Saturday, December 13, 2014

“Access . . . Denied” - Deuteronomy 29:29




 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
- Deuteronomy 29:29

    The Holocaust, 9-1-1, war, famine, pestilence, disease . . . death - why does an almighty and loving God allow such tragedies? We hear accusations of unfairness leveled at the Creator of the universe. Is He unfair? Is He unjust? What is fair? What is justice? We want justice? Believe me; justice is not what we want. Justice places us all squarely in the jaws of hell for all eternity. Why? “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one . . .’” - Romans 3:10. No, justice isn’t what we want. We want “grace,” undeserved and unmerited grace because without grace we would all be given the harsh and hellish justice we deserve!
    So beyond erroneous notions of justice we wonder why God sometimes allows the worst possible outcomes to some of the most unexpected situations involving people who, for the most part are relatively benign. From unexpected childhood diseases to natural catastrophes to local, national, and global disasters the nagging question remains - why? I can’t tell you why because I don’t know why, but I can tell you this: there is no access code to God’s hidden will. There is no password that will allow us to see inside the mind and heart of God. The error message continues to flash: “Access . . . Denied!”
    Certainly, sometimes what takes place in our world is a judgment from God; sometimes it is not. The fact is: we just don’t know and no matter how hard we search for an answer or accountability - there is none. Access . . . Denied!   
      “ . . . then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. - Ecclesiastes 8:17
    Our title verse explicitly tells us that God’s hidden will remains hidden, but we are not without certain knowledge of God’s revealed will. It has been given to us through His holy scripture. Perhaps our time would be better spent immersing ourselves in His revealed will rather than stumbling along, attempting to decipher His sovereign or decretive will.
    “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” - Romans 9:20-21.
    Let us all pray for the wisdom to understand that we cannot presume to know the mind of God nor the reasons for His will. Let us instead learn to accept it.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

“This Is A Test” - Matthew 10:34-37





  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 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.” - Matthew 10:34-37

     “This is a test.” I remember hearing these words when I was a child. It was the TV network’s way of testing the EBS, or Emergency Broadcast System. It was a system designed and used during the Cold War (I’m sure some of you remember . . .) to alert us to an impending nuclear attack. I’m not even sure it’s used anymore. Nevertheless, the system was tested daily to insure that it worked. It was tested daily because an attack could come any day, unannounced, and unprovoked, not necessarily when we were “on guard”, but at anytime. We had to be prepared for what could possibly come.
    God still employs the EBS. Of course it’s not the kind that we hear over a TV or radio but a spiritual variety and it’s not the kind that warns of an impending nuclear attack, but of the satanic variety.
    When Christ told His disciples that He came to bring the sword and set a man’s household against him, He meant it in a figurative sense. Luke’s gospel is even more perilous -  “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” - Luke 14:26. Obviously we aren’t being called to hate our family members or anyone for that matter but we must be prepared to make a stand in case division arises within our homes over the gospel of Jesus Christ! We must be ready to defend the faith even to our own mothers, fathers, children, and spouses. Matthew 10:34-37 is our spiritual EBS. Be prepared. For if we fail to defend the gospel in our own homes how can we ever hope to defend it anywhere? And if we fail to defend it, we fail ultimately. Let us not forget the warning of Jesus Christ in the previous verse - “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 10:33.
    As I said, we are not being literally called to hate our mothers and fathers, etc. but we must always be ready to defend the gospel . . . even to our families!  “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:2.   
    May we be granted peace within our homes and families at all times but especially when we share the word of God.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

The Gift - John 4:10



  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

    I overheard someone the other day complaining about Thanksgiving. He shrugged his shoulders and asked what we had to be so thankful for. I didn’t know the man personally so I reserved any thoughts of judgment. Then it struck me like a bolt from the blue. I didn’t know him personally! And therein lie his problem. Not that he and I weren’t personally acquainted but that perhaps he had yet to receive the gift of grace from God and the contentment that proceeds from the gift of  “knowing Christ, personally!” He certainly didn’t talk like he was blessed by the gift of salvation through Christ. His discontentment gave me pause to think more about my own disposition and if I were resolute enough in my own thankfulness.
    Grumbling about our lives is far too common, even among those of us who are saved through the gift of God’s grace. I catch myself complaining about “this or that” far too often. And it is only the refocusing of my attention on that unmerited gift of grace that stems the tide of my discontentment. Careful inventory of our blessings will often quell our tumultuous hearts. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” - Matthew 6:27. I find I am most at ease; I am most content, when I forget my anxieties and rest in the Lord.
    May we all find our place of “rest in the Lord” through God’s gift of grace on this Thanksgiving Day. And may we learn to extend that contentment to each and every day of our lives. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” - Psalm 118:24. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

There Is Indeed A King - Judges 17:6



 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. - Judges 17:6

    Ochlocracy: the rule of the mob. This archaic term is seldom used anymore. Most people mistakenly confuse it’s concept with that of anarchy, which is no rule or order of law at all, i.e. chaos, disorder, mayhem. Don’t be confused. In an ochlocracy there is most definitely a rule of order. As it’s definition states; it is the rule of the mob. And that rule is anything that runs counter to a systematic rule of order either via legislators or individual ruler. As opposed to such systematic paradigms, the ochlocracy ostensibly runs about on its own power rather than that of well-defined moral principles or a subjective rule of law; in our case, the bible. Certainly ochlocractic rule manifests itself in a variety of ways, depending of course, on what “the mob” sees as tolerable, in the least respect, or desirable at worst. But one thing is for certain: no ochlocracy has ever or will ever use the holy law of God as an manifestation of their behavior.
    As our title verse states, “In those days there was no king .  . .” This is a prerequisite for an ochlocracy: there can be no individual ruler, otherwise it’s a dictatorship. So there is no ruler present in a ochlocracy. In such a situation it is inevitable that men will then do what is right in their own eyes. Herein lies the fallacy that an ochlocracy runs about on its own power. It does not, for we know from Romans 14:23 that whatever does not proceed from God is sin. If God is not the prime motivator of your thoughts, words, and deed then Satan is! There are simply two ways and only two ways. The mob sees the worship of God as some type of pathological sickness. But there is nothing pathological about worshiping God; it is man’s greatest purpose!
    The problem inherent to ochlocratic thinking should be obvious, especially to believers. Since man has walked the earth he has not known a day when there was no king!For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods.” - Psalm 95:3. Therefore, we indeed have a sovereign king and we must obey Him. We cannot afford the mistake of doing what is right in our own eyes? If we believers know what God’s law demands it is just as certain that unbelievers know the law too; it is their choice, their deliberate choice to disobey Him and do what is right in their own eyes. Whether it is abortion, same-sex marriage, sexual promiscuity, or moral relativism in general they know the law of God and still refuse to obey.“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,  for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine . . .” - 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
    We know what God has ordained. We know what God expects from us. All of humanity does. We have seen His revealed will. He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8.
    Make no mistakes: there is indeed a King, a King of kings, Jesus Christ. And we know that those who prefer to do what is right in their own eyes rather than obey the law of God will wage war with the King of kings, but they will not prevail. There is no God-given right for a woman to kill her unborn child. There is no God-given right for men to have sexual relationships with other men.You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.  You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:21-22. No matter how loud they scream. No matter how many law-suits they initiate. No matter how many judges they have in their pockets. No matter what their celebrity-gods declare . . . they will not prevail!These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” - Revelation 17:14.
    Let us continue to pray for their souls that they may see what the called, the chosen, and the faithful see, that Christ is King! May the Holy Spirit of God fill their hearts as He has done ours and may we always bow down on bended knee to Christ Jesus, our Sovereign Lord, Savior, and King of kings.

Friday, November 7, 2014

“Go . . . AND SIN NO MORE!” - John 8:10-11

  


 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
 - John 8:10-11

    In the social media there has been a recent spate of posts suggesting that Jesus hung around with tax-collectors, drunkards, and prostitutes. “Hung out?” I’d suggest that such a description is hardly scriptural. Jesus didn’t commune with unrepentant sinners; allow me to offer the scriptural evidence.
    No where in the bible do we get a picture of Christ running around with sinners. No where! We see Him in encounters with sinners and when our lord Jesus Christ encounters the sinner in his or her sin He demands they cease and desist their sinful lifestyle; as the example in our title verse clearly depicts. Where the said sinner repents Christ welcomes them into His Holy company. But no where in scripture do we see Christ welcoming and continually communing  with unrepentant sinners. . . no where! Just as Jesus washed the dirt from the feet of His disciples (John 13:3-5) we are washed clean of our sins by His holy blood. What, to return to our worldly filth again? And then what: Christ is to die that agonizing death for us over and over again because we want to remain in our filthy circumstances? Christ even admonished Peter that he must be washed to enjoy the salvation He was to provide for him - “Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’” - John 13:8. No! Jesus did not “hang out with sinners!”
    The woman about to be stoned left her sinful life behind as did Levi (Matthew) the tax-collector. They left their sins behind to follow Christ! Consider how she responded to Christ when He asked, “Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, LORD.” “Lord,” she said. In her moment of tribulation she recognized Christ as the Lord! What fool would dare suggest that this woman left the scene that day and returned to the life she had before Christ’s intervention? And an “intervention” is exactly what it was. Christ intervened in a life  that cried out for forgiveness and that is why He said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
    In another instance of Christ’s “questionable associations” we find Him calling upon Zacchaeus , yet another tax-collector and sinner. “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.- Luke 19:5-7. Zacchaeus made hast, came down, and received Him joyfully. Again, here is a sinner who recognized Christ as the Lord and not merely received Him but received Him joyfully! Verses 8 thru 10 detail the effect of Christ on the man and the salvation that accompanied his faith in Christ: “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” Zacchaeus restored what he had taken unjustly; he didn’t remain in his sin.
    Again the scriptures tell us - “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, ‘How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” - Mark 2:16-17. This was the very reason Christ came into the world - to save us!
    If your will is to save someone from a raging inferno you have go to the fire. You can’t save them from afar as you watch the flames consume them. Jesus seeks to save those who need saving, so in effect, He goes to where the fires are burning. “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” - Matthew 18:11.
    Christ’s first words in the Gospel of Mark set up the purpose of His entire ministry here on earth: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,  and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. - Mark 1:14-15. Jesus never said or suggested that it would be just fine for us to remain in our sins. He never said he would accept us in our sins. He came to save us from our sins. And anyone who preaches another gospel is a liar and a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
    May the Holy Spirit of God grant us discernment enough to know the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ from the post-modern heresy that tells us Jesus accepts us and our sins and does not require repentance from us.

Friday, October 31, 2014

One True God - Exodus 20:1-3






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. - Exodus 20:1-3

    I guess it just comes with the territory. Being a Reformed Christian I am daily faced with the erroneous pontifications of delusional people who fabricate their own versions of God. From the rosy-cheek happy-go-lucky “older gentleman in the sky” to the laid-back sandal-wearing bearded hipster preaching “peace, love, and climate-control.” I have heard it all and I have had it!
    You know, if I wanted to learn fly-fishing I would read everything I could get my hands on about . . . fly-fishing! I would consult those who are considered proficient fly-fishermen. I would learn everything I possibly could about the subject, the nature, and the substance of fly-fishing. I certainly wouldn’t attempt to make it all up or to reinvent it myself! So why do people insist on making up their own personal versions of God?
    I seldom hear anyone describe the God of scripture. I never hear them describe the God who hung from a cross and gave His life so that we sinners could find comfort, grace, and salvation in His self-sacrifice. I never hear them describe God as being jealous and capable of wrath. I never hear them describe a God who demands righteousness and holiness . . . even though these descriptions of God are the way holy scripture depicts Him! So where on earth did they get their vision of God?
“The folks who make up God as they go are side-by-side with self-proclaimed believers who claim the Christian label but shed their ties to traditional beliefs and practices. Religion statistics expert George Barna says, with a wry hint of exaggeration, America is headed for ‘310 million people with 310 million religions.’"
"We are a designer society. We want everything customized to our personal needs — our clothing, our food, our education," he says. Now it's our religion.” - USA Today, 9/13/2011

    So why are so many people attempting to take this imaginary route to heaven? I believe it has a great deal to do with the term “Systematic Theology.” Most people don’t like systematic anything! They want to do things at their own pace, in their own time, and in their own way. And if that includes inventing their own “designer god” who is basically a sappy milquetoast being who would never get mad at us and send us to hell, then so be it. This simply betrays the fact that these individuals do not know (let alone understand) what God’s relationship to man is. As our title verse states without ambiguity - “I am the Lord your God!”
    Scripture clearly says that man will be inventors of gods they choose rather than the one true God and it is equally clear how true Christians should respond. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” - 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
    True Christians know and understand that there is one true God. Even Jesus Christ spoke directly to the idea of knowing the very words of God and believing in them - “But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’ - Luke 11:28.
Let us pray that we are never so fallen that we feel the need to invent a god who doesn’t care.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

God’s Choice; Not Ours! - Genesis 1:27

    So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. - Genesis 1:27

    The myriad of expositions on this one verse alone is almost inexhaustible. But in this post I will address the subject of ‘trans-genderism:” those hapless individuals who’ve decided against God’s natural order that they, not He, will decide which gender they will claim.
    The current tide of progressive public opinion favors the individual’s right to claim whichever gender they choose for themselves as opposed to what their own DNA has determined. I see this as not only the end result of sinful pride but also as the sinful machinations of those who would usurp the roll of God Almighty.
    “Male and female He created them.” I don’t understand the confusion. Six simple words here; what’s so hard to understand? Among lower primates there is no confusion as to gender identity. There is a submissive roll as opposed to the “alpha roll,” but that regards the member’s social status. . . not its sexual identity. No, among the lower primates male gorillas remain male gorillas from the time of their births until they die, just as God intended . . . as GOD intended!
    So aside from the psycho-babble that we hear from the purveyors of the personality disorder circus what possible reason could there be for such a bizarre psychosis? “Professing to be wise, they became fools . . .” Romans 1:22. Obviously there will always be an apologist for even the most profoundly disturbing behaviors. Even murderers have their defenders! But what is the deep seated reason for this maladjustment? Godlessness, pure and simple. If Godlessness is the reason then what is the solution? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” - Proverbs 3:5-6. I defy anyone to put a trans-gender personality under the microscope and not find a Godless individual who leans on his or her own understanding (or that of the psychiatrists) and one who neither acknowledges God nor trusts Him! They will ask, “prayer? What is prayer?”
    Going back to Romans 1 - “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” - Romans 1:26-27. “For this reason-” God allows them to continue on their course of spiritual self-destruction - because, “professing to be wise, they became fools!” No, the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender) community purports to be wiser than God and in their finite wisdom they are nothing more than fools hell-bent on destruction. And they will find it. Make no mistake: the rise in sexual deviancy in America is directly proportionate to the degree which we acknowledge and legitimize these “alternative lifestyles.” The courts, the legislators, even the President of the United States may defend their “right” to be whatever they choose to be but they will have no defense before the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ! “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” - 2 Corinthians 5:10-11.   
    May we all be wise enough to recognize that the will of God for man will not be perverted without judgment and cost.