Reason and Unity

Because our understanding is limited, misunderstandings are a common part of life.  The more we are exposed to the way people think, what they do and the choices they make, we are exposed to potential conflicts due to misunderstanding when as a result we make judgments.  We can make incomplete or inaccurate assessments and thus poor judgments when we allow our own assumptions or suggestions of others to fill in the gaps in our understanding.  Division and discord can be the result of our reluctance and unwillingness to go to others from the start and simply discuss our observations with brothers and sisters in Christ.  While this may be uncomfortable or the other person might react defensively, when done in a loving manner it works to draw us closer to one another and the LORD.

I suspect we Christians do not always deal with our misunderstandings when we are confident in ourselves as being in the right.  Why should we talk about things with others we have already determined based upon our own observations?  The children of Israel set a good example of how to deal with misunderstandings with our Christian brethren after the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half tribe of Manasseh went to their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan.  The Hebrews on the west were disturbed to see a large altar built after the pattern of the altar at the tabernacle had been erected by the eastern tribes, as the Law of Moses forbade sacrifices to be offered to the LORD on any other altar.  The remaining tribes immediately gathered for battle (if necessary!) and sent a delegation of rulers to inquire further concerning the altar.  This was a good step, but they could have done better to allow and explanation rather than immediately accuse their brothers of sin.

They made their condemnation of building the altar plain in Joshua 22:16:  "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: 'What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?"  Sometimes we do others and ourselves the disservice of not voicing our concerns to them, to write them off or even attack them without initiating an opportunity to reason together.  The delegates launched into a long list of the Hebrew's previous sins and lumped the building of the altar in with other infamous rebellions.  It turned out, however, to be a complete misunderstanding.  The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh understood the optics yet explained their own concern:  because the Jordan river acted as a boundary between them, future generations might not recognise the eastern tribes as belonging to the congregation of the Hebrews.  They built the replica altar not for the purpose of offering sacrifices, but as a witness to future generations they had a portion in the LORD as His people.

Joshua 22:30-31 says, "Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, "This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD."  The tribes on the west assumed the worst and accused the eastern tribes of treachery against God, yet when the reason behind the altar was explained their minds changed and the animosity that was stirred up was replaced with encouragement.  The western tribes among themselves could not imagine what good purpose was possible in the building of the altar, and humble reasoning with their brethren led to renewed good will and increased unity.  This interaction teaches me the fear of the LORD ought to unite His people even if we are on the opposite side of the Jordan on an issue, so to speak.  The result of our discussions with one another may not result in us thinking the same way or doing the same things, but we can gain appreciation for why they do what they do without assuming they lack godly character.

In this case it was the the offended party that humbled themselves to accept the altar as a witness between them.  It was not like the western tribes were unwilling to discuss the situation until the eastern tribes removed the abomination they had built.  Imagine the awful damage that would have been done to send the army over before the delegation was sent!  Sometimes we can be like this with differences and misunderstandings--and actual faults--in the church.  We can be quick to contend with or bail on fellow Christians or a church because there are things we do not agree with or that displeases us, even condemning others for what is revealed to be our own misunderstanding.  I'm glad the western tribes did not do this with tribes on the east of the Jordan, and I am grateful for those who have extended grace to me and talked things through before having their mind already made up about my motives.  Let us be the ones who, in love of God and one another, are willing to be wrong about our assumptions and speak directly with others when concerning situations arise.

Forget the Universe

I am always a bit puzzled when I see people reference "the universe" with gratitude for something fortuitous or beneficial.  These references often correlate with how a Christian commonly invokes the name of God or Jesus Christ with thanks or admiration.  I wonder if those who thank the universe or their "lucky stars," consider where or how those things originated.  For those who appeal to the goodness of the universe, one might as well believe the soil or grass under their feet was worthy and able to receive their praise.

The children of Israel were distinct from all the nations of the earth in that they were guided to worship the God Who is the self-existent Creator of all things.  While the heathen nations worshipped the sun, moon and idols of man's devising, the children of Abraham made a covenant with God who revealed Himself to them on Mt. Sinai.  Not only did God create the world, but Scripture testifies along with the annals of history that God also kept His word and gave them the land He promised their fathers.  Joshua 21:43-45 affirms, "So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. ⁴⁴ The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵ Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass."

The Hebrews were led out of Egypt by God's mighty hand, passed through the Red Sea, and survived 40 years in the wilderness before the LORD brought them into the land of Canaan.  God providentially supplied food, water and fought their battles.  He was their good Shepherd as well as their refuge, and He has remained faithful to this day.  Even Gentiles such as myself have had our eyes opened to see the majesty and worthiness of God to be trusted, worshipped and praise:  He is a Saviour and there is no other.  He spoke through the prophet in Isaiah 45:22-23:  "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. ²³  I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath."  The universe God created cannot compare with Him, for all God has created is a mere wisp of vapour that disappears in a moment.

The universe was not, than came to be, and suddenly will not be:  how does this compare to God who was, is and will always be?  The universe can make no covenant, promise or provision.  Like an image made by a craftsman that has ears but cannot hear and a mouth that cannot speak, the universe is a mindless thing that expands but cannot draw anyone close.  In stark contrast, the God who made the ear can hear everything without ears, and He who created the mouth does not need vocal cords to speak.  God is entirely other and awesome in comparison to the wondrous things He has made, which makes Him infinitely more worthy of praise than the vast array of sparks and pebbles He has scattered throughout the cosmos.  Because of Jesus Christ who loves us we can say with joy, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." (Luke 2:14)  At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11).

People can have the universe as their god if they want, but I choose the LORD Jesus Christ.

Waiting on God's Name

"I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good."

Psalm 52:9

David compared himself to a green olive tree planted in the house of God, and that he would trust in the mercy of God forever.  David realised it was by faith in God he was thus established, having received favour from the living God of Israel.  He had an unshakable hope in the goodness of God presently and for the future because God is faithful, a deliverer and redeemer.

During the Friday night Bible study at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed what it means to "wait on Your name" in relation to God.  In the Bible, God's names describe His glorious unchangeable attributes and good character.  I was led to consider the passage where God's presence was introduced by His name before Moses in Exodus 34:5-7:  "Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶ And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."  God's name does not only say what He does but shows us Who He is.

God introduced Himself by calling Himself LORD, the self-existent Creator Who is sovereign over all things.  He stands alone in majesty, glory and power over all, and without Him nothing has been made that is made:  all are beneath Him in every regard.  While He is awesome in power, He has revealed Himself to be merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth.  He does more than show mercy, for God is fundamentally merciful.  Man may show mercy in an instance here or there, yet this is only because mankind has been created in God's image.  Because of man's fall into sin we are not gracious, patient or abundant in goodness and truth.  God is all these things and infinitely more--because He is the LORD God who is good.

God is good to show mercy by forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.  He is willing to forgive those who repent and trust in Him who are exposed of having selfish motives, who willfully disobey and those who do their best and fail to measure up to His perfect standard.  God is also good to hold sinners to account, allowing sin's unpleasant consequences to draw them to Himself or to administer justice to the unrepentant so others will avoid sin.  God has revealed His goodness to sinful humanity in Jesus coming to earth to break the power of sin over people and their families so generations who would have been lost forever can receive His mercy for thousands of generations to come.

Waiting on the name of the LORD is patient expectation for the LORD God to be and do exactly as He has declared in His word, that He will keep His promises to redeem and save us forever.  Because God is good His love never fails, and we ought to praise God now and forever for being worthy of praise in Himself as David said in Psalm 34:1-2:  "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. ² My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad."  Bless the LORD, you His saints, for as Psalm 34:22 says, "The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned."  Lift up your heads, for even now your redemption draws near.

Gift of Suffering

I was reminded of the film Silence today, specifically how the persecution of Jesuit priests by the Japanese for the sake of the Gospel proved ineffective to stop their ministry.  The antagonists found their brutal tortures only seemed to goad the priests to further sacrifice to spread the Good News of Christianity.  In the film, the Japanese changed their approach and discovered they made inroads to hinder the ministry by making the congregants suffer.  This created a conflict within the priests who felt personally responsible for causing the pain, suffering and death of the local people.  Had those missionaries considered the teaching of scripture, it perhaps would have changed their outlook to realise believers are appointed by God to suffer and were never at the mercy of their enemies.

Hearing this, some may see this appointment to suffering as a blight upon God's goodness and righteous character.  But how can one say this when Jesus went through suffering and crucifixion for our good and will ultimately end our suffering forever?  A biblical perspective is suffering is actually a gift (our flesh would gladly avoid receiving or return if it could) as it says in Philippians 1:27-30:  "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, ³⁰ having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me."  Remaining steadfast in suffering by faith in Jesus--without  any fear of enemies--reveals faith to be genuine and powerful to save.  We can rejoice to suffer for Christ knowing it has been ordained of God for us to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake.

A key theme of the book of Philippians is exhorting Christians to rejoice in the LORD always, and this rejoicing in God was despite all the trials and suffering Paul experienced.  Further on in the letter he wrote in Philippians 3:8-11:  "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."  Paul viewed suffering the loss of all things for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ as a most worthy trade.  His genuine faith resulted in righteousness being credited to him and thus he would experience the presence of God, the power of the resurrection to life, and fellowship of Christ's sufferings.  Suffering was something Paul and all Christians can share in common with our Saviour Jesus, and this draws those who trust Jesus closer to Him day by day.

It may be easier for us to personally experience suffering for Christ than to watch others suffer.  But we are not without hope or help in this case, even if we are ourselves helpless to change the situation or end the season of suffering.  That is what God has promised to do.  Know that in our suffering God is working to accomplish good things we never dreamed possible--like love increasing and abounding towards all and establishing hearts blameless in holiness (1 Thess. 3:11:13).  If you have faith to endure suffering and loss of all things for the sake of knowing Christ, we can exercise that faith that God is good and sovereign in the lives of other believers as well.  Glory to God for His redeeming grace, for He is truly able to make all things work together for good to those who love God.