ResponsiveReiding

The Deafening Sound of Silence

August 5th, 2024

From Matthew 26:57-68 / The Deafening Sound of Silence

This scene is disturbing on so many fronts. The illegality (according to Jewish law) of a nighttime trial; the way the prosecution went about seeking false witnesses; its clandestine nature – we know there were those like Nicodemus who appear to be absent (they did not need the entire Sanhedrin of 71, only a quorum of 23 – easier to manage without dissenting voices); the brutality of the guards, etc.. This was not a true trial at all. It was instead a mere formality to accomplish what some had wanted all along, with but the thinnest veneer of legitimacy.

Note first: This is always the the way it is when men put God on trial.

Those who wish to refuse the right of God to have supremacy over their lives, will always seek the most meager means to deny that He exists, or to cast aspersions upon the character of God so as to make their rejection legitimate to themselves and others.

How can a good God allow pain and suffering? Why doesn’t God verify His existence to our satisfaction? Why does He reveal Himself in the Word progressively and not all at once? Why so many strange commands? While we may legitimately wonder at some things, we must always remember, God is not on trial – we are, Humanity is. He does not owe us answers as to why things are the way they are. Why in His sovereign discretion He has made certain choices, and arranged life and the universe the way He has.

It is the height of human pride, arrogance and hubris that finds us thinking God should do things differently. That He should order things according to our sensibilities, preferences and fallen reason. We may rest assured (based upon the revelation we do have) that He has chosen what is always best, wisest and good in His own eyes, and it is ours to say “yea, and amen” to His determinations.

To go back the Apostle Paul’s words in Rom. 9:20 – “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

This is at the very core of the heart of fallen humanity – God being weighed in our personal balances. And until we bow to the reality of Genesis 1:1 – we cannot, we will not deal with God rightly. Until we cry out with David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps. 139:23-24) we will continually try to flip the equation upside down. We do not judge God – period. We stand to be judged before Him.

Note secondly: When charged, Jesus makes no answer.

This is owing to at least two things.

a. He refused to be judged – period. He will not answer, because He as God need give no answer, and they deserve none. He will not dignify their perverse trial of Him. He will not enter into their folly with them. And what they take as weakness, is His demonstration of His true position. But they didn’t get it. Often, neither do we.

While Job never openly charged God falsely, he did imply all along that God owed him some sort of explanation for his suffering. He did indeed want to enter into that debate. He wanted to move the discussion as to why things were as they were, rather than settling his heart simply in the sovereignty and goodness of God. And all too often, I am right there with him. Maybe you are too. Faith must fuel our hearts and minds more than the need to understand what may well be inscrutable. So often, the “whys” remain hidden from our eyes. But if we can rest in the “Who” in whose hands we reside – we can await the day of unveiling in His presence. But if we will not settle ourselves there, we will always carry the tinge of the questioning Sanhedrin about ourselves as well.

b. Behind all of this, is Jesus refusal to defend Himself against any accusations, because, He was aware He was bearing the guilt of OUR sins.

And for our sins, there is no defense. There are no excuses. Whatever He may have been accused of, we certainly have been guilty of. He bore the true accusations of God against us. He was in the process of “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with is legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14) He would not try to declare Himself innocent while bearing our guilt.

O what a wonderful Savior!

O the holiness and wonder of His silence.

Deny Himself? This He could not do. Regardless of how unable they were to recognize it, or respond to it – He said plainly who He was. He answers Caiaphas: You’ve uttered the words – but you haven’t the slightest concept of what it really means. The only way you can see me for who and what I am, is to see me exalted to the right hand of the Father – as the One who comes to judge all mankind.

Note thirdly: As the entry in the Moody Commentary on this portion reads: “The only times He spoke were to answer questions related to His identity _{¹¹ Vanlaningham, Michael G. 2014. “Matthew.” In The Moody Bible Commentary, edited by Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham, 1509. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.}

And beloved, this is the only way any can recognize Him rightly – as the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power (Ps. 110:1) – the one who judges all. Salvation is bound up in this: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

So let me ask you Reader – do YOU know Him? This is the God, robe din human flesh, who took the weight of human sin upon His own shoulders, for all who would see Him, know Him, and flee to Him as He is – the judge of all the World. Who commands all men everywhere to repent. His loving arms, remain open wide to receive all who will come by faith.
Jesus, our humble King

August 1st, 2024

From Matthew 26:47-56 / The Humble King

What an extraordinary scene this text contains. Jesus in glory is on full display. What specific aspects of His glory the Spirit has chosen to highlight here are most interesting and evocative.

Note first: The Savior’s humility. So little did Jesus stand out, it took Judas’ kiss to identify Him. How we flock to “stand outs”, and how He avoided standing out.

In a culture built upon celebrity today, celebrity which has spilled over into the Church – leaders are often trying to make their mark, stand out, do something to be seen apart. Not Jesus. He, in His humility is identifying with us: He comes in the likeness of fallen man. He cares nothing for recognition of self. He has no ego. He cares only that the Father be glorified, and that the Father’s will be done.

Heavenly Father, make this my own heart in all things.

Note second: The absolute wonder of grace.

He is every man’s friend, even when they are His worst enemies. He designs no harm, but reconciliation through the Cross. And yet, in due time, He will judge. Even His “friends”. “Today”, cries the writer to the Hebrews, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” If you can read this, it is not too late to repent of your sin and flee to Christ. He remains “a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” (Luke 7:34)

Note third: How He remains utterly in control, when all appears to be cosmically out of control.

It is the feature of almost all anxiety, that we are faced with tings too big for us, and that we cannot change or impact.

News outlets spew hour upon hour of global crises we seem to have no power to effect in any way. Climate change. The economy. War in the Middle-east. Terrorism. The political landscape. Not to mention the demise of our own individual bodies and personal crises of all kinds. So we worry, fret and look for any person who appears to give us hope as a strong champion on our behalf; or for a movement, the unveiling of some gigantic conspiracy that once uncovered will restore all equilibrium, pundits and miracle cures.

All to no avail.

But not Jesus. He stands here, ready to face the horrors or unbridled human brutality and the full fury of The Father’s wrath against human sin – and He is perfectly in control. Not as though He is orchestrating the circumstances – but in perfect self-control. Nothing externally can rob Him of His reliance upon and trust in – the Father.

No wonder the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. God has not charges us with the duty to control the winds and the waves of human upheaval. He has gifted us to depend upon His indwelling Spirit for self-control. The Spirit never, never makes us out of control. He grants self-control while the world spins wildly.

Self-control, is the Spirit of Christ.

Note fourth: Jesus’ absolute confidence in the Father’s providence, in the fulfillment of The Scriptures.

He knows full well the Father’s love, and the Father’s power. And He is content then to commit Himself to the Father’s sovereign providence.

Oh how every Christian needs to see this in our Savior, and cry out to the Father for the same faith to fill our hearts each and every day.

We too, in the very worst of all circumstances, if, IF, we are His by the new birth, can rest in the same perfect love of the Father, knowing His power to keep, sustain and move where wisest and best, and trust His sovereign, providential care.

Heavenly Father – fill me with the Spirit of Christ.

What a wonderful Savior.
The Refuge of Prayer

July 31st, 2024

From Matthew 26:36-46 / The Refuge of Prayer

It is in this most extraordinary account, which could only be ours by virtue of first hand witness, that we see the amazing self-disclosure of the Master.

Note first: How Jesus tells His disciples how it is the weakness of the flesh that makes prayer such an imperative.

Christians gain many new intentions toward good and godliness in our regeneration, but these new impulses are animated and protected only by prayer.

Without wading into these waters too deeply – I think one application of Preachers, Pastors and Teachers suffering together with our people is to let them know from time to time how it is we suffer too – not for sympathy’s sake – but so that we can more directly comfort them with the comfort wherewith we have been comforted. To let them know how He has met us in our sorrows and trials.

I am reminded of how Spurgeon closed one of his sermons: “I wish I could have spoken worthily on such a topic as this, but a dull, heavy headache sits upon me, and I feel that a thick gloom overshadows my words, out of which I look with longing, but cannot rise. For this I may well grieve, but nevertheless God the Holy Ghost can work the better through our weakness, and if you will try and preach the sermon to yourselves, my brethren, you will do it vastly better than I can; if you will meditate upon this text this afternoon, “Of him, through him, and to him are all things,” I am sure you will be led to fall on your knees with the apostle, and say, “To him be glory for ever;” and then you will rise up, and practically in your life, give him honour, putting the “Amen” to this doxology by your own individual service of your great and gracious Lord.” _{Spurgeon, C. H. “Laus Deo.” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 10, Passmore & Alabaster, 1864, p. 312.}

Personally, I am stunned every time I read this account.

What self-disclosure! And from the very Son of God!

And yet as preachers and teachers, we sometimes feel the need to put on a front that makes people think we are impervious to the same things they face.

‌No, we do not want to set ourselves forward as shining examples as though we never flag or have some sort of spiritual superiority.

Nor do we want to give the impression that we have become hopeless. But rather, let them see how we personally and truly depend upon grace in our own lives, the way we ask them to.

‌Think of 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 “we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

Paul personally wants them to be very aware of what he had faced. He did not fain invincibility.

‌In the Puritan Papers, Paul Cook writes: “Preachers are tempted to moral cowardice more almost than to any sin. Too many ministers, says Bernard, are “men pleasers, not the servants of Christ…he that fears his people’s faces is the man that is most likely to murder their souls.” Cook, Paul. _{“The Life and Work of a Minister according to the Puritans.” Puritan Papers: 1956–1959, edited by J. I. Packer, vol. 1, P&R Publishing, 2000, p. 185.}

I wonder if Jesus’ particular admonition here is in regard to the very same temptation He was facing: To faint in fear when facing the Lord’s appointments. To refuse to drink the cup of trial. To not stop submitting to the will of the Father no matter how daunting.

Note second: It is most informative that Jesus ties His prayer with the need for us to pray regarding temptation.

At this point, He knows full well what it means to die to self – literally. And we, enter into a shadow of that when we die to self in putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Resisting temptation is not an easy thing, it is not to be thought of lightly. We may well need to go back to the Father in prayer multiple times regarding the very same temptation in the midst of its duration. The flesh does not give up its lordship easily. It is a violent battle.

It is here too that we gain much insight regarding 1 Cor. 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The text does not imply that in prayer, God will make temptations to cease. This is a grave mistake by many, thinking God does not hear them. It is rather that in prayer, God will grant the strength to endure the time(s) of temptation – to continue in obedience while the temptation persists.

And so Jesus, in this dark hour, finds the weight of His multiple temptations so great, that He goes back to the Father over and over; modeling what He asks us to do.

Note thirdly: How gently Jesus ends this portion in regard to His Disciples. And thus, also toward us in our failures.

He is at this moment, already experiencing something of the Cross. He is already abandoned in some sense by His closest allies. But He never lashes out. He does not berate or condemn them. He simply says: “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

How calmly and serenely He faces the next steps. He has committed all to The Father. He rests in The Father’s plans, purposes and providence. And in it, He demonstrates what it means to live in such a secure sense of the Father’s love, no matter what. And by example, calls us to the same.

What a blessed Redeemer.
“But the midwives…”

July 30th, 2024

From Exodus 1:15-22 / This is not about politics.

vs. 17: “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”

No, America’s abortion laws are not mandatory as that in our text today was. I do not want to make an unfair comparison. Yet, there is a fundamental, abiding principle undergirding what was happening in Egypt, and what is happening today in America. This cannot be overlooked.

Let us be absolutely clear here, abortion and infanticide can only exist where there is no fear of God.

Let that sink in.

This is not a legal issue.

It is not a personal issue.

It is not a women’s rights issue.

It is not a political issue.

It is not a medical issue.

It is not even a bare moral issue – thought is touches on all of these areas.

At the bottom, at the very root, it is a spiritual issue. One Scripture simply casts as – godlessness.

Godlessness.

Not that all who support these horrific practices deny God exists. But in the reality that in fact, they do what they do before the face of God, with no fear that they will be judged for it by Him in due time.

There is no true fear of God.

Where there is no fear of God, no regard for the truth revealed in His Word regarding the sanctity of human life – expedience and personal preference rule; even behind the curtain of the law.

Abortion and infanticide can only be curbed and stopped when men and women fear God as their Creator, Lord and Judge: Irrespective of fluctuating cultural movements for or against.

We work and cry out for laws to prevent these, in spite of whether or not others share that view, so as to save the lives of the murdered, and to spare the staining of the hands of their murders with blood. We care for both.

But make no mistake – no fear of God is the real issue. One solved only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the transforming power of His Spirit.
Keeping the Main thing, the Main thing.

July 29th, 2024

From Matthew 26:30-35 Keeping the Main thing the Main thing.

Jesus, has just established the New Covenant, and instituted His supper. He has washed His Disciple’s feet. He has prophesied Judas’ betrayal and taken the final steps before Gethsemane. Now, He tells them that ALL of them will fall away from Him – at least in some way – before the night is over. One wonders what they were thinking.

In response, Peter, so much like me, jumps to his own defense, if not that of them all. “Even if I must die with you” he says, “I will not deny you!”. The text says they all said the same thing.

It is easy to be brave in theory. Several times in my life I’ve heard preachers press upon people something like: “If someone were to walk in here right now and under threat of death demand you renounce Christ – what would you do?” This is said as though 1-They know what they themselves would do (are they better than Peter and the rest?); and, 2-That Joe average Christian is to be shamed if they find any such weakness in themselves, as though it is somehow unthinkable.

In an effort to either stir up or display some sort of false bravado, emphasis is placed upon people rather than upon Christ. Upon our goodness, our bravery, our fortitude, rather than upon His. But not so Jesus. At this moment, He does not take the time to berate the men He knows far better than they know themselves. Larger things are at hand.

So it is I find it fascinating that Jesus did not argue with the Disciples at this point. He could have pressed the issue. He could have said “listen to me, I am the Lord and I am telling you…” But He left it. It makes me wonder how often I feel the need to press my understanding home when others are so obviously wrong – at least to me? Jesus knew there were larger issues to address at this moment than to correct their errant self-understanding. And it is the greater part of wisdom to know when and how to press certain points home, and when to leave them.

At this point, Jesus needed to go to The Garden to pray. He needed to pour out His own heart to the Father. He needed to face His own human reluctance to go to the Cross. He needed the angels to come and strengthen Him. These were all far more pressing than being “right.”

Heavenly Father – help me to have the wisdom of Christ in my own interactions with others. To able to see what is most necessary at the moment, and what is not. Especially in seeing what I need in my own soul at the moment of debate, over what I perceive is the other’s “need” – when winning that argument would mean nothing in the long run. When it would not end in the other actually growing in grace. Help me to fix my own eyes on the Cross. To seek the greater cause at hand. To submit myself to you, more than seeking that others submit to my opinions, views, understanding or knowledge. To not be distracted from my own obedience, by trying to press others to take up theirs. Let me be more like Jesus. To remember the Kingdom will not suffer if I don’t win my point. For the Kingdom rests in the Cross, and not in me. There is only one Hill to die on, and that one is Calvary. Christ, has already died there. For me, and for them.
The First Rule of Understanding and Applying Your Bible rightly

July 26th, 2024

From Genesis 31:49

Beware the temptation to read a verse or even a larger portion of God’s Word, without paying careful attention to the context.

I blush to share the following, but perhaps it may serve to prevent you from making the same error, which now I can look back upon and laugh. An error which may have more serious consequences given the passage.

When I was a young man, I was dating a girl who was about to go off to Bible College in the mid-west. I was absolutely mad for her. And in a Christian bookstore, looking for a gift to give her, I found a piece of jewelry. It was a heart, cut into two to make two necklaces which fit together like puzzle pieces when side by side. There was one half for each of us to wear.

Very similar to this:

On the heart – when the two pieces were put together were inscribed these words: “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight” – along with the Scripture reference.

A home run! Romantic AND Biblical.

Sure.

However, I, like the manufacturer never bothered to understand the context of that verse. It comes out of Genesis 31 and issues from the lips of Laban, Jacob’s less than upright and godly Father-in-law. And here’s where the context really messed up my delusional attempt at godly romance.

These words in fact are not the Biblical equivalent of “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” They are the very opposite! They are an explicit statement of distrust; not a statement of fondness and well-wishing while apart.

Laban had felt cheated by Jacob’s absconding with his wives, cattle and grand-kids. He had been pursuing Jacob for 7 days with a household posse. It was hardly to throw a going away party. He was angry. Had God not appeared to Laban in a dream (vs. 24), and warned him to tread lightly when dealing with Jacob – no doubt the end would have been a violent one.

After a rather bristling encounter, Jacob and Laban decide to go their separate ways and bother each other no more. They make a sort of official treaty. True to his own devious nature, and suspecting Jacob of perhaps coming back some day to do him more harm – the two of them set up a monument to mark the agreement they came to. It is then that Laban says – “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.” i.e. – God’s got His eye on you Jacob – if you think to do me wrong in the future. And adds: “If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters” – God will getchya. Among other things.

There could not have been a less romantic, a lesser statement of fondness and well-wishing than what Laban meant by “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.” No sir. It was practically a curse.

Truth be told, misapplications of a text like mine in this place, are rampant today. The problem of reading God’s Word in tiny sound-bites without regard to the context to truly understand its meaning so as to arrive at a proper application are everywhere. One immediately thinks of Paul’s “I can do all things” in Phil. 4, or the “If my people” of 2 Chron. 7 – which in no way shape or form can be applied to the United States.

Mine, is just one more example of how unthinking we can be in taking verses out of their context, and using them in ways never intended.

Be a careful reader Beloved. Thoughtful. Take time to think about who is writing and their situation. Who they are writing to and their situation. And in the broader scope, what is actually being communicated. Then we may find a more general principle which may be applied according to what is really being meant.

Believe me, the real stuff, is better than the made up stuff.

Don’t be like me. Don’t use a curse when trying to be spiritual and romantic.

Don’t do it.
Over-realized escha-what?

July 25th, 2024

Over-realized eschatology. Ever heard of it? Maybe not, but you’ve probably been exposed to it at one time or another. In fact, it is the opposite extreme of another issue – that of under-realized eschatology. Let me try to unpack some of this VERY briefly – though both deserve much fuller treatments.

We get a picture of over-realized eschatology from several places in Scripture, but 2 will suffice for a quick grasp.

1 Cor. 4:8 “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!”

2 Tim. 2:16-18 “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.”

The problem in both is readily apparent. In Corinth, some Believers (incited by the “super-apostles) were looking down on Paul’s trials as an indication he was not walking in the fullness of what God has given us in Christ.

The thought was simple – we’re already redeemed, we’re children of the King, we’re adopted into the family of God, and therefore, we ought to be living in carefree abundance and ease now. If we are not, there is something wrong with our spirituality. We’re not taking full advantage of the privileges which belong to us in this present age. Pain and trial and loss and need are things of the past to those in the Kingdom now. So the thinking goes.

Without casting stones, that sort of theological bent is easy to adopt when – like so many in the Corinthian church at the time – one is living in an outwardly prosperous circumstance. Corinth was wealthy, cosmopolitan, urbane. Isn’t there a direct connection between being Christ’s and earthly success and ease? Paul’s detractors thought so. And in essence, they were trying to live like the Kingdom had already come in its fullness, and that that translated into luxury, ease and wealth as a sure sign of God’s blessing.

We have the analog of this today in the so-called prosperity Gospel. We’re Christ’s now and so we’ve already tapped into Kingdom blessings (read – material wealth and worldly success).

Of course, that kind of theology doesn’t play very well for Believers in North Korea, Iran and other places, now or historically. Yes, the Kingdom has emerged into the world, but no, it is not here in its fullness yet. That awaits Christ’s return. And even then, the glory of the Kingdom is not earthly riches and ease – it is the manifested presence of King Jesus. Yes, the Kingdom is ALREADY here, to a degree, but NOT YET in a very large degree.

The second way this manifests itself today is in – if I may use this language – an un-healthy obsession with intimacy with Christ.

Do not get me wrong, living in a real, vital experiential union with Christ is central to genuine Christianity. But the danger is that we can get overly familiar with Him, and seek an intimacy with Him that will not be ours until the consummation of the ages.

Paul speaks of how – through the Gospel – he “betrothed” his hearers to Christ, to present them as a pure virgin to Him. And there are liberties and joys the “betrothed”, the engaged, are not to try and indulge in until after the marriage. We have not yet reached the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” That day is yet to come. There are intimacies with Him which is it unseemly for us to try and pursue now. We must rest with the fact there are longings of closeness with Him which will not be met until then. And those who are of a more sensual nature will try to “experience” God in Christ in ways that quite simply do not belong to us yet.

Jesus is neither our Buddy, nor our husband. Not yet. Grow to know Him more, but beware the draw of the mystical beyond proper bounds of the betrothed.

Our second text above points to an issue in the early church, which, due to some claiming the resurrection was already past, led some to teach and practice that fleshly sins just don’t matter any more. We’ve entered into the next age. Sin is all done away with. So what we do in our bodies doesn’t matter. We’re past the pale of being judged any more in any way and so we’re for all intents and purposes, sinless, no matter what we do.

This has been labeled by some as “hyper-grace”. But in the final analysis, it is a n outgrowth of over-realized eschatology. Grasping after what is not yet, and then twisting it into license to sin.

And it is deeply disturbing to see such a mindset making a new showing in the Evangelical Church in America even today. I’ve interacted with some proponents of it in just the recent past. Ultimately, it is just one more deluded false teaching to find a way to indulge the flesh without guilt – justifying sin.

This too, is an over-realized eschatology. And it brings shame on the name of Christ and the cause of the Gospel.

Now, all that said, there can be the problem of an under-realized eschatology too. But that is the subject for another day. Just as some can try to over-reach in the privileges of the Christian today, many too live far below the true privileges which are indeed ours in Christ – even in this age.

In both cases Beloved, we need to take the whole teaching of the Bible regarding where we are in God’s redemptive timeline now, and what is yet to come. For this, we cannot cherry pick certain verses and passages and try to squeeze the rest of Scripture through them – but become a “whole-Bible” people.

Balance, requires hearing all God has to say, and not formulating broad constructs based upon a few select passages. As John stated it under the inspiration of the Spirit so perfectly: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3.

Already, but not yet.
The Bread and The Cup

July 18th, 2024

From Matthew 26:26-29 / The Bread and The Cup

Nothing seems sadder to me, than that the simplicity, beauty and profundity of Jesus’ institution of communion, should be the source of endless debates and division. Transubstantiation, Con-substantiation, mere memorial or remembrance, means of grace, etc., etc., etc.

All other discussions aside, nothing should more stimulate and make real to the heart and the mind of the Believer what Christ has done for us in respect to our sins – than this act together with others bought be grace, regenerated and indwelt by His Spirit.

Let us then in simple humility and inexpressible gratitude, partake – if we believe. And rest our souls in the finished work of the Cross. For only faith in His finished work satisfies, nourishes, refreshes, sustains and cheers the soul. He “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:5-6) Need we say more?

HALLELUJAH!

In this be all our hope and rest

Just Jesus’ blood, and righteousness

We dare not trust our best works done

Or wars with sin we might have won

For all our best is but by grace

The smallest step in this our race

By mercy shown and grace applied

The blood of Christ the Crucified

Let every thought of self-good go

And do not fear to think too low

If His be all your righteousness

No sin’s too black to full confess

His blood suffices all to cleanse

When faith on Him alone depends

In this be all your hope and rest

In Jesus’s blood and righteousness
Was the failed assassination of Mr. Trump a sign?

July 15th, 2024

Signs that make me wonder.

Yes, this is a re-post because the previous title may have been misleading.

When is a sign not a sign? When there is no unimpeachable nor unambiguous interpretive source to attach it to.

For instance, all of the “signs” that Jesus did, served as fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies.

The signs which occurred at Pentecost and beyond, were rooted in the same. But that didn’t stop others from trying to interpret the “signs” at Pentecost. The text says that everyone was amazed and tried to figure out what it all meant. And some said it was a sign that these people were drunk already at 9 in the morning!

Without the book of Joel as an infallible interpretive grid (along with other passages) – the “sign” was in the imaginations of the beholders.

It is still a problem.

When some event occurs in the world, or even in our own lives, we do not have the freedom to turn it into a sign at will and give it our own interpretation. This is not Biblically responsible.

Now let me apply this to the recent, wicked attempt to assassinate former president Trump.

Some, immediately began claiming his survival was some sort of sign. He must be “God’s man” if he was spared. It must mean something specific in terms of blessing for America. But we simply do not have Biblical precedent to make that jump, and to arbitrarily turn the failed attempt into a sign; beyond perhaps a sign of the continuing state of human depravity which incites men to senseless violence.

Can we say for certain in God’s providence he was spared? Absolutely. But even then, we do not know what he was spared for!

By the very same “signs” logic, shouldn’t we say that Deitrich Bonhoffer’s failed attempt to assassinate Hitler was a sure sign that God was pleased with Hitler and thought he should remain for the good of Germany?

I don’t think so.

Beware these random assignments (no pun intended) brethren. It is equivalent to seeking omens and using divination to make wild interpretations.

The old tale of the Chinese Farmer illustrates part of the problem.

“Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”’”

So it goes.

Taking an isolated event, and trying to insert it into the greater fabric of human history and reading God’s providence that way is a fool’s errand. Above and beyond sparing the President’s life in that moment, we have NO idea what God’s larger plan in it all is. Only time will tell us that. Scripture, for certain, will not. And Scripture, must be our interpreter. Not our imaginations.

One thinks of the prayer of Hezekiah upon hearing from Isaiah that he was to die soon, and to put his house in order (2 Kings 20). Hezekiah cried out to God and was granted a reprieve of 15 years. “Fabulous!” we say. But wait! It was during those 15 years that Hezekiah fathered Manasseh – who went on to become one of the most wicked, idolatrous and brutal kings Judah ever was unfortunate enough to live under.

Praise God President Trump was spared. And how tragic for the one whose life was not spared and for the wounded.

What if the brave firefighter – Corey Comperatore – who died protecting his family – would have one day saved the life of the man or woman who would go on to cure cancer? What if the shooting was more about him and his family, and Trump’s injury was only incidental to that? Or what if it was more about the other two men wounded, David Dutch and James Copenhaver? What if God intends to use them and their families in some extraordinary way, and a wicked man incensed at the President was the means to accomplish what God wanted in their lives? What are the signs to be interpreted, and how? We cannot know.

What we CAN know is that God, in His providence, was and is working in and through all of their lives to His ends, and that over-interpreting this event to color in some line drawing of our own invention is utterly fruitless and without basis in fact.

Let me ask, why was it Trump was spared, when all the Apostles but one were martyred? Were their deaths somehow a sign that they were not as important as he? Not as good as channels of God’s grace to us far beyond Mr. Trump? Were not Peter and Paul of more value to the Church and all of Christendom than Mr. Trump even to America?

Neither their deaths nor Trump’s survival are specific signs to be read as omens of general good or bad in the moment. To do so, is to live in folly.

Stick to the Word, and eschew all forms of mystical interpretations and omen reading. Leave that to the pagans.

Follow Christ.

Follow The Word soundly interpreted.

Isaiah 8:20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Woe to us, if it is professed Believers who do not keep themselves to these.
Remove, Unwrap and Release

July 9th, 2024

From John 11:39-44 – “Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Three things we are commanded to do for those Christ is to raise up:

a. Remove the stone(s).

First, even before the day of resurrection, take away the stone(s). Clear the way. Remove any obstacles that men may encounter unnecessarily.

This is a profound need for both apologetics – where there are legitimate questions which need answered, AND the crying need for the Church to avoid placing obstacles in the way of those the Spirit is quickening by the voice of Christ.

Do not require them to be clean first.

Do not make them fit into a preconceived cultural framework.

Several years ago I had a conversation with a friend who evangelizes in predominately Muslim countries. When I asked him about the key “stone” he needs to clear away for those hearing the Gospel, it he told me that they feared they had to become Americans in order to be Christians. His BIG work was to disabuse them of that concept.

We need to help take away the objections their own fallen minds, the world and the enemy have placed in front of them as best we can.

And arrest all of their doubts by pointing exclusively to the Cross, to Christ! To faith in Him and His atoning work, and to nothing else.

We must labor to take away the stones.

And, we need to be sure not to put stones in front of them ourselves.

Don’t make them victims of Christian-speak.

Don’t connect their coming to Christ with a political point of view.

Don’t require anything of them Christ does not require.

I fear that right now in American Evangelicalism, we are making it seem (if not actually saying it) that one must be a Republican or a Trump supporter – or at the very least, a Biden/Democratic hater – in order to be a Christian.

God forgive us for such a conflation and for placing this monumental stumbling stone in front of the graves Christ is calling them out of.

b. Unbind, unwrap them.

People come to Christ with their old grave clothes still clinging to them. Some former sins still drag on them, and they need help getting extricated from them. They have the smell of death still on them.

They are bound in hand – for they do not yet know how to praise, nor how to work for the Lord. They are bound in their feet: How to walk with Him is still beyond them, even though they’ve taken the few feeble steps to exit the tomb. And their faces are wrapped in a cloth: They cannot yet see very well. The truth of God’s Word must be taught to them that they might truly know this Christ and His wonders.

c. Release them. Let them go.

Do not make them bound now to you – but make them free to follow Christ wherever He goes.

You did not raise them – Jesus did.

They do not belong to you, they belong to Him.

As long as they follow Him and serve Him and love Him, no matter that they leave you. Let them go.