Troubled By God

Because of our limited understanding and ignorance we can tend towards oversimplifying biblical truth.  There are many clear-cut doctrines in scripture which are objective and plain.  But like the apostle Peter who was filled with the Holy Spirit, we can admit there are teachings in scripture which are hard to understand.  He wrote in 2 Peter 3:15-16, "...and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures."  To understand, rightly divide, and apply the scriptures requires being born again by the Holy Spirit and discernment only God provides.

One challenge all followers of Jesus face is the personal application of God's Word, how we put things into practice by faith.  There are all sorts of beliefs and practices in the lives of people which are traditional but not scriptural.  Traditions are not bad in themselves and can serve many good functions like discipline, remembrance, and can glorify God.  But doing things merely out of tradition or copying others because it seemed to work for them can lead us by degrees away from active faith in Christ and obedience to Him.  We can assume what we heard was true and repeat it before we even check to see if the Bible actually says it.  I am grateful that the God who does not change has given us His Word which is true and will never pass away.  Truth and wisdom from God needs no revision.

What I have been reading in the Bible lately plays right into what I've been thinking, how God is intimately involved in the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives.  Like magicians who are masters of misdirection and sleight of hand, Satan utilises these tactics to turn our eyes from Jesus.  Concerning the spiritual realm he aims to move us to extremes:  to be obsessed over demonology or dismiss the whole thing as a sham; to tout our authority as children of God in pride or to imagine Satan as absolutely powerless to even tempt us.  The devil is pleased when we give him credit for our troubles (as a consequence of our sin) and be helplessly resigned to believing lies.  The devil would have us imagine fighting spiritual battles depends largely upon what we do or don't do or the precise words we say rather than what Jesus has accomplished and our identity in Him.  I imagine Satan loves it when we try to take the fight to him ourselves rather than walking in the victory Jesus Christ has already won.

I have been reading in 1 Samuel how the Spirit of God departed from King Saul and how an evil spirit was sent by God to trouble him.  This is put bluntly in 1 Samuel 16:14-15:  "But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee."  It was no secret to Saul or his servants God sent an evil spirit to trouble Saul.  How much good, do you suppose, would rebuking the evil spirit have done for Saul--when the spirit was fulfilling God's purpose at His direction?  Saul's problem was not the demon but his broken relationship with God!  He had been lifted up with pride, was disobedient, stubborn, sought his own glory rather than God's, and when confronted with sin made excuses.  God rejected Saul from being king because Saul rejected God.  But God loved Saul and desired He would repent and be restored.  He gave Saul opportunity and motivation to repent because of his distress caused by this unclean, malevolent being.  This satanic oppression was a divine rebuke for Saul's pride.

Saul was anointed king by the almighty God who rules in the heavens, the One before whom Satan and the demons tremble.  Saul did not need a exorcist:  he needed to repent and be restored to God who is a Saviour.  There was not a particular prayer to utter, holy water to sprinkle, or for a prophet to lay hands on him for deliverance.  See how this relates to what is written in James 4:6-10:  "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." ⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."  The distress and trouble Saul faced was more to do with his relationship with God than the evil spirit.  If Saul would have drawn near to God, God would have drawn near to Him like Jesus did the demon possessed man in Gadara.  Saul was not possessed but certainly distressed, and only repentance and restoration to God who sent the evil spirit could change that.

And this is a key point:  Saul and his men sought a godly musician to play the harp to soothe his distress.  The music played by David for a time seemed to do Saul good.  But rather than changing circumstances by simply removing the demonic influence, God desired Saul change:  to humble himself in repentance, seek the LORD with all his heart, and submit under God's rule.  No one could make Saul do this, and God wouldn't force him.  Instead of being afraid of demons or their influence, we do well to draw near to God who rules over all, the Saviour before whom the demons shudder.  Saul rebuking the unclean spirit would have accomplished nothing because he was sent on God's holy errand.  The Bible has many more examples of God rebuking men and the need for men to rebuke one another than rebuking evil spirits.  It is best for the LORD to do the rebuking of the devil (Zec. 3:2, Mal. 3:11, Jude 1:9), and should He employ angels or men to do so He is to be praised and glorified forever by His humble servants.

Easter In the Bible

The Bible is packed with amazing insights God provides generously by His grace.  I was intrigued by what I read this morning concerning Herod's arrest of Peter in Acts 12:4:  "And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."  I read my devotions and study out of the King James Version because of the Strong's concordance so I can look up the original words.  I have read this many times before but it struck me "Easter" was used instead of "Passover" way back by learned and pious scholars who embarked on the seven year, peer-reviewed process of fulfilling King James' commission to translate the scriptures in 1611.

I found the inclusion of "Easter" ironic and illuminating.  Some of the more conservative-leaning folks in Christendom prefer to avoid the term and utilise "Resurrection Sunday" to avoid any pagan connection.  There are some who prefer the King James Version of the Bible because they believe it is more true to the original languages and intent of the Author.  I believe the translation of "Easter" fits well with New Testament doctrine that the Law was the shadow of what Christ is the substance (Col. 2:16-17).  Devout Jews continued to observe Passover according to the Law of Moses, but things were different for all Jews and Gentiles after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead on the first day of the week.  Instead of the translators deferring to Passover this switch to Easter focuses on the blood shed on Calvary and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is good to remember God's deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt and the Spirit of God sparing their firstborn, but to Christians Easter meant assurance of the forgiveness of sin, resurrection from the dead, and eternal life through faith in Jesus.

The KJV rendering of the passage from Acts enforces the New Testament doctrine that calling the day "Easter" or "Resurrection Sunday" is of infinitesimal consequence compared to the spiritual regeneration and transformation of sinners through the Gospel.  Paul had much to say on this subject in Romans 14 and other places concerning the Christian liberty unto the LORD to eat, drink, to observe a day or not, and we can extend this doctrine to the terminology we use when referring to said day.  Romans 14:5-6 says, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."  If Easter is an offensive term to you (which was not offensive to the KJV translators of scripture), God provides the freedom to use another.  Who Jesus is and all He accomplished in His death and resurrection ought to be our focal point--not terminology.

Is terminology or words important?  Of course.  But fancy splitting hairs over terminology as a measure of spiritual maturity or righteousness before God when we could unite in praise and adoration of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ who has made us righteous by faith!  Paul warned of this very thing in 1 Timothy 6:3-4:  "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, ⁴ he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions..." (bold emphasis mine)  In itself calling a day "Easter" is no less pleasing or offensive to God than "Sunday," a word not found in the KJV which we have unquestioned freedom to use.  Call it Passover, Easter, or what you will without spiritual snobbery or worrying of offence, for God looks upon the heart.  Let each be fully convinced in their own mind and give more grace.  To Christians what many call Easter is at its root worship, praise, and adoration of Jesus Christ and acknowledges and celebrates the Living Hope God has provided by grace.

A Glorified Body

Today I officiated a funeral for a much loved mum, nana, and friend.  It was an emotional time for all to hear touching tributes that conveyed the depth of love and gratitude coupled with mourning great personal loss.  Saying goodbye to a loved one is always hard, and it is a great blessing when grief can be tempered with the knowledge of a future reunion in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.

During the service attendees were invited to place a flower on the casket adorned with a lovely bouquet, Scottish tartan, and smiling portrait to the sound of bagpipes.  All the flowers provided were ultimately laid on the closed casket soberly and with tears.  It occurred to me after the service how the person we honoured and remembered was no longer with us, though the deceased body remains.  The real person created in the image of God, the soul of the departed, had already gone to God.  What remained in that casket could be compared to a seed, a husk that bears no resemblance to the plant that springs from it.  A living plant, flower, or tree looks nothing like the seed.

Paul employed this example speaking of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:35-44:  "But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" ³⁶ Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. ³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. ⁴⁰ There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. ⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."  Our physical bodies will one day die and decay, but Jesus is the Resurrection and Life who gives eternal to all who trust in Him.

The glory of the terrestrial body bears no resemblance to the glory yet to be revealed.  The death of the body is the gate through which Christians pass into eternal life in the presence of God forever free from pains, sorrow, sickness, suffering, and regret.  The natural processes of the body like the conversion of oxygen into carbon dioxide or the pumping of blood through veins and arteries is unseen but it is happens in living people continuously.  God has put eternity in our hearts and explained in the Bible not only how to live in this life but how to have assurance of eternal life in heaven instead of perishing in hell.  In rising from the dead glorified Jesus gave certainty to the resurrection, forgiveness, and eternal life available through faith in Him.

Praise the LORD for the living hope we have through Jesus Christ.  Farmers do not weep over the seed they sow because the planted seed is the source of hope for plenty.  It is fitting we weep over the passing of our loved ones into eternity, but we can rejoice knowing the planting of the seed of our bodies in death instantly triggers a glorious, everlasting future in the presence of God--the almighty God and Saviour we can know and rejoice in today.  What consolation and comfort God gives by His grace. 

Wounded by Friends

From the cross Jesus uttered the opening verse of Psalm 22 which went on to describe the suffering of the Saviour.  Roman crucifixion was the way God chose to fulfill Psalm 22:16:  "For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet."  As unbelieving, unclean men mocked and scorned Jesus Christ He hung by nails which pierced hands and feet.  The Jewish religious rulers arrested and delivered Jesus to Pilate for judgment, saying Jesus ought to die for claiming He was the begotten Son of God (John 19:7).  Jesus went to God's chosen people with the Good News, but they rejected and delivered Him to the Romans to be crucified.

Isn't it ironic how a majority of the persecution and wounds Jesus carried were caused by His own countrymen?  We do not read of the Greeks plotting to destroy Him, nor of the Romans arresting Jesus for alleged insurrection:  it was the Jews to whom Jesus was sent who caused much of His pains.  I do not say this to point the finger or lay blame upon the Jewish nation as being awful or worthy of punishment, for all happened as God ordained.  Jesus came to the lost sheep of Israel and having been rejected the Gospel would be brought to Gentiles so they too might be brought into God's fold.  The Gentiles have not absorbed or replaced the Jews because as Paul explained in the book of Romans the Jews can be grafted back into the Vine who is Christ.

The suffering and piercing of Jesus on Calvary reminds me of a relatively obscure reference in Zechariah 13:6: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."  Many have been wounded by enemies, but the Person addressed in Zechariah 13:6 was wounded in His hands in the house of His friends.  Mr. Fred Rogers was close to the truth when he sang, "It's the people you like the most who manage to make you feel baddest."  If Jesus experienced pains and attacks by His own countrymen we should not be surprised in Christian ministry when a majority of our pains and sorrows are caused by fellow believers in the church.  It is one thing for enemies to shout threats outside the door but a different sort of pain to be betrayed from the inside by a friend or countryman, to be given the silent treatment or the cold shoulder by people who profess to love God.

When we suffer in the service of Jesus Christ we discover a depth of fellowship with God not achieved in other ways.  I regret many of the painful situations I have encountered in Christian ministry and my worst experiences only begin to hint at the reality of Christ's sufferings.  The apostle Paul suffered greatly for the cause of Christ but there was an edifying purpose leveraged with every physical beating by the Jews or when pierced by slanderous accusations of brethren in the church.  Through faith in Christ Paul pressed on rejoicing with this aim in Philippians 3:10:  "...that I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto His death..."  It was not his depth of suffering which made Paul worthy of the resurrection of the dead to eternal life but righteousness of Jesus imputed to Paul by faith.  The lumps Jesus and Paul took and the opposition they faced primarily came from their own people.  If we expect this we will not be caught off guard when it happens.

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:12-14, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ¹⁴ If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."  What we have suffered is nothing compared to Who suffered for us.  The source of our suffering is also not the main point, be it from outside or inside the church, from the work of the devil or the hand of God.  All suffering has redemptive and edifying properties when we continue to press on in faith looking unto Jesus because He will exchange it all for His eternal glory.  He is glorified in a servant who has been pierced in the house of his friends and keeps on loving, keeps on giving, and keeps on rejoicing in the LORD, for our Master has set us an example.