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.

The Only True Measure Of Love - John 14:23

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. - John 14:23

    Love, or should I say the misconstruction of the concept, permeates the said spirituality of an incredibly large number of people today. We’ve all heard the Beatles’ mantra for a decent and noble human life, “All You Need Is Love.” And perhaps this is where the divergence between the true definition of love and this “hippie-peacenik” notion comes from. The fact is; they aren’t completely wrong but like an unfinished puzzle, far too many of these proponents of love are missing the bigger picture. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” - 1 John 4:7.  That means that if we say we have love then it follows that we must also have God!
    The Apostle John further proclaimed, “And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”- 1 John 4:21. The picture that emerges from the darkness is one of the God of the Bible as both the recipient of our love and channel of our love for others.
    The pseudo-spiritual person will extol him or herself as unconditional lovers of mankind. They will profess their kind of love as the cure for the human condition (fallenness) and continue to declare that all you need is love. Yet in reality, their philanthropic care for all of mankind comes to a screeching halt when confronted by the true measure of love as described in our title verse. These humanitarians will reject John 14:23 on the grounds that obedience to “a god” is not essential to their humanist goal. They are like the Pharisees in Jesus’ time - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” - Matthew 23:27-28. They declare their righteousness and “love for others” by their behavior toward their fellow man. And, as I have often used this analogy in the past (and will again in the future) - because a serial murderer holds the door open for someone does not make him a good person. Simple “good deeds” do not make a person good.
    Still, we know all about righteousness. “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” - Romans 3:10-18.
    Jesus puts the measure of love on our doorstep -“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” - John 14:15. Do we love Christ? Do we keep His word?  Not perfectly, of course; we are, after all, fallen humans. But if our love of God is not evident through our obedience to Him then we must by virtue of such a position love the world rather than God. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” - 1 John 2:15-17. This sentiment was expressed in the words of Bible-teacher and contemporary of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Arthur W. Pink, when he said, “Our respect for God is judged by our conformity to His law.”
    Pray we must that we always meet the true measure of love: that we love and obey God. Then and only then can we truly love our fellow man. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” - 1 John 5:2. And regardless of superficial platitudes, this is the only true measure of love.
                                           

The Sparing Rod Of the Lord - Revelation 3:19

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. - Revelation 3:19

    I will turn 64 on my next birthday but it wasn’t until the ripened age of 50 that I was born again into the life God had always chosen for me. “ . . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love . . .” - Ephesians 1:4. For fourteen long and sometimes very painful and difficult years I have traveled in the direction of Bunyan’s “Christian.”
    Like a healthy stock-market chart, my progress has been marked by peaks, valleys, and times of stagnation. There have been both “bull markets and bear markets.” But my direction has always been forward to greater heights. I strive in spite of my old self and pray for strength, both physical and spiritual. The fight that I engage in now is not against physical threats but the pernicious effects of the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” - 1 Corinthians 9:26-27.
    This spiritual fight I have endured since I was 50 began when Jesus dealt with me in my utterly depraved state by throwing me a divine beating of the first order. Up until that moment I had run my life according to my own agenda. I was my own boss. I was in charge of me! Wrong or right were relative terms. And, I could excuse or give a reason for everything I ever thought, said, or did. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 17:6. I had no king; I had no God and I had no master . . . until the night that Christ crushed and broke my ego along with my sinful spirit in His saving act of love. Jesus then helped me to my feet, embraced me and forgave me.
    Scottish theologian, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, recently wrote, “Christ’s deconstruction always has reconstruction in view.” I must admit that it was the first time I had ever heard of a spiritual chastening referred to as “deconstruction,” but that is exactly what it is or was in my case. You see, when Christ throws you a beating, you never forget it. If you walk away from it unscathed and unchanged, then rest assured - it wasn’t Christ. The rod that God uses on us actually “spares” us from a worse fate - eternity without Him! The rod that God uses on us begins our reconstruction as men and women of “His own heart.”
    I will not insult your intelligence by suggesting for a moment that I still don’t have sin in my life. Sin is the eternal condition of mankind without Christ but there is a hope that Christians have exclusively - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” - 1 Peter 1:3-5. I said this hope is the exclusive promise made to those who believe in Christ Jesus. This promise is made to no one else. Christ is the one way, the only way. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” - John 8:24.
    Many have come to know Christ through less arduous and painful means than I, but all of us at one time or another will feel the sting of God’s rebuke and chastening of in our lives . . . because He loves us. “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” - Proverbs 3:11-12.
    May we always be grateful for God’s lordship over our lives, His discipline, and His eternal love for us. It is only through Christ that we can ever come to everlasting glory.

The Confession Of Our Hope - Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
 - Hebrews 10:23

    When we are convinced of a due outcome, even when no clear or compelling evidence of that outcome is present, to what do we owe this die-hard conviction? We may look to the past concerning our hope for the future. Past performance is often a key consideration for what we dare to expect for the future. But how much more can we dwell in our hope when we have the clear promises of God to support that hope? “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11.   
    Think of all the ways God has fulfilled His promises to us. The number of occasions is staggering. From each and every new morning to every good blessing; we receive only what God has reckoned to us. And what He has not reckoned to us, we do not receive.
    The obvious elephant in the room demands that we consider the hurtful and evil things which have transpired in our lives. Is God the author of our pain as well as our comfort? Clearly, Holy Scripture denies that such an accusation against the providence of God can even be considered. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” - Genesis 1:31.  Everything God made was good. So where do the heartaches, physical ailments, abuses, and death come from? Scripture is abundantly clear in this regard also - “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . .” - Romans 5:12.
    This is an even more compelling reason to trust in God’s faithfulness. For it is only through Him that we have hope in the faithful promise. Where else can we seek hope? In mankind? Never! If we trust in God and God alone to be faithful to His promise we will find that comfort follows all events. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” - Romans 8:28. There may be pain but there will be relief. There may be anger but there will be peace. There will be death but there will be life. This is the promise of God  - “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.” - Isaiah 25:8.
    This is the hope that we must maintain “without wavering.” The hope for He who is promised faithful. “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.” - Psalm 39:7.
    Let us all confess our hope in the living Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

When God Doesn’t Deliver? - Lamentations 3:22-23

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22-23


    Far and away the most inconceivable idea ever proposed by the pathologically limited mind of man is the notion that God could ever fail to achieve His own divine will. In other words, God isn't God! And this is quite possibly the most dangerous characteristic of the “prosperity gospel;” the gospel that puts man at the center of the universe and God at his beckon call. “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” - Romans 16:18.
    There are churches where the  preacher/pastor/minister declares, without caveat, that if “you will just (fill in the blank), God will shower you with His unlimited blessings (i.e. financial, health, marital, etc).” And in these theologically toxic environments, there are literally millions of dissatisfied and disappointed congregants. They become bitter in the face of the blessings God has already bestowed upon them. Despite the facts that they currently enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they grouse about something or things that they feel God failed to deliver on. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” - 1 Timothy 6:9.
     “But Reverend Al said . . .,” is often heard as they voice their discontent about their circumstance. They should not feel short-changed or disappointed and the reason should be obvious: God is not a genii or a magician who grants our every wish or magically makes our problems disappear. So whenever I hear an apostate say that he or she no longer believes in God because He failed to deliver, I must ask, “deliver what?” “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.   
    The problem in these situations always comes down to three basic theological errors :
1) the notion of “an arraignment” between man and God; some quid pro quo of sorts;
2) the notion that God is duty bound to perform as per contract; and
3) the notion that we can bargain with God.
    Much to the disappointment of these callously misled souls, three cold hard facts quickly emerge from a basic textbook on systematic theology:
1) God’s grace is a gift to us, not a present awarded to us for our spiritual valor;
2) God owes us nothing; that’s why we call His gracious providence a “blessing,” and
3) God is sovereign; there is no bargaining or haggling; it will be His way . . . period! “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure . . .” - Isaiah 46:9-10.
    Yes, we are commanded to pray but pray according to His will, and often times God’s will does not match our own. We must never make the mistake of thinking that God did not deliver. He always delivers, perhaps not to our address or in our time frame, but He always delivers. We may not be particularly thrilled with the contents of the package but it is what God has willed for us. God is not compelled to fill our order; He fills His own order for us, and it is the right item in the right place at the right time, every time! “And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’” - Acts 1:7.
    So if in our finite minds God has failed to deliver according to our vain imaginings, one should ask, “who put those irrational concepts into our heads?” Perhaps Rev. Al has fed us a poisoned gospel. And therein lies the problem with the prosperity gospel - it’s an outright lie and the pastor who spreads it is a liar! “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 8:44
    Here’s the bottom line - God is sovereign and that means His divine will is what is going to take place regardless of our hopes, dreams, or desires. True, there are times when God’s will matches our own. When it does, we receive His gracious blessing - when it doesn’t, we don’t. If we’re coming at this from the premise that God should reward our good behavior then we’re coming at it from a faulty and theologically false premise. There is simply never a time when God fails to deliver.
    May we always pray from the perspective that Christ Himself laid out for us in the Lord’s Prayer. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10.




   

Raised Up With Christ - Romans 5:10

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. - Romans 5:10

    For many people the understanding of Christ’s crucifixion hinges on the idea that “Christ died for our sins.” Beyond that fact, the theological implications elude most. Yes, Jesus did indeed die “for our sins.” It was the only way that we as sinners, transgressors of the law, could be reconciled to God. “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” - Colossians 1:21-22.
    As fallen sinners, there was no way for us to regain a righteous standing with our heavenly Father. No good works, no serendipitous awakening or enlightenment, and certainly no “grading on a curve” could do for us what only the death of Christ accomplished. Jesus lived His life in perfect obedience to His heavenly Father, something we have never been able to do. His perfect life is our salvation, but He needed to reconcile us with the Father first!
    The reason is simple: we are born in alienation from God and without the loving self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ we remain in the sinful state of spiritual death until or unless we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23.
    At the Last Supper, Jesus took each of us by the hand and reassured us -“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” - Matthew 26:28. Christ reconciled us to His heavenly Father through His atoning death. His death and His alone was powerful enough to end the threat of death for those who come to believe in Him.
    But there is a second aspect to Christ’s death; one that does more than reconcile us with God; one that blesses us with eternity in heaven, without which we would remain dead in sin - His resurrection. “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.
    On this Resurrection Day, let us all be grateful for the atonement provided for us by the one true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” - Ephesians 2:4-6.
    Lord almighty, let us all be humble enough to admit our need. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus . . .” - 1 Timothy 2:5.
    May we all have a joyous Easter!