Give God His Due

I am studying the book of James at the moment and the connection is made between faith and works.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus and cannot be saved by working to obtain righteousness by the Law of Moses.  The reality is when people are born again and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within them, the lives of people will not be the same because God makes all things new:  a soul dead in sins has been raised to life and forgiven, the eyes of the blind have been opened, the lost has been found, a foreigner has been adopted as a son and made co-heir with Christ.

A point made by James is genuine faith will have supporting evidence of life.  A heartbeat in the womb of a mother is a sign a baby has been conceived and is developing.  There are many who make a profession of having faith without any evidence of a changed life even as there were people who pointed to their  good works as a means of obtaining favour with God.  A wondrous truth of the Gospel is it is all of grace:  it is not by works we have done but by God's mercy He has saved us.  Having been given eternal life, we are divinely enabled to repent of our sin, put off works of the flesh and produce the fruit of the Spirit.

One of the big talking points for believers is our personal responsibility in our own sanctification.  J. Vernon McGee wrote this in a commentary, “A minister once talked to a man who professed conversion, and he asked, “Have you united with the church?”  “No, I haven’t,” the man replied.  “The dying thief never united with the church, and he went to heaven.”  The minister asked, “Have you ever sat at the Lord’s table?”  “No, the dying thief never did, and he was accepted,” was the answer.  The minister asked, “Have you been baptised?”  “No, “he said, “the dying thief was never baptised, and he went to heaven.”  “Have you given to missions?”  “No, the dying thief did not give to missions, and he was not judged for it,” was the reply.  Then this disgusted minister said to the man, “Well, my friend, the difference between you two seems to be that he was a dying thief and you are a living thief.” (McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol. 5, pg. 651)

The point McGee made is a good one, how people can cherry-pick examples from the Bible to justify their own indolence and indifference which exposes their lack of love of God.  I remember talking to a man who declared he didn't need to go to church to go to heaven because his grandmother told him so as a child.  Using the thief on the cross or what grandma said should not discount the commands of our LORD Jesus and the responsibilities we have as believers, things like loving the LORD with all our hearts and loving one another as Jesus loves us.  As children of God He is faithful to guide and correct us, and He uses countless means to communicate His wisdom and truth even to faithless hearts like ours.

Solomon concluded his remarks in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 with this timeless truth:  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."  Even in our age of grace a man can rob God, and may we give Him the honour, praise, thanks and obedience He deserves as our loving Father, Saviour and Sovereign, our all in all.

God is in Command

I recall a memorable scene in a war movie when a captain lead a crew into the heart of a jungle to find a friendly camp in chaos.  Flares exploded overhead and illuminated a rickety bridge.  Flashes of light exposed men huddled in muddy foxholes.  Jeering cries from the enemy were shouted over a loudspeaker while fighters responded with gunfire as they shouted obscenities in terror.  The captain finally demanded of a soldier, "Who is the commanding officer here?"  An unhinged soldier responded, "Ain't you?"  The captain asked another, "Hey soldier, do you know who is in command here?"  The man with a thousand-yard stare answered "Yeah," and slowly walked away.  It was abundantly clear to the inquiring captain no one was in command and left as soon as possible because in that place there was nothing but death for him and his men.

In a limited sense, this is true for all people on this earth.  For the child of God, however, we have received eternal life and a glorious future in the presence of God which we can experience today.  There are times when believers may have the vantage point of those hopeless fighters in the foxholes, feeling without clear guidance and at the mercy of an elusive enemy, forsaken and lost in a trial that drags on without end.  Christians have heard the emphasis of God's love so often they struggle to connect His love with the terrible feelings trials bring:  confusion, worry, cynicism and despair can take hold in a heart created to rejoice in the goodness of God by faith in Jesus Christ.  We can "grit our teeth and bear it" when we are called to cast all our cares upon the LORD because He cares for us, having borne our sins upon Himself on Calvary and caused us to be born again by grace.

When we face troubles a lot of focus is put on 1) what we need to do so 2) God will do what we want Him to.  I have heard a lot of people quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a directive for what we should be do when in trouble:  did you know this is in the middle of a sentence?  It did not start with us doing something but what our good and loving God did to draw us to Himself.  2 Chronicles 7:12-15 reads, "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."  Difficult circumstances like drought that affected crops and livestock, locusts which stripped plants of food, and pestilence or plagues which afflicted people, were God's doing to draw people to Himself.

Those who blame the devil or even charge God with wrong by what He allows deny themselves the help God has promised to provide those who humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wickedness.  We are assured of God's love by the demonstration of Jesus on Calvary and the promises in God's word, for He loves us with an everlasting love; God's mercies are new every morning for great is His faithfulness.  He does not look to a house built with hands but those who humble themselves, fear God and tremble at His word (Isaiah 66:1-2).  The fears and concerns people justify by looking at what is happening in the world are totally unjustified in the knowledge and presence of our awesome God.  Let no one pin the blame primarily on governments, politicians, satanic conspiracies or global warming when God is in command and on the throne, for who is greater than God?  We can know with all certainty, "God is in command here, now and forever."  We don't need to freak out or have the thousand-yard stare but can stand joyful and upright because God is with us.

I urge you, child of God, to lay aside any thoughts or cares that do not fully take God's sovereignty, goodness, love and redemptive purposes into account.  Covid is a global catastrophe like we have never seen, but it is an infinitely greater tragedy when one child of God loses sight of Him and gives into despair and hopelessness when we have the presence of God with us Who will never leave or forsake us.  The trials (and blessings from them) God allows are the proving grounds of faith which strengthen us to endure.  We cannot see good in drought or pestilence, yet our remarkable God remains perpetually good in all seasons.  May our LORD open our eyes to all the good He does like in Ezekiel 17:22-24 with His establishment of Jesus Christ and the everlasting Gospel:  "Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. ²³ On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. ²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it."

The Triumph of Mercy

"So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment."

James 2:12-13

Freely we have received life, forgiveness and salvation by faith in Christ, and the mercy and love God has shown us ought to impact our sense of justice.  From a young age children understand the concept of fairness, and often this view is devoid of God's grace.  In the eyes of a victim who has been wronged the desire for justice is strong.  The Bible reveals the merciful character of God which affirms, "Mercy triumphs over judgment."

It is possible for a person to show mercy in judgment because they recognise their own need for mercy.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-2, "Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  The words of Jesus and the passage from the book of James align perfectly with one another.  If our judgments of others are without a measure of mercy, God will use this standard as a basis for our judgment.  All Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for the deeds done in the body during our lives, and the wise will desire mercy to triumph on that day.

But it would be a shame to reduce our motivation to show mercy to a self-serving one:  shouldn't mercy triumph over judgment because we have already received mercy from God and value it?  If judgment triumphed over mercy when Adam sinned, humanity would have been wiped from the earth permanently in a moment.  Had justice triumphed over mercy, Cain would have been executed for the murder of his brother.  This also is true for each one of us.  As much as we desire "justice to be done," the mercies of God are new every morning towards us for great is God's faithfulness, grace and love.  His compassion fails not.

Having received such mercy from God, knowing He is merciful towards us today and will be merciful to us in the future for all eternity, this ought to prompt us to show mercy to others.  Know that no one "gets away" with anything before our just God who will not pardon the guilty, and if He did not put our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west we would be eternally condemned.  The satisfied feeling we have when we believe justice has been done should be fundamentally shifted to mercy being shown by us to those who do not deserve or fully appreciate it.  Praise God for His goodness, that His mercy triumphs over judgment.

History Come to Life

The Bible is an incredible testimony of the God who created all things Who has chosen to reveal Himself to mankind.  The holy scriptures bear no resemblance to works of fiction or mythology because they are a recording of actual history.  There are records of miraculous occurrences by the power of God and prophesies which have been confirmed as precisely accurate hundreds of years later.  Over thousands of years many traditional beliefs have been espoused by the Jews, some supported by scripture and others that are not.  One thing I learned during my travels to Israel from tour guides is it is traditionally believed the temple mount is the place Abraham went by the command of God to bind and offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering.  Because scripture does not say this, it may or may not be true.  By this test Abraham demonstrated his faith in God, the life of Isaac was spared, and God provided a ram for the offering with fire they brought to the mount with them.

However, the Bible does plainly say the reason why the temple was built in a specific place--and it may not be what you expect.  After David numbered the children of Israel and God plagued the children of Israel for three days, David saw an angel with a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.  Details of the historical event can be read in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 which was written later.  1 Chronicles 21:18 states, "Therefore, the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."  In obedience to God's directive, David negotiated a price for the place of the threshing floor, the floor itself, threshing implements for wood, oxen and wheat for sacrifice, and he paid with silver and gold.  1 Chronicles 21:28 tells us, "At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there."

At that time the Ark of the Covenant was housed in Israel, but the tabernacle constructed by Moses was in Gibeon.  When David saw the offering was accepted by God with fire from heaven (something he did not negotiate or purchase from Ornan), from that time forward upon that altar built on the threshing floor was the place David offered sacrifices to God.  2 Chronicles 3:1 says clearly that is the reason why the temple was built in that specific place in Jerusalem:  "Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."  The Bible revealed to me true historical facts several tour guides in my times in Israel did not mention.  The sign at the temple mount to this day does not mention this either, and you do not need to go to Israel to read it for yourself!

The Bible is the authority on history, and we can rest in the accuracy of God's word which reveals the truth to all who will receive it.  We owe a great debt to countless people who laboured to preserve the word of God so we can read it in a language we can understand.  Whether or not Abraham went to sacrifice his son on the exact spot of the altar is not confirmed, but God has made clear why Solomon built the temple where he did:  it was the place where the LORD appeared to David at the place he prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.  It was the place where God told the angel to put his sword back into his sheath and received the offering with fire from heaven.  It was a place where peace had been restored because God is our peace, and He chose to place His everlasting name in Jerusalem:  the city of peace.

For Christians this is a lovely illustration how Jesus is our peace and we have been joined with Him by faith.  The Bible reveals those who are born again by faith in Jesus now are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for sinners, and offering God received on Calvary.  God showed He received Christ as an acceptable offering by raising Him from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and the Holy Spirit coming upon believers on the Day of Pentecost.  Those disciples went out into the world and preached the Gospel, the same Gospel Christians proclaim today.  We now are called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto God which is our reasonable service.  Aren't God's ways higher than ours and His wisdom beyond compare by bringing history to life?