An Odd Band of Cohorts - Luke 23:12

That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other. - Luke 23:12

    It’s odd how quickly men who harbor only hatred and contempt for one another will find themselves in league when they share a common enemy. This was the back story between Pilate and Herod. It was suggested that once Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, understood that Jesus was a Galilean he quickly sent him before Herod, probably in an effort to avoid having to deal with the local Jewish authorities, himself. Either way the Sanhedrin returned Christ to Pilate, insisting that as governor he had the power to condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion, despite Herod’s dismissal of the charges.
    Two men who had been at enmity with each other now became cohorts, bonded by their hedonistic disdain for our Lord and Savior. It is a story that accurately depicts today’s special interests groups in our decaying and despicable culture. Abortion-rights advocates join arms with atheists who join arms with homosexual advocates who join arms with liberation theology advocates who join arms with feminists, ad nauseam.  Despite their differing agendas it would seem that the only sure thing they all agree upon is their utter hatred for the Christian faith as depicted in the Bible. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” - John 14:24.
    The animosity these lovers of the world hold for Christians outweighs the differences and disagreements at play amongst themselves. They hate nothing more than they hate Christ and His message of salvation. “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’” - Luke 24:46-47. Repentance and remission of sin is a message that still brings out the fang and claw of the worldly. It places us in polar opposition to everything they stand for, represent, advocate, and defend. And it places us in their cross hairs.
     “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” - John 15:18-19.
    As we stand on yet another precipice in our rapidly degrading culture we are faced with a choice: worship at the altar of the world and lose our divine inheritance or remain in the faith that reassures us of our election as saints in Jesus Christ. Let this odd band of cohorts do what they may. Our Savior has overcome the world! Preach it boldly: Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever.

Satanic Intervention - Luke 22:3

   
Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.
- Luke 22:3

    There are a plethora of “reality shows” on cable networks purporting to feature ghost hunters and paranormal (haunting) investigators. Just let the irony of that statement sink in for a moment. Now imagine how taken aback I was when a close Christian friend approached me and asked if I believed that evil spirits could actually haunt, even hurt someone. I took a moment to choose my words carefully. Then I suggested we go to Scripture to see what God’s word has to say about such things.
    We looked at Saul’s life, from a “spirit” which troubled him (1Samuel 16:14) to his experience with the Witch of Endor, summoning the ghost of Samuel. (1Samuel 28: 11-15) We looked at Satan’s particularly virulent attacks upon Job. (Job 1:12) Then we looked at the son of perdition, Judas Iscariot. So can Satan intervene in the lives of human beings? According to holy Scripture?  Yes!
    Putting aside the utter nonsense of these cable programs we can safely assume that, given extreme circumstances, evil can and often does visit pain and suffering upon many of us. I, for one, do not believe that I have ever had a paranormal experience, nor do I personally know anyone who can, with unquestioning certainty, offer evidence that they have had such experiences either. That being said I still would never rule the possibility out.
    “The Exorcist,” one of the most terrifying novels of all time certainly haunted the imagination of viewers in the early 1970's. Author, William Peter Blatty, did his homework, researching scholarly works such as “Possession and Exorcism,” by Traugott K. Oesterreich, originally published in 1921. Obviously, Blatty sensationalized his fictional case for intense melodramatic effect, and quite successfully. But Scripture tells us of Christ’s healing of the Gadarenes demoniac, a case of demonic possession worthy of Blatty’s narrative. “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. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.” - Mark 5:2-5.
    There are four things we can know for certain regarding the encounters of God’s elect with such paranormal entities:
1) Satan is ever present - “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’” - Job 1:7.
2) We must put all our faith in God - “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” - James 4:7.
3) Satanic intervention is tied directly to the proximity of the devil’s presence in our lives - “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8
4) God has given us a way to battle the manner and the effect of satanic intervention - “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” - Ephesians 6:11-13.
    We must always remember the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ praying to His heavenly Father - “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” - John 17:12.  Our election by God before the foundation of the world and our perseverance in faith is our guarantee, our very assurance, that Christ will intercede for us and overcome satanic intervention regardless of the Accuser’s plans to the contrary. But we must remain vigilant and never give Satan or his minions opportunity.

Mercy And Grace At The Lord’s Table - 1 John 1:9

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

    In Luke 14 we hear the parable of the Great Supper. “Then He said to him, ‘A certain man gave a great supper and invited many . . . .  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.’” - Luke 14:16, 18. Christ goes on to tell us, “‘For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’” - Luke 14:24.
    How shameful it is when we reject the grace of God. And excuses? I’m certain that He has heard them all. One prominent excuse I have heard myself on more than one occasion is, “Well, I’ve got a slate of sins in my life that could never be forgiven.” Really? As far as I know there is only one “unforgivable sin,” - “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” - Mark 3:28-29. Then again, perhaps they just prefer to remain in their sins.
    Still, it seems that those who are unmoved by the invitation to partake of God’s mercy and grace are essentially saying - “My sins are greater than God’s power to forgive.” It has always befuddled me. Why not just come out and say that they are more powerful than God? That is the essence of their words. : “My sins are too strong for you to ever forgive me.” If there is anything in the universe that is stronger than God then He is not God!  God is all powerful and for Him all things are possible - “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” - Matthew 19:26.
    Those who were invited to the Great Supper had nothing to lose and everything to gain. The supper was being offered to them by God’s mercy and grace. They only thing the invited guests needed to bring with them was an appetite, a hunger, and thirst  for that which was being offered to them - “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” - John 6:35. We come to Christ. We believe in Christ and the sacrifice He made for us. In our coming to and believing in Christ lies our very salvation. God’s omnipotence and the Cross of Jesus Christ hold power over our sin, any sin, all sin! But unlike the guests making excuses, we must attend the Great Supper and take our seats at the Lord’s table. There and only there will we ever experience the mercy and grace of God Almighty.

The Arrogance of Imperfection - Matthew 5:48

 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. - Matthew 5:48

    The world flounders in a quagmire of mediocrity. Yet somehow we have learned to celebrate our inadequacies and grovel in our moral and ethical shortcomings. So much so that we even flippantly respond with a phrase that has become far too universal - “Nobody’s perfect.”
    We reckon ourselves imperfect and reckon true, but despite what many believe - there is no ticket to Paradise within the worldly fetters of imperfection. Our imperfections are the manifestation of our fallen nature, a highway to hell.
    For many, imperfection has become “the noble goal,” the high standard, the benchmark to achieve. It is our raison d’être. We seek the comfort zone of imperfection. We rest in the tranquility of baseness like pigs resting in the mire. It seems, in fact, that there are times when we cannot wait to display and show off our flaws and blemishes. We don’t have to defend ourselves. We merely shrug our shoulders and repeat - “Nobody’s perfect.” We are forever hearing this mantra of the spiritually dead. Nobody is perfect.
    While it is true that none of us are perfect it doesn’t mean that we should brag and boast of our deficiency. We should not revel in it. But we do so because of the deeper underlying problem of our fallen nature. We know we cannot work our way into heaven and we recognize our inability so we arrogantly put forth the erroneous supposition that God will grade us all on a curve. Scripture is very clear: that will not happen because God calls us with a divine command - “Be holy, for I am holy.” - 1 Peter 1:16.
    Can we ever aspire to the perfection and holiness that our heavenly Father demands of us? Of course not. But because we are mere humans our pride demands that we boast of something. If not our holiness then we will boast in our baseness. God wants us to humble ourselves, not proudly boast.  “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.
    We are fallen human beings but the last thing we should be doing is celebrating our imperfections. If nothing else they should force us to our knees in resolute and remorseful repentance, not celebration. This is the key to our salvation! “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. We must always remember Christ’s first words to us in Mark 1:15 - “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Repent and believe! This is the solution to our imperfection, not arrogantly boasting of it.
    Does God not love a humble heart?  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise.” - Psalm51:17.  Let our inborn imperfections move us not to arrogance but to constant reflection and repentance.

Tribulation Faith - Exodus 16:2-3

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
- Exodus 16:2-3

    The Israelites enslaved in Egypt never knew anything but subjection to their task masters and Pharaoh. For 430 years they had been in Egypt, with the largest part spent in slavery. And freedom suddenly dropped on any people leaves them in fear and trepidation. They simply didn’t know how to handle this new found freedom. At least, they reasoned, we had our bellies filled while we were slaves. But in reality who were the Israelites really grousing at?
    Obviously, their faith in God was the weakest of all faiths. When blessings were plentiful they were pious and thankful for the providence of God. Yet once the slightest discomfort or doubt came into play they complained. “Then they said to Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.’” - Exodus 14:11-12.
    The reality of the situation was that it wasn’t Moses whom they were complaining about - “Also Moses said, ‘This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.’” - Exodus 16:8.
    Aren’t we also familiar with this kind of rebellion? Are not our most enthusiastic praises reserved for when God is most gracious to us? Are we not commanded to praise (rejoice in, pray to, and give thanks to) God  even in tribulation? “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. The very crown we have been promised comes to us through our tests - “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” - James 1:12. “Temptation” in this Greek rendering (pĕriasmŏs) means “adversity.”
    Adversity, trials, tests, all of these the Israelites experienced once freed from the yoke of Egyptian slavery. They were freed to wander in the wilderness for the next forty years, a test in itself!  Oddly enough only two of the original “chosen people” (Joshua and Caleb) ever actually entered the Promised Land. Even Moses was refused entry. Our sojourn here is not unlike that of the Israelites. We too are seeking the Promised Land. Will our faith transcend the tribulation we will surely face in this wilderness?
    Let us always remember the promise of God that we will indeed enter the rest of Jesus Christ if we will just persevere in tribulation faith.

The Long Road - Hebrews 6:15

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.  - Hebrew 6:15

    It’s not always the quickest way. It’s not always the easiest way. It may have its share of twists and turns. Sometimes we don’t even wind up where we planned to go but whether we follow the will of God or not  He will surely take us where He wants us to go. And where He sends us, we will certainly go.
    “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.” - Jonah 3:1-3. We all know the story of Jonah and how God first put His command in the prophet’s heart. We also know that Jonah tried to resist the Lord’s command and wound up in the belly of a fish. So much for the easy way of achieving God’s will for us. Jonah had no intention of going to Nineveh - but he wound up there just as God said he would.
    The Bible itself tells the often trying tale of the wait for a Savior. The journey was  long and arduous from Genesis 3:15 and the Protoevangelium - “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” - Genesis 3:15, to the birth of our Lord and Savior, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” - Matthew 1:18. A long journey indeed but the will of God will never be derailed, usurped, or supplanted.
    God never tells us His way will be easy or the journey, pleasant - “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. And we are told how to persevere - “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” - 1 Corinthians 16:13.
    Even Abraham, following God’s command was not guided directly to the land God had set before him. Nor were the people of Israel, wandering for forty years in the desert. But we know that God will see us in the place He has portioned for us because He has promised it to us as indicated in our title verse. And we have this assurance - “ . . .  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ . . . .” - Philippians 1:6
    May we always have faith that the road, though long, will bring to our place at the foot of the cross and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Election - Hebrews 9:28

 “ . . . so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” - Hebrews 9:28

    This simple verse is so packed with soteriological doctrine that it is hard to break it all down in a few paragraphs. But try, I will.
    Our heavenly Savior, Jesus Christ, was offered once - once, to bear the sins of those of us who eagerly await salvation. And not the sins of all humanity, but the sins of those who eagerly await His coming for salvation!
    One would think that this verse alone would compel the Arminians to accept the Calvinist proposition of “Limited Atonement.” With only a sentence break between “the sins of many” and “To those who eagerly wait . . .” one would be hard-pressed to ignore the obvious implication. Clearly the use, as a noun, of the limiting adjective “many” is further qualified by the phrase, “to those who eagerly wait for Him. . . .” The verse doesn’t say that Christ was offered to bear the sins of everyone. It doesn’t even suggest it and the sentence which follows explicitly declares that He will return a second time “to those who eagerly wait for Him . . . .” If this verse alone doesn’t firmly establish the Doctrine of Election none do! But there are more. Scripture addresses the doctrine of “election” in Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Mark 13:27, “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (see John, Chapter 17 in its entirety), and Romans 8:28-30, “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.”
    Any clear reading of Scripture emphatically indicates that not everyone’s sins have been atoned for by the sacrificial death of Jesus, but only those whom His Father has “given” Him - “the elect.”
     “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. . . . I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” -  John 17:6,9. And I’ll bet you came in here thinking this was going to be all about politics.
    May our reading of God’s word always be seen in the clarity with which it was given to its divinely inspired authors by the Holy Spirit.