Forget the Two Week Notice!

It is a common practice in the States that an employee give a "two week notice" before leaving for another job.  Though it was never written into any of my working agreements, it is a simple courtesy which helps workers leave on good terms.  But there is a drawback to giving advance notice.  A difficultly arises when the company a worker is currently employed with comes back with an offer of better wages, role, or benefit package.  The employee who for some time had been seeking other employment and committed to a different job now faces a gut-wrenching decision:  leave the current company or burn the bridge you were planning to cross to the new job venture.  Most people I know who have been in this situation tend to stay with the same company.  I know other people who quit on the spot without giving notice because they did not want to have to deal with the dilemma.

I always put in a minimum of a two-week notice with all the companies I worked for, and some of them in writing.  It was always a matter of personal principal to never use a notice as a "threat" or leverage to try to improve my situation within a company.  I never put in my notice until I was convinced that it was God leading me to do so.  That way when the dialogue began or offers were presented, my decision was already final because it was God who had directed me to take the next step.  Had I not had this anchor for my heart and soul, I no doubt would have caved under the pressure of other people's opinions.  The trouble is, unless we make the decision to follow Christ without reservation, our tendency is to head right back to our worldly ways.  The devil is a master of sweetening the deal.  It is likely not a sin to decide to stay with your original company, but that's not the point.  Spiritually speaking, it is folly to choose bondage to sin and Satan over a life lived completely in service of Jesus Christ.

This same struggle is played out in the world daily on a spiritual level.  In our natural state, man is sinful and cut off from fellowship with God.  Once a man repents and trusts in Christ, his role is to pray and seek to deliver others from bondage to sin, the flesh, and Satan.  Believers are exhorted in 2 Timothy 2:24-26:  "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, ²⁵ in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, ²⁶ and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."  Those who are unregenerate, those who remain spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, are Satan's captives for the purpose of doing his will.  In embracing his "freedom" a sinner remains in perpetual opposition to God.  Knowing this, Christians ought to be filled with compassion, patience, gentleness, and humility to enlighten lost sinners to the knowledge of Christ through the Gospel.

The passing pleasures of sin might be attractive and enjoyable for a season, but in the end bring regret, sorrow, and death.  There is only danger in giving the devil a two-week notice.  The call of Jesus is a call we must respond to immediately.  For example Matthew 4:18-20 reads, "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him."  Peter and Andrew did not put in their two-week notice.  They did not remain with their fishing company until they were assured of being vested in the Fisherman's Local Union.  They dropped their tools and followed Jesus.  In Luke 5:27-28 we read of another case:  "After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." ²⁸ So he left all, rose up, and followed Him."  Levi, also known as Matthew, was literally sitting in his office when Jesus called him to follow.  He left all, rose up, and followed Him.  This is the fundamental cost of following Jesus as a disciple:  your life.  When we lose our lives for Christ's sake, we save them.

When a man leaves a company for another, it is not uncommon for people to bolster their income through "side-work" or "moonlighting."  During the day, a man goes to work for his new company.  But on the afternoons or weekends he continues to work with his old contacts.  The danger of this arrangement is divided allegiance, especially if the man is working for himself.  Spiritually speaking, it is a disastrous position to be living for the glory of God for some of the time but serving Satan and self when "off the clock."  No man can serve two masters, and no one can serve both God and the world.  There are few things more disastrous to the life of a Christian than a divided heart.  Jeremiah 29:13 says, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."  In this exhortation and promise is also a warning:  if we seek God halfheartedly, we should not be surprised when God, His wisdom, strength, and comfort are strangely absent.  We must choose whom we will serve, and our lives display our answer more than words ever could.

Jesus has opened His arms on the cross to all the sinners in the world saying, "Follow me."  We must immediately answer this call, leaving all behind.  We need not give the devil, the world, or anyone notice before we make this commitment.  Once we follow Jesus as disciples, we are to put off all side-work for Satan.  Instead of giving place to the devil, we are told by Christ to "Occupy until I come" and be about His business for God's glory.  Let us seek the LORD with all our hearts, rejecting any tantalising offers the world may give us to lure our hearts away from God.  Answer the call with "Yes!" and "Amen!"

A Sure Foundation

God used Moses and Joshua to guide the children of Israel into the Land of Promise.  God fought for His people and established them in the land.  But after Joshua died, the people faltered with the lack of spiritual leadership.  Judges 2:10 says, "When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel."  It is a great tragedy that the generation who followed Joshua did not know the LORD or the works He had done for them.  The land was no longer seen as a blessing from God but was seen as their rightful entitlement.  The end result of not knowing God, His works, or His Word, is that everyone does what he thinks is right.  Judges 21:25 plainly states the facts:  "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death (Prov. 14:12).  When a man follows his heart which has been corrupted by sin, vain wisdom and philosophy of men, the attractions of the world under the sway of Satan, it will oppose God's Word and ways.

This is the day in which we live.  Isaiah 5:20-21 contains a warning all do well to heed:  "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"  I am not surprised when I hear of the crimes and wickedness on display in the world.  Man has decided that even as "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so there is no such thing as absolute truth.  As a king in a castle, every man has the humanistic right to create right and wrong according to the dictates of his heart and seared conscience.  And tremble if you suggest God's Word opposes his view!  It would be better to cut out your own heart than to suggest there is absolute truth - and even worse - that this truth is found only in the scriptures, the Word of God.  The scourge of relativism has been so widely embraced that most men believe those who found their life upon obedience to God's Word are the greatest of fools, contrary to the words of Jesus.  People who hold to the scriptures are seen as the off-scouring of the world.  Jesus came and brought a sword with Him (Matt. 10:34), and it is a sword we ought never to put into the sheath.  We must be taught by God to rightly handle it.  And what is this sword?  The Word of God (Eph. 6:17).

I can make no boasts of perfection.  Yet I can boast in the Almighty God, and every word of His is pure.  Because I have been bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ through faith, I am no longer my own.  I therefore do not have the right to formulate judgments by my own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  God's Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path (Ps. 119.105).  The Bible has not been written for my convenience so I might use it to justify my own personal beliefs.  God has written and preserved His Word so men might know Him in truth.  God created the world and ordered the laws of nature, biology, genetics, and physics that man has only recently begun to explore.  God also created the Law to govern the outward actions of man - not to arbitrarily restrict people because He is spiteful and cruel - but because He is wise, loving, gracious, merciful and good.  No man other than Jesus Christ has ever perfectly kept the Law, which confirms what the conscience of every man knows:  all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Failure or disagreement with God does not permit us to lower His standard of absolute perfection.  I thank God that Jesus Christ has come into the world to die for my sins and rise from the dead, proving His power over sin, Satan, and death, so I might live through Him by faith.

Because the Christian, biblical worldview stands in a stark contrast to the world, only by divine means can these truths be conveyed to the unbelieving.  Many of the questions Christians face are loaded with prejudice.  For instance, on cnn.com there was a survey question:  "Do you support gay marriage? Yes or no?"  The word "support" has a wide range of meaning.  It could mean anything from "agree in theory" to someone who signs petitions, or has moved to a state or country which permits "gay marriage," or sues governments in court.  From a biblical standpoint, the phrase "gay marriage" simply cannot exist.  God ordained and defined marriage in the most narrow terms:  marriage is between one man and one woman, a husband and a wife.  Not everyone in the Bible held to God's definition and many people oppose it today.  Since government did not institute marriage nor define it, no governing body or special interest on the planet can rightly change the biblical definition.  Marriage is a physical expression compared to the intimate spiritual union between God and the church.  The church is the body of Christ of which He is the head.  Even as the head separated from the body produces death, so marriage that is outside the confines of God's definition is not marriage - nor could it ever be.  "Yes" is the answer that the world is calling for today.  A "no" answer instantly shoves Christians like myself into the dirty, cramped pigeon hole with perceived other prejudiced, arrogant bigots and haters.  Like Jesus, I am called to love all people and it is my delight to do so.  It is a love not dependent on whether we believe in the same things or agree morally or politically, but love based upon the love revealed in Jesus:  it is a sacrificial love built upon grace springing from God's goodness.

God has given every person on the earth the right to choose who they will serve, what they will believe, and how they will live.  Every day is the day of decision.  Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Josh. 24:15)  The Bible teaches that the choices you make in this life will have eternal consequences which should not be taken lightly.  What the Bible calls sin is sin, and the soul that sins shall surely die.  Because I was a sinner, I was heading to certain destruction in hell.  I praise God that He sent Jesus to my rescue!  Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."  No man can avoid sin before God by redefining it according to his opinions.  For those who confess their sin and forsake it, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hear the word of the LORD in Revelation 22:10-13:  "And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. ¹¹ He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." ¹² "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

God of All Comfort

The Bible reveals the Almighty God as the "God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3-4).  The comfort God provides is often used as motivation for trusting in Jesus Christ as Saviour.  The modern-day Gospel presentation and emphasis of comfort is quite unlike the means used by Ichabod Spencer detailed in his book A Pastor's Sketches.  There was a man who knew something about fruitful soul-work.  When he found people in despair and sorrow, he was very careful NOT to administer the comforts of scripture until all sin had been confessed and forsaken.  Pastor Spencer was sometimes foiled in his attempts to save souls because well-meaning Christians had shared promises of comfort to the unrepentant and unregenerate.  Not wanting to see people sorrowing under conviction, self-justification and promises out of context took away all sorrow.  The conviction of the Holy Spirit was muted by the persuasions of men with soothing words - words spiked with sweet lies of Satan.

When we see someone in deep sorrow or distress, our natural tendency is to rush to their aid with encouragement and comfort.  There is nothing wrong with showing compassion, mercy, and love to those who are hurting.  We can do great damage, however, if we offer the comfort of God to those who have stubbornly refused to meet God's conditions.  God's will is not to comfort a man in his sin, but make him so miserable and desperate that he repents, throwing himself solely upon the grace and mercy of God.  Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."  We don't see many tears from the penitent these days because we are quick to bring comfort before godly sorrow produces repentance.  People embrace a mirage of comfort by trusting in the opinions of men rather than the Word of God.

In the preface of the Self-Confrontation manual produced by the Biblical Counseling Foundation, the proper biblical order is explained:  "Confronting yourself in a biblical manner will often be difficult and will sometimes be a grievous experience. However the Holy Spirit, the Helper, will assist you to face your own sins, failures, and shortcomings. Then He will comfort you, teach you, and guide you into all truth so that your sorrow may be turned into everlasting joy."  The modern approach to dealing with sorrow is to ignore biblical self-confrontation and rush to comfort.  This may be a contributing factor to why so many professing Christians become disillusioned, never able to lay hold of the comfort of God in reality.  Specific sins have not been admitted, repented of, or forsaken.  As the infamous daughters of the leech cry "Give, give!" in Proverbs 30:15, so the modern church cries "Comfort, comfort!"  But God will never comfort and soothe men in their sin.  It is not love to comfort a soul heading to ultimate destruction.

I praise God for my Saviour Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort.  Having received the Comforter by grace, I want everyone to taste and see that the LORD is good!  But I must be wise in not giving false assurances of comfort in violation of scripture.  Those who do so have blood on their hands.  This knowledge brings godly sorrow which produces repentance leading to salvation!  God's capacity to comfort is infinite!  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Mercy and Truth

Last night after dinner our family read Proverbs 3.  Proverbs 3:1-4 reads, "My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; ² for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. ³ Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, ⁴ and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man."  How many times does God provide what the world frantically seeks!  Many people hope for a day when medicine and science will prolong life far beyond today's average life span or perhaps eliminate death altogether.  But God has promised length of days, long life, and peace to all who hear His Word and keep it.  What the world will purchase at any price is freely given by the hand of a loving Father through the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ.  He gives eternal life and peace to all who repent and trust in Him.

It is not difficult to find faults in the lives of Christians.  Trusting in Christ as Saviour is not a claim to perfection, but an acknowledgement of great need.  Yet even those who are able to easily find fault in Christians cannot detect a single fault in Christ.  A thief who died beside Him rebuked those who reviled Christ:  "This man has done nothing wrong."  The Roman centurion who watched Jesus breathe His last on the cross was convinced:  "This surely was a righteous man."  By the mouths of two witnesses every word shall be established, and those who accused Christ before the Sanhedrin could not agree.  The fact is, many people who hate God, those who deny His very existence, and even people of other faiths find much to be admired in the words and deeds of Jesus.  He was a man of absolute integrity, unshakable righteousness, holiness,godliness, and walked in mercy and truth.  King Solomon held forth the wisdom of God when he wrote, "Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, ⁴ and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man."  It is better to be held in high esteem with God than man.  Every man esteems mercy when he faces a judge for crimes he committed.  Every man esteems truth when he is innocent and is falsely accused.  God esteems highly the man who walks in mercy and truth, for this can only be done when one abides in the Vine, Jesus Christ. 

This morning I read Proverbs 16:6-7:  "In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. ⁷ When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."  My eyes were drawn immediately to the righteous combination of mercy and truth.  I had never noticed how often mercy and truth are coupled together in scripture.  A quick search with the Word Search Bible program revealed at least 20 times!  Psalm 25:10 reads, "All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies."  Psalm 89:14 states, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face."  Mercy and truth are indeed admirable qualities.  While man lives by such maxims as "Might makes right," "Survival of the Fittest," and "You snooze, you lose," God establishes His throne upon mercy and truth (Isaiah 16:5).  As children of the King, we ought to walk in the way of mercy and truth.  Then we will find favour and high esteem in the sight of God and man, and He will make even our enemies to be at peace with us.

We do well to examine our hearts by considering this question:  is my life a revelation of God's mercy and truth to the world?  God spoke to His people in Hosea 4:1, "Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land."  God desires that the world be witnesses of His mercy and truth through the words and conduct of His people.  We remain on this earth by His grace so we might spread the knowledge of God through love, service, and the preaching of His Word.  The mercy, truth, and knowledge of God is to be shared within the family structure, the workplace, during the mundane grind, whatever we do or wherever we go.  I would suggest that most Christians go to church for one to three services a week.  Even if this were to amount to six waking hours spent at church every week, sleeping 8 hours every night, that is only 7% of your waking hours!  That means 93% of your time for ministry opportunity is taking place outside of a church building,  Let us use that time wisely.

If God has established His throne upon mercy and truth, then I would be wise to establish my decisions upon mercy and truth as well.  Establish your ministry, business practices, child rearing, words, and deeds upon mercy and truth.  When we do so, we build on the foundation of Christ, the personification of these qualities.  Don't just admire Jesus:  repent, trust, and abide in Him.  He is coming quickly, and His reward is with Him.