ResponsiveReiding

Mark 9:33–37 (ESV) And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Note how humble our Savior is. It is why He wants us to become humble too – that we might be like Him.

And the truth is, you cannot have your eye set on your own greatness, and at the same time be willing to stop and receive those who can add nothing to your quest for personal greatness.

Loving the least among people, will marginalize you from such grasping after status yourself.

Receive, be identified with, take up in your arms those who are not capable of helping you achieve such a goal – do it for MY sake – and you will receive both Me and My Father; He seems to be saying.

And I am forced to ask myself – who is it I am afraid to be identified with – lest I lose status in the eyes of others? Who are the “those people” who do not quite measure up to my standard? What group is it I am afraid others will imagine that I’m “one of them”?

Am I afraid to be thought of as a sinner? A friend of the uneducated, or uneducated myself? A pal to the socially inept? The rednecks or the tree-huggers? The indigent? The broken? The addicted, convicted, helpless, needy & bound? Or do I want to be among the beautiful, the comfortable, the respectable and the un-cumbersome only?

Children are lacking knowledge, context, self-control, the ability to contribute much to their care and upkeep and will be noisy and bothersome. Welcome to me! And as the Savior scoops such up in His arms – He calls us to do the same.

What a lover of souls He is! What a Savior!

Matthew 13:3–9 (ESV) And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Note in this parable that the “soil” in all four cases is exactly that – soil. There is no fundamental difference in the composition of the four soils. They are all dirt. The parable doesn’t make the point that seed fell on concrete, and then on steel, a mountain side and then soil. In each case, the seed fell on soil. The problem, was the condition of each soil.

The soil on the path has all the inherent properties of the other soils – but it’s condition was that it was hard. It would not receive the seed easily. Many a person, even in the Church is unfruitful because of hardness. They receive nothing from the outside. Everything is on their terms. Their hearts and minds have been solidified into a thought process that lets no one, and no thing ever to really enter in. They do not want to be disturbed from the way they have everything figured out. They’ve got their point of view, they are unwilling to be changed. Their favorite songs are: “I’ve got to be me” and “I did it my way.” If they remain hard, if they do not hear the Word of the Lord calling to “break up the fallow ground” (Jer. 4:3 and Hosea 10:12) they will die fruitless, and lost. The hearers of Jesus’ words here should have connected them with God’s former rebukes to such hardness. But that is the nature of hardness, nothing gets through.

The rocky soil is simply shallow. Nothing gets deeper than the skin. There is “no depth.” This person lives for the visible – the surface things of life. In truth, they never really think about anything very deeply. They flit from relationship to relationship. They change jobs often. They are constantly – and but for a micro second – absolutely enthused about whatever has caught their attention – right then. And then it is off to something else. They’ve tried everything, and been everywhere, and think they are really broad in their experience. But in truth, they know only the slightest bit about a thousand things – nothing really about anything. They’ll respond to the Gospel the same way they buy into every other new fad. But stay with Christ? Endure the hardness of staying put and persevering to actually bear fruit in Christ’s likeness? Nope. The people are too difficult, the circumstances not accommodating enough, the preacher boring, the music is the wrong style, the building is too old or too new or too bright or too dark and, and, and…

Then we come to the fatally distracted. The thorns are the very same encumbrances which threaten us all. But for them – they take priority over everything else. God is good. Religion is fine. Christ and Christianity is great – as long as you don’t go overboard. After all, life is more than serving Christ, isn’t it? I mean, there’s a LOT of other priorities. So worship is second to sports or other involvements. Studying God’s Word is for the Bible nerds. Prayer? – I pray, sort of, when I think of it or something is really pressing. But the thought of actually arranging one’s life around the priorities of Heaven seems too extreme. They want the religion piece in place, but certainly don’t want it to dominate the landscape – just dress it up. And these too will die fruitless and lost.

Then of course there is the soil which hears and receives and endures and brings forth fruit.

So the question arises, which soil are you?

Proverbs 29:18 (ESV) Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

With the advent of the GPS, stopping for directions is nearly a thing of the past. But is that necessarily a good thing in all cases? I don’t think so. Neither it seems, does God’s Word.

The truth is, life is meant to be lived in direct relationship to God’s purpose and plan. We are supposed to be asking questions like: Where is all of this going? How will it end? What happens after death? And the good news is – there are answers! These are things God has told us about. Things He WANTS us to know about with certainty.

Prophets, those simply who declare God’s mind us – constantly remind us of God’s program. They don’t make it up on the fly either. They get it from God’s Word. So it is John can come near to the close of his own revelation and mention that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Rev. 19:10) Everything that God is doing – all that is going on, has something to do with Jesus Christ – God’s eternal plan and purpose realized, unfolded and playing out in and through His person and work.

And it is in this context that lives get ordered well. Only in this context. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. When these cease to be realities, when we lose sight of what it means that we will all stand before the judgment bar of God and give an answer for the things done in these bodies – whether good or bad – when we fail to address sin and God’s remedy for it in Jesus Christ, and just let things be, we will cast off all restraint. Everything is up for grabs. Ethics and morals and justice are mere human conventions to be shaped and molded by the whim of the times.

Father, deliver us from lives that do not live with eternity in view. That neither strive after your promises, nor fear your judgments. Save us from the sucking vortex of the existential moment. Save us from ourselves.

Proverbs 28:19–20 (ESV) Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Hard work is NOT a dirty word. Yes, it is true that due to the Fall, there is pain and opposition in our labors – but these are not the natural attendants of labor. God made us to “keep” the Garden, to tend it and subdue the Earth. Sin made these labors painful in their fruitfulness. But there is an original joy and reward in labor and accomplishment that is inherent in labor as God gave it to us. A genuine sense of satisfaction in completion of a task we are meant to enjoy.

There are several quick observations on this passage worth noting.

First – Work with what God HAS given to you, rather than pining after and chasing what He hasn’t. There is fruitfulness in His appointments.

Whoever works “his” land, will have plenty of bread. Remaining faithful to what God has providentially given you, in the situations He has placed you – WILL bring forth solid sustenance for your soul. Neglect of these, or even worse – running after things which bear no real fruit or result – will nevertheless bring a result – barrenness. Has your soul been lean as of late? Is it possible you’ve been giving your time and effort to what has nothing to give you back? Wastes of time and effort? Eyes made to behold the beauty of Christ, are filled with images that are pleasant, but fleeting and useless. Ears filled with sounds that don’t do a single thing to enrich the heart or mind. The mind occupied with foolish, empty things – more tuned into celebrity gossip and commentators commenting on anything and everything – but not concentrating on anything with eternal spiritual value.

No wonder our souls are lean.

Second – Get rich schemes are anything but. They are contrary to God’s normative means of giving us prosperity WITH character. To want to be rich by means of a shortcut, is to reveal our greed. To want to waste our time in things which hold no true value – is to prevent our own selves from the very things we need and desire. These two always go hand in hand.

Again, this is not restricted to material things. It is just as true in spiritual matters. The one who will not apply him or herself to know the Word and seek God’s face will have a lean soul – period. We cannot ignore spiritual disciplines, and the hope to walk in the benefits of such as though they are somehow just dropped upon us from the sky. If we work hard at it, we’ll enjoy the fruit. If not, we will be impoverished.

Don’t “wish” you knew your bible better – study it. Don’t repine that you’re prayer life is dry – pray. If worship with the saints is boring – ask yourself – what am I putting into it? Give to the needy so as to check your own greed. Deny yourself something legitimate to live in freedom over the tyranny of self. Find a need and fill it. Seek out someone to share the Gospel with. Seek out other Christians for the specific purpose of discussing the goodness of Christ together and the nature of your growth in the Savior.

Such are the things that make for a fruitful, satisfying Christian walk. It will not come in instantaneous jolts from the heavens. It comes from consistent plowing, planting, watering, weeding, tending and then – harvesting. Get your hands dirty – and you’ll get your heart full. 

Matthew 4:1 (ESV) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Three short lessons from the temptation of Jesus.

1. Matthew 4:3–4 (ESV) And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Lesson: There is more to “life” than physical existence. One may die and yet live (John 11:25), and remain living, while dead to the life of God. The power of the temptation is in the threat of the loss of immediate and temporal life while obscuring the real danger – the loss of spiritual life.

2. Matthew 4:5–7 (ESV) Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Lesson: Nothing is more demonstrative of our faithlessness, as when we yield to trying to get Him to prove His love and care for us above the reality of His nature, and His Word.

3. Matthew 4:8–10 (ESV) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

Lesson: When we value anything God gives or promises above He Himself, we have become idolaters.

John 11:1 (ESV) Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Some observations on the greatest type of Easter – in light of our soon celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

2 / Tragedy and death come to all – even those whose devotion to Christ is superlative.

3 / The privilege of those who know Christ, is to appeal to Him on a very personal level.

4 / We tend to think more in terms of the IMMEDIATE, while God’s chief consideration is the ULTIMATE end of things.

5-6 / Even God’s inscrutable delays or what appear to be refusals to answer are the product of His great love for us.

9 / We cannot work with confidence until we are walking in the light of God’s plan and purpose and reality. But when we ARE about the Father’s business, stumbling is eliminated.

12 / To our God, death is little different than sleep. He is Lord of all!

14-15 / How carefully Christ’s Providences are laid out – that we might believe. How little notice we take of them.

21-22 / OUR failure to understand why God may have acted differently than we might have preferred – is no reason to doubt HIM.

21-26 / Our final hope is in the resurrection, not ease or profit or comfort in this life.

21-26 / Some in their grief, need but to be reminded of the promise of God and what is before us as Believers.

28-35 / Others in their grief need us simply to grieve with them. To be there in their pain. Doubt isn’t the problem – mere sorrow is.

33 / Our God is outraged at the effects of sin – He is not complacent . Though He be judge of all, He takes no delight in the death that is our just reward for sin. He hates the unbelief that brought sin and its effects about, and that continues to sustain it.

40 / Jesus locates the manifestation of the glory of God in the resurrection – in His final triumph over sin and death, in mercy and grace. This is what He wants us to know about Himself above all else.

41-42 / In love, God does not act merely for Himself – but to bless others. This is the nature of love – unselfish and giving.

44 / God’s care for us is not only in reversing death – but in setting us free from all sin has bound us to, and all the sin that is bound to us.

What a Savior!

At 11:10 last evening, we had the sweetest privilege, as my wife and me, my brother Ken and his wife Ruth, their daughters Elizabeth and Rebecca and their son Brad – witnessed their other son – 36 year old Barrett Leighton Ferguson step into the arms of Jesus.

We were listening to his favorite hymn at the time – “It is Well With My Soul”. As the song moved into the words: “My sin, O the bliss, of this glorious thought; My sin, not in part but the whole – was nailed to His cross and I bear it no more…” – Barrett stopped breathing and left us to enter fully into that “bliss”.

“Bear” as everyone called him, was one of the world’s truly gentle souls. As big and as strong as a bear, he had a deep, sweet tenderness that you could not miss if you met him for more than five minutes.

Physically, stomach cancer claimed his body. In reality, his Lord and Savior claimed His prize – the soul of the man He died to redeem on the cross of Calvary.

Barrett knew his Savior Jesus Christ, knew he was going home and from the first attempt at futile surgery to reverse his condition declared that whether or not he recovered from the cancer – whether he lived or died: “I win”. He won last night. Won his eternal reward by the grace of the One who loved him and died for him upon the cross two millennia ago to pay the price for your sins, mine, and Barrett’s.

Barrett fought his cancer – but won more than the whole world could ever give by trusting in the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

I leave you these words in his honor –

The Gentle Giant sleeps at last

Now shed this mortal coil

And wakes, anew in Christ’s blest arms

Full finished this life’s toil

And there, he bows, before the Throne

Of Christ he loved so dear

And marvels at the angels’ songs

He’s yearned so long to hear

In waves of glorious rapture’s swells

Convulsed with boundless joy

He weeps and sings and worships there

At beauty unalloyed

The vision of His God unveiled

Fills every livened sense

The Holiness of God now seen

Ecstatic reverence

The mind filled more than ever dreamed

Divinities laid bare

Transcending all he’d loved and spoke

His all – His Christ is there!

No shadows found in any room

No darkness anywhere

He flies from each new wonder, then

To more beyond compare

“He’s greater still!, He’s greater still!”

Is all his lips can say

As each unfolding moment brings

Him more of Heaven’s Day

In this his soul is now employed

Imbibing Heaven’s store

Till all who fell asleep in Him

Shall rise to die no more

The Gentle Giant sleeps till then

His battles fought and won

In sweet repose upon the breast

Of Christ, the Blessed Son

Proverbs 24:21–22 (ESV) “My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?”

Most Christians like to think of themselves as those who fear God. We want to acknowledge Him in His rightful reign and in His capacity as – God. Isn’t it strange then, that it is often the case among us (especially in our day and age) to find the very ones claiming to fear God – having little fear of those God puts in civil authority? I will confess my own severe failing in this regard.

While the Scripture nowhere requires that we agree with the policies or philosophies of governmental systems and those who hold offices within them – we are nevertheless to “fear” them, even as we fear God. For the same word in our text is applied to both. We do not fear them AS God, but we fear them as we recognize God’s appointment of them and His institution of them for our good. (Rom. 13:1-8)

It came as a surprise to me that we do not have the right to just lambast Government officials at will. Clearly – the Scripture envisions the Church speaking openly and directly to sin issues – no matter who is involved. Such is the case with John the Baptist rebuking Herod in Matt. 13:3-4. But there is nary a word of disdain to be found for the governing of Herod himself – though we know him to be a pagan, ungodly, self-seeking, unjust and scandalous man. Our arena is sin – not policy. Though at times, certainly, some policies may be sinful too.

More to the point of the text however – is that we are to have an attitude of fear toward offices, and thus the ones who occupy them – irrespective of how well they do or do not rule. We may well disagree – but we dare not disdain or verbally pummel them carelessly. Nor, are we to truck with those who do.

It is not permissible for us to refrain from failing to fear the authorities – only to take up for and support those who do. We are not to join with others who take it upon themselves not to fear those in authority and let them tongue-lash others vicariously in our place. Note why: “disaster will arise suddenly from THEM” – the ones who we think are championing our cause by berating government officials in our place. And who can tell the depth of the disaster that will fall on both of us if we join them in their folly.

This is a place where we simply must not let our freedoms, cross over into license. Beware how you speak of our elected officials. God is listneing.