The Beloved

Regardless of what country, city, church or family you belong to, there will always be people doing the wrong thing--and sometimes that person will be me or you.  I do not point this out to justify sin or hypocrisy or pride but that these are endemic to mankind.  It takes one to know one it is said, and often this is true.  But no matter how wrong we believe others are, we are called as Christians to do what it right in following Christ's example.  He taught His followers to pray for their enemies, and when He prayed all night it suggests He had a lot of them.

God will someday judge all the ungodly of the earth for their words and deeds against Him, and the ones deemed godly are only by the grace and mercy of God by faith in Jesus Christ.  Jude 1:16-21 says, "These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

The words of Jude hearken back to what Jesus told Peter when he asked about John:  "What is that to you?  You follow me."  Our prayers can focus on all we see that is wrong with people or the world:  "Lord, there are complainers and arrogant boasters!  There are deceivers and greedy looters!"  To such troubled souls God's Word directs us to introspection and sanctification:  "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."  The ungodly actions and words of others work to prompt us to focus on edifying ourselves in faith in Jesus, prayer, to intentionally walk in love, and look for the mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ.  It is we who have a life beyond this world worthy of rejoicing, for we are not our own.  We are God's treasured possession and inheritance, and no one can snatch us out of His hand.

There will be grumblers but I should not join them; there will be complainers yet you should refuse to be numbered among them.  There will be those who walk according to their own lusts who speak with pride and flattery and cause divisions:  let us walk according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the exhortation of scripture.  Beloved brothers and sisters, let us keep ourselves in the love of God--even when the love of others grows cold.  Being beloved of God we are able to freely love others as God loves us.

The Thin Wedge Edge

“What a mercy it is when the preacher knows that his Master is coming after him, when he can hear the sound of his Master’s feet behind him! What courage it gives him! He knows that, though it is very little that he can do, he is the thin end of the wedge preparing the way for One who can do everything.”

C.H. Spurgeon as quoted in the Bible Knowledge Commentary

When I was a teen I enjoyed the challenge of splitting wood. It was one of the chores I rushed to do, too impatient to allow the wood adequate time to dry! Many times one wedge was completely buried in a log of wet wood, and a second was needed to remove it. I always enjoyed the "Lumberjack Show" at Sea World and splitting wood by hand was an opportunity to use tools and to do what seemed grown-man work. The steel wedges we used did not need to be sharp to split the wood when the force of a sledgehammer wielded by uncoordinated youths was applied to them.

I love the illustration Spurgeon employs because it is very true. Our ability and strength to do God's work does not rest in us but in the God who fills believers with the Holy Spirit. If you want something lifted or wood split or a jar opened you look for someone with a little muscle, and God supplies all the power needed to do His work with joy. The "thin end" of the wedge needs to be sharpened, and we too require spiritual maintenance to operate to our full potential. The idea of people and nations being a tool in God's hand is clear in scripture and a notable example is found in Jeremiah 51:20 in reference to King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon: "You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: for with you I will break the nation in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms..." God does everything but He often employs people to do His will and fulfill His purposes.

Jesus sent out His followers to prepare people to receive Him in Luke 10 with the intent to follow after those He sent as lambs among wolves. On their own they could do nothing--like a wedge of steel lying on the ground. Having trusted and obeyed Jesus God would use them to cause Satan to fall like lightning from the sky with their proclamation of the Gospel. Sent out two-by-two they were sharpened and steeled to face opposition, to joyfully minister God's peace to all. Their confidence was not in their pitch or technique but was in Christ who can do everything. Those who make Christ their confidence can do so rejoicing, knowing we will not barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of God in His service. We can do all things Jesus directs us to do through Him, for it is He who does the work.

The Love of God

It is delightful when an intended insult is a blessing instead.  A memorable parting shot is when I was told, "You know, there's more to Christianity than love!"  This critique was offered because God's love was viewed to be an unnecessarily pervasive theme in my teaching at church.  Instead of feeling defensive, it was music to my ears and a testimony of God's grace and faithfulness because I know love is not of me.  I had been upbraided before for being "too black and white" and insensitive with my remarks, but this was something new:  the LORD had been doing a work in my heart and changing the way I thought.  Rejoice with me friends:  God can change a hardened, self-righteous Pharisee to the point love becomes so prominent a theme it bears mention by others.

It is true there is more to Christianity than love, but looking from another angle reveals there cannot be Christianity without love.  God's love is foundational in providing for our salvation, to govern all aspects of our lives, the primary fruit of the spirit, and a defining characteristic of God's character.  The new commandment Jesus gave to His disciples was to love one another as He loved them.  Paul wrote in Romans 13:8-10:  "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."  Jesus did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill.  God's active, sacrificial love is a main theme of scripture and demonstrated by Christ by dying for sinners.

In his epistle John wrote in 1 John 4:7-13:  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."  Through faith in Christ a believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit who enables us to love God and others.  Walking in God's love is a convergence of freedom and joyful duty in response to the love of God we have freely received.

God's love is perfected or fulfilled in us when we love one another.  His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  When we walk in love towards one another it proves God has empowered and enabled us to do what we cannot do ourselves.  The love of God was manifested to us through Jesus Christ, and the love of Jesus is then expressed through us by the Holy Spirit.  The love of God is not discovered at some lofty peak of divine revelation where angels fear to tread but in humility, brokenness, and weakness where Jesus finds us hungry and thirsty for Him.  I have not arrived; I have not attained.  But I rejoice in the miraculous work God has done in demonstrating His love for me and enabling me to value and proclaim His love more than before.  May the love of God be perfected in all who believe that the world may also know God's love and that we are in Him.

We the People

In Mr. Kennedy's year 8 class, we were made to memorise the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States (with the assistance of School House Rock):  "We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America."  The Constitution was signed by 56 delegates who represented the 13 colonies to declare their independence from British rule and was a united effort to join together as one nation under God.

The eyes of the world are watching the events unfold in the United States with interest.  Some might be like the school children who shout "Fight!" and gather around the scuffle with their phones out, keen for a spectacle  Others, like myself, are deeply saddened and grieved over the violence, vitriol, looting, and wounds which appear incurable.  In my expat eyes it seems instead of united as "we the people" the States has increasingly grown to be an "us" and "them" mentality.  Great cracks have appeared in the pillars of the fear of God, love of others and respect for God's authority which undergird healthy society.  Confidence in man is a snare, but with God there is always hope and deliverance when people turn to Him.

In light of devastation those who fear God in scripture consistently presented their needs before God with repentance.  Righteous men like Nehemiah and Daniel included themselves as sinners when they interceded on behalf of their nation.  It is as John wrote in 1 John 1:10:  "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."  It does us no good to confess the sins of others unless we are willing to include ourselves:  we have sinned against God, we have abused authority, we have oppressed and hated, we have stolen and cursed.  We have committed anarchy and treason in our rage against God.  At the revelation the gates of Jerusalem were burned with fire and the wall was broken down Nehemiah fasted and prayed to God in Nehemiah 1:5-6:  "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, ⁶ please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned."

Nehemiah prayed 70 years on, "We have sinned, and I have sinned."  The prayer of repentance is not one of "us" and "them" but "we" and "I."  Unless we will own sin ourselves at least being equally guilty--and perhaps even more corrupt in our hearts and motives than the chief of sinners--our prayers may be sinful and hypocritical.  In Luke 18 Jesus spoke of a Pharisee who thanked God he was not like other men who were sinners, and smugly compared himself with a tax collector he despised.  The tax collector would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven in acknowledgement of his sinfulness and said, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"  Jesus said the humble tax collector who was broken for his own sin went home justified.

Are you furious at the sight of a detained citizen being kneeled on by law enforcement?  Are you grieved to see people resort to violence and looting?  Do you feel compassion towards those who are injured in a demonstration or peace officers following orders who have been attacked?  How are you directing those emotions and thoughts?  Bringing our brokenness to God through prayer and fasting is not a cop-out, and it is not the only thing to do.  If we desire God's intervention and action it is vital we come to a place of humble personal ownership of sin and pray as Daniel did in Daniel 9:4-10:  "And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments."  We the people have sinned and rebelled by departing from God.

We have sinned; we are to blame.  We find ourselves in great distress and trouble like a woman in labour unable to give birth.  Have mercy upon us, O LORD, for there is no balm for our wounds, no end of the violence, brutality, and hatred.  We have sinned and are brought very low.  I am reminded of God's words to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:12-16 after the dedication of the temple:  "Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³ When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."  There stands no temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem today, but God remains true to His Word:  by grace He has made those who trust in Jesus the Temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.  God is attentive to the prayers of His people, and when we humble ourselves and pray and seek God's face He will hear and answer.  His eyes and His heart will be with us perpetually, even when we have sinned.