The Gold Coin Lesson

During a brisk morning walk today I picked up a $2 coin from the footpath and placed it in my pocket.  It was no chore to pocket the coin because it has value.  Money is intensely practical, and since most people value gold coins it is not often one finds one laying on the ground.  We are discerning about the things we will pick up from the ground and drop into our pockets.  A soggy Kleenex, a cigarette butt, or an empty can of tuna would most likely be avoided, not gladly gathered.

It is a good thing to consider:  how much do we value the Gospel?  Do our lives indicate we view the Gospel as offering a precious, valuable gift or more like worthless junk mail people despise?  In Australia some people are employed as "walkers" to drop advertising leaflets in letter boxes.  Our letter box, like many others, is adorned with a "No Junk Mail" sign on it.  Maybe it works...somehow junk always finds its way into the box.  In a world filled with junk and rubbish, one of our roles as Christians is to raise awareness of how amazing and wonderful the Gospel truly is.  There is nothing more valuable or precious in this life than having a relationship with God, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life.  This is no sales pitch:  salvation is a gift from God only received through faith in Jesus.

The offer of a "free gift" in mailers typically means something I don't want or need.  I realise the item is basically worthless but a calculated and manipulative ploy to set the hook and reel me in.  These tactics lead to distrust and cynical views of others.  When I picked up that $2 coin from the ground, I didn't feel manipulated or pressured.  My eyes were open to recognise an object of value and I was glad to expend the small effort required to lean over and take it for myself.

Do you know there is more to the Gospel than receiving it for yourself?  If we truly value the Gospel as we ought, I believe we will share it with others too.  God was willing to come to earth as the man Jesus Christ and demonstrate His love for us when we were sinners - like rubbish which litters and corrupts the beautiful world He has made.  By His grace He picks us up and treasures us when we repent and trust in Him.  He values us because of His great love for us, not because of our worthiness.  When we see a person loitering on the corner or walking past, do we value them as much as a gold coin to reach out?  Are we happy to interact with them so their eyes might be opened to the glorious Gospel as a valuable gift worthy of receiving?

God has given us an awesome gift in the Gospel worth sharing.  It shouldn't be an embarrassment to brag on our God and Saviour who has done everything for us, but we can be sheepish sometimes.  God knows I fail!  We can be more reluctant to share the Good News than to pick up rubbish by the road.  In context the verses of 2 Corinthians 9 speak of generosity through giving money and resources, but it does no violence to the text to apply 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 to sharing the Gospel:  "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."  Let us be cheerful and generous givers of the Gospel - not grudgingly to acquire treasure in heaven - but because God has already opened heaven to us.  In light of the love we have received from God, let us freely and gladly offer the Gospel to others.

The Moral Imperative

I began reading through an old A.W. Tozer classic The Purpose of Man and found it refreshingly packed with thought-provoking and enlightening content.  There are useful books beyond number, and it is a shame any which adorn our shelves should collect dust.  In lieu of buying new books it is a good practice to reacquaint yourself with quality books which already line your shelves.  And when you have read them, have you taken to heart and put into practice the good points personally?  My, there is much work to be done!

Allow me to treat you with a few paragraphs from a man who met with God, A.W. Tozer concerning worship:

I believe in justification by faith as strongly as Martin Luther ever did.  I believe that we are only saved by faith in the Son of God as Lord and Savior.  But what concerns me is an automatic quality about being saved nowadays.  It works something like this: simply put a nickel of faith in the slot, pull down a lever and take out the little coin of salvation, tuck it in your pocket and off you go.  It is that simple.  After that, you say you are saved.  When questioned, you simply say, "I put the nickel in; I accepted Jesus and I signed the card."  Very good, there is nothing wrong with signing a card so that we can know who they are.  It is the only way we know that some people are Christians.  How tragic.

Christianity is not a result of coming to God and becoming an automatic cookie-cutter Christian, stamped out with a die: "One size fits all"; "What God has done for others He'll do for you."  These are marvellous mottoes with grain of truth in them, tut they lead us far from the absolute truth.  We come to Christ so that we might be individually redeemed and made in the image of Christ - vibrant, personal Christians who love God with all our heart and worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

Not only is worship the normal employment for moral beings, but worship is also the moral imperative.  The book of Luke tells us that when they came nigh the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen (see Luke 19:37)...Worship is a moral imperative, and yet I believe that it is the missing jewel in evangelical circles.  The crown is here but the jewels are missing.  The church has decked herself with every ornament, but one shining gem is missing - the jewel of worship. (“What Came First: Workers or Worshippers?” The Essential Tozer Collection, by A. W. Tozer and James L. Snyder, Bethany House, 2017, pp. 98–100.)

Is it possible in all our labours we have missed the moral imperative of the worship of God, substituting work for worship?  It is possible our work is worship unto the LORD, but this is not automatic.  Worship and work are far from synonymous.  Many people work, but not all work is worship.  Worship for the child of God is a good work free from fleshly toil because it is the inclination of every redeemed soul.  Let us worship the LORD in the beauty of His holiness!  Magnifying His goodness and meditating on His greatness is never out of tune when it flows from a surrendered heart.

Content with God's Provision

"Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:4-5

These verses came up in our Friday night Bible study yesterday, and they provide insight how covetousness can mar relationships with God and others.  The writer of Hebrews commends the honour of biblical marriage as defined by God from the beginning.  Fornicators and adulterers are those who scoff at His marital and monogamous design through their sexual misconduct.  One involves sexual activity outside of the marriage bed, and adultery is lust and unlawful conduct involving a married party.  Though the world pushes back against the boundaries God has set concerning sexual sin, God remains their righteous judge.

This passage shows at the core of both fornication and adultery is the sin of covetousness.  To covet is to desire something which is not yours for self.  Fornication and adultery also involve theft.  When it comes to relationships, contentment in God's provision is a guard against covetousness.  The world it seems has defined sex as a basic human need, a need that should not be denied of any who desire it.  This is certainly not the biblical perspective.  In the scriptures there are myriads of examples of people going their own way in violation of God's commands, but this does not lend any leeway to God's absolute standards.  If we are convinced God will provide for all our needs, He also will provide a spouse and the ability to remain joyfully single according to His grace.  It is a lie that we cannot live a meaningful and satisfying existence without sex.  Sexual intercourse can usher in new life because God is at the heart of "be fruitful and multiply," but sex is not life.

Because Jesus has promised never to leave or forsake us, we can be assured He knows our needs and will be faithful to meet them.  He is the Good Shepherd who keeps watch over the sheep of His flock.  He knows how to manage well His lambs, ewes, rams, and even wethers - which are castrated males.  They are less aggressive and able to lead a most profitable existence, not by siring lambs but through wool production and weed management.  The world has always had a preoccupation with sex, and as wonderful as it is in the marriage relationship there is much more to life.  It is in staying close to the Good Shepherd we discover purpose and fruitfulness which extends infinitely beyond the abilities of the flesh.  1 Corinthians 7:27 holds forth a basic principle:  "Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife."  Even in our relationships (or present lack) we have fellowship with God and His people united by His love.  It's a fair question:  do we value fellowship with God more than sex?

God's Glorious Grace

Eugenics is a theme repeated in science fiction utilised with the aim to produce an ideal society.  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a good example of using scientific means to manufacture people who will conform to their role in society through indoctrination, drugs, and conditioning.  Whatever was deemed "ugly" had no place in utopia, and people were placed in pre-determined castes where they were prepared for particular roles (Alphas, Betas, Gammas, etc.).  The heart of eugenics is not life but death, the culling of any embryos deemed unsuitable.  It is a godless approach, a "self direction of human evolution."  Many atrocities have been carried out upon fellow humans guided by eugenics.  Today selective breeding is typically not mandated by government but largely sanctioned, as unwanted unborn children can be legally aborted.

What if God employed this approach, to kill any creatures which fell short of His absolute standard of goodness?  There would not be another person born!  Psalm 139 is a beautiful passage which describes God knitting a child in the womb of his mother.  Because we live in a world ravaged by sin and war people can be born with chronic illnesses and malformed.  Even more difficult to understand perhaps is when God sovereignty chooses to make someone with what we call "disability" in Exodus 4:11:  "So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?"  God commanded Moses to speak to Pharaoh, but Moses said he didn't speak well.  One point God made was He was responsible for creating the mouth of Moses and knew what he was capable of, and also provided the mouth of Aaron to assist him.  It wasn't the mouth of Moses where the problem was but in his reluctance to trust and obey.

If we were God and at the controls of conception, we would be sorely tempted to stack the deck in our favour, wouldn't we?  God knows beyond what people are capable of but what they will actually do.  God has given every person the freedom to chose and does not condemn before the time.  A perfect example is when Hazael came to speak with Elisha concerning the health of the king of Syria who was ill.  2 Kings 8:10-12 reads, "And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover.' However the LORD has shown me that he will really die." ¹¹ Then he set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept. ¹² And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child."  Bizarre, isn't it?  God revealed to the prophet Elisha what atrocities Hazael would be guilty of, yet did not smite him in the womb.  God graciously allowed Hazael to grow up to be an ambitious man who would indeed take matters into his own hands.

Hazael recoiled at the suggestion he would do such things, but the word of the LORD came to pass.  2 Kings 8:13-15 states, "So Hazael said, "But what is your servant--a dog, that he should do this gross thing?" And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will become king over Syria." ¹⁴ Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me you would surely recover." ¹⁵ But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place."  Hazael was not judged by what he would someday do, but what he was guilty of doing.  Here is a place where so-called "situational ethics" cannot endure, for these hypothetical wranglings never take into account the love and grace of God extended towards all.  Hazael didn't want to believe he was capable of such wickedness, but in a day he would betray and smother his king.  He could have repented and stopped there, but alas!  Let us not be fooled to think we, by virtue of our knowledge or morality, are incapable of great wickedness.  All have sinned, and before another day dawns we will sin again.

How the grace of God is magnified when we realise we are Hazael; we are Cain, Agag, Nabal, Absalom, and Barabbas!  We are the corrupt, bent, depraved and proud people who (if God was a eugenicist) would never have been permitted to see the light of day.  God is grieved by our sin and is the righteous Judge of all, but His heart is to see us turn from sin, look to Him and be saved.  God is not to be blamed because people sin.  It is true at any moment God with His infinite knowledge could have struck men who would grow to be cruel kings and dictators in the womb, or those who would be drunks, abusive, lying, cheating, stealing, lustful - or spiritually proud and judgmental.  If we charge the righteous God with wrong we only prove our own guilt, but in repenting and receiving the grace of God through the Gospel we are forgiven and made pure.  Oh the grace of God!  What a good, longsuffering Father He is to all!  As we have freely received of His grace, let us offer it freely to others.