Salvation Psalm

"The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my salvation!"

2 Samuel 22:47

 

Our God is above all gods!  Since He lives whom should we fear besides Him?  How great is our God and worthy to be praised!  The earth shakes, the ground opens its mouth.  The rocks are torn with great shaking, waves destroy the face of the earth.  Trees are splintered, hills sink and become valleys.  The mountains are broken by fierce wind, and mud covers the land as a shroud.  Above this God reigns in glory and power, a Rock of Salvation that cannot be moved.  He holds the stars in His right hand, and the earth is His footstool.  His arrows are bolts of lightning, and His power is revealed in thunder.  He is a God exalted who reigns on high, mighty and full of glory.  What man or nation can stand before Him?  He makes the earth as water and the mountains melt in His presence.  Where shall you flee, O man?  Where can you hide from His presence?  The whole earth trembles before its Maker:  are you too proud to tremble before Him, O man?  Hear our cries for help O Father, for our only hope is in you.  Come speedily to our aid for there is none to deliver.  Those who are proud will be brought low, even to hell, and those who are contrite He will exalt to His right hand, even to the heavens.  God is exalted and therefore can exalt.  Jesus is exalted over all and has been magnified in glory above all others, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD to the glory of God the Father.  The stone rejected by the builders has become the Chief Cornerstone, and this is marvelous in my eyes!  Praise God there is healing in His wings.

Jesus Loves You!

"And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁵ Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. ¹⁶ And He took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."

Mark 10:13-16

All morning the words of Christ have been running through my mind:  "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not:  for of such is the kingdom of God."  As I meditate upon this scripture, I am led to consider the context.  People brought their children to be touched by Jesus, but the disciples withstood and rebuked the parents who did so.  Why would they do this?

I am convinced that we have sanitized our ideas of Jesus Christ by picture books we've seen since we were young and in doing so have weakened the Gospel.  In our pages Jesus sits wearing His white robe and blue sash, and little happy children are sitting on his lap.  They don't look smelly or dirty or covered with fleas.  They don't look diseased or sick or have muddy drool and sweat all over their faces.  Most pictures show fully-clothed, lily-white, clean, perfect little kids without frowns, hurts, or tears.  Do you think that is how the kids really looked?  I bet the kids brought to Jesus were from the poor lower class of folks who had no hope in the world except Jesus.  And when they brought their scruffy looking kids the disciples said, Not a chance!  Why would you trouble the Teacher with these dirty kids crawling with vermin?

This angered Jesus, who had come to seek and save the lost.  Jesus didn't come to earth so people could be turned from Him, but so He could save them.  Do you notice that He did much more than these hopeful parents could have dreamed?  Jesus not only blessed them, but He gathered them up in His arms!  He put his hands on them and prayed over them.  He didn't recoil because of their stench or lack of sanitation.  He didn't put on gloves or quickly go to His bottle of hand sanitizer after he touched a child.  He didn't change into His back-up robe because some dirt or mucus dripped onto Him.  He blessed those kids and hugged them just the same.  He kissed those sick kids like a loving dad.  And He sternly rebuked His disciples:  DON'T YOU DARE hinder the children from coming to Me!

When you saw those pictures as a child, did sadness fill your heart because you weren't happy or pretty or perfect?  As an adult do you feel that Jesus is too aloof to reach out His hand to touch you, take you in His arms and bring comfort to your soul?  You see your filth, you smell your stench of sin and think, Why would God trouble Himself with someone like me?  Sometimes well-meaning disciples of Christ hinder people from coming to Him because of requirements they place on others.  But Jesus has no requirements except that we come to Him in faith, trusting in Him alone.  Are you sick in soul, deeply wounded, feel like an outcast, or afraid Jesus doesn't want you?  Don't buy that lie of the devil!  Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind, heal the sick, release the prisoners from their addictions and oppressions, and set people free.  He came to breathe life into our souls dead in sins, and fill us with His Holy Spirit that we might know Him intimately.

Come to Jesus today as you are.  He will not only bless you, but hold you close with comfort.  Repent and have your sins washed away with His precious blood.  Those who come to Him He will never cast out.  You need never again be apart.

William Gurnall Quote

I was reading Gurnall's classic The Christian in Complete Armour yesterday and discovered an amazing observation.  We know that God can work all things for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purposes.  But would you think anything good could come from Adam transgressing God's command and bring the scourge of sin and death to all mankind?  Yes!  God wrought good despite man's rebellion, because now by faith we can experience closeness with God even Adam did not possess!  We can have the fullness of God dwelling within us by God's grace!   If it wasn't written in scripture, it would be too good to be believed. 

" The reconciled sinner hath the advantage of Adam in his union to God, as it is nearer.  The union is nearer, because God and man make one person in Christ.  This is such a mystery as was not heard of by Adam in all his glory.  He, indeed, was in league of love and friendship with God-and that was the best flower in his crown-but he could lay no claim to such kindred and consanguinity as now - with reverence be it spoken - the reconciled soul can with God.  This comes in by the marriage of the divine nature with the human, in the person of Christ, which personal union is the foundation of another, a mystical union betwixt Christ and the person of every believer; and this is so near a union, that, as by the union of the divine nature and human…The reconciled sinner hath the advantage of Adam in his union to God as it is stronger.  Therefore stronger, because nearer.  The closer stones stand together the stronger the building.  The union betwixt God and Adam in the first Covenant, was not so near but Adam might fall, and yet God’s glory stand entire and unshaken; but the union now is so close and strong betwixt Christ and his saints, that Christ cannot be Christ without his members.  “Because I live,” saith Christ, “ye shall live also,” (John 14:19) implying that their life was bound up in his, and that it was as easy for him to be turned out of heaven as for them to be kept out...the reconciled sinner hath the advantage of Adam in his communion with God.  There nearer, we use to say, the dearer.  Communion results from union.  If the union be nearer and stronger between a reconciled soul and God than Adam’s was, his communion must needs be sweeter and fuller.  Why else is the communion of husband and wife fuller than of friend and friend, but because the union is closer?  God converseth with Adam as a friend with his friend and ally, but with the reconciled soul; as a husband with his wife.  “Thy Maker is thy Husband,” (Is. 54:5) there is a double sweetness peculiar to the reconciled sinner’s communion with God…The Christian cannot lift up now an eye of faith to God, but he sees his own nature standing upon the throne by him in the person of Christ.  And, if the sight of Joseph at Pharaoh’s right hand, in court favour and honour, sent the patriarchs home with such a joyful news to their aged father, what a ravishing message of joy must faith carry then to the soul of a reconciled sinner, when it comes in after some vision of love in an ordinance and saith, “Cheer up, O my soul, I see Jesus Christ, thy near kinsman, at God’s right hand in glory, to whom ‘all power is given in heaven and earth;’ fear not, he is so nigh in blood to thee that he cannot be unmindful of thee, except he should do what were unnatural in thyself, that is, hide himself from his own flesh.’  The lower a prince stoops to the meanest of his subjects, the more familiar he makes himself to his subjects.”

William Gurnall, Christian in Complete Armour, Pg. 500-501

A Love that Pursues

"Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."

James 5:19-20

There is no shortage of needs in the world.  When we think of the "lost" our minds automatically pigeon-hole the group of people who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Maybe we think of people in distant lands who speak foreign languages.  It is likely we do not consider the regular church goer to be included in the lost.  Even more incredible, we hardly believe a lost person could be a born-again Christian!

Wait a second, you might be thinking.  What do you mean that a Christian can be lost?  I do not mean "lost" as far as eternally lost and doomed to hell, but lost in the sense they have wandered from the truth.  To illustrate the point, let's say you decide to hike in a thickly wooded area, at first careful to follow the path.  As you continue to explore and are caught up in the raw beauty of your surroundings, after a while you realize you are no longer on a clear trail.  Do you know where you are?  You would likely be able to supply general answers.  You would know if you were in a national park, or maybe know the reserve name, or the suburb you parked in before the trek.  But though you know your basic location, you have become lost without a sense of direction.  A lost man often does not know where or when he became lost and cannot find his way back without outside help.

How horrible would it be if people knew you had taken a trek into the woods but did not search for you because they were assured of your competence!  "He knows these woods like the back of his hand," they might say to each other.  "Maybe he decided to camp out overnight under the stars.  I'm sure he is prepared for that storm rolling in."  At that precise moment you would likely be panicked because you have lost your way and are unprepared.  Even worse, no one even thinks of looking for you because they are certain of your abilities.  Do you know this constantly happens in church fellowships today?  Church leaders and congregants can come to church with smiles and firm handshakes but be neck-deep in a spiritual slough.  People might become isolated or disillusioned because they have wandered from communion with Jesus.  Some shrug their shoulders and say, "Well, at least he's saved."  God forbid!

The scripture in James makes it clear he is referring to people who once walked on the true path of following Jesus.  But for whatever reason, they have wandered from fellowship with Christ and are for the lack of a better word, lost.  Galatians 6:1 says, "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."  Christians can be ensnared by sin.  They can also be hopelessly confused or stuck.  The devil has whispered in their ear so long they don't know what to think or do.  A strong man can fall into a hole too deep to climb out of by himself.  How necessary it is that brothers and sisters in Christ would commit such a one to prayer and take all practical steps to assist that person.  Restoration should be as important ministry of the church as evangelism.  Even the redeemed must often be restored.

Christ has given us the victory through His shed blood.  But that doesn't mean we always walk in the victory He has provided.  As your body is conscious to protect all parts from harm and injury, the Body of Christ is designed for every part to be cognisant of the pain of other parts.  We are all accountable unto God and to each other.  The Law given to Moses states that if you saw your neighbor's ox wandering it was your responsibility to retrieve it so it wouldn't be lost, injured, or stolen.  If we should be watchful for wandering livestock, shouldn't we be mindful of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have wandered?  You have the opportunity to bring a soul back from sinning against the LORD and giving occasions for Christ's name to be blasphemed.  Yes, we have a God-given duty to intervene with love to restore such a one with grace and mercy.

Galatians 6:10 says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  Apart from the grace of God, we would be eternally lost.  Take every opportunity to restore those who have wandered from God and need help.  Love keeps no record of wrongs.  I have heard people define God's "agapao" and "agape" love as unconditional, but that is incomplete:  it means, "the active love of God for His Son and His people, and the active love His people are to have for God, each other, and even enemies" (Strong's Concordance).  ALL lost people both inside and outside the church need God's pursuing, active love revealed through us.  LORD Jesus, teach us to love and pursue like you!