Orlando 6/5/16 - Luke 13:4-5

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” - Luke 13:4-5

    We have recently witnessed yet another terrorist attack upon our nation. The scores of dead lying in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando had no idea when they arrived on that fateful evening that they would depart from this earth in the bloody carnage of another brutal and senseless act of Islamic terrorism.
    Immediately following the incident, outrage foamed and infused the news and social media. Among the reasons many cited for the mass murders were homophobia (a term which would be laughable if it wasn’t used in all seriousness); “hatred,” (what an odd observation, as though crimes of violence are fueled by anything but greed or hatred); and the usual suspect - lack of a coherent gun control policy.
    To be fair I must also mention the rabid diatribes released from the ‘far Christian right,’ to wit, false teachers like Pat Robertson and The Westboro Baptist Church and it’s cult-like followers. Yes, yes, we all know and understand the Biblical condemnation of homosexuality. The scriptures are clear on the prohibitions against same-sex relationships. No argument there! However, there is a deeper, more meaningful mandate from Jesus Christ - unless we all repent, we will likewise perish!
    We should all take a step back, look within ourselves, and remember the words of Jesus - “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’” John 8:7. We must remember that sin, all sin, regardless of its predilection, is a transgression against God’s holy will. Disrespect of parents and authority, hatred, murder, lying, cheating, stealing, adultery (and every other sexual sin) are all transgressions! They are all sins. So were the sinners in the nightclub worse sinners than all others? Of course not! “ . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” - Romans 3:23. All of us!
    Did God deliberately ordain the early Sunday morning massacre? God ordains everything that comes to pass. Did He seek to make an example of the homosexuals present at that time? No more than he sought to punish ordinary citizens and military personnel on September 11, 2001.
    What happened in Orlando, Florida on Sunday morning, June 5th, 2016 was a human tragedy, both in terms of its commission and in terms of its result. We cannot limit the murderous intent of the perpetrator to the homosexual community. This was, before any other consideration, an attack on humanity in general, and an attack on Americans, specifically. The murderer could just as easily have targeted a large metropolitan marathon run, a business gathering, a military base, an elementary school, a heavily populated government building, or a skyscraper. He could have used guns, bombs, poisonous gas, or a nuclear device. And this is what we need to focus on, rather than the sins of the victims, if we are ever to curtail the madness of the murderers among us! A “hate crime?” Of course it was hate crime, in so far as there is no such thing as a love crime, and we can only combat such crimes with vigilance and prayer. God has not singled out a particular group of sinners to punish for their wickedness. He has simply given us over to our sinful desires, and one of them is murder. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful . . . .” - Romans 1:29-31.
    Just as Christ said that the sinners who died under the collapse of the tower of Siloam were no greater sinners than anyone else, we must also remember that the tragedy which befell those on Sunday past was not a greater tragedy than those which preceded it. It doesn’t matter who the victims were; it matters only that they were victims. Suggesting that their sexual orientation made their victimization greater than that of others also suggests that their lives held more value than that of other victims. Promoting such a position would be to make a mistake similar to the harsh rhetoric of the Black Lives Matters movement. Because all men are created in God’s image, all lives matter . . . period! A violent crime against one of us is a crime against all of us regardless of our social, cultural, religious, ethnic, racial, national, or political backgrounds. Such violence committed against a human being is particularly abominable to God because we are made in His image!
    “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” - Matthew 22:37-39.
    May we pray in this horrific time of man’s inhumanity to man that we would turn our hearts to God and away from sin which always and everywhere leads to death.

The Sweetest Spiritual Poison - Deuteronomy 4:2

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. - Deuteronomy 4:2


    In the May/June 2016 edition of “The Expositor,” a magazine published by OnePassion Ministry, Michael Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, commented that  - “Arminian theologians Clark Pinnock and John Sanders share the presupposition that all God’s attributes are subservient to His love and that His purpose is to save every person.” While I am tempted to challenge the entirety of the Arminian position of salvation it is this erroneous notion that God wants to save every person that I address here.
    Unfortunately, this particularly damaging ideology has infiltrated the vast majority of evangelical churches today. This Liberal Christian theology is nothing but a sweeter-tasting, more appetizing spiritual poison. It has become so ubiquitous that one can scarcely find a sermon on Sundays which addresses hell, the wrath of God, or the imminent peril we face as unrepentant and unforgiven sinners! Christ Jesus is preached as a buddy or loving big brother in these churches, and I use the term, “churches”  in the loosest sense. Christ is neither a buddy or big brother. He is Lord and Savior. And His place as Lord demands that we recognize and acknowledge all His attributes, not merely the ones we find most comforting.
    We know from Holy Scripture that God has many attributes, some incommunicable and some communicable. From His aseity to His wisdom and every other attribute in between, this “wholeness” of God is irreducible. So for anyone to suggest that God’s attributes play off in a measured order of importance is, for lack of a better description - sacrilegious! It implies that we choose on our own behalf to speak where scripture has not spoken. And in such cases, where would each of us begin to order God’s attributes? One might think God’s mercy supersedes all others while I may think it is His truthfulness. Can we all understand the error in such thinking? God does not sow confusion. So let’s be clear - Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that God’s justice is subservient to His mercy. Nowhere!
    Any teaching that contradicts scripture - any doctrine that is held in opposition to what scripture clearly teaches -  is by definition a heresy. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:8. The gravitas of deliberately misinterpreting Holy Scripture is impossible to measure.
    As Reformed Christians, we must preach the whole word of God and nothing but the whole word of God. To shorten, lengthen, or altar the Gospel of Jesus Christ in any way is a spiritual crime of the highest magnitude and will certainly bring to bear a couple of God’s attributes that none of us sinners want to experience - His justice and His wrath! "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
    May we always and under all circumstances remember that the wrath of God is no more to be trifled with than His love.

With A Trowel And A Sword - Nehemiah 4:17

Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. - Nehemiah 4:17


    We live in an age of conflict. While a Christian faces spiritual conflict on a daily basis there is also intellectual conflict and emotional conflict. Lastly, there will be times when the conflict get’s physical. These areas of conflict have existed among humanity ever since The Fall. And mankind has ever sought resolution to these conflicts, be it through prayer, cognition, love, or physical confrontation. It was in the areas of conflict resolution that Nehemiah found himself in Chapter Four. The prophet responded to God’s blessing and providence by taking the proper steps to deal with the situation. What Nehemiah faced was not unlike what Christians face every day here in America. Let us recall the scenario.
    Nehemiah returned to Judah with King Artaxerxes permission to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. Artaxerxes was king of Persia and his word and promise alone were more than enough to ensure Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem and authority to rebuild the walls. But when word of the prophet’s purpose reached the ears of the Amorites, who despised the Israelites, they began a concerted effort to stop Nehemiah from both engaging in the rebuilding of the walls but more certainly from the completion of the task.
    The conspiracy to dissuade Nehemiah and the Israelites included mocking them; scorning them; intimidating them; provoking them; and confusing them - all tactics used by Satan to stop believers in their tracks! In fact, it had escalated into such a heated frenzy that their enemies were even contemplating killing them!  “And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.” - Nehemiah 4:11. Is America not now at this very threshold. What can we possibly do to stop the further corruption of our nation and assault upon our Christian faith?
    We must do what Nehemiah did when he and his people faced their tribulation. The very first action Nehemiah took was to pray (Nehemiah 4:4,9). Scripture speaks to us very seriously about the need for prayer and supplication to the Lord - “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16. In this particular passage from James, we are told to confess and pray! We’ll return to this command shortly. However, in addition to fervent prayer, Nehemiah did something else; he had the Israelites prepare for war! “Therefore, I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’” - Nehemiah 4:13-15.
    Now there will be the temptation to interpret the use of weaponry in the figurative sense. However, the threat the Israelites faced was a real and impending physical threat. “So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, ‘From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.’” - Nehemiah 4:12. The physical threat was real and so were the weapons of the Israelites.
    With the fervent prayer and preparation of the Israelites the plans of the Amorites and their chief instigator, Sanballat, came to nothing. If only such a blessing would fall upon our tortured and  beleaguered nation. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope within Nehemiah that would surely ease our troubles. Remember the healing confession and prayer of James 5:16? “Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.” - Nehemiah 9:1-2.  Prayer and a confession of sin. Is it below our dignity to pray and ask the Almighty to forgive us our trespasses? Do we dare ignore the command of Christ Jesus; “forgive us our trespasses?” If so, then perhaps our nation is beyond salvation. Perhaps we are only reaping what we have sown. So let prayerful confession in faith be our trowel and if need be, we must prudently ready our swords. As we rebuild and restore our faith in God as Nehemiah rebuilt and restored the wall, let us pray for healing, prepare for the enemy, and ask God to have mercy on our nation.
           

Rahab’s Lies - Joshua 2:4-6

Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) - Joshua 2:4-6

    In the account of Rahab’s meeting with the two spies Joshua had sent out we see three distinct lies : (1) that she didn’t know where they were from; (2) that they had left; and (3) that she didn’t know where they went. Yet all the while the spies were hiding up on her roof. Now many will question whether or not God endorsed the lies of a woman known as a harlot among her own people. We know that God does not lie; in fact he hates lies - “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” - Proverbs 12:22. So why is Rahab, a common Caananite prostitute, spoken of so highly in Hebrews? “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” when she had received the spies with peace.” - Hebrews 11:31.
    In today’s common parlance Rahab was nothing short of a “lying whore.” Nothing more; nothing less. Yet the Bible goes on to describe that she eventually marries a man named “Salmon,” of the Tribe of Judah. There she becomes part of the very genealogy of Jesus Christ. Still the Book of Joshua contains the back-story of Rahab and evidences the truth that God is no respecter of persons because those whom He elects to salvation are sinners, one and all.
    Back in the Book of Deuteronomy, God told Moses as He commanded him to cross over the River Arnon, “This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.” - Deuteronomy 2:25. Now, let us listen to Rahab as she speaks to Joshua’s spies -  “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” - Joshua 2: 9 -11.  Rahab voiced the concerns of the people of Jericho because of the Gospel they had heard. But where the people of Jericho did not respond to the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, Rahab did! A sinner like you and I, Rahab came to faith in God Almighty because He chose her before the foundation of the world. Obviously, the Holy Spirit had been working of the heart of Rahab for days, weeks, possibly even months before she even met the spies sent by Joshua. Yes, yes, she still lied but weren’t we still living sinful lives when we came to both the belief in Christ and the faith that He had paid for our sins? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8. And just as Rahab lied leading up to her confession of faith what were we doing just prior to coming to faith in our Lord and Savior?
    Rahab isn’t called faithful because she lied; she is called faithful for the God-honoring change that took place in her harlot’s heart. A sinner was saved; a woman of ill repute, a sinner like you and I.
    May we always praise God and thank Him for the love, mercy, and grace He has shown to sinners like Rahab . . . and us.

Like A Fire Alarm - Isaiah 58:1

“Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.”
 - Isaiah 58:1

    Most of us (those with children) have known the disappointment of having a child fail to make the proper choices in life. Even from the earliest days, when we taught them how to share or simply “get along” with their siblings and playmates, there was a real sense of let-down when they exhibited stinginess or difficult behavior. How often did we think, “They have been taught better.” How much more were we, and are we, disappointed with the mistakes they make in adulthood. If it certainly infuriates our Heavenly Father when He sees the unsaved behave in their petulant disbelief,  imagine His disappointment when He looks down upon His church and sees our transgressions.
    While we may sternly correct or admonish a stranger who violates civility today, we would be even more so vocal when it comes to our own loved ones. And our voices may indeed rise (along with our concerns) depending upon the nature of the consequences of such violations. John Calvin put it this way - “if the prophets merely spoke of the Law of the Lord, and showed what is the rule of a good and holy life, and recommended the worship of God, and likewise reproved vices, but without employing any vehemence of language, what impression would they produce on hypocrites, whose conscience is lulled in such a manner that they cannot be aroused but by applying spurs?” 
    The Puritan, John Trapp, had this to add - “If a man’s house be on fire, we must not speak softly, as loath to awaken him: Sir, your house is on fire.” It should be our intention to get their attention by employing whatever vocal manner we find effective. Remember the words of Isaiah 40:3 - “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” Truly, we live in the wilderness. It seems there are times we don’t even hear our own inner voices warning us of our missteps.
    Ours is not a calm request to our brothers and sisters in Christ! It is an urgent cry to awaken their sleeping faith; the very faith they need to save them from eternal condemnation.
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” - James 5:19-20.
    As in Trapp’s commentary, would we be so demure in our warning of a house fire that we would hesitate to raise the alarm? Could we in good conscience and out of love merely whisper of the danger awaiting the occupants? Could we merely tap on the glass rather than break it?  The 19th Century American theologian, Albert Barnes, commented - “Speak loud and distinct, so that the language of reproof may be heard. The sense is, the people are insensible and stupid. They need something to rouse them to a sense of their guilt. Go and proclaim it so that all may hear. Speak not in whispers; speak not to a part, but speak so earnestly that their attention will be arrested, and so that all shall hear.”
     Is it not then our duty as Christians to reprove and correct one who is in error and for us to accept the same should we be the one stumbles in our walk? “‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ - Revelation 2:7. Can there possibly be a greater motivation for raising the alarm? May we always seek to edify one another to the glory of God.

Rendering Unto Caesar - Mark 12:17

  
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at Him. - Mark 12:17

    What exactly belonged to Caesar? It was a question designed by the Pharisees to trap Jesus in a legalistic conundrum. And as on all other occasions, their trap failed miserably.  
Francis Schaeffer, one of the 20th Century’s greatest theologians once stated that the Romans didn’t persecute Christians because they worshiped Jesus Christ; they persecuted them for their insistence upon worshiping ONLY Christ and applying their Christian morals and standards to all phases of life. To understand Schaeffer’s position we must begin by understanding the Roman world-view. According to this view one could worship whom he or she chose to worship as long as they obey the Roman law and worship Caesar as well. The Jewish religious culture of Christ’s time was a prime example of Roman tolerance for religions other than their own. That was one of the primary reasons the Pharisees tried to trap Christ with their question about the legality of paying tribute to Caesar.
    2000 years have passed since the days our Galilean Savior walked the Roman province of Judea. Yet little of the ancient world view has changed. No. Secularism is nothing new. Even the Romans were secularists, though they manifested their primitive form of secularism in the guise of their gods. Oh, technology has advanced along with the sciences which gave birth to our modern world but the prevailing world view is much the same. We may still worship whom we choose to worship as long as we obey the Roman law and refuse to interject our Christian ethics and morality upon the Roman culture. Is this beginning to sound a bit farfetched? Then let us look at the prevailing culture after the Resurrection of Christ as compared with our own. “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.
    Initially, Christians found it difficult to take part in civic life or public events due to the generalized practice of associating such activities with Caesar-worship. Today, the idea that Caesar was divine has been replaced by the concept that relativism is now divine. Ergo we witness daily how the media and entertainment are inundated with debased morality. Add to this the fact that Christians were seen as intolerant of other religions and “points of view.” Relativism declares that all lifestyles, regardless of how perverse, are equally valid as preached in the social gospel of today. 21st Century secularists no longer invoke the gods. They have replaced the supernatural with the absurd. They prefer to explain the world in terms common to all men, thus the egalitarian positions they so rigorously defend!  “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
     By 64 A.D., under the reign of Nero, the exclusivity of the Gospel led to the outright persecution of Christians. While execution was a very real part of this persecution there were other equally insidious methods of conspiring against believers. Social banishment (your “friends” or family may stop socializing with you), economic disenfranchisement (your business may become subject to protests and boycotts), loss of employment (mind what you say at work if you want to keep your job), and loss of property (civil lawsuit) via Roman mandate were common sources of persecution. The civil lawsuit or the Roman mandate - it doesn’t matter what you call it; the results are the same. Ask the bakers who were fined for their refusal to bake a cake for a homosexual couple. “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles . . . Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” - Matthew 10:18, 21-22.
    Again, what exactly belongs to Caesar? By Christ’s own implication - whatever does not glorify God! The government will get my taxes but never my heart, mind, or soul! I will never pray at the altar of political correctness. Render unto Caesar? Only that most insignificant portion which is meaningless to our salvation. We must never compromise the integrity of our faith in Christ; not for any Caesar nor for any government nor for any un-Godly cause. Render unto God what is God’s.

No Greater Godly Blessing - Proverbs 31:27-29

She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.” - Proverbs 31:27-29 

  I believe I can make the argument that God’s greatest earthly blessing to man is . . . his wife! God’s providence delivers us with a seemingly unending myriad of earthly blessings. From rain for our crops to cooler summer evenings to the majesty of the seashore to the children he fathers to a long and fruitful life, man is most assuredly blessed. But no blessing is greater than the woman God created to be a “helper comparable to him.” In fact, man needed this “helper” so badly that God found her absence to be the first thing in all His creation that was “not good.”
“And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’” - Genesis 2:18.
    How do we men see our helpers? Do we see them as the very gift of God? If not, why not? Have we blinded ourselves to the value that God placed on His gift to us? Have we let our egos run over the best things that have ever happened to us?
    A man may know many women in his lifetime. From his mother to his sisters to his daughters to the girls and women he has called his friends, but he will never know another woman like his wife. He knows her heart . . . and she knows his. He knows her pain; she knows his. He knows her needs; she knows his. In fact, all he knows of her, she knows of him, and more. That is what a helper does. Surely, they know our desires but more important, they know our needs. Often times our wives know us better than we know ourselves.
    A wife will watch over us, our homes, and our children like a lioness in the veldt. True, her children will call her a blessing and true her husband need praise her often and enthusiastically! There is no greater Godly blessing than a loving wife.
    Our children will grow and move on into their own lives. And what are we left with? If we men do not count our wives as blessings then what on earth do we count them as? They should be esteemed as our very lives are. They should be as important to us as our own heartbeats - “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” - Genesis 2:24.
    Speak to her and of her and treat her with respect. Defend her with your very life. Man has been called to be a good steward of all God has given him; that includes our wives. Cherish her and love her the way God intended for us to do so.
    May we always be most grateful for God’s greatest earthly blessing to us: our wives. Have a blessed and happy Mother’s Day!