The Fallen Tree

It's been a bit windy in Sydney of late, and the picture above of the fallen tree at the baseball field in rouse Hill is evidence!  The fall of this sizable tree revealed the reason why:  very few large roots.  For the many years I have walked past it on the way to train or play baseball games, the tree appeared healthy and strong.  But all it took was a bit of wind to topple the tree and prove the roots were not sufficient to support the weight.  Without adequate roots the tree had no chance.

Jesus told a parable about a sower who sowed seed.  This tree reminded me of the seed (the word of God) which was scattered on thin or rocky soil.  Mark 4:5-6 reads, "Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away."  Jesus explained the meaning of this part of the parable in Mark 4:16-17:  "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble."  Similar to this tree which wind revealed shallowness of root depth, so trials and persecution reveal hearts which the Word of God has no depth.  People who rejoiced to receive the Good News of Jesus can fall away over time and it shows there was no genuine conversion.

This tree illustrates that what is under the surface matters most.  Large growth does not mean fruitfulness or strength in trials.  Many people have been laid low with sin because their roots were shallow and God's Word was not well established in their hearts.  I am not an arborist or dendrologist, but the tree appears to be a total loss.  But praise be to God, He is gracious to fallen sinners!  He does not write us off as firewood, but those who repent He establishes again.  What is impossible with men is possible with God.  The big takeaway I had from seeing the fallen tree was to consider the condition of my heart:  is the Word of God bearing fruit in my life?  Has my heart become dry and hard?  This tree could be me.  In fact, it could be anyone.  God is the One who gives us strength to stand by His grace.  It is faith in God which enables us to hold fast!

Importance of Confession

When it comes to confession, there is no shortage of opinions.  Because of individual experiences, backgrounds, and church practices, there is a wide range about the importance and practice of confession.  Some think it is only necessary between the sinner and God, and others have times in their meetings set aside for "open confession."  In Edwin Orr's book "All Your Need," the evangelist spoke of the importance of public confession to make way for revival.  He was careful to point out that he moderated the gathering with specific instructions:  he strongly objected to detailed confessions and warned he would silence any offender; he always exhorted born-again Christians - not the unsaved - to confess the hindrance to revival; and after explaining the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sins, he spoke of "confession as a means to forgiveness and blessing." (Orr, J. Edwin, "All Your Need 10,000 Miles of Miracle through Austraila and New Zealand." Marshall, Morgan & Scott, London, page 119)

In the Bible we read of private confession before God and public confession before men.  Jesus commanded those who had sinned against someone to go to them alone in humility for reconciliation.  Orr contends in many cases sins which are not openly confessed leads to inevitable defeat.  I agree with this assessment based upon the examples and commands of scripture.  How this should be implemented requires the leading of the Holy Spirit, a thorough examination of motives, and an attitude of prayer.  1 John 1:9 says concerning private confession before God, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Confession before God is adequate for us to be forgiven before a holy God.  But experience has shown all of us it does not mean we will forsake the very same sin or experience the victory God has given through Jesus.

Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."  Because a man cannot hide or cover his sin from the eyes of God, I believe this passage is speaking about hiding our sins from others.  Since this is the context, humbly confessing our sins to one another is a key step to actually forsaking them and receiving the mercy of God.  That sin you may be battling, the shameful struggle you have not dared to admit to another person, may require you to confess biblically to be free of it.  It is written in James 5:16, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  In obedience to the word of God we can have absolute confidence our confession of sin and fervent prayer with others will avail much.

There are examples of this in the New Testament.  After the woman with the flow of blood touched the hem of Christ's garment He stopped and asked, "Who touched me?"  He proceeded to turn around a look at her who had done this.  Before Him and all the people she fell at His feet and confessed all.  After hearing her words Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole."  Confession was part of the process to wholeness (Mark 5:33-34).  Another great example of the benefit of public confession which resulted in freedom from bondage to sin is in Acts 19:18-20:  "And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed."  Christians who had been in sin confessed their deeds, and many who had practiced magic in the past brought their books to be burned.  And what was the result?  The word of the LORD grew mightily and prevailed.  The implication is these people had the word of God before, but it was not until they took the step to burn their other books the scriptures could prevail in their personal lives and their city.  What might we be keeping in our closet or library which ought to go because it is restraining the effectiveness of God's Word?

There is a deception of the enemy all we need to do is confess our sin to God and we have done what is necessary for wholeness.  In one sense it is true God has done everything for us and is enough, but He has also sovereignly placed us with others to comprise the Body of Christ, His church.  Why does He tell us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another if "talking only to God about it" would suffice?  Having "accountability" is talked about these days, but how can we be accountable to anyone if we do not first confess?  Perhaps the reluctance to public confession comes as a reaction against Roman Catholic confession or because of damage by grossly detailed confessions which have torn families and churches apart.  Regardless of the reasons we would rather not "go there," I am convinced confession according to scripture is needful.  May the LORD guide and direct each one of us in how to be obedient and honour God in this area.  When confession is done correctly as led by the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ will be strengthened and edified.

Church Dysmorphia

I went through a season during a time of spiritual growth where I was concerned with the lame condition of "the church."  Looking back I can say I was preoccupied with negative views of the church at large, and I am truly glad to say it was relatively brief.  The truth is, I was the lame one and because of the log in my own eye I was keenly aware of imagined weakness and failure in others.  Whilst Christians are not perfect, Jesus is perfectly capable to maintain the health and growth of His Body.  He doesn't have the body dysmorphia humans are prone to.  No matter how much we slim down we can see ourselves in a negative light.  Because of God's grace and righteousness the Body of Christ is clean and sanctified.

Even as I have experienced the pitfall of being judgmental of others, I have experienced the smug self-righteousness of a Pharisee.  This is a common condition when spiritual knowledge is combined with a measure of pride.  From this lofty vantage point it is easy to preach against the evils of the world, mock people for their folly, and even shake our heads sympathetically at errors made by people and nations in the Bible.  This is a great waste of biblical truth, to apply it to condemn others without carefully judging ourselves by the same standard.  You are part of the church, believer, and the only one you will answer for before God is yourself.

The truth of scripture has been provided for our learning so we might have hope.  It is not to be applied theoretically to others, but to your own heart and life by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus did not blast the Roman government in the synagogues, but spoke against the self-righteous Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus did not speak to His disciples to mock those enslaved to lusts and sins among the Gentiles, but He warned of a betrayer among His chosen disciples.  He corrected and instructed His followers.  Jesus did not pronounce woe on the idolatrous priests or temple prostitutes, but He spoke many woes on religious hypocrites among His people.

Here is a point I find interesting:  a vast majority of the prophets sent by God were sent to God's people who were in sin.  He did not send prophets to the Philistines or the Amalekites.  The prophets came to God's people to warn them of coming judgment for their sin, to urge them to repent.  Did the people listen?  No!  God's prophets were mocked, beaten, even killed for their trouble.  But God did send reluctant Jonah to the Gentile Ninevites.  Guess what?  They repented in dust and ashes!  Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel and they largely rejected Him.  Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 11:21-22, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you."  We don't find Old Testament prophets being sent to Tyre and Sidon, but they would have repented had Jesus done His mighty works there.  If we in the church apply the exhortation, rebuke, and instruction of God's Word to those in the world without applying it personally, we miss everything.  God wants to speak to His people:  are you one who hears and obeys?

I am humbled by the fact for many years I scorned the "sinning" world with biblical passages God intended I be confronted with myself.  How angry I was over the evils of the world, yet I was comfortable in sin as a believer!  Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be!  Won't God judge hypocrites?  We ought to be moved with compassion as Jesus was for the lost people in the world and apply the severest threatenings of scriptures to ourselves.  We hold the truth of God in our hands, affirm it to be so, and yet do not care to practice it!  Judgment begins at the house of God and all will ultimately be judged by God.  Those who have been given the sober duty of teaching God's Word must be careful not use your platform to condemn "the church" or the world in pride without repentance for our own sin.  We aren't to be smug and clubby as if the judgment of Christ does not apply to us.  God knows His people even as a shepherd knows the sheep from the goats.

If you are a sheep of God's pasture, than before God live in a way worthy of such a calling.  If we would be as vigilant to walk uprightly before God as we try to look good before men it would be a good start.  However, even this motive is of the flesh and sinful.  When we are indignant over the sins of others we do well to examine our own hearts empowered by the Holy Spirit.  It is written in Romans 2:1, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."  God is the Judge, and those who judge themselves will not be judged (Matt. 7:1-5).  God has given me the scriptures for me to apply personally to my life, not theoretically to others.  Once I am walking uprightly with a heart purified from pride, then I will be able to help others be restored to a good standing before God (Gal. 6:1).  Reversing the order is like trying to reap before planting, a fruitless prospect indeed.

Heart Maintenance

Spring is in the air in Sydney and that means pulling out the lawn mower, line trimmer, and edger.  Shrubs and grass shot up with our recent rain, and birds have been feasting on the seed pods on the liquid amber which grows out front.  Since my baseball game was washed out Saturday due to rain, I decided to seize the opportunity to begin yard maintenance sooner than later.

Now I hadn't paid much attention to the state of the lawn recently because the LORD supplies adequate rain, the grass stays mostly green year round, and the turf grows extremely slow during winter months.  Before mowing I decided to pull a couple of weeds I could see.  As I leaned over for a better grip, I noticed some clover growing in plain sight.  Before long I was crawling around on the lawn pulling out weeds I hadn't noticed before!  And it's not like the front yard is particularly big.  I had walked along the path to the front door only metres away multiple times a day and never noticed the weeds.  They were growing - well, like weeds - right under my nose without my knowledge.

As I crawled around, amazed at the amount of weeds which blended well into the grass, the idea came to my mind:  there are insights concerning our own hearts we can only discover from a similar posture before God on our knees.  New seasons bring growth, and in growing seasons of our lives there can be weeds growing up with fruitful crops in our hearts.  The Bible is compared to good seed which is fruitful when it is sowed into a prepared heart.  We must be intentional in searching our hearts, asking God to show us if there is any wicked way in us.  It seems pulling weeds is a job never finished, and neither is repentance for sins before God.  We can be content to deal with sin on levels of feelings or actions, but God is interested in the heart.  When we are ready to humbly cooperate with God in repentance for sin, God provides strength and the grip to pluck those weeds up by the roots.

It is on our knees before a holy God our sinfulness becomes exceedingly sinful.  At the same time His grace towards us is magnified.  I grow weary of pulling weeds, but God does not grow weary with His children who repent.  Galatians 6:7-10 says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  It is good for us to repent, and let us not grow weary in doing good.  Take the opportunity to do some heart maintenance today!