The Scene of the Fall

Today I walked by what could be called, "the scene of the fall."  I took a tumble a couple months back when I kicked a raised kerb on the footpath during a morning walk before daylight.  It seems the local council took notice of the lifted kerbs in the area and ground them flat to prevent others from tripping like I had.  Without me notifying anyone, the council put into practice a principle of Romans 14:13:  "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way."  A council worker observed the raised area, judged it to be uneven and unsafe, and ground it flat to remove the walking hazard.

It is possible to have a perfectly flat footpath and still trip over our own feet and fall down.  But if we are the ones who have fallen, we ought to be circumspect and more careful when we pass by that way again.  When I came to the area where I fell, I took care to walk more to the middle of the footpath.  The wise do the same when it comes to falling into sin, and the term "fall" may be a misnomer in many cases.  Many times we dive into sin like a swimmer does a pool, taking to it like a duck to water.  I have seen clips of people accidentally falling into pools while doing maintenance or when talking on their phone, but sin is rarely an accident.  Sin is natural to our flesh and often intentional, even habitual.

Sometimes we have failed to recognise our attitudes, outlook, judgments, actions, motives and words are sinful, and because He loves us God convicts us of our sin.  His word is like a light that shines in the darkness of our hearts and reveals how contrary to God we actually are.  Other times our sin is premeditated, and there are well-worn paths to sin we have habitually frequented.  As Proverbs 26:11 says, "As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."  I always wondered what our dog was thinking when he did weird things like eating grass or returned to eat his own vomit.  I don't believing thinking had anything to do with it, for he was an animal driven by instinct.  He did so because he was a dog, and those are commonly observed behaviours in dogs.  In his parable Solomon said dogs and fools act according to their nature, and fools express their folly by repeating it.  Without thought of God, fools do not learn from their folly and on their own cannot change.

Having been born again by faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer are to walk as fools--who live as if God did not exist.  We no longer have a "sin nature" because Jesus has made us new, raised from death to life.  We are empowered by God to put off the deeds of the "old man" and sins associated with life apart from Christ, and we can do as Ephesians 4:23-24 says, to "...and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."  Though we continue to live in a body of flesh that has a hearty appetite for sin and tries to justify itself in pride, we are to walk wisely and remember what led to previous falls.  We ought to avoid what has caused us to sin in the past and ensure we do not stumble others.  Even if the council worker hadn't leveled the footpath, by God's grace I was not doomed to fall again.

Knowing I had fallen and can fall again today prompted me to walk wisely and carefully.  It would have been foolish for me to walk away from the "scene of the fall" proud I didn't fall today, scoring a victory over that dumb kerb!  We can make the mistake of feeling proud of ourselves for avoiding where we stumbled in the past only to have another sin like pride overtake us because we believe we are sufficient in ourselves due to our knowledge, maturity or spirituality to avoid such errors.  How we need to rely on Jesus to walk uprightly!  God save us from sin and flesh that repeats its folly!

Fearing the LORD

Jesus taught His disciples in Luke 12:4-5, "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!"  Rather than fearing man, we ought to fear God for His infinite power and eternal justice.  He is able to do to us what no man can, for He holds mankind accountable forever to His righteous standard.  This power of God who knows the hearts of men and has authority over life and death ought to put us in awe.

The Bible gives us another reason to fear God because of what He does for us!  Psalm 130:3-4 reads, "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."  If God treated us according to what our sins deserve, we would never be able to stand before Him.  God does not turn a blind eye to our iniquities and sins, nor does He shrug them off.  God provides the means of forgiveness and pardon by the price paid by the LORD Jesus Christ on the cross, for His blood provided atonement for the sins of the world.  When we repent of our sin the LORD freely forgives us, but the satisfaction of God's justice required a price to be paid--and He paid it all.

Psalm 34:8-10 reveals we ought to fear God for all He gives us:  "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. ¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing."  God who created us supplies all our needs according to the richness of His grace, and blessed are those who trust the LORD and fear Him.  We fear Him because He is not only able to meet our needs, but does so faithfully without fail.  When we thought we had need of nothing, He saw we were miserable, poor, blind and naked and did everything to redeem and draw us to Himself with cords of love.

Every aspect of God's character is glorious, good and worthy of our fear.  If we respect someone for their physical strength, knowledge or achievements, shouldn't we fear God for all He is, what He does and gives ?  Having had our eyes opened to God's goodness, we ought to fear God for what He does to us, for us and all He gives us.  Since we have been brought into a relationship with God by His grace, we ought to heed Psalm 2:11-12:  "Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."  How awesome is God and worthy to be praised, feared and served.  And how blessed are those who put their trust in Him!

God is Working

I heard a comment recently that gave me pause.  A visitor, upon entering the sanctuary at church, said something to the effect of, "So this is where it all happens."  Instantly a thought popped into my head:  "You'd be surprised how seldom things happen here."  This was not a knock on God's work or His people but to point out the sermons preached, songs of worship sung and prayers to God for about an hour a week is a fraction of the depth and breadth of God's relationship with us.  It is a supremely special time to have fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ at church and an incredible privilege to proclaim God's word.  A lot of awesome and wonderful things happen at church--but one room isn't where it all happens.

I realise the visitor was not making a theological statement, and I did not think what was said needed correction.  What it did likely illustrate, however, is a distinction made in Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness by Jerry Cook between "church as a field" and "church as a force."  The "church as a field" is an approach that suggests church is a building where things happen, and thus it is imperative we coax or invite people into the church so they can be taught and ministered to by a pastor.  The "church as a force" concept is that the church is the Body of Christ comprised of individual members who bring Jesus and His love to minister wherever they go to whomever they meet as God leads them.  The gathering of the church in fellowship to preach the word at set times is good, and to be moved to live for Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit every day is also very good.

What happens when a person thinks the sanctuary is where it all happens--and nothing seems to be happening?  If their expectations are unmet, if people do not see or hear what they are accustomed to, they may just go to another church.  They may say, "The worship is dead" when that statement may be more indicative of their own feelings or spiritual slumber more than the hearts of God's people.  They might lament the lack of miraculous healings, spiritual deliverance or people falling to the ground because that to them is part of the church experience.  I have observed that when people do not see things are happening, they may not believe God is working.  The temptation follows to make something happen, and this is not good when it is of the flesh and not of God.

One thing I love about God is He does not judge according to appearances but examines the heart.  I believe, even when we do not see anything visibly happening, God is at work for our good and His glory.  The one who shouts excitedly is not more filled with the Holy Spirit than the silent saint who repents or wonders at the awesomeness of God.  The one who raises their hands or falls to their knees is not more "spiritual" than the person just sitting there.  Our hearts are where God is always working, and when the LORD begins to transform our hearts our thoughts, decisions, attitudes and actions change too.  God is always at work as Moses sang in Exodus 15:11:  "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you--majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?"  In a warehouse, in a purpose-built church building, in our homes, with music or in silence, in the heart of a person sitting on a chair or laying on a bed, God is working wonders.  That is a reason why we gather together in worship as a church--to testify of the awesome things God has done, is doing and will do.

Repentance and Joy

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5

God's call for Christians is to submit to God and one another in the fear of the LORD, to be clothed with humility.  To "submit" is to willingly place oneself in subjection to, and this is the attitude and posture we see in Jesus Christ who submitted to His Father in heaven and did His will.  In His humanity Jesus relinquished His own will to do the Father's will, even when it meant going to the cross joyfully as a sacrifice for sinners.  Knowing God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, we are called to submit to God.  It is not by asserting ourselves but through submission to God we are divinely enabled to walk in victory.

James 4:6-10 connects submission to God with our ability to resist the devil:  "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."  Nowhere in Scripture are Christians commanded to take the fight to the devil, for Christ has already defeated him.  At the same time he can prowl about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Those who are clothed with humility and submit to God are an exercise in futility for satanic assault, and he will flee from those who subject themselves to God without a fight.  Even if trials and temptations come to us, in drawing near to God He draws near to us to help and deliver.

Notice the purifying, sanctifying power of God's presence in the life of a believer!  As light exposes dust in the air and cleaning one area of tile or grout exposes how dingy and dirty the rest of the floor is, so the Holy Spirit reveals sin we are called to repent of, forsake and teaches us what good to do instead.  Like children who resist washing, we may read of lamenting, weeping, and laughter turning to mourning as a bad thing, something to be avoided.  Such may wonder, isn't God loving?  Doesn't He want us to be comforted and happy?  God does not keep a person comfortable in their sin.  He loves us so much He sent His Son to die to atone for our sins--not so we could be happy and content to continue in sin.  When God makes us aware of sin, we are to answer His call to repentance which involves remorse and grief for our wickedness in God's sight coupled with confidence God will forgive those who confess their sin (1 John 1:9).

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and acknowledged his lack, Jesus directed him to sell his goods, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him.  Matthew 19:22 says, "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."  Rather than confessing his idolatry and love of money, the young man was sorrowful because he would not repent.  Had this man sorrowfully repented of his sin and obeyed Christ in faith, he would have rejoiced like the man in the parable who found the pearl of great price, having found in Jesus something infinitely more valuable than all he possessed previously.  He would have been lifted up with joy by the LORD who was well-pleased in him!  There is infinitely greater sorrow in refusing to repent than by humbling ourselves in contrite repentance, for the end of repentance is life with fullness of joy by God's grace.  What freedom, joy and light we have in forgiveness and a new beginning with God!

After writing a letter that rebuked Corinthian Christians for their sin, Paul followed up in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10:  "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."  Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation, but the sorrow of this world produces death.  We observe sorrow of this world in Cain, for all he could think about when confronted for murdering his brother was himself:  "My punishment is more than I can bear!"  Contrast this with the tax collector in the parable Jesus told who would not even lift his eyes to heaven but beat his chest and exclaimed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!"  It was the man who humbled himself in repentance for sin who went home justified.  If you have no sorrow or remorse for sin, if your repentance is only heaviness and gloom, it may be you have yet to repent of sin at all.