A Dying Thief - Luke 23:42-43

“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

    A sinner for life. A transgressor who only looked out for “#1.” A criminal in thought, word, and deed. Captured, tried and convicted in the highest court in the land. Sentenced to be executed for the crimes. An accurate description of a thief who would pay for his transgressions. But it could also be a figurative description of us all, could it not?
    On the last day of his life, this thief was hung upon his cross, a common criminal to be put to death by the Roman authorities in Judea, circa 33 AD. Guilty as charged, he would be crucified along with another criminal of his ilk. They were to hang together from their crosses until they were dead. Unrepentant, hardened, defiant, and unashamed, he hung in the noonday sun awaiting the inevitable. He was reconciled to his fate.
    But there was something else taking place that day; a third execution; a most curious execution of a man who by letter of the law shouldn’t have been there at all. Between the two justifiably deserving criminals hung our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.” - John 19:17-18.
    From the Scriptural accounts, two thieves hung on either side of Jesus. One would go to his death without remorse and onto eternal damnation while the other would sit at the banquet table with Christ in heaven that very evening. Why? Why one and not the other? Why not both? They both shared their last moments on this earth with Christ the Savior; why was only one saved?
    Certainly, we know that at the time of their conviction the two thieves were unrepentant. Upon their being hung, both remained angry and arrogant, even heaping scorn at Jesus. “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.” - Matthew 27:44. But something took place in the dying thief that redefined his status among God’s creatures. And it began with a simple rebuke of his fellow thief. “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’” - Luke 23:39-41. This dying thief then turned to Christ and asked our Lord merely to “remember” him. His faith, much like that of the centurion (Matthew 8:8), did not require a majestic show of power on Christ’s part but merely to remain in His memory was all the dying thief asked.
    This thief could never have been justified by his works in this world as they were all sinful. The only thing that could save the dying thief was grace. The same grace that has saved all who shall be saved. The same grace of God without which none of us will see Paradise! This grace saved a criminal; this same grace can save us too. If Jesus could condescend to meet this criminal, He can condescend to meet us too.
    The truth that is Jesus Christ was revealed to this dying thief as he hung on his cross - “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:9-11.
    With his scandalous history, if this dying thief could come to the foot of the cross of Jesus, there is nothing keeping any of us from eternal salvation through repentance and faith in Christ. “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. Less we forget that it is by grace and grace alone that we are saved. No matter how sinful our lives have been. No matter if we are in the throes of death, it is still not too late. But we must not wait nor hesitate. The next breath we take may be our last! We must repent and believe today so that we too can hear the sweet voice of Jesus saying to us - “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

When Prayer Is Futile - Isaiah 1:13

Bring no more futile sacrifices. - Isaiah 1:13

    Reformed Christians will look at the title of this post and cringe if not outright object. How could prayer ever be futile? The idea is almost incomprehensible. And I might join them in condemnation of such a theological position if it weren’t for the words of Isaiah. “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.” - Isaiah 1:15.
    For clarification, let’s review who it was exactly that Isaiah’s prophecy was directed at. Isaiah 1:2-4 tells us that it was the people of Israel that God had named as rebels to His grace.
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.” The very nation God had chosen for His own had turned their backs on Him. And as we have read, who or what the children of Israel prayed to was not the Biblical God of Scripture. And herein is an important similarity between the people of Israel and unbelievers in general. They failed to recognize Him and glorify Him as God. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 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.” - Romans 1:18-21.
    So who, in fact, are these foolish hearts praying to? They may as well kneel down before a brick, a fencepost, a stone or a tree or any other idol of their imagination, and pray to it! How many times I have heard unchurched people talk about offering a prayer for a family member or friend in need. And to be fair, there are a great many so-called Christians who, like the unchurched, refuse to acknowledge the holy God of the Bible, replacing Him with a contrived and cleverly designed god of their own making. A malleable god without anger who they “prefer” to pray to, a god they are more comfortable with. In either case, the god these people have chosen to pray to is a false god, a toothless god, a god without power, a mere idol.
    So why would such behavior anger the holy God of Scripture? “And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘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. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” - Exodus 20:1-6.
    Clearly, the words of Isaiah now come into focus and describe both a time and circumstance when such prayer is futile. How then can we be sure our prayers are being heard by the one and only God who has to power to answer them? And what of the answer? What if it’s not what we prayed for? What if the outcome isn’t the outcome we prayed for? “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” - 1 John 5:14.  This then is the key to answered prayer: asking according to God’s will, not our own! And how can we know God’s will? God’s revealed will is given to us in the Bible. This is why reading and studying the bible is so important because without it we cannot know God’s revealed will for us.
    To have our prayers answered we must first acknowledge the one true living God of the Bible; acknowledge and believe in His son, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; acknowledge and accept the conviction and chastening of the Holy Spirit with a heart humbled in repentance. Then and only then will our prayers be heard by the triune God who can answer them. Without this all prayer is futile.

Murderers Tending The Garden - Genesis 7:2-3

You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. - Genesis 7:2-3

    The command of God is clearly noted in our title verses. Paraphrased, it comes down to this: you shall take with you both male and female to keep the species alive on earth! No ambiguity there. It would seem that even the Genesis account of the Flood supports current sustainability advocates in the 21st Century. So it comes as no surprise that advocacy groups like The Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, PETA, the Humane Society, and For Life on Earth are at the forefront of keeping the species alive on the face of the earth! However, there seems to be a disconnect with the Biblical command when these groups and those like them enter the political forum. There, they have no problem linking arms with groups like Planned Parenthood and the plethora of LGBT advocacy groups. There is even an advocacy group known as OUT For Sustainability, an LGBT “environmentalist group.”
Obviously, even the deaf and blind are acutely aware that neither Planned Parenthood or the LGBT groups support the protection or sustainability of human life.
    So while these environmental protection groups ardently defend animal and plant life, they forcefully draw the reins back when it comes to human life, innocent human life. Their interconnectedness obviously hinges not on their ostensible and misleading mission statements but upon their patently humanist and secular progressive agenda. “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” - Romans 1:32. Take note: the political communion between sustainability groups, pro-abortion advocates, and LGBT groups is patently “anti-life,” regardless of their commercial packaging. That being said, the taking of a human child’s life should neither be an arbitrary matter nor should it be the point of an agenda. It simply shouldn’t be! But for these professed protectors of life on earth, a human baby’s life is nothing compared to a baby snow seal’s or a baby eagle’s life. There seem to be murderers tending the garden. And even if the environmentalists, Planned Parenthood and the LGBT groups share a mere ancillary relationship, the poison that has led to the murder of millions of human babies is spread and shared equally among them.
    This is nothing new. The lines have been drawn hard for the last 50 or so years. And as Christians, we must be very careful who we climb into bed with - no pun intended! Associating with or contributing funds to advocacy groups that appear to be “tending the garden” can be a very dicey situation. It behooves us to take the advice of the Bereans. “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” - Acts 17:11.
    Obviously, just because the face or voice of an advocacy group seems to be upstanding and righteous doesn’t mean it is. Christians must seek out advocacy groups which operate within the parameters set by Biblical values and guidelines. When it comes to sustaining God’s green earth and all His creatures, the life and sustenance of one creature is significantly more important than any other: that creature is man. “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 1:27-28. Any organization or advocacy group that doesn’t make a firm commitment to this command of God is no place for the Christian.
    Before any avowed earth sustaining advocacy group dares to claim the moral high ground for their agenda let them remember the very words of God Himself to Noah - “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”- Genesis 9:6-7. And in His all powerful omniscience our great Lord and Savior in heaven foresaw the juggling of semantics by these purported stewards of the earth and added these words of warning - “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” - Revelation 22:18-19.
   By standing side-by-side with Planned Parenthood and the LGBT cadres, environmentalists prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that their supposed commitment to the sanctity of life on earth is not as fervent as their desire for political expediency.

To Take Up The Cross - Matthew 16:24

   
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. - Matthew 16:24

    Not every Christian hangs from a cross. Forgive my brutal tone and candor but this is something that simply has to be said. For far too long now Christians have been underestimated by the world and misled by many of their pastors. I challenge you to look at the Bible version of your choice (i.e. KJV, ESV, NLT, AMP, NKJV, RSVCE, etc.) and turn to our title verse. In nearly every edition of the Holy Bible, the words are translated as “take up his cross.”  The Strong’s Concordance translates the word “take” as “airō” in this instance or to take up, bear up, carry, or lift up. There is literally no version of the Bible wherein Jesus says that His believers are to follow Him to be hung upon their crosses! It is never commanded or even suggested by Christ that we voluntarily offer ourselves up as sacrificial lambs to be slaughtered for our faith in Him. In fact, just the opposite is true - “Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.” - John 10:39. And what was the outcome after Christ fled from the crowd of persecutors? “And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. Then many came to Him and said, ‘John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.’And many believed in Him there.” - John 10:40-42. Did Christ Himself not choose both the time and place of His arrest and execution? Or were they orchestrated by finite and mortal men? And what was the point of Christ’s “escape”? The answer is twofold: first, His time to die had not yet come; second, He was not yet finished preaching His gospel.
    Christians have the right and the duty to engage in battle with the world as the carnal beast takes every opportunity to curtail religious liberty, to ban Christians from public office, to ridicule and lambast us for our faith, to quiet us, and ultimately to persecute us for our beliefs. Dead martyrs do not teach or preach the Gospel. We have the witness of Steven, but how many more martyrs remain unknown, not to our heavenly Father of course, but to mankind? How many glorified saints lie in unmarked graves? In other words: how many saints have left this world of flesh behind without witness? I say these things not to split hairs but as a reminder that our commission is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not to throw ourselves onto the bayonets of hostile unbelievers.
    Yes, we have been commissioned by Christ to spread His word. “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.” - Matthew 28:19-20.
    While we Christians are expected to remain peaceful as we carry out our commission, we are not expected to become hunter’s prey or sheep being led to the slaughter! We have a responsibility to be wise and to exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” - Matthew 10:16.  The word “harmless” here translated from the Greek (akěraiŏs) means simple, innocent, unmixed or undiluted. In other words, we are to carry out our commission in meekness without prior agenda or prejudice. There should be no chip on our shoulder and no itch to fight.
     In the meantime, should we be required by circumstance to lay down our lives in Christ’s holy name: we are to do so with the joy of knowing our eternity is with the Prince of Peace. However, that requirement must meet specific criteria. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” - Romans 12:18.
    If it is possible, as much as depends on you? Any translation, any reading of these words, implies the probability of a time or circumstance when it is neither possible nor dependent upon us to remain at peace with all men! The simplest understanding of this verse clearly places the impetus for peace upon us unless, of course, others deny us the possibility or contingency of remaining peaceful. Consider the commentary by John Calvin - “For we ought, for the sake of cherishing peace, to bear many things, to pardon offenses, and kindly to remit the full rigor of the law; and yet in such a way, that we may be prepared, whenever necessity requires, to fight courageously: for it is impossible that the soldiers of Christ should have perpetual peace with the world, whose prince is Satan.” Or the words of 18th Century theologian, John Gill - “‘if it be possible’; which is rightly put, for there are some persons of such tempers and dispositions, that it is impossible to live peaceably with; for when others are for peace, they are for war; and in some cases it is not only impracticable, but would be unlawful; as when it cannot be done consistent with holiness of life and conversation, with the edification of others, the truths of the Gospel, the interest of religion, and the glory of God; these are things that are never to be sacrificed for the sake of peace with men: the apostle adds another limitation of this rule, ‘as much as lieth in you’; for more than this is not required of us; nothing should be wanting on our parts; every step should be taken to cultivate and maintain peace; the blame should lie wholly on the other side; it becomes the saints to live peaceably themselves, if others will not with them.”
    A final thought -  did Jesus not offer the perfect sacrifice to God the Father? Would our voluntary deaths provide a greater sacrifice than the death of the holiest of holies? How dare we even consider such a provocative heresy!
    The command to take up our crosses is, at its ultimate best, the command of Christ to die to our selves and our worldly desires so that we may receive a much greater reward: eternity in heaven in the presence of the Triune God. This command is also in our title verse! We are commanded by Christ to deny ourselves and follow Him. There is no mandate for us to hang like thieves. It is Christ’s perfect sacrifice that we are to acknowledge when we “take up” our crosses, share His holy Gospel, and follow Him into eternal peace.

Spiritual Strength Through Rest - Exodus 33:14

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  - Exodus 33:14

    Proponents of getting enough rest will never find argument with me. By nature. I’m an early riser. If I sleep past 6 AM it’s probably because I didn’t get to bed before midnight. “Early to bed; early to rise,” accurately describes my sleeping habits. There are obviously some very positive health effects from getting enough rest including the base concepts of healing the body and mental rejuvenation. But the spiritual benefits of getting enough rest far outweigh the physical benefits. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
    “I’ve got to get some rest,” is perhaps the truest statement ever issued from the mouth of man. Rest is invigorating, restorative and strengthening. It opens our awareness and channels our wisdom. Rest allows us to meet the task at hand or to return to that task with renewed determination. It allows us to muster our spiritual strengths to meet the enemy in a pitched battle and prevail. Rest heals us and mends us both physically and spiritually. It restores us and allows us to reload and rearm ourselves for spiritual warfare. Rest is food for the soul, refocuses our perspectives and clarifies the muddy waters of indecision. And rest like this is a blessing from the Lord. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29.
    As human beings, we are engaged in a war of attrition with the world. Its taxing and deleterious effects create an oppressive atmosphere that none of us can withstand without the strength of the Holy Spirit. One need only pick up a newspaper or watch the nightly news to see the sundry and devastating consequences of the world on the human condition. “And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’” - Mark 7:20-23.
    We have never had the inner strength to battle the wiles of the world, the flesh, and the devil on our own. Such strength is not in our genetic or spiritual makeup. There is one source for such strength and one source only. - our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13.
    Surely, the weight of the world is easily enough to crush us like so many insignificant insects. Yet with the Spirit of Christ working within us, our armor becomes impregnable. We become not only invulnerable but invincible when in the Spirit of the Lord. This is what Jesus promises us when He says “Come to me . . .”
    That we rest in Christ is a spiritual weapon without equal. Neither the world, nor the flesh, nor the devil have anything to compare. With Christ, the promise declares - “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.
    This is the blessing of resting in the Lord, Jesus Christ.