A Sound of Remembrance

God rewards people who exercise faith in Him, and this was often demonstrated through obedience to God's word.  The God who knows the secret thoughts and motives of the heart commanded the children of Israel in Numbers 10:9, "When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies."  God was fully aware when His people were oppressed, but they were called to acknowledge their dire circumstances and sound an alarm with the silver trumpets kept in the tabernacle.  They did so because they believed God would hear and save them in battle.

Upon reading this I was reminded of a situation in the life of King Saul who commanded trumpets (shofars) be blown after a battle in 1 Samuel 13:3-4:  "And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" ⁴ Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal."  Jonathan, the son of Saul, attacked a garrison of the Philistines who oppressed Israel for years.  Interesting, isn't it:  the silver trumpets were supposed to be blown before the battle, yet king Saul commanded shofars be blown after the fight.  The Law of Moses said the silver trumpets were sounded so God would remember and save His people, yet Saul sounded trumpets to broadcast the attack of Jonathan his son (who feared God) upon enemy Philistines to the people.  This is a classic example of "tooting your own horn," to boast in his accomplishments to impress his subjects--even when the victory had not yet been won.

If we lament over Saul's fall from grace due to pride, we do well to examine our own hearts.  Some of the sins of which we are guilty we recognise as sinful, but there are sins of pride which are as natural for us as breathing:  these are sins all the same.  Better to admit our inability to fight our own battles and cry out to the LORD in humility and patience than to fight for ourselves and boast in a brave attack or even a hard-won victory.  It would have been better for Saul to blow the silver trumpet before a battle than to broadcast a favourable outcome afterward, for all victories are by the grace of God.  How much more appropriate would it have been in that case  for Saul to put the shofars away and offer peace and freewill offerings before God for His faithfulness and help.  Instead of sounding the alarm to seek God's help, Saul sought the recognition and help of man.

David, a man after God's own heart that He made king after Saul, wrote in 1 Chronicles 16:23-29, "Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. ²⁴ Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. ²⁵ For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. ²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ²⁷ Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place. ²⁸ Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, give to the LORD glory and strength. ²⁹ Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!"  How good it is to proclaim the good news of God's salvation and ascribe to the LORD glory and strength before the battle rather than taking any credit ourselves after the battle is won.  May our lives be a declaration of God's goodness and majesty as we seek Him and offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him.

Consider Jesus

 During a prayer meeting last night I was led to read Hebrews 12:1-3 and the exhortation to consider Jesus in verse 3 spoke to my heart:  "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."  As followers of Christ we are to lay aside weights and sin, run with endurance the race before us, looking unto Jesus who was the righteous Son of God yet maligned like none before Him or since.  The hostility He faced ended up with Him dying a brutal death on Calvary, and because of the joy that was before Him went up to Jerusalem and embraced it.

We are greatly blessed to have the example of Jesus Christ's endurance and perseverance though it was costly coupled with His resurrection from the dead.  Jesus did not hold forth empty platitudes when He said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  Disciples of Jesus to this day can be disillusioned because we expect to find peace in circumstances changing for the better, but it is only in Christ we have peace.  In this world we will face tribulation, trials and pain yet despite these we are to be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome.  Before His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to the Father Jesus was already victorious and prevailed.  Fullness of joy and peace that passes understanding is received through faith when we consider Jesus.

Consider for a moment who Jesus is, the Son of God sent to save lost sinners.  Consider the love He demonstrated by dying for sinners who were hostile towards Him.  Consider the manner of His sacrificial death, how He graciously laid down His life when He could have summoned angelic armies to deliver Him.  Consider what Jesus accomplished when laws and ordinances that condemned us were nailed to the cross, Satan's head was crushed according to God's promise, and all who believe in Jesus have been delivered from death and hell.  Consider Jesus who said, "I will never leave or forsake you" and gives freely the Holy Spirit to teach, help and guide us into all truth.

Tribulation and dashed expectations lead us to being weary and discouraged in our souls when we forget to consider Jesus:  how He loves us, what He has done to save us and the eternal hope we have in Him.  Considering Jesus has a way of causing our problems to shrink as our eyes regain proper focus on God rather than ourselves.  Suddenly we realise in Christ all our needs are abundantly met and we discover strength where there was only weakness:  this strength is not our own but is given us by faith in Jesus.  As Jesus for the joy that was before Him endured the cross, so we joyfully choose to consider Jesus in our decisions, attitudes and actions who enables us to take up our cross daily and follow Him.  Any hostility we face cannot be compared with the consolation we have in our LORD and Saviour, even as no suffering in this life compares with the glory which will someday be revealed in us by God's grace.

And so we run joyfully.  We can keep running because Jesus is the One who has made us new creations, has set the race before us, and He has overcome.

Who Jesus Is Matters

After Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, He taught the people and preached the Gospel in the temple.  What I find compelling is how the way Jesus evangelised is quite different to many modern methods and approaches.  Never in the Gospel accounts did Jesus employ a formula to salvation.  Everyone who heard Jesus was confronted by who Jesus claimed to be and whether they believed Him or not.

I was struck how the major emphasis of the gospel can be the process of how people can obtain salvation rather than primarily focusing on who Jesus is.  There is a way Christians can share the gospel as a checklist for people to tick while the identity of Jesus as the Son of God is glossed over.  The question Jesus posed to Peter is a central tenet of the Gospel:  "Who do you say that I am?"  People had many opinions and theories about who Jesus was, and the scriptures reveal He is the Christ, the Son of God.  Jesus is the promised Messiah who did many signs and wonders confirming His claim to be Emmanuel, God with us.

One thing the priests, scribes, Pharisees and people noticed was how Jesus spoke with the authority of God like no one before Him.  The greatest prophets of God in Israel prefaced statements with, "Thus saith the LORD..." but the phrase was never uttered by Jesus:  He did not speak for God but spoke as God.  When He quoted the Law of Moses He said, "It has been written...but I say unto you..."  Before Jesus healed a paralysed man He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  The scribes took umbrage at that statement and judged Jesus as a blasphemer because they knew only God can forgive sins.  Jesus knew their thoughts and addressed them directly and said in Mark 2:9-12, "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

The Gospel is the good news of who Jesus is, the promised Messiah God has sent to seek and save the lost.  Belief in Jesus Christ as God is central to the Gospel as seen in Phillip's interaction with the Ethiopian eunuch.  This foreign dignitary was confused about how to understand and interpret a passage from Isaiah 53.  Acts 8:35-37 reads, "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" ³⁷ Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."  The interaction of Paul and Silas with the Philippian jailer is a good example of the fundamental simplicity of the gospel.  The jailer ,who was about to commit suicide, was greatly shaken.  He fell down before Paul and Silas and cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  Acts 16:31 says, "So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."  This is the gospel Jesus preached.

Belief in Jesus Christ results in being born again, our souls miraculously regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  It is true we are to repent of our sins, deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Jesus.  We are called to abide in Christ, bear much fruit, be baptised in water, make disciples of Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, to obey Jesus and love one another as He loves us.  But all these pursuits are pointless and impossible unless we have done the very first thing:  to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who became a sacrifice for sinners on Calvary and rose from the dead in glory.  Our salvation is by faith in Christ alone as Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Who do you say Jesus is?

Riches that Profit

"Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! ⁵ Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven."

Proverbs 23:4-5

It is good to set goals during our lives, perhaps even financial ones.  But there is one goal which will never be satisfied even when it is obtained:  the desire for more.  Dissatisfaction with our current income or financial net-worth leads to a lack of thankfulness and generosity with what God has given us.  Many people set their sights on being millionaires from their youth and many have obtained this desire.  There is no evidence the more money people have the happier and satisfied they are in life.  In fact, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise.

The Swedish pop band ABBA wrote a hit song in the '70's titled, "Money, Money, Money."  The chorus repeats, "All the things I could do, if I had a little money.  It's a rich man's world."  A desire for a little money, which as King Solomon says makes wings and flies away, leads to a need for more money.  The perspective of the ABBA song is one of longing for more money so life would require less work and offer more fun.  But this approach assumes being able to afford the things you cannot do now is where happiness can be found.  Through his experience Solomon has something to say about that.

King Solomon was a man in the ancient world with unrivaled wealth, power and peace in the height of his reign over Israel.  He received vast revenues of gold and silver annually to amass anything he wanted:  he acquired land, male and female servants, bought chariots and horses, completed building projects, hired professional chefs and singers, and even imported peacocks and apes.  He gave himself to entertainment, wine, women and song.  Few can say what Solomon did in Ecclesiastes 2:10:  "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my reward from all my labour."  After doing anything Solomon wanted his conclusion, however, was very different from the romantic notions of the ABBA song:  "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun."  In the end Solomon, in his great wisdom, realised all he had and did was empty and pointless.

Solomon did not set his eyes on what was not:  he looked upon all he accumulated and accomplished and determined it was vanity.  He could not keep it, and all he had worked for would pass to another who had not worked for it.  Alcohol could not deaden this reality, and all the entertainment, laughter and excitement he enjoyed could not deliver him from depression and hopelessness.  There are few of us who could possibly make the claims Solomon did based upon experience and so we bop along to the ABBA ideal:  if I had a little more money I could work less (though useful work was a source of satisfaction for Solomon) and do more things because "it's always sunny" in a rich man's world.  And exactly when is a person considered rich?  This is a strange dynamic because the "rich" may not view themselves this way as it is more an elusive feeling than objective fact.  The richest people may live like paupers because they do not want to lose what they have--ignoring that one day it will all pass to others:  to family, friends, the government or foundations run by people they cannot hold accountable.

The Bible does not teach we live in a rich man's world:  by grace we live in a world governed by God.  True satisfaction is not found in health, wealth or financial prosperity but in the God who supplies all good things.  Comparing ourselves with others is unwise, and setting our eyes on what is not causes us to pursue the mirage that a little more money is what we need.  Riches certainly make themselves wings and fly away, yet the soul that rests in the LORD and His abundant provision is eternally rich.  The day we believe we need more than we need is a day when faith is exchanged for walking by sight and caters to the love of this world.  The true riches are found by faith in Jesus Christ, as it is written in 2 Corinthians 8:9:  "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."  Isn't it wise to receive the riches of the Gospel, to value Christ over our temporary net worth on earth?