Why? They Ask. - Jeremiah 17:9

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
- Jeremiah 17:9

    Troubled young men walk through school buildings shooting randomly at anyone they see. Other men fashion bombs and detonate them where they can kill or maim the most people. Another man telephones his ex-wife and taunts her as he murders their two daughters. Still another man allegedly shoots down at a crowd of concertgoers, indiscriminately killing as many people as he can before taking his own life. And the question screams to be answered, why?
    One particularly astute and intelligent woman declares that “men” are the problem, that it is in our nature as the males of the species. This is apparently one time when there is no confusion about gender identity. Another crowd of impassioned individuals insists that the weapon of choice is at fault. Still another crowd maintains that all we really need to stop the slaughter are more laws; as if we currently have no laws against wanton murder! But still, we all seek the motives behind these stunning displays of madness, as though the answer is that elusive. Yet in truth, we know the juggernaut of human depravity is the locomotive that drives this unending chain of death. We know but we refuse to acknowledge the truth! “Professing to be wise, they became fools . . .” - Romans 1:22.
    For every explanation that enlightened man hangs upon his kindred beings for their murderous behavior there are others who passionately disagree, insisting the motivation lies elsewhere. All the while these proverbial prophets and their colleagues blindly ignore what rises insidiously right before them: simple slithering human depravity. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” - Genesis 6:5. This and this alone is the perditious pedigree of man.
    Perhaps Arthur Pink, a contemporary of Martin Lloyd-Jones and one of the most influential Christian writers of the 20th Century, put it best, “Look at human nature as it now is: depraved, wretched, subject to death. Ask philosophy to account for this, and it cannot do so. None can deny the fact that men are what they ought not to be, but how they became so, human wisdom is unable to tell us.”
    There has never been a better and more definitive answer to the whys of man’s evil ways. It explains the condition of human suffering better than any of the psycho-babble we are continually bombarded with. Total human depravity explains it all, yet advocates for other excuses can’t seem to grasp the reality. From attorneys to jurists to law officers to psychiatrists to social engineers, they all close their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to the answer that looms before them yet eludes their simplistic thinking. “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.” - 2 Corinthians 3:15.
    Clearly, two can come from the same household and while one lives in humble obedience to the law,  the other disdains the law and continually acts against it with derisive contempt. Why?
    The emptiness, idolatry, hatred, and culture of death in the world will not go away, ever! The world, like any void, will always be filled with something. It will be either the darkness of sinful tragedy or it will be filled with Jesus Christ. All the pain, heartache, and darkness we witness and experience is what the world is in the absence of Jesus Christ. Until all that we are becomes subject to Him as Lord and Savior, this is what we are and this is what we remain. We can never be more without Him. Why? Because of our total depravity and its vanguard: sin!
    Humankind does not have the power in itself to become more than the corruption and decaying corpse that we are without Christ. The dead cannot raise themselves. We are all dead in our transgressions against God. Everyone is and remains guilty without Christ! Even innocent children must be taught right from wrong because the stain of depravity exists from birth. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” - Psalm 51:5.
    Mankind will stay on this road to perdition as long as we continue to reject the Biblical God who created us and sustains us. He is the only God who can complete us. We must all remember the words of Jesus Christ - “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” - Mark 1:15.
    No amount of misguided hope or social engineering will ever change the blackness of the human heart. It has been tried and it has failed ignominiously! The pervasive darkness that we exist in without Christ cannot and will not be legislated away. Our hearts must change or we will forever remain in this contemptible darkness. Why?
    Jesus Himself has already given us this seemingly elusive answer - “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” - John 8:43-44.
    The world will continue in its own ways as long as we continue in ours. And thus the world is the flesh and the devil. And so we will continue to ask, “Why?” Never recognizing that Christ and Christ alone is the answer to that perennial question -  “Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 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 16:31-33.
We know the answer to why. Let Christ be our response.

The Greater Moral Good - Jeremiah 38:27

Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. - Jeremiah 38:27

    In a nutshell; King Zedekiah told Jeremiah to lie. That is the simple and unvarnished fact. Then, Jeremiah indeed lied. Now the question arises: is doing or committing an evil act ever excusable in the eyes of God?.
    Two major considerations must be made when contemplating this issue, “to sin or not to sin.” As to the backstory of the King’s command that Jeremiah lie to the princes; he commanded Jeremiah to deceive these men in order to keep them from killing him over the prophecy of the inevitable conquest of their land by the Chaldeans. But doesn’t the ninth Commandment demand that we should always tell the truth? “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Exodus 20:16. Perhaps the difficulty comes when we use the word “always.” Is there in fact ever a time when we can transgress the law of God?
    As to the first consideration - it is true; Jeremiah did lie to the princes. His motivation? To keep them from killing him. I can’t speak for you but I know what Scripture has revealed about those who would tell a lie to save themselves or the lives of others. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” - Hebrews 11:310-31. Here, the writer of Hebrews commends the actions of the prostitute, Rahab, for protecting the lives of the Hebrew spies by lying to the King’s inquisitors. In the case of Abraham - “Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.” - Genesis 20:2. And what was his excuse for telling such a lie?  When it was revealed to the King that Sara was indeed Abraham’s wife -- “. . .  Abraham said, 'Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.'” - Genesis 20:11.
    In both the aforementioned instances Rahab and Abraham lied. There’s no confusion here; what they both did was bold face lie to those questioning them. So how could any expositor defend their actions? How could any commentator advocate for their transgressions? Well, the simple answer is that no one can defend or excuse the lies. However, when tested against the degree of harm, potential, real, or merely imagined; the weight of the lie did not match the dire consequences of telling the truth.
    Dr. R.C. Sproul once suggested that there are some people who simply “don’t deserve the truth!” Imagine for example the commander of an Einsatzgruppen ( an “operational group” or death squad ) of Nazis knocking at your door and asking you if you knew the whereabouts of your Jewish neighbors. You stare the commander in the eye and tell him you don’t know, when in fact you are hiding them in your basement. Ask yourself this question - is it more important to tell the truth and be honest or lie for the sake of saving human lives? Obviously, the commander doesn’t deserve to be told the truth, considering what his plans are for the family if he would discover their location. And while telling a lie is a direct transgression against God’s holy law, it must be a last resort, where no other alternative or option is available. It should only be considered when the greater moral good must outweigh the nuances of the law! Thank you, Dr. Sproul!
    Albeit, the example I just gave works well for those who experienced the tragedy of WWII. But what about now? What about today? Alright, let’s consider a possible 21st Century conundrum: your friend shows up at your front door, sobbing and bruised. She tells you she got into an altercation with her husband, got out of the house and ran to you for help and support. While you’re comforting her, there’s a loud pounding on the door. Her abusive husband, obviously infuriated, is waiting impatiently for you to answer. After sending your friend into another room, you answer the door. He demands to know if you have seen or heard from her. You stare him in the eye and tell him, “No.” He leaves in a huff, cursing as he gets into his car. What does your conscience tell you now? “Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.” - Hebrews 13:18.
    I am in no way advocated for dishonesty in any shape or form, but I am suggesting that such strict and unforgiving views as suggested by many Christian legalists today are in fact simply convoluted views of commandments that neither Moses nor Jesus ever intended to be written in stone!
    We must always weigh the repercussions and consequences of omitting truthful responses or deliberately misleading others with our word. But the consideration must never be to keep ourselves from a righteous judgment or simply to allay inconvenience ( “Tell them I’m not home.”). God will always demand that His moral laws are upheld to the highest standard but never at the cost of the greater good or simply to meet someone’s twisted sense of legalism. “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’” - Acts 23:1.
    May God always grant us the discernment to make the right choices and decisions.

Whatever Happened To Shame? - Romans 10:11

 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” - Romans 10:11

    As we look around ourselves at the nation and the world how can we not ask the question,  “Where is the shame?” From our own personal fallenness to the Philistine celebrities we grovel about to the pagan CEOs who run this planet in its headlong rush into iniquity - where is the shame? There was a time (and I remember it well) when there were simply things a God-fearing civilized person didn’t say or do . . . period! Where did that time go? “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” - 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10.
    In our title verse, Paul simply implies that the alternative to believing in Christ is disbelief. And if belief in Jesus protects us from shame then disbelief denies us this heavenly protection, without prejudice. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” - John 3:36.
    We recall from Genesis that in the Garden, before sin, there was no shame - “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” - Genesis 2:25. They remained unashamed until their fall from God’s grace. “So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” - Genesis 3:10.  With man’s corruption came the righteous shame that all men and women should feel over the sin in their lives. Yet we do not! “. . . because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools . . .” - Romans 1:21-22.
    Shame, we all secretly fear, is like a glaring spotlight, and so we run from it, seeking to escape its convicting brightness - “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” - John 3:20.
    How often have we all seen a bumper-sticker or heard the rallying cry of the unsaved -“No God - No Master”? This is the offspring of man’s patent sinfulness. Rather than feel the shame that should accompany our sins, we all too often reject the very notion that we should feel shame . . . for anything we think, say, or do. We have somehow decided that there is no such thing as sin, or that what may be a sin for someone else isn’t necessarily a sin for us. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” - 1 John 1:8.
    Somehow we approach the defense of our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds with an air of entitlement. We boldly declare that we must answer to no one, unless of course, we have broken some man-made law; and even then, we often try to excuse or mitigate our wrongdoing, but seldom if ever acknowledge that we have shamed ourselves by our behavior. But man’s laws often change like the direction of the breeze. God’s laws are immoveable and rock solid; they do not move or change. And let us make no mistake; we will be called upon by the Judge of both heaven and earth to give account for our every thought, word, and deed. “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” - Proverbs 16:5.
    We must step outside of our pride and seek God in humility, contrite  and repentant. Let our shame rise to convict us of our transgressions. Seek forgiveness and God will render to us His holy grace. “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” - Psalms 51:3.
    Our sins condemn us to death but the atonement of Jesus Christ will recover us and grant us forgiveness, salvation and life everlasting. As we turn from our sin and let our shame convict us under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we can return to God our heavenly Father like the prodigal sons and daughters we are. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” - Luke 15:21.
    We should all seek the Lord while He may be found and humbly ask of Him - “Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You; let the wicked be ashamed; let them be silent in the grave.” - Psalm 31:17.
    Our shame isn’t gone. We nimbly hide from it beneath the mantle of our human pride. Let us all remember that pride goes before the fall. It did before; it does now; it will again, unless we bring ourselves to the foot of the Cross and ask Christ for forgiveness.

Godly Wisdom, Not Foolish Derision - Acts 17:17

Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. - Acts 17:17

    I was watching some very disturbing “emerging church/ neo-Pentecostal worship” video the other day and was truly shocked at the behavior of those alleged Christians as they waved their arms above their heads, rolled their eyes back until you could see the sclera, and muttered incoherently as the camera captured the scene in all its indignity. Now there are many who will chastise me for saying such a thing, suggesting that I am being far too judgmental because my way of worship isn’t like that of the folks on the video. I want to stop you for a moment and ask a simple question - if that kind of worship strikes me as a depreciating mockery of true Biblical Christianity, how must it strike those unbelieving souls whom we have been commissioned to preach the Gospel to?  “Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” - 1 Corinthians 14:23.
    Clearly, if by our behavior we are making unbelievers question our very sanity are we not doing both our faith and God Himself an injustice? The world already believes that we Christians suffer from mental illness. Should we then perpetuate the misconception by coming off as possessed zombies? Does the Holy Spirit indeed demand that we depart from reasonable decorum? “Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’” - Acts 2:13. There is a better way to reach out to the world with our faith, and that is to do so in a pragmatic and clearly understandable manner just as the Apostle Paul did - “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.”  Acts 17:2-4. The response Paul and Silas received came as a result of reasoning with these pagans with the unvarnished truth of Holy Scripture!
    I have encountered many instances on social media where a well-meaning believer will toss out a random line of Scripture without reference, exegesis, or explanation, hurling it outward like a Frisbee, expecting . . . what? How in the world can we properly and effectively fulfill the Great Commission if not lucidly and with reason? “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” - 1 Peter 3:15-16.
    We live in an empirical world. When it comes to proving the Gospel claims we must be able to give a reason for the things we believe in. How can we possibly fulfill the great Commission if not lucidly and with reason? It is Godly wisdom that brings our point home - “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” - James 3:17. 0
    Far too often the unbelieving world sees the behavior of groups on the extreme fringe of Christianity and, quite understandably, sees all of Christendom as just another cult of madness parading as a religion. And as Objectivist author, Terry Goodkind, has said unsurprisingly, “Reality is irrelevant; Perception is everything.”  This is why God’s truth must be presented in a rational and logical manner according to His holy word.
    Christian efforts to comply with Christ’s final directive to His disciples fall upon deaf ears unless His word is presented in an apologetically defendable manner. “‘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 28:19-20. Yes, it is absolutely true - the Holy Spirit must illuminate God’s word in the heart to make one a believer. But that “Word” must be presented in such a way that inspires its very consideration rather than provide fodder for mockery!
    Let us always seek to explain, instruct, and defend our faith in Jesus Christ as He declared to all the world - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6.

The Greater Moral Good - Jeremiah 38:27

   
Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. - Jeremiah 38:27

    In a nutshell; King Zedekiah told Jeremiah to lie. That is the simple and unvarnished fact. Then, Jeremiah indeed lied. Now the question arises: is doing or committing an evil act ever excusable in the eyes of God?.
    Two major considerations must be made when contemplating this issue, “to sin or not to sin.” As to the backstory of the King’s command that Jeremiah lie to the princes; he commanded Jeremiah to deceive these men in order to keep them from killing him over the prophecy of the inevitable conquest of their land by the Chaldeans. But didn’t the ninth Commandment demand that a man should always tell the truth? “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Exodus 20:16. Perhaps the difficulty comes when we use the word “always.” Is there in fact ever a time when we can transgress the law of God?
    As to the first consideration - it is true; Jeremiah did lie to the princes. His motivation? To keep them from killing him. I can’t speak for you but I know what Scripture has revealed about those who would tell a lie to save themselves or the lives of others. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” - Hebrews 11:310-31. Here, the writer of Hebrews commends the actions of the prostitute, Rahab, for protecting the lives of the Hebrew spies by lying to the King’s inquisitors. In the case of Abraham - “Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.” - Genesis 20:2. And what was his excuse for telling such a lie?  When it was revealed to the King that Sara was indeed Abraham’s wife -- “. . .  Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.” - Genesis 20:11.
    In both the aforementioned instances Rahab and Abraham lied. There’s no confusion here; what they both did was bold face lie to those questioning them. So how could any expositor defend their actions? How could any commentator advocate for their transgressions? Well, the simple answer is that no one can defend or excuse the lies. However, when tested against the degree of harm, potential, real, or merely imagined; the weight of the lie did not match the dire consequences of telling the truth.
    Dr. R.C. Sproul once suggested that there are some people who simply “don’t deserve the truth!” Imagine for example the commander of an Einsatzgruppen ( an “operational group” or death squad ) of Nazis knocking at your door and asking you if you knew the whereabouts of your Jewish neighbors. You stare the commander in the eye and tell him you don’t know, when in fact you are hiding them in your basement. Ask yourself this question - is it more important to tell the truth and be honest or lie for the sake of saving human lives? Obviously, the commander doesn’t deserve to be told the truth, considering what his plans are for the family should he discover their location. And while telling a lie is a direct transgression against God’s holy law, it must be a last resort, where no other alternative or option is available. It should only be considered when the greater moral good must outweigh the nuances of the law! Thank you, Dr. Sproul!
    Albeit, the example I just gave works well for those who experienced the tragedy of WWII. But what about now? What about today? Alright, let’s consider a possible 21st Century conundrum: your friend shows up at your front door, sobbing and bruised. She tells you she got into an altercation with her husband, got out of the house and ran to you for help and support. While you’re comforting her, there’s a loud pounding on the door. Her abusive husband, obviously infuriated, is waiting impatiently for you to answer. After sending your friend into another room, you answer the door. He demands to know if you have seen or heard from her. You stare him in the eye and tell him, “No.” He leaves in a huff, cursing as he gets into his car. What does your conscience tell you now? “Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.” - Hebrews 13:18.
    I am in no way advocated for dishonesty in any shape or form, but I am suggesting that such strict and unforgiving views as suggested by many Christian legalists today are in fact simply convoluted views of commandments that neither Moses nor Jesus ever intended to be written in stone!
    We must always weigh the repercussions and consequences of omitting truthful responses or deliberately misleading others with our word. But the consideration must never be to keep ourselves from a righteous judgment or simply to allay inconvenience ( “Tell them I’m not home.”). God will always demand that His moral laws are upheld to the highest standard but never at the cost of the greater good or simply to meet someone’s twisted sense of legalism. “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’” - Acts 23:1.
    May God always grant us the discernment to make the right choices and decisions.