Knowing and Wanting God

It is remarkable how quickly knowledge of God can evaporate over a generation.  For instance,  during the days of Joshua the children of Israel served the LORD.  Judges 2:10 explains the general condition of the people despite what great things God had done after the death of Joshua and that generation:  "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. "  Stones of remembrance had been set up, the Law had been recorded and passed down, sacrifices offered, feasts kept, and tithes and offerings brought to the tabernacle, yet the new generation did not know the LORD.  This shows knowing about God is not the same as knowing Him.

Obedience to God because of love and appreciation of Him can quickly degenerate to empty tradition.  In Australia we are seeing a great rise in people who, instead of identifying as Christian, claim they have "no religion."  These days I often heard media classifying generations according to titles like "Baby Boomers," "Generation X or Y" and most recently "Millennials."  To me these generalisations are akin to racial profiling, but there are some measurable trends which demographers use to make observations and draw conclusions.  It could be said there was a clear generational gap in Israel between those who knew the LORD and were eye-witnesses of His presence and power, and for some reason this knowledge of God did not pass to those who followed.  This is always a potential reality because faith in God, experiences, and desire to seek after God are intensely personal.  God can be known personally and intimately, and every individual has a role in cultivating this knowledge and experience.

I have seen a change in the church during the decades I have followed Jesus.  My parents and a lot of people I knew in the 80's came to Jesus out of a legalistic generation, one that frowned upon long hair, smoking cigarettes, drinking, dancing alcohol, and cards.  Going to church meant wearing your best clothes, going to confession, and embracing traditions just because.  People who desired to know God laboured under a heavy load of guilt.  When these people came to Jesus Christ through the Gospel of grace, how they rejoiced!  They had been previously caught in a cycle of dead works and labour of the flesh to try to appease and please God as best they could, trying to earn favour, blessings, salvation, and forgiveness.  With this new found freedom empowered by the Holy Spirit, these people largely loved to gather to worship, serve others, study the Bible, and spread the Good News.

Fast forward to the next generation, to the children raised in Christian homes were there was an understanding of God's love and grace.  Those who are familiar with the Gospel from their youth and the love of Jesus for them do not seem as acutely aware of their sins and faults before a holy God.  Service becomes the end rather than obedience to the God they know and love.  Since they know their sins are forgiven there is little thought of their need to pursue holiness and their own sanctification.  Because there is small emphasis on the Law of God and His righteous requirements guilt and brokenness for sin does not lead to greater appreciation of God's grace.  It is said Millennials have "entitlement" issues, and Christians who have primarily been fed a spiritual diet of grace and love (which appeals to self) expect God to forgive them.  God's grace is taken for granted and so people fall short of it without repentance.  It is one thing for people outside the church to be willfully ignorant of God, but there are many in the church who are like the second generation of Israelites in Canaan who did not know God.

I am merely generalising here, but hopefully the point is communicated that we need the whole counsel of the Word of God!  Our own background and personality will colour the way we approach God, and without the ministry of the Word our view will be skewed.  I am grateful for God's faithfulness to us, how He reveals Himself to us regardless of our generation, ethnicity, or age.  Without His aid we would be hopeless blind and lost, entrenched in empty traditions of men and measuring the health of our spiritual lives by other lost men.  This is the condition of many today, and of some even attend church regularly.  Praise the LORD for the fellowship of the saints and how we can exhort each other to good works today, for night is coming when we can no longer work.  May we be able to say of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ:  "I saw Him and I sought Him, I had Him and I wanted Him." (Taylor, Howard. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. Moody Press, 1993. page 21)  How excellent is the knowledge of our God, and let us make Him known!

The Pursuit of Peace and Holiness

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..."

Hebrews 12:14

I have been meditating on this verse lately, and the wisdom and simplicity of it is marvellous.  The writer of Hebrews exhorts the pursuit of peace with all people, yet never at the expense of holiness.  There is a peace the world holds as an ideal not hardly realised, a coexistence which requires accommodation and compromise.  Genuine peace can never be obtained without resolved conflict, but the world's way of peace is to avoid conflict at all costs.  This pseudo-peace is far removed from the peace Jesus Christ offers those who trust in Him.  Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  The peace Jesus gives is not contingent on external circumstances but is secured in the hearts of all who look to Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour.

The temptation for Christians in our pursuit of peace is to compromise in God's righteous standard of holiness, to find middle ground where there can be none.  Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 16:13:  "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  I believe Jesus said these words to His disciples because there is a tendency in all people towards divided loyalty.  We imagine as servants of all we can effectively serve two masters, but this cannot be.  There is no peace within us when we are caught between two opinions, not convinced in our minds about what is right.  This current age of subjectivity, political correctness, and sensitivity exacerbates this because it is seen as wrong to offend - even if for good reason.

We are commanded to pursue peace with all and holiness because without it no one will see the LORD.  God is holy, and nothing that is sinful or defiles can enter into His presence.  By the grace of God we can be deemed holy through the Gospel when we repent and trust in Jesus.  Our sins are atoned for by the precious shed blood of Jesus on Calvary, we are washed clean and forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us by grace through faith.  Born-again Christians are thus made holy.  At the same time, however, we must take to heart passages like 1 Peter 1:13-16:  "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  God has declared us holy, but we are also told to be holy - to live in agreement with God's holiness.  We are called to obedience to God and not to be conformed or shaped by this sin-steeped world.

We were once cut off from God due to our sinful rebellion, but by God's grace we can raise cleansed, holy hands to our Saviour in praise.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary made an interesting observation concerning the Hebrews passage:  "Since no sin can stand in God's presence, Christians must—and will be—sinless when they see the Lord (cf. 1 John 3:2). That realisation offers motivation for pursuing holiness here and now. But the author may also have had in mind the thought that one's perception of God even now is conditioned by his real measure of holiness (cf. Matt. 5:8)."  Many have, in their personal pursuit of holiness, arrogantly and without compassion disposed of relationships with others.  They have seen the pursuit of peace - with even brothers and sisters in Christ - as an unnecessary effort to stand up for self or teach other people a lesson.  If behaving in an unloving manner is the lesson, it is a lesson what not to do.  The log in our own eye has a way of blinding us from our own pride (Matt. 7:1-5).  How important is it for us to maintain a godly balance in our pursuit of peace and holiness:  there is no holiness without peace with God, and their is no peace with others when we deviate from God's holiness.

The Faithful Messenger

Last night in Tribe we discussed Proverbs 10:26 which reads, "As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy man to those who send him."  King Solomon employed a couple of interesting similes to describe a lazy messenger from the perspective of the one who sent the message.  If you have ever taken a swig of vinegar, you know it is difficult to do so without wincing.  The high acidity in time also weakens tooth enamel and can lead to decay.  Most have had the unpleasant experience of sitting around a warm fire only to have the smoke follow you around.  Smoke irritates eyes and makes them water and burn, and this makes it difficult to see clearly.  A lazy messenger is unsuited for the task, a tooth-grinding irritant to those who sent him.

Whilst reading the Bible before bed I came across a striking contrast in Proverbs 25:13:  "Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters."  Harvesting crops is taxing work, and a cool breeze or icy drink provided welcome relief in the heat of the day.  To have the cold of snow in a time of harvest might have been wishful thinking for perspiring labourers bearing burdens, but a faithful messenger is compared with the great refreshment a frosty drink would provide.  Those who send a faithful messenger find their souls refreshed with a well-communicated, timely report.

Perhaps we know the annoyance of laziness or the refreshment of faithfulness well.  For personal application this is a fair question:  what sort of messenger would we be classified by our Master Jesus Christ who has sent us out into all the world as His ministers and ambassadors?  Are we the equivalent of smoke in the eyes of our King or are we faithful messengers who refresh His soul?  It is reasonable the faithful messenger will be provided additional responsibility and more important messages to deliver.  How precious the Gospel ought to be in our eyes!  Proverbs 25:25 says, "As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country."  Our LORD never grows tired or faint as we do, but how it must please Him to have the Good News proclaimed faithfully by the lives and lips of His faithful servants.

Power Belongs to God

"Do not trust in oppression, nor vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. ¹¹ God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God."

Psalm 62:10-11

It is easy for Christians who trust God to begin to place their faith in other things.  Though our hearts are to be fixed on the LORD and our confidence in His Word, a subtle shift can occur.  That is a reason David exhorts the reader to not place our hope in uncertain riches.  Money brings with it the power to obtain but dollars can also exert power over any who discover comfort in them.

David wrote, "Do not trust in oppression, nor vainly hope in robbery..." and the English definitions of the original Hebrew words provide clarity.  I imagine very few of us would admit we "trust in oppression, " and oppression is translated from a word which is defined in the Strong's concordance as, "injury, fraud, distress, unjust gain."  There are people who rort government systems designed to help people by claiming injuries they do not have.  Some profit financially by deceptively tweaking the numbers on their income tax returns.  Through treachery such assert themselves for monetary gain, and they place their trust in cheating schemes rather than God.

"Robbery" is straightforward, and the Hebrew word is defined in the Strong's as "plunder, to take by force."  In David's day victorious armies had the rights to plunder their foes of homes, possessions, people, and livestock.  There were bandits and mercenaries always on the lookout for the next soft target and easy score, to profit at the expense of others because "might meant right."  The mentality of these raiders may be similar to those who hope in winning the lotto or by gambling -  even by through legitimate means.  These set their hearts on a massive windfall and fantasise how their lives would be better with stacks of cash.  Instead of placing their affections and hope in God, trusting Him to provide for all their needs, they set their hearts on uncertain riches.  Such rob God of His rightful place and make money a powerless idol which cannot love or save them.

The power to live, obtain, and provide all comes from God because all power is His.  It is a good place when we do not lust after riches in our poverty, nor do we set our heart on them should God provide money bountifully.  In all seasons may we place our hope and trust in God, being grateful and thankful for His goodness towards us and the power of the Holy Spirit who works in us.  Money does not make a man powerful:  who is powerful compared to God?  Riches may open doors for men, but Jesus Christ opens doors none can shut and doors He shuts none can open - and when He walked the earth He did not even have a house or bed to call His own.

Power belongs to God, and may our hearts remain fixed on Him!  Those who place their hope in the LORD are wealthier than the richest men and women on earth.