life of sin or just a pining for the familiarity of our old ways, we too often turn away from God’s commands, even if only for an instant. And sometimes an instant is all it takes. Jesus even warns us of the distractions which lead us to perdition. “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” - Luke 9:62.
    We are told that the old man is dead, the old self, the old way finished. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” - Romans 6:5-6.
    Once we were all sinners living a sinner’s life. We were born in sin and except for the mercy and grace of God we are destined to die in our sins. Sometimes the justice of God reaches out to greet us as in the case of Lot’s wife. Other times God is patient with us for a lifetime. But know this: we have not eluded our omniscient God. His justice will not be thwarted. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” - Galatians 6:7-8.
    Like the title of the Thomas Wolf novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” we must understand that once we have heard the word of God we can no longer feign ignorance or hide behind mock naivete. Once we have been exposed to God’s light, we can never again hide in the darkness. We know we are sinners in need of salvation. The cross of Christ Jesus looms before us just as surely as our sinful lives hang from our coat-tails. To look away brings judgment upon us, and while it might not be immediate, it awaits us in God’s good time.
    When we look longingly back at our sins or where we have been in the flesh, we take our eyes off the prize that Christ has provided for us. We can only obtain what God has set aside for us if we live according to the cross rather than the flesh. “And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” - 2 Timothy 2:5
    There is a cost associated with salvation. Fortunately, we do not have to pay it. It has been paid for us by Jesus Christ. But we must accept Him as Lord and Savior to realize our redemption and we can’t do that if we are preoccupied with our old lives and our old ways. We cannot possibly focus on the gift of grace provided by God if we are intent upon looking back over our shoulders at the life we lived in sin! We must purge ourselves of sentimentality for wickedness. There can be no nostalgia for sin. We simply have to seek Christ. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” - Romans 13:14.
    Those in the faith do not look back at their old lives any more than one who has survived a near-fatal crash looks back with fondness at the moment of impact. We are new creatures living in the shadow of Christ’s cross, saved for eternity by His holy sacrifice. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Dying The Good Death - John 3:16

  
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - John 3:16

    At my age, I have seen many of the friends and family I have treasured pass from this mortal veil into eternity. As I write this, I myself am dealing with some health issues that require testing, monitoring, and treatment. I pray for myself as often as I pray for others, relying upon God’s firm hand to keep us by His blessed grace. But the time will come; it does for all of us. And when our time comes, it is my fervent prayer that all of those I love and care for will share my belief in “the God Who is there,” as theologian Francis Schaefer put it.
    Many things cross one’s mind when mortality comes into question. Some believe that if they have lived “a good life” they will be entitled to eternal glory after they shed these earthly rags. Some believe in nothing at all and thus they “live for the day.” But that nearly always ends in anxiety and ultimately in fear of the unknown. Even though I have failed miserably at times to conduct my life in a noble and godly manner, I entertain no such fears, not so much because I feel I have lived the good life but because I will have died the good death.
    Make no mistake: dying a good death has nothing to do with lofty self-affirmations and mantras based on a lifetime of nihilistic musings about “living and dying well.” Most such faulty notions are advanced by secular atheists who have convinced themselves that after lifetimes lived in opposition to God something benign awaits those who will just keep a positive attitude. Yes, try that while you’re dying. The thunder of such absurdity is deafening!
    Then what, you ask, is a good death? “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” - John 5:24. Death is but a doorway to glory, a passageway to eternal salvation. Of course, one can only hold to this heavenly view if their faith is anchored to the one mediator between man and God, Jesus Christ. Nothing I do of my own can suffice to save me regardless of how well intended. It is by faith alone in Jesus Christ that my eternity awaits me unfettered. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  - Ephesians 2:8-9.
    Many will ask, “Why? Why must we believe in Christ to be saved?” Because, the only source for belief in Christ Jesus, the Bible, states emphatically - “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12. Jesus Himself has told us as much - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” - John 14:6. This is why God gave us His only begotten Son. This is the way of the good death that awaits those who believe!
    Many of us will do whatever we can to prolong our earthly lives regardless of the condition we live in. We will undergo radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgical procedures, never knowing for certain whether these last futile attempts to hold off death will in fact work or if the quality of life left to us will have been worth it all. Our loved ones will spend countless hours futilely hoping and praying for a cure, for a miracle. And all the time spent trying desperately to live here and now could have been spent preparing to meet our Lord, knowing that for us, death is just a passageway and not an end in itself! Our loved ones should be praying that our immortal souls have been granted salvation through God’s saving grace.     We need not fear the death of these corporal bodies. Those who are in Christ at the time of their deaths will be able to sing out in unison - “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”- 1 Corinthians 15:55. We must prepare ourselves now for the eternity that awaits us. Believe in Jesus Christ now, today! Don’t put off believing in Him a moment longer. Accept Him as Lord and Savior.“For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2. Now is the time. Today is the day!

Dominion - Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” - Genesis 1:26-28

    Once again the news s filled with our latest venture into planetary exploration. The $850 million endeavor is called the InSight Lander. It will take photographs as other similar craft have done in an effort to prove what cannot be proven - that life exists anywhere in the universe but here on earth where God created life. Here and here alone, according to Scripture, God created all the life forms that have or will ever exist. We can speculate and hypothesize all we want and at the end of the day, the proof-box will remain empty. “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” - Genesis 1:24-25. God said that the earth would bring forth the living creature. He never mentioned Mars or any other heavenly body bringing forth life! And on top of that, He saw that it was good for it to be this way.
    The only heavenly beings that God has any contact with are the angelic beings He created and they are not of dust, flesh, or bone. They are spirits. Whether they be angelic hosts or fallen angels, they are the only other created beings in God’s creation. Period!
    Now it is true that where Scripture is silent we should not speculate or engage in conjecture. Where Scripture is silent we too should remain silent. Have we not enough on our plates right here on earth? Are there not enough obstacles here and now that we as human beings need to attend to without engaging in the utterly fantastic? “The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom.” - Proverbs 10:21.
    We have enough to contend with right here. We have enough sickness and poverty. We have enough hatred and murder. We have enough ignorance and foolishness. We have enough arrogance and pride. What we lack is enough faith in God. What we lack is enough love for our fellow men and women. What we lack is enough humility to learn. But the day is coming when we will see with our own eyes the truth of God’s creation and it won’t require a telescope, a microscope, or pictures beamed back from a distant planet. The day is coming when we will see for ourselves - “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” - Genesis 1:31.
    We have been charged by God with dominion over our own planet. “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.’” - Genesis 9:1. This is our commission - dominion over God’s creation here on earth! There is nowhere in Scripture where we are commanded to search the stars for other forms of life. We must not let our pride bring us to ruin again. We still have not recovered from our last attempt to be Gods.
“And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’” - Genesis 11:4.
    Instead, we must hear the words of Christ Jesus once more - “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” - Matthew 28:19.
    Both the command for dominion and our commission to spread the Gospel applies nowhere in creation but right here on earth.


           

Each Day A Day Of Thanksgiving - Psalm 95:2-3

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods. - Psalm 95:2-3

    As we celebrate another Thanksgiving. Let us not forget to thank God for every good gift from His providence. Let’s take time to count our blessings and show our gratitude to the God of Creation, the God of the Bible, as He has clearly shown us - there are no other Gods who deserve His honor and His praise. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” - Exodus 20:2-3.
    Throughout the year we often forget the daily bounty God gives to us. We often forget His daily blessings and our daily bread. It should not be this way. We need not look very far to see those of less fortune around us. We need not even look as far as the next state or country to see that not all people share in the blessings God has provided us. But they, even they have life. God’s providence He bestows as He wills. “Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’” - Exodus 33:19.
    We have been blessed this day by our omnipotent Lord. We all don’t share in His favor equally yet we all share in His favor. As surely as the rain falls upon my house, it falls upon yours. As surely as the babe sleeps in my house, the babe sleeps in yours. As surely as we break bread in my house, you break bread in yours. The Lord hears our prayers as surely as He hears our curses. The Lord reigns in this house and all houses. He can bring plenty and He can bring famine. He can bring healing and He can bring pestilence. Blessings and curses come from the same almighty hand of God. “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.’” - John 3:27.
    If we remain thankful and reverent God will bless us continually. If we continually deny Him we will reap what we have sown. If we seek Him continually He will be there when we cry out. If we mock Him we will draw His wrath. We must worship Him to receive His blessing. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” - Romans 8:28.
    Let us praise God on this Thanksgiving Day and let us make each day a day of thanksgiving.

Lost & Found: No Secret Remains Hidden - Hebrews 4:13

Lost & Found: No Secret Remains Hidden - Hebrews 4:13:     And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. - ...

No Secret Remains Hidden - Hebrews 4:13

   
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. - Hebrews 4:13

    It isn’t unusual that Hebrews 4:13 should make us a bit nervous, after all, how many of us actually like the idea of someone watching our every thought, word, and deed? Especially if we are going to have to account for ourselves. How often have we been in a social situation and noticed that someone, possibly a complete stranger, is staring at us? Talk about being made self-conscious. But like it or not, that is exactly how God sees us - through and through. We can run but we cannot hide. “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’  So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” - Genesis 3:9-10.
    God is omniscient; He knows all there is to know and nothing is unknown to Him. Even those deepest and darkest secrets we believe we have kept so securely that no one knows - God knows! So yes, when we consider God’s omniscience it becomes uncomfortable for us. For there are some things in our lives that even the most callous of us are ashamed of. We may put on a good show of self-confidence but were the truth brought to light we would cower in shame, fearing the scrutiny of our family, friends, and even that of strangers. “For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. “ - Ephesians 5:12.
    In fact, the only reason most of us aren’t more repentant of the things that shame us is because God doesn’t immediately shed light upon our scandalous behavior or immediately hand us the punishment we deserve. Think about it: if God exposed and/or punished us every time we succumbed to temptation, regardless of the variety, we would almost never willfully sin. None of us would want our dirty laundry hung out for everyone to see. But God doesn’t always immediately give us what we truly deserve. It’s not that He has given us a pass; He is just exercising His Godly patience with us sinners. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9. He is actually granting us time to come to Him in repentance. If we still refuse to honor Him, Christ has given us His solemn warning - “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” - Luke 8:17.
    So while we understandably fear exposure, discovery, and revelation of our most hidden sins, we must come to the sober realization that the one entity we should truly fear already knows where all the skeletons are buried. To continue to insist upon our “innocence” just exacerbates our sins and clears the way for God’s holy wrath and our undoing. There is a deep sense of despair when we think about it like that but there is hope; hope for the contrite. Let us bring our transgressions to our most holy God and pray for forgiveness in humble repentance. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9.
    And how thoroughly will we be forgiven? “The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” - Psalm 103:9-12.
    All this forgiveness is assured those who love the Lord. All we need to do is confess our sins to Him and humbly ask His forgiveness and He is ready, willing, and able to shelter us from our past iniquities and remove the stigma of our shame. This was Christ’s purpose in sacrificing Himself upon the cross: the washing away of our sins by His holy blood. And forgiveness is only complete in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:10-12.
    Let us put our faith in the One who knows all our secrets, both the good and the evil, and let Him take away our sins.

Lost & Found: The Times That Try Men’s Souls - Psalm 42:11

Lost & Found: The Times That Try Men’s Souls - Psalm 42:11:     Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God ; for I shall yet praise Him , the help of my cou...

The Times That Try Men’s Souls - Psalm 42:11

   
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. - Psalm 42:11


    To quote the great American patriot and founder, Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We cannot go a day without worrying about some aspect of our daily lives in this blessed country that we are doubly-blessed to call, “home.” Whether it is the birth rate, the crime rate, the tax rate, or the death rate, we worry! Our days are full of anxiety. Believers and unbelievers. Christians, Muslims, Jews, and people of every other faith are concerned where this world is heading. But why? God is sovereign; He is in control. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’” - Isaiah 46:10.
    No matter how tomorrow turns out, God is in control! Everything that happens does so because God had planned it from the beginning. Nothing is left to chance. There is no such thing! “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” - Proverbs 16:33.
    It may be our best day; it may be our worst day, but the day we spend, we spend at the bidding of our Lord. It may bring sickness or health. It may bring wealth or poverty. And we know all too well, it may bring life or it may bring death. But we also know that for those who hope and praise God, life has promise, life has purpose. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
    How then can we honestly feel ‘cast down’ or ‘disquieted, ever?” Of course, things could have turned out better. We could have been born shorter or taller, richer or poorer, stronger or weaker. We could have gotten that promotion or that raise. We could have placed in a high honors school or landed that sweet job. But know this: we are where God wants us to be because He is responsible for putting us here! Sure, we sat for the test or we did that little extra, worked a little harder, or even prayed a little harder. But what we have and where we find ourselves is where God wants us to be! We should hope in Him and praise Him for all we have been blessed with. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17.
    In our title verse, the Psalmist is rebuking himself for its feelings of disquietude. He insists he will continue to hope in God and praise Him despite his own soul being cast down. To do that in the face of challenge or tribulation requires faith with a capital F. But one who has hope in God and continuously praises Him need not feel cast sown or disquieted.
    There will always be naysayers and complainers because they don’t feel they got a fair shake. Brothers and sisters, believe me; when it comes to God treatment of our lives, we truly don’t want “fair.” If God gave us what is fair we would all be weeping and gnashing our teeth. What we want from God, what we pray for is His mercy! “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:4-7.
    So regardless of the task before us, the tribulations we face, or the times we live in let always and everywhere hope in God and praise Him.

Lost & Found: The Truth Reformed - John 17:17

Lost & Found: The Truth Reformed - John 17:17:  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. - John 17:17     It has been said of Christians that we not only need to know what we b...

The Truth Reformed - John 17:17

 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. - John 17:17

    It has been said of Christians that we not only need to know what we believe but “why” we believe it. For the unbeliever, the trouble is not that we believe in the God of the Bible; they’ve both seen and heard our contentions. The biggest objection I am ever faced with is not about “what I believe,” but “why I believe it.” My stock answer has always been and always will be  - “because it is the truth!” And therein lies the problem. Most unbelievers don’t believe in absolute truth. As relativists, they want to stick to the erroneous idea that “what is true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.” “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25.
    The problem for unbelievers is that God’s truth would be fine for them if it allowed them the latitude they like to live their own way, unfettered by God’s rules. That’s why so many people either ignore the Bible altogether or carefully cherry-pick those parts they agree with and shed those parts they find objectionable. They are willing to go to any extent rather than admit that God’s holy words ring truth! “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting . . . .” - Romans 1:28.
    Obviously, for these unbelievers, nothing we can say will convince them of those things which they refuse to believe. They have hardened their hearts and minds to God’s enduring truth. They remain in this state of sin because, “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” - Ephesians 4:18. These are people who, in this state of sinfulness, are without hope. Only the Holy Spirit is able to change their hearts and unless the Spirit does so they will die in their sin.
    Another consideration unbelievers most often fail to perceive is the fact that the truth is insensitive; it doesn’t care whether they like it or not. It is still the truth. For some convoluted reason, many people believe that for the truth to be genuine, it must also be palatable or at the very least, something they can agree with. They all fail to understand that regardless of their refusal to hear the truth, it remains clear and fearsome. “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” - Psalm 86:11.
    As we celebrate Reformation Day, let us acknowledge that God’s truth is what Martin Luther declared to the world on October 31, 1517. Without encumbrances, we can believe in the truth of God’s holy word as revealed to us in the Bible. Sola scriptura, Sola fide, Sola gratia, Solo Christo, and Soli Deo Gloria. By scripture alone, through faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, the truth is Reformed!

Lost & Found: The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8

Lost & Found: The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8: When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man , O Lord!” - Luke 5:8     A genuine ...

The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” - Luke 5:8

    A genuine introspection in relation to our holy God should bring us to our knees in humble, contrite, and repentant sorrow. If it does not then we are not taking a good look at ourselves or we simply have a low view of God. However, it’s not our eyes that are the problem but our hearts. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” - Matthew 15:19.
    There are many people who simply don’t believe this. They tell themselves that they have never contemplated truly evil thoughts, a thought or word of anger from time to time, but evil, true evil? Mark the words of James the Apostle - “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” - James 2:10.
    One need only consider him or her self, relative to a holy God to see ourselves in the harsh light our thoughts, words, and deeds. When the yardstick is the holiness of God, our shame must be as mortifying and as painful as Peter’s. It is only through heartfelt contrition and repentance that we can, like the tax collector say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” - Matthew 18:13.
    The concept of “holy” as defined by Donald K. McKim is “being spiritually whole, well, pure, or perfect.” Which of us can look in the mirror and claim those attributes for ourselves? There is only one existing entity in the universe that meets those criteria and that entity is the God of the Bible. “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.” - Psalm 47:8. Unless we hold a high view of the holiness of God we cannot begin to comprehend the sinfulness of our lives.
    The title verse is preceded by the account of Jesus telling Peter and the others to go back out in their boats after spending all night fishing and coming up empty. After a moment’s hesitation, Peter relented upon Christ’s command. Soon their nets were so full of fish that they were actually tearing. It was upon seeing this that Peter uttered the title verse. Peter recognized the holiness of the Lord and in so doing saw his own shortcomings as a mere mortal man. What will it take for us to achieve that same understanding? The birth of a child? The sought-after promotion at work? A physical healing? That hard fought for graduate’s degree? The safe return of a service member from deployment or a police officer’s safe  return from his or her shift? A net full of fish?
    God doesn’t skimp on His providence for us. Every good thing we have we received from the benevolence of God Almighty. We have nothing that our great God hasn’t given us. Whether it be talent, aptitude, wisdom, physical prowess or any other gift. It is from God! “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17.
    When we are blessed enough to see this, we are forced to ask that perennial question - “Why me, Lord?” And upon that consideration we should humbly thank God for the grace He has bestowed upon us, despite our sinful natures. Let us all come to God with reverent and contrite hearts. “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” - Isaiah 66:2-3.
    These are the words of a holy God and unless we see Him as holy we cannot see Him at all. Unrepentant, all we see is the muddied reflection of ourselves staring back at us. Unrepentant, we are alone, staring at the innate sinfulness of the face in the mirror.

Lost & Found: Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1

Lost & Found: Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said...

Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1

    Now some will contend that the voice of Satan was allegorical. I won’t submit otherwise but only to say that the voice Eve heard, whether allegorically, literally, or in her head, was indeed the voice of Satan, as is the voice we hear that prompts us to sin. Be that as it may, we must understand unequivocally: Genesis 3 is the origin of mankind’s stake in spiritual warfare.
    I am thoroughly convinced that the devil can so control the thoughts, words, and deeds of a man or a woman that their deliverance can only be wrought by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no psychological, psychiatric, or pharmacological remedy. There is only the Spirit of Jesus Christ. A jail sentence is merely a penalty. True conviction can only be given by the Holy Spirit. Therein lies deliverance.
    “And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.” - Mark 5:2-4. I refer to Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac because of the Apostle’s straight-forward writing style. He doesn’t mince words.
    The symbolism contained in the Gerasene account cannot be minimized. Here we see a man whose behavior was described as that of an “unclean spirit.” He lived among the tombs (the dead) as do all who have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And despite his being bound with shackles and chains (laws and convention), he broke them all and no one could tame his impulses (thoughts, words, and deeds). His “possession,” as it were, was uncontrollable and unbound.
    Consider again our title verse - the cunning of the serpent. The devil and his demonic army is no junior varsity team. They are smarter than we are. They know our weaknesses and how to exploit them. And they are extremely successful doing so. Consider the temptation of Christ in the wilderness - “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.” - Matthew 4:5. Yes, the devil is that powerful! There are two trains of thought regarding this incident. One, suggests that Satan literally took Christ to the temple, while a second suggests that it occurred only in Christ’s mind. Regardless of the view, what is of the most import is that the devil was capable of such a task. And if Satan was able to move Christ to the temple, where can he move us to?
    There will be many who laugh and suggest I am giving too much credit to an evil spiritual entity, assuming that such an entity even exists. The Bible assures us . . . it does and it is dangerous. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8.
    Satan uses the beautiful, enjoyable, and delicious things in life to entice us to sin. He did so from the beginning and he does so now. After all, if sin was not pleasurable who would entertain the thought of it let alone enter into it? “So when the woman saw that the tree was for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6. We see that sin appears desirable and not only draws us into it but encourages us to draw others into it.
    Before coming to Christ we are as unbridled horses running at full speed toward perdition and destruction. This is the direct result of our fallen or sin nature and it is groomed and fed by none other than Satan himself. The devil doesn’t have to work too hard to move us in his direction. Nothing short of a divine intervention can possibly save us from ourselves. This is the curse of Genesis 3. Again, faith in Christ is the only remedy.
    There is evil in the world. To deny this is not only naive but dangerous. The savagery of fallen man knows no limit. History, whether written by the victor or the vanquished, is the story of man’s evil disposition toward himself or one another. There is only one response to evil and that is the presence of Jesus Christ. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Christ has defeated death itself; we need never fear.
                       

The Social Justice Gospel Revisited - Revelation 14:6-7

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—  saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” - Revelation 14:6-7

    Is there any mention of a specific message to people of color, the poor, the sick, or any other specific worldly demographic? Of course not! Here’s the point: The moment any minister or anyone for that matter molds, dissects or otherwise presents the gospel in such a way that appeals to anyone but sinners, they have violated both the veracity and the holiness of God’s revealed word!
    The gospel is the word of God presented to all men without respect to their race, ethnicity, or status in life to present them with the “good news” of Christ’s salvific offering. This is the only gospel contained in the Holy Bible and outside of the Bible there is no gospel offered. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” - Romans 1:16.
    There is never a point in time that Jesus offered anything but salvation to those who would believe in Him. He never offers worldly riches, status, privilege, justice, social equality, gender equality, choice of sexual orientation, or even basic health . . . to anyone at any time or anywhere during this earthly life. The gospel of Jesus Christ, as given to us in the Bible, is offered to anyone who believes that Jesus is God’s only begotten Son and His promise of salvation. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” - John 14:6. This is all that the Bible has promised! How dare they raise their fists as signs of worldly power against the word of God!
    There is no “word weaver magic,” language deconstruction, or “speech-act theory gobbledygook” affecting semantics or the intended meaning of Holy Scripture. To suggest otherwise is to suggest that the Bible is in error and quite fallible! We have had over 2000 years of the greatest commentators (Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, et al.) in Christian history, led by the Holy Spirit, exegeting what the meaning of Holy Scripture is. The social justice gospel is nothing more than a wet mongrel that has crawled into consideration in the last century! And might I remind those who believe this patent heresy: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7. I wouldn’t want to be attached to the hand that sowed that seed. Remember well the words of Paul to the Galatians - “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:8.
    So what of people who have been disenfranchised by the status quo? What about people who are denied their basic rights and necessities? Do they have no recourse in this world? As Christians, we are to treat everyone as we would be treated. BUT Christ’s message of love drives even deeper than just “doing unto others.” There is a command that goes to the heart of the “Golden Rule.”
    “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” - 1 John 4:20-21. And it doesn’t stop there. “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” - 1 John 3:17.
    Yes, as Christians we most certainly do have a responsibility to right injustice when we encounter it. But our responsibility is to “mankind,” not one or two particular demographics. No specific “identity group” has a monopoly on the word of God. And when such groups boldly declare that the Gospel holds a special revelation for them and for them alone, they are lying. These are lies devised by the devil himself and disseminated by his minions.
    The Christian responsibility to brotherhood extends beyond race, ethnicity, color or denomination; it extends to mankind. Remember the Lord’s Prayer - “OUR Father . . . .” That applies to all mankind, believers and unbelievers, without prejudice until the Day of Judgment when Jesus Christ returns. “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” - Matthew 3:12.
    May we all understand the love of God for His elect, chosen from before the foundation of the world from all the nations of man.

The Sweet Aroma God Requires - Hosea 6:6

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
 - Hosea 6:6

    How many of us have placed our ritual practices front and forward as evidence of our piety? Of our faith? Think about it for a moment. Have our pharisaical robes supplanted the contents of our hearts? God couldn’t care less for our theatrics. He doesn’t care about profession; He cares about possession.  Do we possess the love for one another that God demands of us? “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” - Colossians 3:12-14.
    Our religious trappings mean nothing compared to what we hold in our hearts. As Christians, we can fast, say Novenas, rosaries, the stations of the cross. We can sing in the choir,  tithe until we are financially broken, or we can fast ourselves to death! None of that matters. There are so many traditions of men that dilute what God wants from each of us, and what God wants and expects from us is . . . love. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” - Romans 13:8.
    We seem to avoid the obvious lessons of Jesus Christ when we seek to appease God with our traditions and rituals. All the time believing we are pleasing Him with the perfume of our offerings. But are we guilty of the sin of proclaiming our belief and faith in God yet failing to fulfill His law? “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”- Galatians 5:14. Do we? Do we?
    Do we absolutely love our neighbors as we love ourselves? Can any of us stand before a mirror and proclaim that we absolutely love our neighbors as we love ourselves? But more important: can we stand before God and make that claim?
    We boldly state that we understand God’s will for us. But God demands that we know Him. If we know Him, we know His will for us. “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” - John 17:25-26.
    The knowledge of God must produce in us the love of Him and our neighbors. “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”- Matthew 22:36-40.
    God doesn’t require sacrifice, burnt offerings, or any other contrivance to show our knowledge or love for Him. He requires we put on love for both Him and our neighbors. Love is the sweet aroma God requires.

God’s Law Is the Benchmark - Deuteronomy 6:6-9

   
 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-9

    One of the most confrontational issues of the 21st Century is the subject of morality. If you want to inflame any social gathering just bring up the subject of morality. Better yet, paraphrase Pontius Pilate when he asked Christ - “What is truth?” - John 18:38. Substitute the word “morality” for truth and you will likely be accused of setting the fields on fire. Yet it need not be this way.
    Using the most conventional language, leaving theology out of it, and entering the laboratory we would all have to agree that a base understanding of the sciences requires that we create and maintain a “set point of reference” for the purpose of measurement. This way, unlike modern math, every equation has one specific right answer. Regardless of which side of the aisle you stand on, this is hardly a contentious position. It is, in fact, the only logical and rational hill to die upon. And when defining a set point of reference we use words like standard, benchmark, model, guideline, yardstick, or norm. Yet when discussing such an ethereal concept as morality, all the conventional points of reference become skewed by the shrill, insistent, and arbitrary demand that there can be no one set standard for morality. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25. After all, we are no longer talking science here. Well, so goes that argument.
    The problem with this assertion is that once we leave the security of the laboratory and switch the controls  from benchmark to arbitrary, we wind up with this hot mess we call “the world.” And every problem we are forced to deal with in this world, i.e., crime, hatred, war, deceit, greed, corruption, racism, sexism, poverty, et al, can be traced directly back to the inability to standardize human behavior because the devil’s minions uncompromisingly declare that “what is right for you isn’t necessarily right for me!” Why?  “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” - Romans 8:7.
    So mankind arbitrarily chooses to obey the standards that suit him at the moment while brazenly disobeying those he chooses to ignore. And the fundamental argument is that you cannot force me to follow your morals because I have my own code of morality that I prefer to follow. Can you imagine a world where there were no standards, guidelines, or norms for us to follow? You don’t have to imagine it; that is the world we live in and we have seen the results of such arbitrary compliance. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” - Proverbs 14:12.
    We have visited the laboratory and seen the human experiment in morality gone wrong. It is time to return to God’s creation and the benchmarks He has provided for us. Clearly, there must be a standard we are to follow if we are to live out our days as we are meant to and that standard doesn’t include erroneous delusions of carpe diem, seizing the moment, the Millennial’s cry “you only live once, or the Nike mantra, “Just do it!”  God’s law is the benchmark for all men to follow, not just some men. We ignore His law at our own peril. “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’” - Acts 5:29.
    Now there are many who will say that we are not saved by the law; the implication being that there is no pressing need to follow the law. This view is held by the Antinomians who contend that “the law is dead” and therefore there is no need to adhere to moral, religious, or social norms. This long-held belief is pure and unadulterated heresy! For while we may not be saved by God’s law, we are certainly for the sake of ourselves and our fellow men to follow it and live by it. Christ Himself issued the proclamation - “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:37-40.
    When it comes down to whose morals we practice it’s not a contest between yours and mine. There is only one set point of morality literally carved into stone for all men, and that benchmark is God’s law.

Deo Volente - Luke 22:41-42

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” - Luke 22:41-42

   Christ agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying to His heavenly Father to remove Him from  the fate of death by crucifixion . . . if He was willing. In lieu of that plea being granted Christ went on to say, “not My will, but Yours, be done.” In short, Jesus prayed for His deliverance from death . . . God willing.   
    How many times in our lives have we heard the desire for a particular outcome petitioned with the small prayer, “God willing.” Even unbelievers will sometimes use the expression revealing their fervent desire for a positive outcome. But in reality, the remark truly describes the decretive will of God. We must make no mistake here: God’s will shall be done. Whether it is the birth of a child, the tragedy of planes hitting buildings, that unexpected promotion at work, or the death of a loved one; they all have one thing in common - they are reflect the will of God. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure . . . .’” - Isaiah 46:10.
    Many will object to the negative events, especially when such calamities involve tragic losses to ostensibly “good people.” How could God do such a thing? How could He allow it? Why would He allow it? All are legitimate questions when seen from a perspective clouded by ignorance of God’s absolute sovereignty. Think about it for just a moment: how do you define God? Perhaps your definition is faulty. Among other traits, God is the absolute. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; all powerful, all knowing and always present. Consider this: only if God was not all-powerful could bad things happen in spite of His authority and if He is not all powerful then He is not God! It is precisely as the late R.C. Sproul so eloquently said - “If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, He is not God.” So what are we left with? We are left with God, who does all things according to His will. “. . . your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10.
    Many people, both believer and unbeliever alike have a serious problem with this concept. But because a concept is uncomfortable we can’t simply dismiss it for something we find more palatable. The fact is, everything that happens in our fallen world happens according to the ordinance of God Almighty and for no other reason! If it happens, it’s because God ordained for it to happen. “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” - Daniel 4:35.
    The question “why” still remains. Why do terrible things sometimes happen? The simple fact is that we just don’t know. The finite mind of man can never understand the infinite mind of God, nor should we try. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:8-9.
    Praying against the will of God is futile. All we can do is pray for God’s will to be done. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’;  whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’” - James 4:13-15.
    Of course, there will always be “need” in our lives. We all “need” material possessions simply to function: it is a mark of our humanity. But remember that God is all knowing. He already knows our needs and Jesus has assured us - “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matthew 6:31-33.
    We must understand the sovereignty of God before we can come to terms with what happens in our lives or the lives of others. And while there will certainly be both happiness and heartache, if we understand God’s will we can face anything, knowing His will for us is without error. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” - Romans 8:28-30. In God’s glory resides our own glory that we receive through faith in Jesus Christ who prayed, “not My will, but Yours be done.”

The Gospel vs The World - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

    As Reformed Christians, we find ourselves constantly at odds with everyone around us. Whether it be our insistence on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible or our strict adhesion to the “Five Solas,”we will find resistance everywhere we look. The Gospel we believe in is constantly under assault and far too often by people claiming to be Christians. Many who claim Christianity may feel our Reformed belief system is too restrictive, unforgiving, or exclusive to stand as a beacon of light to the outside world. “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” - 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
    Friendships lost, families torn apart, relationships shattered; these are the fruits of disagreement. These are the children of conflict. And far too often unavoidable. In fact, the very hardest detail to accept is that Christ Himself even warned us of this heart-wrenching possibility. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” - Matthew 10:37-38. Christ’s position is clear so the choice we make as Christians must be as equally clear. We may choose Christ or we may choose the world. No amount of worldly logic or chicanery can be entertained if we are to hold fast to our beliefs. No “common sense” approach or basic worldly wisdom can undo the work of the Holy Spirit less it undoes our very souls! And if that means a family being torn apart then let God’s will be done rather than play advocate to sin and mock the very blood of Christ! “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:30. These words of Jesus Christ referencing our hand or eye hold just as true for anything or anyone who would cause us to sin by demanding we soften or alter the Gospel. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” - 2 John:10-11.
    There are even “Christians” who staunchly preach and defend the faith until it involves a cavalier family member or friend. Then they will boldly rail against anyone who would dare rebuke the one in error rather than take the side of “Primum Christo et Christi solus.” They will almost casually dismiss the error of faulty faith in this case. They step back from boldly preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hell-fire, like the truth, is seldom popular with those who are more concerned about the approval of men than the salvation of souls.
    We live in a world that insists upon tolerance at any cost. Of course, that tolerance is expected only from church worshiping Reformed Christians and no one else! It is we who are labeled bigots, racists, homophobes, and Islamaphobes. We are cursed at as inflexible, narrow-minded, and intolerant. This is the way of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must accept it; understand it, and refuse to be shamed or silenced by it. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:2.
    If we want to be true Christians we must understand from the start that we cannot love both the world and Christ! It is spiritually impossible. And once we realize that fact we must also come to terms with the reality that some who are close to us may not care to love Christ at all. Their love of the world is the thing that most matters to them. In many cases, it is the only thing that matters to them! It is thus so because they have never heard the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. Sure, they have heard the Gospel preached but they have only heard with their ears and never with their hearts. Oh, certainly they might have heard the call and shown up for a Sunday or two but then the world came calling them to the game or to the picnic and their fire for God turned as cold as ash because they were forced to make a choice. And choose, they did. “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” - Matthew 13:22.
    No one has ever said that choosing Christ would be easy. In fact, Jesus Himself told us that to do so we would have to sacrifice to follow Him. “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” - Luke 9:23. Christ said that our commitment to Him must be total and without hesitation. “And another also said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” - Luke 9:61-62. This is the cost of discipleship and if we are not willing to pay the cost, no matter what that cost is, we cannot be His disciples.
    These are just some of the hard sayings of Jesus but they are indeed His words. And which of us denies Jesus to save or retrieve human relationships denies his or her own faith in Christ. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 10:32-33. Let us pray boldly for the deliverance of those who are dear to us and never make excuse or exception for sin.

Prayers For The Dead? What? - Psalm 115:17

  
They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. -  Isaiah 26:14

    There are so many analogies regarding praying for the dead and each one represents a missed or lost opportunity. From shutting the barn door after the horses have run out, to the old adage, “Too little, too late.” Praying for the dead should be added to those arcane idioms. The futility of such prayers cannot be emphasized enough. There are three considerations one should make before blundering into a prayer for the recent dead.
1)         Did we pray for them when they were alive? I don’t mean while they were struggling with mortality on their death beds. I mean during their lives! While they, like we, were touting their autonomy, independence, and their personal power, did we ever ask God to bless them in their ignorance and bring light to their clouded eyes? Do we even pray for ourselves?
“. . . praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” - Ephesians 6:18.
2)         If we did pray for them in life or in death, who exactly were we praying to? “Which god” were we praying to? Was it a god of our own imaginings, a god of our own design? Maybe a composite god drawn from some mixture of Native American / Eastern Religion / Mythical Storybook gods, some convoluted Unitarian goulash. Exactly which god are we talking about?  Because there are a lot of vain imaginings parading around in people’s minds, calling itself “god.” And if that’s the god we are all praying to, our prayers are falling on deaf ears!  There is but one true God. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” - Exodus 20:2-3.
3)        The spiritual condition a man or woman dies in determines their eternity now and forever. After physical death it is too late for prayers. No matter what denomination you claim for yourself: no prayers for the dead will be heard! “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds.’” - Romans 2:5-6.
    There are three alternatives to the above considerations:
1)         If we want to affect the people we care about in this life, we must pray for them NOW, while they are alive! Why in heaven’s name would we wait until they die? Think about it. It’s not rocket science! People who are dead have no need for prayers. This is why it is so important to pray here and now, for others as well as for ourselves. How often and how much should we pray? “pray without ceasing” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
2)         I get hoarse repeating this truth, “There is but one holy God, the God of the Bible!” If we’re praying to anyone else, our water bucket has a hole in it. And at the end of a long day’s journey back and forth to the well, we’re still going to die of thirst! “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”- John 4:14.
3)         After one passes from this earthly shroud, they are gone. The corporeal body that housed envy, lust, hatred, and every other kind of sin is now and forever gone as we knew it. As I stated before, their spiritual state at the time of their death determines their final place in eternity. Those who died, having never come to Christ, are beyond the benefit of prayer. Prayer cannot help them; nothing can help them! “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” - John 8:24. 
    On the other hand, those who died with faith in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior have no need for prayers; they are already in Paradise. “Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” - Luke 23:42-43.
    Yes, there have been more than a few deathbed confessions of faith but our hearts should weep for the man, woman, or child who doesn’t know enough about Jesus Christ to seek repentance! This is why praying for the dead is fruitless and praying for the living is of the utmost importance. Let us all remember the prayer of the tax collector: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” - Luke 18:13.
    Muslims pray for their dead; Christians shouldn’t! Prayer is reserved for the living, not the dead. We must pray now, both for our loved ones and ourselves. We must pray now! “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2. For those of you who only think about God at someone’s funeral, I urge you to stop it immediately and start to think about God in both your and your loved ones lives daily! Our glorious and loving Father in heaven hears only the prayers of and for the living.

A World Reunited, God’s Way - Deuteronomy 30:1-3

  
“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.”
- Deuteronomy 30:1-3


    Perhaps the greatest revelation of the true desegregation of mankind in the Old Testament, these verses from Deuteronomy 30 clearly state God’s eventual intention of drawing men and women from all nations back together into a true brotherhood. The over-riding condition referred to here is that we all return to God, the one true God,  and obey Him, obey His every law. 6,000 years of recorded human history show us that such a feat is humanly impossible. That while we may do good works and righteous things, we still fail to be ultimately righteous in our hearts and minds. “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’” - Romans 3:10-12.
    Genesis 11 spells out the reason for God’s decision to scatter us abroad over the face of all the earth. The story of the Tower of Babel is timeless and points us to the erroneous idea that mankind could ever work toward justice and equality when failing to operate under the auspice of God’s will. History has since shown us incapable of working together for very long specifically because of cultural, ethnic, racial, and national differences . . . just as God intended it to be in Genesis 11! Because we decided to worship the creature (“ourselves,” see Genesis 11:4)  rather than the Creator we have been bridled with the curse. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” - Romans 1:24-25. And while our title verse clearly marks the way for a return to the blessing God had in store for us, the reprobation of mankind still rules us even to our very way of thinking.
    Men have tried in vain to develop world organizations which would by law bring us together, i.e., the League of Nations, the United Nations. Such enterprises have always failed due to the fallacious origin or central weakness of the endeavor - the autonomy of man; the notion that as men, we are capable of accomplishing anything we choose to accomplish - a patently execrable foundation. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” - Galatians 5:19-21.
    The blessing contained in Deuteronomy 30:1-3 is not based on anything outside of the parameters set by God Himself. We must if we ever hope to see a communion of mankind exist in peace, adhere to the words of verse 2 - “return to the Lord (our) God and obey His voice!” There simply is no other way. It was God who separated us; it is only God who can reunite us. Not since Genesis 3 has man found his place with God, nor have we obeyed His voice.
    We have set our teeth on edge against one another just as God decreed. Even our blood types are at variance. Despite the notion that “O negative” is the only universal blood type, the truth is that there is only one blood that is common to all men. There is only one blood type that mends the rift between man and man and God and man. There is only one blood type that obeys His voice. And that is the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is only through His blood shed for us that He has atoned for our sins. It is through the blood of Christ that we are justified in the eyes of our holy God. It is only through this blood that mankind can ever find the commonality that makes us all brothers and sisters. It is only through His blood that bigotry and hatred will fall to the wayside. It is only through the blood of Christ that mankind is reunited, God’s way, not man’s!
    God, as it has been stated in Scripture is no respecter of persons. “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.’” - Acts 10:34. God doesn’t see skin color or ethnicity or national boundaries. With God, there are no natural boundaries either. With God, there are only His chosen and the reprobate. Those chosen by God weep in contrition, kneeling beneath the cross while those left in their sin stand at a distance, point their crooked fingers and blaspheme the Lamb of God. This is the only separation of mankind that God sees! Those He has chosen for salvation and those He has left to die in their sin. And no international court or charter will ever force the two together.   
    Let us pray that God’s light shines brilliantly and brightly upon those who have chosen Christ over the world and love over bigotry and hatred. Truly, when we return to the Lord our God and obey His voice He will gather us again from the captivity of our racism and prejudice where we have been scattered. “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” - 1 Corinthians 1:10. This is the will of God for his people.

A Blessing Regardless - Psalm 106:37-38

They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. - Psalm 106:37-38

    I hear it all the time: why don’t you get off your high horse and stop condemning the Pro-Choice position on abortion? They tell me it’s “the law of the land.” My first thought is always, “You mean the way the law of the land said that liquor was legal, then it wasn’t, then it was . . . again?” The Pro-Choice opinion is now and always has been rife with misinterpreted law: law passed solely with political expediency in mind. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25.  How appropriate that this particular verse comes to us via the Book of Judges and that it clearly states that there was no King(God) in Israel = No God in America!
    The heinousness of abortion cannot be emphasized enough. It is why the procedure is forbidden to be discussed in “polite company.” Seriously, unless you are in the company of like-minded individuals you will be shut down immediately if you try to talk about what happens to an infant during an abortion. “That’s disgusting!” Some will say, while others in their ignorance will recoil and argue that a “human fetus” is not a person. Yet God sees it otherwise - “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5.
    Biological science? Is that your preferred method of rational? You mean a form of science that its own proponents readily admit is constantly in flux? Yet somehow the “accepted science” never evolves radically enough to reverse the current and erroneous ideas about when viable life begins. That can only be explained politically because science supports the truth that once an ovum is fertilized by a sperm cell, short of a disease, accident or deliberate murder, life begins!
    So the question remains: why do I continually harp upon the mistaken idea that abortion is a woman’s “right” to murder her own child? To the unbeliever it won’t matter. But for the fence-sitting people who claim to believe in God I hope to drive such a wedge of thoughtful distress into your hearts that you must finally, firmly,  and unequivocally come to the conclusion that abortion, for whatever else it may be, is just wrong, both morally and ethically! “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart. ‘Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room.’" - Jeremiah 7:31-32. 
    As for you unbelievers? Your advocacy for abortion isn’t your biggest problem; your biggest problem is your unbelief! “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - John 3:18.
    A child must be seen both before birth and afterward as a blessing from God, regardless of the circumstances of conception. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” - Psalm 127:3. Abortion takes a life anyway you look at it unless you simply close your eyes and choose to ignore it.
    Why do I and why should every man and woman who dare call themselves, “Christian,” oppose abortion? “But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’” - Matthew 19:14. Dare any of us deny Christ?

Biblical Revisionist Fools - Proverbs 26:4-5

   
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. - Proverbs 24:4-5

    One of the great proverbs of the Old Testament seems contradictory at times. Are we to answer a fool according to his folly or are we not? On the surface it wouldn’t seem that we can have it both ways. I for one am of the school that agrees with the first statement: don’t answer the fool; however, there is great wisdom in the second statement.
     There was a recent article in the NY Times, submitting that the Book of Leviticus and the Bible in its entirety is a “human book.” The entire article, written by alleged  
“Biblical scholar,” Idan Dershowitz, suggests that the Book of Leviticus as we know it was written not by Moses but by several authors over a number of years and that, you probably want to sit down for this one: the “original” intent of Leviticus 18:22 was not a prohibition against sex between two men but a permission slip if you will that allowed this grisly and abhorrent practice. He suggests that this: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:22 was the replacement for an original redacted version which actually allowed for such disgusting behavior. The sheer gravitas of such Biblical revisionism matches the glowering revisionism of the Holocaust which suggests no such genocidal madness took place! “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
    In addition to this sacrilegious garbage parading as Biblical scholarship Dershowitz and his father, Nachum, were among a group of scholars who were trying to apply “artificial intelligence (A.I.) “to reveal hidden patterns of authorship and editing of Biblical texts,” according to an article by Dr. Albert Mohler, of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler further went on to say, and correctly, “Dershowitz’s entire article is imagination disguised as scholarship.”
    And let’s not stop there. For the sake of argument: if Dershowitz and his ilk are even remotely correct in their assumptions. If as they suggest, the Bible has been edited, redacted, re-written, mistranslated, misinterpreted, and misunderstood over the eons of time, then what book of Holy Scripture can we point to with any degree of certainty and state emphatically, “This word is true?” If we can’t believe the Scriptural account of Creation then how can we argue that any of the Bible is true and accurate? If we can’t believe one book of the Bible what would make us think we could believe any other? And this is the goal and the aim of the Bible Revisionists; to cast doubt that Scripture is indeed the very word of God. How else can one redefine morality if he or she can’t say, “That’s not what it means?”
    Clearly, the very act of trying to reinterpret Biblical truth according to some trendy A.I or any revisionist’s criteria goes against two of the most profound warnings in the Bible: Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18, both of which forbid the adding to or subtracting of the original texts and revelations.
    My original position was to simply ignore the comments and suggestions of anyone who perverts the accepted intent of Scripture as written by its authors on the grounds that merely acknowledging such tripe is enough to lend credibility to their inane rambling. But after reading Dr. Mohler’s article rejecting Dershowitz’s argument I came to conclude that Mohler’s was an articulate and surgical strike at the heart of such utter nonsense and well represented the point of Proverbs 26:5.
    Perhaps the greatest lesson we can come away with from this counter-argument by Dr. Mohler is to be found in 2 Timothy 2:23-25 - “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth . . . .”
    May we always find a way to stalwartly yet gently correct those who have turned aside from the truth that lives and reigns in Jesus Christ.