Marching Forth!

I watched television shows like Matlock starring Andy Griffith as a kid, and there were times in court when the judge "overruled" an objection from an attorney.  I observed the judge also had authority to "sustain" an objection, which meant the question asked or evidence presented was to be disregarded according to the objection.  In the Law of Moses,  we see God granted authority to a father or husband to release his daughter and/or wife from a rash oath.  However, there was no such protection for a man who rashly made an oath before the LORD:  he was required to make good on his word. Numbers 30:3-5 says, " Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD , and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth,  4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.  5  But ...

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane concerning His disciples in  John 17:14-17 :  " I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  15   I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  16   They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  17   Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth ."  Those who are born again by faith in Jesus Christ are not of this world, even as Jesus is not of this world.  Though Jesus would soon be received into heaven after His death and resurrection, He did not leave His people in a vulnerable state.  Our LORD did not pray we be taken out of the world, but that His redeemed followers be kept and preserved from evil in the world.  The child of God need not assume a defensive or combative posture in Christ, for tho...

We can be troubled sometimes by things we see and hear.  We see prices go up, and this does not please us.  When we hear about big things like ongoing wars or relatively small things as people gloating over the team we support losing again, it does not fill us with happiness.  I have noticed we can also be troubled or feel frustrated over what we do not see.   Jeremiah 8:15 illustrates this:  " We looked for peace, but no good came; a nd for a time of health, and there was trouble! "  Many times I have heard Christians lament the lack of seeing spiritual revival, as if them seeing or hearing of revival is of primary importance.  We are not always able to find what we are looking for.  Even when we have the rare experience of obtaining our desire, it can leave much to be desired. In all seasons of life, in good times and bad, the child of God does well to remember to look to Jesus and consider Him.  This is put forth as a remedy to ...

Recently at a worship night, I was encouraged by a reading from God's word in  Jeremiah 17:7-8 :   " Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD , a nd whose hope is the LORD .  8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, w hich spreads out its roots by the river,  a nd will not fear when heat comes;  b ut its leaf will be green,  a nd will not be anxious in the year of drought,  n or will cease from yielding fruit ."  Those who place confidence in God and rely upon Him will be most blessed, for the LORD is faithful and His promises sure.  The God who created the heavens, earth and all that is in them knows those who trust Him, and He rules over all the affairs of mankind.  He is never rocked by financial struggles, political intrigue or health issues.  He is not distracted or forgetful, for He is ever faithful to protect, provide and guide. Similar to Psalm 1 , Jeremiah wrote one who trusts in the LORD is compared ...

There are some who think, "Out with the old, and in with the new!" and apply this rationale to the Old and New Testament in the Bible.  All of God's word is important for us to read and study.  Since Jesus is the central figure in all Scripture, the Old Testament often points to the New and the New Testament builds on and expands upon the Old.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness that God's people would be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ). This week I read a passage in the Gospel of John that quoted from the book of Isaiah and provided insight by identifying Jesus as God he saw.  John wrote many did not believe Jesus was the Messiah or God in  John 12:37-41 :  " But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,  38  that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spok...

Today was the "Chemical CleanOut" day for our local council, and people are invited to go to the Sydney Motorsport Park to drop off what is considered "problem" waste.  There are many locations where used motor oil can be dropped off to be recycled for free, but I had some petrol contaminated oil that could not be recycled.  After church I went out of my way to swing by the motorsport park in the last hour to drop off the oil and a few old tins of paint that were left in our garage by the previous owners. As I drove away from the motorsport park--free of all chemical waste that had been sitting in my garage for years--I considered times previous I acquired items or waste products that were illegal to throw away and difficult to offload.  When I worked previously at a church, our storage area had become the dumping grounds for an incredible volume of paint that became my problem.  I remember when it became illegal in California to throw fluorescent tubes into dumpste...

" You are worthy, O Lord, t o receive glory and honour and power;  f or You created all things,  a nd by Your will they exist and were created ." Revelation 4:11 John witnessed 24 elders worship the LORD God and proclaim His worthiness, having creating all things by His will as it pleased Him.  While the modern use of "pleasure" leans almost entirely into involving the gratification of fleshly desires and senses, Webster recognised it also means, " What the will dictates or prefers; will; choice; purpose; intention; command ."   Isaiah 44:28 is cited as an example:  "... Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, a nd he shall perform all My pleasure,  s aying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built,"  a nd to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid ."  God affirmed King Cyrus would gladly do all God's pleasure in fulfilling His command to send Jews back from captivity to Jersualem and provide materials to rebuild the templ...

I have been reading through the R.A. Torrey classic, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit , and it is an illuminating resource with great benefit for all Christians.  One aspect I have enjoyed thoroughly is how Torrey illuminated the deity of the Holy Spirit by referencing Old Testament verses where God plainly spoke and the New Testament attributed the quote specifically to the Holy Spirit.  While the Old Testament is God's word, passages from the New Testament help us to understand more perfectly what was being said and to apply timeless truth personally. For instance, Isaiah 6:8-9 related when the prophet heard God speak:  " Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send,  a nd who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."  9  And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand;  k eep on seeing, but do not perceive .'"  The Lord (Adonay) spoke to Isaiah, and Paul attributed ...

As Jesus and His disciples were near the temple in Jerusalem, they saw a man begging who was born blind.  Jesus spat on the ground, mixed it with dirt to make mud, smeared it on the blind eyes of the man, and told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.  The text in John 9 says matter-of-factly he went, washed and came back seeing. When people who previously knew the man born blind saw him seeing, they could not believe it was the same person.   John 9:8-9 states, " Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he. "  Having eyes able to see completely changed the man's appearance to the point he was unrecognisable!  Some were convinced it was the same man, yet others insisted this man merely resembled him.  The man who was previously blind admitted he was indeed the man born blind, the ...

In a sermon on Hosea 8 , C.H. Spurgeon made an excellent point he saw no need for him to resort to worldly arguments in an attempt to "prove" to skeptics God wrote the Bible--though he could supply many persuasive reasons from the Scripture to demonstrate this.  He said, " I am a Christian minister, and you are Christians, or profess to be so; and there is never any necessity for Christian ministers to make a point of bringing forward infidel arguments in order to answer them. It is the greatest folly in the world. Infidels, poor creatures, do not know their own arguments till we tell them, and then they glean their blunted shafts to shoot them at the shield of truth again ."  Since faith in God and submission to Him is a matter of reason and the will, facts alone will not persuade a stubborn soul.  They will often choose to cling to blunted arguments than surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as LORD.  Praise the LORD what is impossible for mankind is possible wit...

Last night at Bible study we briefly discussed the interaction between Eve and Satan in the Garden of Eden.  As the devil questioned and denied the truth of God's word, they conversed without interruption.  One might think Adam was caught up in work elsewhere in the garden, and Satan decided to seize the opportunity to tempt Eve because her husband was away.   Genesis 3:6 shows this was not the case:  " So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate ."  It seems Adam was standing there with Eve and let her do all the talking--when he should have boldly spoken and affirmed the truth of all God said. Because Adam was unwilling to take a stand in the fear of God and obedience to Him, without a word he went along with Eve and ate from the single tree God forbade him to eat.  Looking back to th...

In Jeremiah 51 , God called idols falsehoods because they had no breath in them.  Craftsmen carved the appearance of a mouth on images people worshipped that could not speak, had ears that could not hear and feet that could not walk anywhere.   Psalm 115:8 reads, " Those who make them are like them; s o is everyone who trusts in them ."  Those who make idols are as powerless and spiritually lifeless as their images, and so is everyone who trusts in them.  As idols are unable to prevent being looted or destroyed, those who bow before idols will find themselves powerless to protect or save themselves. While Moses was on Mt. Sinai and received the 10 Commandments written by the finger of God, a very different scene played out in the camp.  The high priest Aaron was compelled by restless people to make a graven image he set up as the god who brought them out of the land of Egypt--and violated the 1st and 2nd commandments.  They were to have no God but t...

" Without counsel, plans go awry, b ut in the multitude of counselors they are established ." Proverbs 15:22 King Solomon was a wise man who realised the benefits of good counsel.  He wrote in  Proverbs 24:5-6 , " A wise man is strong, y es, a man of knowledge increases strength;  6 for by wise counsel you will wage your own war, a nd in a multitude of counselors there is safety ."  The Hebrew word for "safety" here is also translated, " help, deliverance, salvation and victory ."  Safety is more than being protected from harm but to be successful in whatever you plan and set your mind to do.  If we consider our own experiences, it is likely we would have been helped by running our ideas or plans past others, waiting to seek expert opinion, before we launched into projects that ended up wasting time and money--or perhaps never came to fruition. Democratic rule relies upon this principle, that the views of the majority will best serve the major...

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would guide His disciples into all truth and explained concerning the Holy Spirit in  John 16:14 :  " He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you ."  I am reading through a book by R.A. Torrey titled  The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit  where he establishes by Scripture the Holy Spirit is indeed a person and divine, the third person of the Triune God.  Mentions of the Holy Spirit abound in both the Old and New Testament, yet even some Christians use the word "it" (as if the Holy Spirit is a impersonal force or power to be obtained and used) rather than "Him" in referring to the Holy Spirit who fills and uses us.  After expaining how critical it was to decide whether the Holy Spirit is a divine person, Torrey wrote: " It is also of the highest importance from the practical standpoint that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is merely some mysterious and wonderful power, which we in our weakne...

The prophet Jeremiah made an interesting statement concerning God's judgments against Babylon for their idolatry in  Jeremiah 50:38 :  " A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images,  a nd they are insane with their idols ."  The Babylonians were well-known for their prognosticators, astrologers and diviners.  Idolatry led to beliefs and practices which God described as insanity.  Webster defined "insane" as: " unsound in mind or intellect; mad; deranged in mind ."  While their ideas and behaviour were unsound and deranged from a biblical perspective, there was a set of beliefs--an ideology--that guided their actions. The Babylonians used divination and sought omens for guidance as it is written in  Ezekiel 21:21 :  " For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liv...

Years ago I enjoyed fishing for largemouth bass at Loveland Reservoir in Alpine, California.  It was one of the only lakes in San Diego county that was free to fish as long as you held a valid fishing license--but fishing did come at a cost.  From memory it was about a 20 minute hike to access the water, and when your return to your vehicle it was all uphill and tiring!  While the fishing at the reservoir could be excellent, I had a series of many consecutive trips over the span of a year that did not result in a single bite.  Based on my repeated experiences of catching nothing, I felt like I might as well practice casting into a backyard pool.  Fishing and catching are two different things, and I prefer catching.  If there is no catching involved, why go fishing? After Jesus rose from the dead, one night Peter and other disciples decided to go fishing.  The Sea of Galilee was literally at Peter's doorstep, and he had a boat, tackle and experience....

After King David sinned, the God of Israel rebuked him through the prophet Nathan.  It struck me when God who anointed David and delivered him from King Saul said in  2 Samuel 12:8 , " I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more !"  It was God who made David king, and David's sin in the matter of Bathsheba and Urijah expressed hatred of God's word ( 2 Sam. 12:9 ), hatred of God ( 2 Sam. 12:10 ) and lack of contentment with all God had generously provided.  How gracious God is, that He is willing to give freely to those who do not always appreciate or honour Him. As I meditated on this passage, it dawned on me how it would be very easy as a king to sin as David did or as King Saul before him.  It was not long after being anointed king Saul was lifted up in pride.  Suddenly everyone sought his favour because of th...

When we consider purchasing a product, we want to know if it really works--if it can deliver on the promises made.  If I buy a cleaning product for tiles, the BBQ or an oven, I want it to do the job well.  There are many products advertised that are a waste of money, and sometimes we learn this the hard way.  So we watch demonstrations, read online reviews and talk to people with experience to know what brands or products will suit our needs.  We want to be convinced of all the benefits of a product  before we pay money so we can avoid regrets. I am always a bit leery when people pitch Christianity to others like knives at a fair on the basis of how coming to Christ has benefitted them.  While there are countless practical and spiritual benefits of knowing God and having a relationship with Him through faith, Jesus Christ is not for sale.  Jesus is not a product we have obtained that we recommend to others because He has made our lives easier or simpl...

Because all sin is equally deadly to the soul guilty of committing it, there is not much of a point of arbitrarily categorising sins like some do with lies.  From a biblical perspective, there is no such thing as a "little" or "white" lie.  God identifies all lying as abominable in His sight full stop, and to think we can benefit ourselves or practically help others by lying to them is a deception.  To claim we have chosen to lie out of the goodness of our hearts is plain hypocrisy.  There are many sinful things people justify themselves doing and saying, but God's righteous standards do not sway with societal tendencies. While it may not provide great benefit for us to comparatively rank sins against one another--as we are called to do good rather deferring to a lesser sin--there are a handful of occasions where the Scripture does speak of one sin being greater than another.  Since God has provided this knowledge, it would be wise for us to consider why that is...

God reveals in Scripture idols are an unnecessary burden.  For all who are in Christ, if you find yourself burdened by anything it may be you have made an idol of something!  This fact struck me yesterday as I read Isaiah 46 and how the idols of Babylon were dead weight that needed to be hauled around.  Though they were spiritually powerless and "nothings," unable to hear the cries of worshippers or save them, they wearied those who struggled to carry them.   Isaiah 46:1-2 says, " Bel bows down, Nebo stoops;  t heir idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded,  a  burden to the weary beast.  2 They stoop, they bow down together; t hey could not deliver the burden,  b ut have themselves gone into captivity ."  It is ironic beasts that grew weary pulling heavy idols had more strength than the gods of Babylon which were useless and hopeless. Later in the chapter God showed the futility of idol...