Honour the KING!

Sometimes I think about how different life would be if the country I lived was ruled by a king and all people were subject to him.  Needless to say, it would be so different from what I am accustomed to it is impossible to fully grasp the implications.  In Bible times, kingdoms flourished or were run into the ground due to how the king ruled.  Subjects in large part were at the mercy of their king who held their lives in his hand with God-given authority to administer justice upon evildoers and to reward faithful servants.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a man who was not at all squeamish to rule with unchallenged might and power.  Those who served him well could be promoted, but any who offended or opposed him would be destroyed immediately.  The king was used to having his way, and when he gave a command the wise among his people took him seriously.  This was evident after he made an image of gold in the plain of Dura, and he commanded all his officials to gather before him.  He then informed his subjects when they heard the sounds of instruments, they were to bow in worship before the image he set up.  He warned all people, nations and languages represented among his people that if they did not bow, they would be immediately cast into a fiery furnace.

Of all the people who gathered, there were three of the children of Israel who refused to bow.  Chaldeans approached the king and dobbed them in, and Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and rage at their insolence.  He summoned them before him and gave them a final opportunity to comply with his command and worship his image.  The king repeated the consequence for disobedience, that they would be thrown into a burning, fiery furnace:  "And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"  In Nebuchadnezzar's eyes, he was greater than any god:  his word would stand.  When they refused, Nebuchadnezzar heated the furnace 7 times hotter, and threw them into the furnace.  The flames immediately killed the men who ushered them to the furnace, and the king was without concern.  He was king and did as he pleased.

Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar rose to his feet in amazement.  He asked, "Didn't we throw 3 men in the fire?", and so they had.  Daniel 3:25 reads, "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."  Nebuchadnezzar approached the furnace and called his servants by name, and they walked out of the furnace without injury or even smelling like smoke.  Daniel 3:28 tells us the response of the king:  "Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!"  Nebuchadnezzar and all his subjects witnessed something remarkable, for the king's word had been frustrated (KJV says "changed") by the God of Israel.  Unlike the image of gold Nebuchadnezzar set up, the God of Israel is the almighty who sets up kings and deposes them, the God who speaks and it comes to pass without fail.

This passage contains a glorious truth for Christians whether we live in a monarchy or a parliamentary democracy:  our good God is able to overrule all kings, governors and governments to accomplish His purposes.  May our lives provide a testimony God is worth obeying and serving, that we will honour the commands of our God and Saviour rather than living to please men.  God commands us--in the New Testament, by the way--to pray for those in government and to submit to those God has put in authority as our service to God (1 Peter 2:13-15).  1 Peter 2:17 reads, "Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."  Blessed be God who delivers His servants who trust in Him, and let us yield our bodies as living sacrifices to Him that He would be honoured always.

Demonstration of Love

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:7-8

One thing I enjoyed at the San Diego County Fair was to watch demonstrations of various products.  People crowded around a fellow with a headset who demonstrated the sharpness of a knife by slicing a tomato, and then sawed the sole of a boot in half and drew it across raw metal to produce shavings.  People were amazed when he went back to the tomato and sliced it perfectly.  People were drawn in by the demonstration, and seeing the sharpness of the knives before their eyes prompted people to pull out their wallets to buy the wonder blades.

When Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, all sorts of people flocked to see the Roman execution.  As they watched the proceedings--cruelly designed for agonising pain and humiliation--people mocked and reviled Jesus.  Matthew 27:39-43 reads, "And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." ⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. ⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Those who condemned Jesus as a blasphemer blasphemed Him, and they taunted Him to demonstrate His divinity by coming down from the cross.  They threw His words they did not believe back in His face, telling Him to save Himself to prove Himself a Saviour.

The doubters, haters and mockers said they would believe Jesus was the Son of God and King of Israel if He did their bidding and came down from the cross.  They had watched Jesus do countless miracles and did not believe:  why would they believe their own eyes if Jesus bowed to their will?  Their temptations have a satanic ring to them, and Jesus submitted to the will of the Father instead.  Jesus demonstrated He was the Son of God and the King of Israel by staying on the cross, shedding His blood and dying.  What Jesus did in willingly dying was greater than the works He did in His life, for it preceded Him taking up His life again--by raising the temple of His body in a glorified state--three days later.  Jesus proved He is a Saviour by dying on the cross, rising from the dead and ascending to the Father just as He said.

In his letter to Roman Christians, Paul explained the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was actually a demonstration of God's love towards sinners.  The love God demonstrated was not merely kind sentiment or emotional affection but sacrificial love in providing atonement for sinners by His shed blood.  We also see the effectiveness of Jesus' sacrifice demonstrated by His resurrection from the dead.  There was no greater price God could give that sending His only begotten Son Jesus to die for lost sinners.  No one can put a price on the precious blood of Jesus Christ that was spilled so enemies of God could be redeemed and made children of God.  Have you ever seen a more compelling demonstration of love that Jesus on the cross who died for sinners?  God does not bid us to pull out our wallets to obtain salvation, for He offers it freely by His grace.  By His love, Jesus paid our price in full.

The Cat Saga

When we moved into our current house, there was a sandy strip beside the driveway that evidently had become the communal litterbox for the neighbourhood cats.  Come to think of it, the first week we were living in the house (which had been vacant for some time) one of our neighbour's cats deposited an unpleasant surprise right in the middle of the pavers leading to the front door--as if to say, "You might be moving in, but this is my territory."  Living in this house has provided a crash-course of learning firsthand the tenacity of cats to mark their spot in vile, smelly ways.

Shortly after the BBQ and smoker were set up on the back porch, I began to notice dirty puddles and spray marks on the covers.  At first I thought little of it, that condensation had dripped from dusty covers.  After I cleaned the mess from the BBQ covers and tiles, I was surprised that in a night or two there were even more marks--and that cats were the culprits!  It was then I declared war on the habits of our neighbourhood felines and took action to prevent them from freely accessing areas where they relieved themselves.  After the adjacent retaining wall was completed, I filled in the area with decorative rocks to prevent cats from accessing it.  I purchased an ultrasonic "CatWatch" that is motion activated and designed to protect birds and gardens from cats.  Humans and birds cannot hear the tone, but cats can.  I was pleased to see this had an immediate effect, and I foolishly assumed the cat saga was over.

The cats then began to favour using the silty soil out of sight behind the bins, so I repositioned the CatWatch to move them on from their new dumping grounds.  This very morning, after moving a recycle bin to the porch, a cat decided to slink behind it--carefully out of sight--and poop on the porch tile!  So now the bins have been moved to a new location so the CatWatch can train the cats there are no safe havens on the porch.  I have been impressed and surprised by the tireless tenacity of those critters to find a way to dump their refuse all around the property.  It is at this point I could give up and allow the cats to have their way, but I am determined to win the war.  The appearance of disturbed soil, swarming flies, spray marks and puddles tell me to press the advantage and not lose ground gained with great effort.

The cat saga bears similarity to sanctification from sin in the life of a believer.  Like cats driven by instinct, we naturally tend to go our own way and do our own thing.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we ought to recognise the uncleanness of our sin--the bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts, cursing, addictions, lying, greed, selfishness and unbelief--all the works of the flesh Jesus died to cleanse us from and give us victory over.  When attitudes, words and actions that mark our old life spring to the surface, we go to the heart of the problem to confess and repent of sin and do what pleases God.  Slowly but surely, we will progress as we learn more of our sinfulness and our Saviour's goodness and grace.  A cat problem or a rat or roach infestation is not going to "go away" on its own, and besetting sins have great tenacity and treachery we must deal with personally.  Take decisive and diligent action to remove safe havens for sin in your life.  Don't give up, dear Christian, for we are victorious in Jesus. 

God Draws the Driven

This morning's sermon contained a warning from God to the children of Israel who departed from God through idolatry without repentance.  Through the prophet the LORD said in Jeremiah 27:14-15, "Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for they prophesy a lie to you; ¹⁵ for I have not sent them," says the LORD, "yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you."  False prophets were saying articles taken from the temple would soon be returned and they would not serve Nebuchadnezzar.  God said if His people believed the lie and refused to submit to the yoke He fashioned for them--to serve the king of Babylon--He would forcefully drive them from the land He gave them as an inheritance.  If they would not submit to God's word voluntarily, they would be driven to go where they did not want to.  This prompted my consideration of this pattern in Scripture.

As those redeemed by faith in Jesus, Christians are provided an incredible privilege of a relationship with the living God.  God created this world and all that is in it, and His desire is for people He created in His image to know Him, to respond to His love demonstrated to us while we were yet sinners.  We observe this from the very beginning.  After God created Adam, he had fellowship with God as they walked together in the Garden of Eden.  But sin resulted in the spiritual death of Adam, Eve and their offspring.  Adam and his wife were sent out of the garden as it says in Genesis 3:24:  "So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."  Adam disobeyed God by eating from the tree, and thus he was driven from his dwelling place and rest.

God called Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and without realising it Nebuchadnezzar was God's chosen instrument to bring judgment upon nations--including His own erring people.  Though God established Nebuchadnezzar on the throne, when he was lifted up with pride (having ignored God's warning through Daniel's interpretation of his troubling dream), God drove him made and he was driven from men for 7 years.  Daniel rehearsed the situation years later in Daniel 5:20-21:  "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹ Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses."  When Nebuchadnezzar's sense returned to him, he praise the God of Israel who restored him to his throne and former glory.

After Jesus entered Jerusalem, He cleansed the temple in Matthew 21:12-13:  "Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.¹³ And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Jesus did not show partiality between buyer or seller when He drove them out of the temple, for though they had a thriving business they had no business being in God's house due to their iniquity.  In a short time Jesus was lifted up on Calvary and draw all people to Himself as Messiah. These passages illustrate well how idolatry, idolatry, pride, greed and sin brings awful consequences--even being driven from the presence of the LORD.  The remedy for our sin is to return to the LORD in humble repentance, to take Christ's yoke upon us by submission to Him and walking with Him.

God has always expressed desire to draw near to His people and dwell among them, whether it was in the Garden of Eden, in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, when God established His people in Canaan, in the tabernacle and temple, and by Christ coming who gives the Holy Spirit who indwells us.   When people meet in Jesus' name, there He is in the midst.  God's desire is for us to abide with Him forever (for He has freely offered eternal life for all who believe in Jesus), and our rebellion, unbelief and sin prevents us from enjoying the fellowship and closeness God supplies today by His grace.  God is faithful and loving to always draw those driven away for sin to Himself.  Let us take to heart and put into practice the exhortation of James 4:8-10:  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."