ResponsiveReiding

Margin notes – The Proverbs 31 Man

March 31st, 2020

The paradigm which is often held up to women, is that they ought to be a “Proverbs 31 wife.” This is based on Proverbs 31:10-31. Precious little seems to be said about the 1st 9 verses and what is said to the King in being a godly ruler and man. The omission is tragic.

In truth, both halves apply more to the Church than they do to individuals. There is the 1st part where we find an interesting parallel between the Church ruling and reigning with Christ as a “royal (kingly) priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). And the 2nd where she is portrayed as His Bride (Rev. 21:9). The latter is the subject for another post. In this one, I’d like to focus on the 3 things mentioned about the King and how we ought to conduct ourselves in this role as those who are “seated with Him in the heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6). And there is much here for us to contemplate in that capacity.

Three things directly impact and cripple the Church’s effectiveness in its witness in the World: In effect, this is an exposition of 1 Thess. 5:19.

I. 2-3 / The Church cannot represent the Gospel to the World if we are a morally compromised Church. See 1 Cor. & the letters to the 7 Churches. How timely this word is in our sex-saturated culture, filled with erotic liberty trying to lay claim to being the supreme right, gender confusion and rampant eroticism. Speak against anyone’s sexual “rights” a you are immediately branded as biased, judgmental, out of step, repressive, homophobic, intolerant – you name it.

Note how vs. 3 demonstrates that the weakness of the Church, its ineffectualness is directly connected to its moral compromise. It deprives us of our strength – of our ability to work for the Kingdom and bring about true change. It is true in the individual and it is true in the Church at large.

Secret sexual compromise will rob you of the ability to minister to the lives of others with any effectiveness. The outward activity may seem to be OK, but the spiritual impact will be nullified.

We cannot control these things in the culture at large – but they are NOT to be part of the Church. Eph. 5:3

II. 4-7 / The Church cannot represent the Gospel to the World if we are not sober in our perceptions and judgments. vs. 5 clarifies – it is in being under the influence of anything that leads us to forget God’s decrees, and then to pervert the rights of the afflicted. And what greater perversion can we commit against those still afflicted by sin and guilt than distorting or depriving them of God’s Word? If we are drunk on consumerism, drunk on trends, drunk on worldly wealth, drunk on self-importance, drunk on political power, etc. The picture of drunkenness is one of the loss of clear perception and proper inhibition.

When this is the we cease being the Church in any effective sense. For this reason – the Priests in the OT were not allowed to drink anything alcoholic when ministering. Leviticus 10:1-11 This is critical to our role as Christ’s kingdom of PRIESTS on earth.

III. 8-9 / The Church cannot represent the Gospel to the World if we have lost a true sense of justice. For the Gospel is rooted in justice. The just wrath of God on the cross. God justifying the ungodly through Christ’s substitution so that His mercy is not wrought at the expense of His justice. Lose this – and the Gospel ceases to make any sense. Only if it is a means to clear the guilty and yet justice not be deprived of its proper due. Hence the false Gospel of today which says the death of Christ was not penal and substitutionary.

It is a grave concern in our day that I hear Christians looking for vengeance against the Muslims, or delighting in the fall of those who are of a different political bent. We are NEVER to rejoice at the fall of those who are our opponents. Rejoice at deliverance yes – but never dancing on the real or proverbial graves of those that oppose us and are eventually brought down.

Personal vengeance falls into this category as well.

We cease to be the Kingdom Christ has made us to be, we cease to rule and reign with Him when any of these is compromised.

Now it is these things which directly look to answer a question raised by Paul when he says “do not quench the Spirit.” Do we actually have power OVER the Spirit so that He cannot move freely among us? No. But we enter into things where as a result of our dabbling in them – the Spirit REFUSES to move among us.

When the Church finds itself just going through the motions. When people are not impacted by the preaching of the Word and gets diverted into other good – but distracting things (causes, programs, etc.) – you can be certain that one or more of these areas are in desperate need of correction.
Margin notes: Proverbs 30:7-9 Makes me wince

March 30th, 2020

7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Pr 30:7–9

Every time I revisit this passage, it makes me wince. And I am compelled to pray with the author as he does.

Note how the two things our writer is concerned about here merge in being kept back from deception by virtue of his own response to external conditions. This reveals my own heart so much.

Poverty lies to us – in that when we feel deprived, we begin to believe it is a wrong done to us by God and can easily justify profaning Him in theft. We’re sure we “deserve” more, or at least to not be in the situation we are in at that moment. And is gives us leave to do what perhaps we would not ordinarily do. But then…

Riches deceive by our foolish trust in them. We begin to feel at ease when we seem to have enough materially, and fail to guard our hearts carefully. Thinks are OK externally, so God must be pleased with me no matter how cold or indifferent my heart is toward Him at the moment – and so anything goes. Especially lack of diligence in regards to my soul.

It is this tendency toward self-deception our writer sees within himself, and prays that God will not allow him to fall victim to his own perverse inward sinfulness. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

And in this day of the proliferation of the “prosperity Gospel”, who would think to pray this way? In a world obsessed with success (humanly measured), performance, personal achievement and the notion that God seems to exist for me, to make my life what I desire it to be – what a rebuke this is! How it challenges us to examine our desires and priorities. To see if our goal is Christlikeness above comfort; freedom from sin instead of freedom to sin; and self-suspicion above self-confidence. But it seems as though we assume that if we want it, it must be valid and therefore it is God’s mandate to help us secure it. Whatever “it” may be.

Personally, abundance seems to be the more destructive to me. My tendency to take what is abundantly given, and to rest in it apart from the Giver, and to be greedy in it so as to want even more beyond what He has provided is a most pernicious facet of my own soul. But I have also known the sin of self-justifying theft when pinched by circumstances.

Heavenly Father, you know my heart better than I. You know my propensity to grow more stingy when I have abundance, and resentful when in lack. Grant me only what will be most in keeping with recreating the image of Christ within me, and honoring you in my life and decisions. Grant only what is most needful for me in your quest to rid me of sin, and make me like Jesus.
Going to Confession and Corona – Revisiting Proverbs 28:13

March 28th, 2020

Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

It struck me in re-reading this passage this morning, that it has – beyond the more obvious applications below – a particular application to us in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. If the lines of communication and fellowship with our God are not in a good place – then in times like these, faith will fail us. For we will not trust Him fully when we have been estranged from Him – for whatever reason. When we are not close to HIm due to unconfessed sin, then we will not have great confidence in His love and concern for us in the midst of our trials. Confidence and close fellowship go hand in hand. They cannot be divorced from one another. If your heart is failing you in the face of the Corona virus, it might be worth asking yourself if all is well between you and your God? And if not – there is no better place to begin the restoration than in prayer and confession. I’ll let the original post below help to fill in the blanks in this regard.

In the first place, this text no doubt refers to oneself. If we conceal our transgressions from ourselves, or seek to deny their real sinfulness or egregiousness, then we will seldom confess or forsake them. We must be honest with ourselves. Alas, we want to fool ourselves – to think better of ourselves than we really are. We do not want to own the depths of our sinfulness. This, oddly enough is true even of Christians. We, who once we have been justified have the freedom to search our darkest depths without fear of condemnation would still rather turn a blind eye and be gentle with ourselves and our sin. We though, in Christ, can at last afford to be brutally honest and absolutely ruthless with our sin. For it is in bringing our sins into the full light of day, first to ourselves, and then to our merciful and gracious God, that in confession we find the means to forsake them.

So…Been to confession lately? Go. There is little that so erodes the sweet intimacy of Christ’s Spirit with our own souls as that of carrying around the weight of unconfessed sins upon our shoulders. Nor am I alluding to great and heinous sins, but that myriad of “little things” that grows imperceptibly into a mountain of guilt and pain. As Protestants, we know full well that Christ is our great intercessor, and that we need no other man to fill that role. We are fully aware that we can come to the Father directly and without some invented intermediary. Yet I wonder how lax many of us become in the need for a consistent audience before God where we fail not to pour out the cache of sins and transgressions that we have tried to hide from our own eyes as well as from His? If God’s Word has ceased to speak to you; if the Spirit of God seems so distant and your own heart grown cold and unmoved – it just may be that you have forgotten to come and make your confession of failure before Him, that nothing might hinder His nearness. The truth is, He is never far away, but our sin can cloud the reality of His loving presence.

Beyond the obvious benefit of the clearing of the conscience and the relieving of the guilt designed to bring us back to the Cross, the confession of our sins regularly, fully, and graphically, prevents us from falling into false pride and a pretended self righteousness. It is a great preventative against an imagined spiritual superiority. No man who deals with his own sins before the throne of God candidly, thoroughly and regularly finds it easy to persecute others for theirs. In fact, it is almost certain that one has lost all touch with his own sinfulness when he takes up stones to punish other sinners personally. So it is that Galatians 6:1 admonishes “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Such gentleness issues from familiarity with and brokenness over your own sin first. Then you may be of use in recovering others. Until then, you will imagine yourself both judge, jury and all too often – executioner.

But there is a word in our text which draws us off to see a peculiar blessing attached to such confession that quite exceeds any guilty man’s hope. It is in that very last expression – “compassion.” I don’t know about you, but compassion is not what comes to my mind first when I think of the way that God deals with me concerning the sins I bring before Him. It is one thing to say that in coming, the Believer might be pleased to know that he will find forgiveness with God on behalf of Christ. Thoughts of confession usually find us running back to 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And that, rightly so. But our familiarity with the way men forgive can find us thinking that God’s forgiveness is a grudging one. Yes, we find mercy, but is there not a need to placate Him somehow as well? we wonder. Then, we might even venture to think beyond the mercy which withholds the punishment that is our due, and have faith to believe that He might even show us grace – unmerited favor – beyond mere mercy on Christ’s behalf as well. How the soul rejoices to be able take such comfort in those hours of grief for sin. But the Psalmist’s word here transcends grace and mercy both, and would have us fix upon a promise of compassion. It is one thing to hope for mercy, another to believe for grace, but what divine love is this, that when we sin in our filth against so holy a God as ours is – we come to expect compassion too? O is not His love for us beyond our finding out!

Beloved, this is one of those divine mysteries that fills the soul genuine wonder. Here is God’s Word to His people. So great is the change wrought in us by saving grace, that grief over sin – true grief for the commission of it, not for being caught in it – though not another human being know it, is a signal mark of regeneration. And it is to this that God our Father then comes and does not only forgive, does not only continue His blessing upon us, but in fact soothes the troubled conscience by His Spirit and the Word that we might be recovered from the very soul wounds we have inflicted upon ourselves. How can such a thing be? When He should rail against us in His just wrath – yet for Christ’s sake, He actually ministers unto us in the tenderest of compassions, that our sin might not swallow us up. Christian, if you would know mercy, if you would fully comprehend grace, then you must know that the Father’s forgiveness is not some grudging half dismissal still awaiting our ability to salve His holy anger and restore ourselves to Him. He has compassion on the pain we suffer for our own sins, and ministers to us according to the depths of His divine love.

This, is past understanding. Let not another moment go by, where you are carrying about the load of unconfessed sin upon your back. Call to Him. Come to Him. Confess it all, turn from it all back to His loving arms, be free of it all, and know the compassion of His great love for you in Christ.

Addendum: The secrecy of sin is its power to bind. What is forced underground, hides and cannot be easily rooted out. Father, give me a heart that detects and acknowledges my sin quickly. May there be nothing between us.

Addendum: The secrecy of sin is its power to bind. What is forced underground, hides and cannot be easily rooted out. The Writer here reminds us that breaking this secrecy is essential to “prospering” – which is nothing else than gaining victory over the motions of indwelling sin. Now the issue of “confession” raises questions about whom we might confess to, and under what circumstances. And it would seem that this is not a simple matter. Some things simply cannot profit others and thus are not fit for public consumption. In fact, too much said about shameful things to large, unprepared audiences can cause much positive harm. And it may be wise to look at this in terms of layers.

The very first layer is that confession must begin with SELF. Our God requires truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6). We must be absolutely honest with ourselves about our sin – facing it head on for what it really is, neither excusing nor soft-soaping it (nuancing our own conceptions by thinking of our own sin in therapeutic terms and without horror, disgust and the need to find freedom), not accommodating it or giving up on its need to be mastered. If we do not begin here, no true progress can be made. Here in fact, we may well appeal to God’s Spirit to open our eyes to our own sin and its depths – lest we rely only upon our own deceptive hearts. We WILL try to fool ourselves. Psalm 139:23 (ESV) Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

The next layer is confession to God. If we cannot speak openly, truthfully, brutally to Him about our sins, then there is no help to be had. For it is only by walking in the Spirit that we can be prevented from gratifying the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). If we cannot honestly and fully enlist His help, there is no other source of help to be had.

Whether or not a 3rd layer of confession to another Christian confidant or several, would seem to be dictated upon whether or not the first two have been utilized fully – and have dealt with the problem. If not, other measures are required. Appropriate brothers and/or sisters need to be brought into the situation to lend encouragement, accountability, advice, prayer and other support.

It is my considered opinion however that failure to truly live in the first two, is most often what requires the implementation of the 3rd. Unless of course, the sin is one against another, then, by all means, it needs to be confessed to them as absolutely essential.

Heavenly Father, give me a heart that detects and acknowledges my sin fully and quickly. May there be nothing between us on any level. May my heart be open and honest before you, looking to you and depending upon you till at last, by your grace, those areas which at present remain untamed and defiant of Christ’s Lordship, are brought to their knees before you.
The wounds of a friend – Proverbs 27:5-6

March 27th, 2020

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

5-7 These three verses show three different aspects of the same concept. At the bottom of it all is the reality that the pain of being totally ignored is so great, that one would rather have a negative reaction from others, than no reaction at all.

Many a parent withholds (for whatever reasons) signs of true affection and acceptance from their children. And little will goad them more into misbehavior than such an environment. For at least scoldings and punishments make them noticed. At least then they have some sense of impact and that their presence is not meaningless to others. But when ignored, they are bereft of the love they so desperately desire – and thus to a starving soul, even the bitterness of a rebuke is at least something – even if it isn’t honey. It’ll do. The love may indeed be there – but if it is not expressed, do not be surprised if the child (and even later – the adult who has been raised this way) is found repeating outrageous behavior so as to be interacted with on an emotional level.

Now because this is true, such souls are liable to be drawn away into the snares of wicked people who would consume them like prey – because they will pour on profuse kisses where none have been before. We make them sitting ducks for sexual predators and others who would abuse them in relationships. The wounds of a “friend” are faithful. We know instinctively when we are being corrected in loving correction and when not. And if we correct our children only because they annoy us or embarrass us or disrupt us, the emotional vacuum left will indiscriminately draw in others who will take the utmost advantage of them by holding out the carrot stick of affection.

The one who is well-loved and accepted and KNOWS it, because it has been communicated and demonstrated, will be guarded against the predators. But when left emotionally emaciated by their parents (husbands and wives be warned here too), will seek to fill that void with anything they can – anything or anybody that pretends to offer to meet that need. They will gravitate to the most toxic people, if there appears the slightest promise of genuine affection there.

This is precisely where John 3:16 comes into play. How is my soul to be fully satisfied in the love of God? In the cross! He SO loved us, that He gave His only Son. He did not love us from afar, silently or without demonstration – He sent His Son. He sent His Son to die – in our place. To take our wrath. To rebuke us for our sin, but in such a way that His faithfulness in love abounds. To make a way TO Him, the way that had been shut up by our sin in the Garden. To give us Heaven’s Sweetness, that we might not try to satiate our desires by consuming the pig’s pods of this world. And if we will take our fill of Him – how quickly desires for sin and the attempts to satisfy our souls on the dregs of this life will lose their attractiveness to us. We are fully accepted in the Beloved. And loved beyond measure. And that, in full display at Calvary.
Through the Word in 2020 / March 25 – Bookends

March 25th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 28:11-20; Romans 16; Psalm 71, Deuteronomy 33-34.

We’ve come to the end of our readings for March, and have a few days of catch-up time before we move on into April. And we’ve seen an awful lot so far. If you’ve kept us, you’ve finished the entire Pentateuch. Many are the Christians who sadly have never read those first five books of Moses completely – even though they are foundational to everything which comes after. We’re also nearly 1/2 the way through the Psalms. Perhaps you’ve read some you’d not visited before. You’ve completed the Gospel of Matthew and the magisterial letter of Paul to the Romans. And it is to Romans I’d like to turn our attention briefly this morning.

Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit built a very interesting feature into this letter – bookends. In opening this letter in Ch. 1 he describes his Apostolic call this way: Romans 1:5 (ESV) — “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith”. Then in Ch. 16 he closes the letter stating: Romans 16:25–26 (ESV) — “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.”

Did you catch the bookends? He is an apostle to bring about “the obedience of faith” and the Gospel revelation itself – by the command of God is to bring about “the obedience of faith.”

The obedience of faith. What is it?

And quite simply it is 2 things – 1. It is a call to obey the Gospel, by believing it. Rom 10:16 cites the problem of the Jews as being: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” John picks up that same theme in 1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” All of which springs from Jesus Himself who makes believing the Gospel foundational to repentance itself: Mark 1:14–15 (ESV) — “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” To fail to believe the Gospel, is to remain in rebellion against God. Our first sin in Adam was in not believing God – that He was good in His prohibition against the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To not believe that we would die if we disobeyed. Indeed, we are responsible to believe everything He has revealed. This is why faith is the means He has appointed to bring us to salvation – we must repent of our unbelief, and believe Him. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness. This is salvation 101.

2. The obedience of faith is a lifestyle that corresponds to what God has revealed. Faith ultimately is believing what God has said is true, and ordering our lives according to that truth. James tells us unequivocally that one who says they believe but does not live accordingly, has a false faith, a faith that cannot save. Paul is not interested in jus getting people to sign on to his concepts – he is committed to bringing people into discipleship to Jesus Christ. To be whole, integrated people. People whose beliefs and lives correspond.

So how about you today? Have you believed the gospel? Fantastic! And having believed what God has revealed, are you endeavoring to live a life that corresponds to what you believe?

I pray so.

See you in April. At which time I hope to be bringing you these installments via video as well. Stay tuned.
Through the Word in 2020 / March 24 – A Timely Prayer

March 24th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 28:1-10; Romans 15:14-33; Psalm 70, Deuteronomy 32.

What an appropriate Psalm and prayer is this for us today in the midst of our present crisis. Let’s say we pray through it together. As C.H. Spurgeon wrote on this very passage: “It is most fitting that we should day by day cry to God for deliverance and help; our frailty and our many dangers render this a perpetual necessity.” And has not the current distress of Covid-19 brought is face to face with our frailty? So it is we pray to a God who suffers no frailty in the least – and who is every strong to meet us in our need.

Psalm 70:1–5 (ESV) — 1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!

Yes, Heavenly Father – make haste to meet us in this hour – HURRY! The need is great. So many are suffering, not only around us and in our own country, but all over the World. Do not delay in providing healing, medicine, cures, recovery and the comfort only your presence can give. Hurry above all to bring people to yourself by means of showing us just how frail we are – and need to turn to you for your saving grace.

2 Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 3 Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!”

Father, our enemies right now are many. In the physical, they are the viruses which are invisible, but deadly. Impossible to detect unaided. Found everywhere. Multiplying. They do not raise swords or guns against us but invade our very bodies and ravage us from the inside. Bring them down. Crush these enemies. Stem the tide and then turn it back completely. Let the legacy of it be that this was just a minor thing when all is said and done. And those Father – those who would capitalize on the misery, pain, suffering and needs which afflict us at this time – stop their hand. Arrest their evil deeds. Turn them back from the evil they seek to do. And protect people from their wicked schemes.

4 May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”

Cheer the hearts of your own Children today – in the very midst of the storm. Make those who know that Jesus is their refuge rejoice and be glad IN YOU! That they are yours. That Jesus’ blood has been shed on our behalf. That our sin is forgiven, your Spirit indwells, the promise of the resurrection is just before us and eternal life awaits. Keep us mindful that this is but a short season in anticipation of the Great and Glorious Day of the Lord to come. And that this season will end soon – and give way to everlasting glory. No matter what it seems like in these hours, by your indwelling Spirit remind us of the wonder of your salvation that our hearts and lips may perpetually say: “God is great!” Greater than our sin. Greater than physical life. Greater than Covid-19. Greater than our economy. Greater than all things. God is great!

5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!

But Father, you know full well how poor and truly needy we are. Especially those who do not yet know your saving grace. They need your Gospel. They need your Spirit to convict of sin and righteousness and judgment. They need the gift of faith. And we all need your merciful ministrations to us in every aspect of life right now. O God! You – YOU, are our true help and our deliverer. So once again we plead – do not delay! Hurry! We need you to intervene this very hour. Yes, Heavenly Father – make haste to meet us – HURRY!
Through the Word in 2020 / March 23 – God commissions a song

March 23rd, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 27:57-66; Romans 15:1-13; Psalm 69:19-36, Deuteronomy 29-31.

God is no idiot. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And in this morning’s reading in Deuteronomy, He does a remarkable thing for Israel. Moses is about to die. Joshua is about to take leadership. And the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land after their Wilderness wanderings. But before Moses exits the scene, He is commissioned by God to compose a song and teach it to the Nation. The contents of that song are found in the following chapter in the 1st 43 verses. But what draws our attention today is the reason behind its composition and dissemination:

Deuteronomy 31:20 (ESV) — For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.

Note first the problem – It is not poverty or pain which most often leads us away from the Lord, but prosperity. How unable we are to suffer it. For when we succeed, we gloat and grow proud. When we have much, we grow self-sufficient and satisfied. When we are without struggle or conflict, we grow addicted to ease and apathetic. Lord save us from our sinful responses to blessing! We are, I am, so wicked. Don’t we each find this tendency within us?

Second, note that God in His goodness made preparation for that day. This song was meant to keep them on their guard against the pull of this sin which is so readily crouching at our door every day. And in the absence of that song, it is often personal trials or massive incursions like the Corona Virus which ought to wake us up to this tendency. How comfortable we become. How secure in think all will just remain as it is. How foolish to rest in external prosperity or to imagine that God gave His Son to preserve it for us – to preserve “the American way of life.” He died for our sin, not our comfort. For our guilt, not to promote luxury and ease.

Thirdly, and though it is in the next chapter – we see the glory of this song. First it calls Israel to recall its past and God’s great deliverance for them from Egypt. Next it recounts His faithfulness in the Wilderness, in the face of their rebellion, complaining and hardheartedness. But last, it reminds them how willing He is to forgive them when they repent, and the deep desire to heal, restore and bless them. As He is today for you and me.

He is so faithful – when we are not. So good when we err. So desirous of our eternal good, when we are so fixed on the temporal. What a good and blessed God we serve.
Through the Word in 2020 / March 22 – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

March 22nd, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 27:45-56; Romans 14; Psalm 69:1-18, Deuteronomy 27-28.

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” These are some of the most enigmatic words in the whole of Scripture. And there is no end of speculation on exactly what they mean.

Surely, Jesus knew He was not abandoned in totality even as in His final gasp He said “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” He knew His Father was still the One to whom He could and should commit Himself. He knew even as He bore our guilt that He was fulfilling the Father’s will – no matter how painful it was.

So what then DOES this cry mean?

Whatever else, it cannot mean less than this.

1. Father – take note of why you forsake me now, that those who you have given me might be one with us. Remember your plan.

2. And more, since these words are quoted from Psalm 22 – with David in that Psalm He is saying: I feel so forsaken, yet I know the good outcome of it all. I know as that Psalm goes on that “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” and that even though “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue sticks to my jaws” – yet! “From You comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear Him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord.” In the last day “they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.”

And lastly –

3. Ah my Father – what a thing you are doing in this! This is why you have forsaken me, and it fills my broken heart with the joy of this salvation accomplished.

What a redeemer is Jesus the Christ.

My God, My God, why had you forsaken Him?

For lost sinners like me.
Through the Word in 2020 / March 21 – Opposite ends of the Spectrum

March 21st, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 27:27-44; Romans 12:13; Psalm 68, Deuteronomy 22-26.

Two of today’s readings strike me on opposite sides of the spectrum. The record of Jesus’ humiliation in Matthew, and the wonder of God’s equitable system in Israel out of Deuteronomy.

If you’ve never spent much time reading the chapters in Deuteronomy we have today, and a few before and after – you’ve cheated yourself. The brilliance of the laws God gave cannot help but cheer you. They are so fair, so equitable. So pleasant to contemplate. They speak to a life of foundational love – much like what is spoken of in our Romans reading. Caring for lost goods with an eye toward restoring them to their rightful owner. Building your house so as to protect others from possible injury. The crime of manstealing. Mercy and shelter for refugees. Provision for the poor. The requirement to deal fairly both in business and at home in our familial relationships. What would make for sweeping prison reform and an overhaul of our entire judicial system if we would only hear it. On and on these chapters drip with wisdom, compassion, justice and blessing. They ought to greatly inform the Christian mind in their principles today.

On the other end of the spectrum is the account of Jesus’ crucifixion in Matt. 27. Yes, it is the very foundation of our salvation – but I cannot read this portion without it piercing my own heart. How humiliated He was. So mocked, mistreated and shamed. Even now the tears well up in my eyes again. What He suffered for us. What He went through. What He endured as His royal dignity was as soiled as fallen humanity was capable of doing. And this, to purchase rebellious and wicked men and women like you and me. To pay the price for your sin and mine The spectacle is truly stunning. And I think we pass over it way too quickly and unfeelingly. We need to pause at passages like these and let them really sink in. In less than 20 verses we are met with a spectacle of eternal importance, saturated with injustice, cruelty, human fallenness at its very worst, and the display of grace, humility and willingness do whatever it would take to secure our salvation. Stop at that passage. Wonder. Weep. And rejoice.

As we ponder both of these passages, we are once again allowed to glimpse the glory of God and the God of glory in 2 very different but awe-inspiring ways. His grace toward His people both in His societal framework, and in His saving wonder. How He blesses in every way possible. From the most mundane aspects of life, to the deepest needs of our eternal souls – He invades every part of human existence in love, mercy, compassion and grace.

What a wondrous God we serve.
Through the Word in 2020 / March 20 – Interpreters of omens

March 20th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 27:11-26; Romans 12:9-21; Psalm 67, Deuteronomy 18-21.

While it is always true, when something like the Covid-19 pandemic breaks out – we suddenly realize how fragile our way of life is, and how helpless we are apart from God. These are troubling notions. And people, even Christians, seek relief virtually anywhere they might find it. We want comfort and reassurance. We want answers. Why did this happen? How long will it last? What measures are being taken to resolve it? Will we ever get back to normal? Can we prevent the like of it from ever happening again? And – the million-dollar question: What does it mean?

And it is to that last question even more than the rest – our text in Deuteronomy speaks. Specifically: Deuteronomy 18:10–14 (ESV) — 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

The internet right now is bristling with prognosticators of all kinds trying to interpret the “omen” of Covid-19. Trying to attach its arrival to one specific sin, or that it is the absolute harbinger of an eschatological event of cosmic importance. And I am amazed, truly amazed at how many are doing this in the name of Christ. The Corona virus is a sign of this or that or the other thing.

Which sin in particular might we cite here as the culprit? Which nation is the one to really blame? There are so many to choose from. Abortion? Unrestrained sexuality (which Romans tells us is already a judgment, not something which is awaiting judgment)? Greed? Violence? Self-sufficiency? The list is endless. But as our text notes, it is the very activity of trying to read an event like this as an omen that is the problem.

How wrapped up God’s people are, listening to the political pundits and prognosticators. They are NOT to be the source of our information in this regard. Forget what they think they can divine – even if right at times. Skip it. Listen to God’s Word and be about THAT business.

Even more, God Himself tells us the better course: Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) — 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—Which Acts 3:22 and 7:27 tells us Jesus. LISTEN TO CHRIST! Beloved, don’t run to other sources that portend or pretend to be able to interpret the omen(s) – occupy yourself with knowing what The Christ has said and revealed. Master that. Know that intimately. Fill your heart and mind with the One who is the very Word of God Himself. And rest there. He is our hope and salvation. He is the truth. Look to Jesus. Plug your ears to the omen interpreters. For as our text also notes, this is the way of the pagan nations, and an abomination in God’s eyes.

Matthew 17:5 (ESV) — He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”