The Promise of Resurrection

What an unfailing hope is offered all those who repent and trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour!  While reading Ichabod Spencer's A Pastor's Sketches I came across a fitting poem for the season of Easter.  Though the bodies of all men are corrupted through age, sickness, and injury, death for Christians is not the end:  our souls are released immortal and incorruptible upon the death of our bodies.  The souls of men will either spend eternity in eternal torment and separation from God because of their sin, or will flourish in eternal strength and glory in the presence of Christ whose righteousness, suffering, death, and resurrection made it possible!  Below is the poem exactly as it appears in Volume 2, page 276.

THE DEATH-BED OF THE POOR !

"Tread softly-bow the head-

In reverent silence bow;

No passing bell doth toll-

Yet an immortal soul

is passing now.

Stranger! however great,

With lowly reverence bow;

There's one in that poor shed-

One on that paltry bed-

Greater than thou.

Beneath that beggar's roof,

Lo!  Death doth keep his state.

Enter-no crowd attend;

Enter-no guards defend

This palace gate.

That pavement, damp and cold,

no smiling courtiers tread;

One silent woman stands-

Lifting with meagre hands

A dying head.

No mingling voices sound-

And infant wail alone;

A sob suppressed-again

That short, deep gasp, and then

The parting groan.

Oh, change!-oh, wondrous change!-

Burst are the prison bars;

This moment there, so low,

So agonized; and now

Beyond the stars.

Oh change!-stupendous change!

There lies the soulless clod.

The sun eternal breaks-

The new immortal wakes-

Wakes with his God."

Seek the Seeker

This morning my eyes fell upon Psalm 84:8-10:  "O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah ⁹ O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. ¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness."  What a privilege it is to be in the presence of the King of kings!  An eternity apart from the presence of the LORD cannot compare with a single day as a servant in His presence.  When we love people, we desire to be near to them.  A loving husband and wife do not live in separate houses as a rule, but they long to abide as close to each other as possible.

It is obvious that followers of Jesus Christ should rejoice in His presence.  We are the ones who are honored to serve Him and be known by Him.  We are blessed, privileged, and humbled to have the Spirit of God within our hearts.  But did you realize that God highly regards our presence as well?  While reading the Bible this morning, I was drawn to consider a passage in 2 Kings.  The king of Moab rebelled against Jehoram king of Israel.  Jehoram asked Jehoshaphat (great names aren't they!) king of Judah and the king of Edom to aid him in attacking Moab which they agreed to do.  After the three kings and army traveled for seven days they ran out of water for both man and beast.  While Jehoram lamented and blamed their situation on God, Jehoshaphat desired to inquire of the LORD and sought after Elisha the prophet.

2 Kings 3:14 records a remarkable statement and principle from God's perspective:  "And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you."  Elisha was a man who stood in God's presence and knew the will of God.  Had the faithful Jehoshaphat not been among the kings who inquired of the LORD, their request would have been disregarded.  For the sake of Jehoshaphat God gave directives to supply both the water shortage and victory in battle they desired.  God looks upon all men, but He sees those faithful to Him with great joy and pleasure.  His ear is open to their cries, and He stretches out His arm to deliver, heal, save, and restore.  The first part of 2 Chronicles 16:9 reads, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."   Yet God does not only look down from heaven like a divine voyeur:  God became flesh in Jesus Christ; He sent the Holy Spirit; He hears, speaks, and answers; He delivers and saves!

Neither Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, or even Elisha were worthy of such favor from the Almighty.  That God would regard man is proof of His goodness and grace, not ours!  King David wrote in Psalm 8:3-5:  "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, ⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? ⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor."  How amazing it is that God would honor the presence of one man and respond to his request!  God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  If we will humble ourselves to repent and seek God, He joyfully crowns us with glory and honor!  What amazing, unfathomable condescension!  Have you taken time to stand before the LORD in praise and thankfulness today? 

Inspection or Surveillance?

Today we had a home inspection from the real estate agent who manages the property we are renting.  Our family took care to mow the lawn, organize the garage, and clean the house top to bottom.  Though the house is large, regular cleaning thankfully left it a small chore.  As I mopped the kitchen area, a thought went through my mind.  The promise of the inspection at 11:30am Monday morning gave us a deadline to meet.  How would things be different if our house was under constant surveillance?  Would we live differently?  Would I allow my grass to grow too long?  Would I allow the garage to become cluttered in the first place?

Inspections are good because they drive us to do a more thorough job than if we were under surveillance.  The best results would come from incorporating both!  The body of a Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  God is not as concerned about our physical hygiene as our spiritual purity found only through Jesus Christ.  Spiritually speaking, we understand that God sees the thoughts and intents of our hearts.  In this sense we are always under surveillance.  Because of our human condition we are forgetful of this reality.  The fact that God always sees us is sometimes not a strong enough deterrent to keep us from sin.  Because of this, it is wise that we take time every day to also inspect our hearts and freely confess and repent from any wickedness in our lives.

We should take every opportunity to do some "spring cleaning" in our hearts.  For us, it was not until our household moved from the United States to Australia that we dealt with the clutter we had accumulated.  For many people it is not until they are faced with their own mortality that they deal with the sin harbored in the recesses of their hearts.  I'm very happy with the condition of our house right now.  But that doesn't mean that labour is not required to maintain the level of cleanliness.  We still have to live here!  We should never be content with the initial cleansing God has done with our hearts and minds.  Regular maintenance and care will be required.  Though justified in an instant, sanctification remains a process.

How good it is to know the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Savior and LORD of All - Jesus Christ - has died to save sinners like me!  Instead of leaving me in my condition separated from God by my sin, He has reconciled me to God through His grace and sacrifice.  I am under His watchful eye empowered by the Holy Spirit.  But I need to permit God to conduct regular heart inspections too!  With the psalmist I say:  "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)  It feels great to be clean!

Ours is a Faithful God

"I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. ² For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens." ³ "I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ⁴ 'Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.' " Selah ⁵ And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints. ⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD? ⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. ⁸ O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You."

Psalm 89:1-8

God is faithful!  Did you know that 33 percent of the references to God's "faithfulness" in the Bible (KJV) appear in Psalm 89?  I didn't until a couple of minutes ago!  The definition of "faithfulness" in the Strong's Concordance is:  "literal firmness; figurative security; moral fidelity, stability."  God's faithfulness is not dependent upon our faithfulness.  God's character is absolute and unchanging, and we receive of His goodness through grace.  Over time man changes in appearance, opinion, and principle, but God does not change.  God remains the same merciful, just, powerful, faithful God He has always been.

Yesterday our family received word from the department of immigration in Australia that our two-year visa has been approved!  This marks the end of a process started long ago with the gathering of legal documents, enduring physicals, obtaining FBI background checks, making financial disclosures, paying fees, submitting resumes, filing for certifications and authorisations.  Throughout the entire process, God has been faithful to our family and our church fellowship in Sydney.  It feels like a stamp of approval not only from the government, but a confirmation from God that we are in His will to minister here.

Who can be compared to our God?  Who is faithful like God, who forgives iniquity and grants enduring mercy?  God is secure and trustworthy.  Jesus Christ is the LORD of all, the Saviour who has all authority in heaven and earth.  As it is written in Revelation 1:18:  "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."  He who holds the keys the hell and death also is the path to life!  A statement found in Revelation 3:7 has been a great encouragement as we in faith pursued God's will to serve Him in Australia:  "These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens":  ⁸ I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name."

Praise God for the strength He gives!  God has proved His faithfulness once again to open the door for us to minister at Calvary Chapel Sydney.  We can only enter by His grace.  God is established with all authority in both heaven and earth and thus has the power to establish His people wherever He wills.  Praise Him with us!

Good or god Doctrine?

No one will deny that man's understanding is limited.  We are limited by our experience, exposure, our prejudices, and the filters of perspective.  Solomon affirms our human limitations in Ecclesiastes 3:11:  "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."  People remain ignorant without teaching.  Because God desires that men know Him through personal experience He has given us the Bible, His Word.  Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we learn of God's impeccable character.  We marvel at His wisdom, learn we are gross sinners through His laws, and remain awed by His love and grace toward us.  Just like we can never know God's works from beginning to end (not to mention His operation for eternity!), we will at best wade in the oceans of His wisdom revealed in His Word.  His knowledge and wisdom go to a depth no man can plumb, and has love so expansive it reaches galaxies beyond our sight.

As we mature and grow in faith, a danger exists that we would grow in knowledge unchecked by humility.  The second part of 1 Corinthians 8:1 teaches us, "...Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."   As people we struggle to keep everything in balance.  Think about in terms of eating and exercise; we likely eat too much and exercise too little.  The same can be true about our study of biblical doctrine.  It is possible we have a personal affinity for certain scriptural teachings.  Understanding doctrine is not the end:  doctrine exists that we might know God and experience Him in a personal, continual relationship.  Because none of our understanding is complete, there is a distinct danger that we would unconsciously confine God within our knowledge of a doctrine.  By doing so we limit our faith and no longer allow God to be God.

How terrible it would be if God was confined by our own ideas of Him!  Lately I have been studying promises and examples of divine healing in the Bible.  I have learned much concerning God's operation to heal men in body and soul, but I freely admit I do not know all.  God did not develop the doctrine of healing and is then forced to abide by His own rules.  On the contrary:  the revelation of divine healing through God's Word proves to us the character and will of God to heal.  But God can still do whatever He wants whenever He wants.  I either can make a god of my limited doctrine that God must bow to, or I allow God to be God.  Romans 9:20-21 exhorts, "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?"  Instead of taking God at His Word, we can allow a single apparent exception from our experience to derail the whole of God's promises and His clearly declared will.  What we classify as exceptions according to our limited view God consecrates otherwise.

May we never make a god out of our limited understanding to which the Almighty must yield!  When we run into difficulties, let us retreat back to the truth which God has clearly revealed.  Good doctrine always is a reflection of truth, not boundaries we set to which God must conform.  Thank God nothing He does is arbitrary, but according to His good purposes!

Quote from "A Pastor's Sketches"

I recently obtained a copy of Ichabod Spencer's book, A Pastor's Sketches.  After reading a few pages I am convinced I have found a gem.  It's funny how relevant a book can be written over 150 years ago because men then are in the same condition they are now:  lost!  Human nature has not changed a bit, and neither has the saving power of Jesus Christ and man's great need for atonement and reconciliation.  A pastor, Ichabod was called to minister to a young dying Irishman who had all sorts of intellectual hindrances to believe in God's existence.  I cannot do justice to the logic and mastery which Spencer employed to convince the Irishman of his false impressions, assumptions, and prejudices.  Shortly before his death, they shared a remarkable conversation which led to the Irishman's eventual conversion found on pages 48-49:

     "Tell me what to do to be ready to die."
     Said I, "You believe in God, the Infinite, Eternal Spirit?"
     "I do," said he.
     "Then pray to him," said I.
     "I have, and I will," said he.
     "You believe you are a sinner?" said I.
     "I know I am," said he.
     "Then repent, and trust in Christ for pardon."
     "Will repentance save me?"
     "No," said I; "Christ Jesus saves sinners.  You must not trust to your repentance and faith to save you.  That would be self righteousness.  Trust only in the crucified Son of God, your proposed Surety."  After a pause - 
     "What must be done first, before I trust in him?"
     "Nothing - just nothing."
     "How?  Is there no preparation to make?"
     "No; none at all."
     "But, holiness - " said he.
     "Results from faith in Christ," said I.
     "And the Holy Spirit - " said he.
     "Is your only hope," said I.  "Without his aid you will neither repent nor believe.  It is his office to take of the things of Christ, and show them unto us."
     "Will you pray with me?" said he.
     We fell on our knees.  I offered a short prayer, and left him.  I never saw him afterwards...the young man died in peace, with praises for the atonement of Jesus Christ on his lips."


Such a sure departure into eternal glory and rest is freely offered to all men who will repent and trust in Christ as LORD!

Anointed Without Shame

Last night our family attended a "Biblical Dinner" hosted by Calvary Fellowship of Epping, a neighboring suburb of Sydney.  It was an instructive evening of learning the social and hospitality customs in Israel during the life of Christ.  When welcoming a guest into your home, good hospitality was of great importance.  After the greeting it was good manners to offer a cold drink of water, wash the feet of the guest, and anoint their head with a fragrant oil.  It was also considered polite to wash the hands of guests before eating.

I was asked to come forward for part of the demonstration.  I was told to kneel and pastor John explained how the host would pour fragrant oil over the head of the guest.  The oil would drip from the hair and beard onto the clothes.  It reminded me of a statement King David wrote concerning the anointing of Aaron in Psalm 133:2:  "It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments."  It seems like a large amount of oil would be needed to drip from the head all the way to the edge of the garment!  It is also clear that this ancient act of middle eastern hospitality would not receive a favorable reception among people hailing from western cultures!

It caused me to think about the command given to the sick in James 5:13-15:  "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."  I used to always carry a small vial of oil with my Bible in case someone desired to be anointed in obedience to scripture.  My thought always was, how much oil should be used in anointing someone?  A dab on the forehead or the back of the hand?  Even if I poured out all the oil in the vial it would not add up to half a thimbleful.

Anointing is anointing.  If we make it a point to baptize by immersion, we shouldn't care if oil messes up our hair or drips onto our clothes.  I am not suggesting we need to make an arbitrary "law" that true anointing with oil should be a minimum of 6 fluid ounces.  But why don't we see people generously anointed with oil as Aaron today?  Maybe it points to a deeper issue:  perhaps we want to use just enough oil to satisfy the requirement but as little as possible to avoid inconvenience.  Maybe someone just had their hair done or is wearing an expensive jacket...maybe we don't want people to feel self-conscious or embarrassed.  This potentially sums up the life of Christians very well.  How do I know?   For too much of my life, to my shame, this sentiment could summarize my Christian walk - wanting the benefits God provides but unwilling to make even the smallest of sacrifices. 

Consider the implications:  we want benefits from God like healing and forgiveness but are not willing to submit to having oil poured on our heads.  I used to place a drop of oil on my finger and place it on the afflicted person seeking healing - also with a couple of tissues on hand to quickly clean up!  My great concern is as I carefully measure out the oil God carefully measures out healing.  I want to be anointed fully, not just with a drop carefully meted out!  We desire the Holy Spirit in His fullness, but when we refuse to yield ourselves to Him fully we hinder Him.  LORD, may I never ration the outflow of your Spirit through me!  How God desires us to fully yield to His anointing, even if it costs us a coat!  If we are not willing to submit to having oil poured on our heads how shall we obey in the smallest spiritual matters?

In no way am I condemning any particular way people choose to anoint with oil in obedience to God.  We are not under the Law but grace.  My participation in the Biblical Dinner last night caused me to examine my reasoning behind my own practices of anointing people in name of the LORD Jesus Christ.  In all things I want to do things God's way.  It profits me nothing to conform to social church tradition when God leads me otherwise.  Faith is best seen through my obedience to His Word.  May God anoint us with the Holy Spirit without holding back a drop!

Thanks Cheerful Givers!

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."

2 Corinthians 9:7

There are few things that make me more uncomfortable than discussing money as a missionary.  There has no doubt been much abuse in government, corporations, businesses, and even in church ministries with people stealing or misusing funds.  But the discussion of money should not be a taboo subject.  The reality is that in our current system of buying and selling money is the only means to obtain necessities like food, petrol, internet access, insurance, and other things.

A huge part of my testimony is how God has always provided for my needs and that of my family.  Especially in the last year, the financial contributions of family and friends have literally put gas in our tank and food on our plates.  God has used your generosity and the timely sale of our house to provide for our physical needs.  Thank you to all who have given as God has placed upon your heart.  We have made some lifestyle changes to help us with the fluctuations in income as Shepherd's Staff disburses funds monthly, but to God be the glory:  He has provided and continues to!

At the moment our housing, mobile phones, and petrol are being covered by the church where we minister as part of a compensation plan.  Our visa restricts us from receiving cash from the church.  So those who contribute to our Shepherd's Staff account are directly aiding us with day-to-day expenses, even things like buying "tyres" for our car!  It's so great that the Holy Spirit moves people to give.  We are blessed by those who support us on a monthly basis and also those who give single donations from time to time.  It places us in awe to see God miraculously provide through you.  I'm sure there are times when you doubt that your contribution makes any difference.  I want to tell you that it makes a huge difference!

God always gives us what we need, and thank you for aiding in supplying for our needs through prayers and giving.  I'm reminded of the passage in Acts 2:45 where Luke describes the lifestyle of the early church, how people gave of their possessions to those who had need.  In giving you are living that life of faith!  We praise God for using you to minister unto us.  May you rejoice in the gift of cheerful giving!

Glimmer of Glory

This morning I left the house early for a meeting in Chatswood with local Calvary pastors.  As I watched the sun rise before our meeting, the top edge of dark clouds far off shone with brilliant light.  The gleaming ribbon of light stretched across the horizon was beautiful and I tried to take a photo on my mobile phone.  Though it was gorgeous with the naked eye, the pictures did not do God's creation justice.  The bottom half of the screen was so bleached out I could see brightness but without much clarity.  Every picture I took was immediately deleted as I drank in the beauty of the cool autumn morning.  My phone could not contain or portray the reality of the splendour I saw with my eyes.  God knows our eyes are not capable of taking in the sight of the sun obscured by clouds:  how then can a man turn his eyes upon God and live?  Because of this God made a provision for our weakness as it is written in John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  Who can explain such wonders?

I feel like my phone sometimes.  The glory of God revealed to me I am not capable of passing on with the same precision and awesomeness as revealed through His Word, the Holy Spirit, or even in nature.  I am not a recipient of special grace or divine revelation untold, for God is no respecter of persons.  He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, be healed, and be filled with the Spirit.  On my nameless tomb may it simply be written:  "A man saved by Jesus Christ in whom the Holy Spirit dwelt."  That God would place His glory within such a failed earthen vessel, broken and chipped and good for nothing in itself!  Yet God in His grace, mercy, and love has raised men from the dunghill and made us kings and priests unto Him!  Who can comprehend or adequately explain with words such humble condescension of so great a Being?

No man can do God justice.  Thankfully He is a gracious God who delights in mercy!  I am inadequate, I am wanting, I lack, I lack!  But thanks be to God that He grants us faith and strength to cling to His promises:  Philippians 4:19 reads, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  LORD Jesus, my All in All!  May your glory shine unabated for eternity according to the riches of your love and grace for all!

Look UP!

"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 ."
Hebrews 12:1-3

God knows that Christians need encouragement.  Weariness and discouragement are real adversaries faced by every Christ-following believer.  God has given me great encouragement today not only from Him but from His people.  At times I was filled with great excitement about the wonderful things God is doing in the lives of my brothers and sisters.  As if right on cue, the devil attacked my heart and mind through a conversation with a person very hostile to the idea that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

God has provided spiritual armor through the Holy Spirit to protect our hearts and minds.  Because God has taken my heart of stone and replaced it with a sensitive heart of flesh I am vulnerable to biting and harsh words.  When God speaks in His still small voice I can sense Him, and I also have come to recognize through much pain the hostile tone of the accuser and enemy of my soul.  I need not take a single word of Satan to heart.  How the devil rejoices to burden us with guilt and wound us with baseless lies.  He labours continually to trip us with temptation, bring shame upon us through our failings, and mock us in our weakness.  The devil delights to back a child of God into a corner through worthless arguments and debate.  But it is unwise and unnecessary to stoop to his tactics for it is written in Matthew 7:6:  "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

When we feel discouraged or are wounded through harsh words, may we remember to look to Jesus and consider He "who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."  Jesus endured all the mockery, scorn, and power of the devil and rose victorious!  He did not escape from the hideous trial of faith:  He faced pure evil and experienced death only to cast off the bonds with new life!  The same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead indwells every follower of Jesus Christ and empowers us to endure without weariness or discouragement.  This is hard to fathom given the condition of the world and the deceptions of our own flesh.  But the promises of the Word stand true and we accept them in faith!

Praise God for the encouragement we have in the person of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit!  May I continually avail myself of the strength only found in waiting expectantly on the LORD.  Psalm 27:14 says,  "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"  God is no liar and His Word is true!  Look up these promises yourself believer!  Look up to Christ and consider Him with thankfulness and joy, praising Him for His faithfulness!

Sin Exterminator: 100% Success!

A couple nights ago I was startled during dinner by Laura's scream behind my back.  Laura had been baking cookies in the kitchen.  I didn't have to turn around because she ran to her chair at the table and sat down, her hands still covered with oven mitts.  Let me preface this by saying our kitchen and house is clean, is situated on a concrete slab, and I usually spray for insects once a month.  Yet despite our precautions, apparently a large cockroach had crawled into a drawer under the oven reserved for cutting-boards and Glad plastic containers and lids.  "And so what do you want me to do?" I asked.  But I already knew the answer.  It was time to wage war on the rogue insect!

I was admittedly reluctant in emptying the drawer.  The last thing I was interested in while my food cooled on the table was to be surprised by some bug dropping onto me.  As I continued to remove item after item, soon the roach was spied by Abel crawling across the baseboards and squeezed behind the dishwasher.  It was very large, very dark, and probably the most athletic specimen I have ever seen.  The legs looked...muscular!  I began to spray all around the dishwasher, scooting it from side to side and spraying as much pesticide far back as possible.  Then we all waited and waited.  I finished off my cold chicken and turned on the TV to see if any sport was on.  Now comes the funniest part of the story.

About five minutes later I heard an all too familiar shriek from the kitchen.  As my head whipped around to see,  Laura ran like a world-class sprinter out of the kitchen, spiked her oven mitts to the ground, and darted into the lounge room!  I walk over to see that our large muscular friend had made his grand exit from the dishwasher.  It was rather anticlimactic, seeing he was nearly dead from fumes.  I applied a generous amount of poison directly, just to ensure he would trouble us no more.  During the cleanup phase, our family talked about how a random roach is way better than some other critters that can take up residence without permission in a home.

The hardest thing in that situation was not knowing how many roaches we were dealing with.  I had the horrible thought:  what if when I move the dishwasher 20, 50, 100 of those suckers start running around?  Would I be able to kill them all?  I didn't think there was a single roach in our house - could there possible be more than one?  I remember a "playhouse" my dad had built for me and my siblings when we were kids.  If my mind serves me correctly it was built on an 8 X 8 foot platform.  When the day came for the house to be demolished, my dad lifted and flipped over the base.  Nothing could have prepared us for what was living underneath the house!  There was a literal 8 X 8 foot square of cockroaches which began to scatter in all directions!  I think my mom started tromping them; I started running away from them!  They slowly disappeared into the turf.  That was one of the most wild insect surprises of my life.

When we think about addressing sin in our lives, it's not a pretty picture.  Sometimes we don't want to deal with the consequences of our sin.  We don't want to see firsthand how deep our wickedness runs.  But the wondrous beauty of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness we receive through His blood is that we don't need to worry if all our sin has truly been dealt with!  We don't need to live in fear that all our sins have not actually been atoned for.  Christians do not need to fear that perhaps unforgivable sins remain that will keep us out of heaven.  We receive assurance of our forgiveness through God's Word:  1 John 1:9 reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

There is the point:  we need to confess our sins.  If our problem with insects were to grow and we hired an exterminator, it would be to our benefit to explain where the cockroaches or ants are most often found.  How silly would it be to hire a man but withhold necessary information!  How ridiculous is it to have a Saviour, a Deliverer, a Forgiver in Jesus Christ, but not freely confess where we need His sanctifying touch.  Even though roaches are relatively harmless, the thought them scrambling over your body is a bad feeling.  How much worse is sin which causes separation from God and leads to death!  Sin must be dealt with, and thank God Jesus Christ has dealt with it once and for all on the cross!  He takes away our guilt, uncleanness, and our worry too.  Let's thank Him by never falling prey to worry again!

A Life Worth Living

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."

Psalm 32:1-2

Happy is the man whose sins are forgiven!  David goes on to describe the process in verses 3-5:  Psalm 32:3-5 reads, "When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah."  David freely confessed his sin before the LORD and God forgave him.  What a wonder, to be free from the guilt, shame, conviction, and condemnation our sin justly demands!

Psalm 103:12 states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  Our sins removed from us at such a distance that we need never be reminded of them again.  If we trust in Jesus Christ and humbly confess our sins, God will cleanse us, remove our sin from us, and chooses not to remember them ever again as it is written in Isaiah 43:25:  "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."  God does not forget our sins:  He decides not to remember them.  What glorious forgiveness is granted us freely through the blood of Jesus Christ!

Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.  When we believe on Jesus Christ whom God has sent to be the Saviour of the world and repent of our sins, we are not only cleansed from iniquity but the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us.  This righteousness and eternal salvation is granted to us by grace through faith.  Jesus has become the payment for our sins.  Romans 3:21-26 reads, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Let us rejoice in the goodness of our God, who at His own expense has granted us life for death, and given us eternal salvation instead of eternal damnation.  Christ has removed all sin far from us and remembers it no more.  All this without guilt and bondage, all this without condemnation!  This, my friends, is a life of freedom worth living!

O Wretched Man!

I am convinced that if I never suffered for my sin I would certainly never repent.  God is so wise in the ways that He chastens and leads us back to Him.  Under the burden of a guilty conscience a man will consider confession of sin and repentance, but usually not before!  When we fall into sin even as believers and our sins separate us from God.  This is not typically enough to get our attention:  God must go to great lengths to cause us to see the desperately wicked condition of our flesh.

When King Saul became proud, arrogant, rebellious, and disobedient, God sent an evil spirit to torment him.  Instead of encouraging Saul to repent and offer sacrifice for atonement, though his advisers recognized that God had withdrawn His Spirit and sent an evil spirit instead, they suggested he find a man to play the harp to comfort him (1 Sam. 16:14-23).  The young man they found to play was a young shepherd, David.  When the unclean spirit would begin to torment Saul, David would play soothing music and Saul would feel refreshed and well.  But on two occasions Saul threw a spear at David, hoping to pin him to the wall.  His sin so polluted his mind and the wickedness of the demon so influenced his heart that he sought to war against and destroy the one who came only to comfort.  In a fitting twist before his untimely death Saul sought the help of a medium to conjure up the dead.  Spiritually and literally he fell on his own sword.

So it is with us and the Holy Spirit:  God has sent the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-14).  In my own life I have found that it is not so often my sin itself that causes me to seek God, but the misery the conviction the Holy Spirit brings which moves me to repent.  Sin begins so subtly and secretly, so sweet with desire, that I do not recognize the sin.  God must chasten us so we will notice the foothold and legal right we have given Satan in operate in our lives through our willful sin.  We are called to administer the "rod of correction" to our children, for a man chastens a son whom he loves.  Proverbs 3:11-12 states, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; ¹² For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."  God does not want us to dread His rod of correction or hate the feelings of conviction, no matter what form it might take:  He desires that we hate our sin and repent.

God appeared to King Solomon and blessed him richly with wisdom, peace, prosperity, and abundance.  But Solomon's heart became unfaithful to God and was drawn away from walking in obedience to Him through his many foreign wives.  His life was filled with idolatry and Solomon built altars to demons and worshiped them.  God stirred up adversaries against Solomon, and promised to later rend the kingdom from the hand of his son.  1 Kings 11:14, 23 reads, "Now the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom...²³ And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah."  Solomon saw his adversaries as a threat, but he didn't see the destructive force of his sin at all.  When Solomon's servant Jeroboam was told by the prophet Ahijah he would be king over Israel, Solomon sought to slay him.  Even with all his great wisdom, Solomon did not discern his sin as the root cause of his adversaries being stirred up by God against him.  He saw the problem as being apart rather than within his own heart.

God would rather our bodies be destroyed by Satan leading to repentance for the salvation of our souls.  If all we encountered was refreshment in in midst of our sins we would no doubt run down the broad path leading to destruction.  1 Corinthians 5:4-5 says, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ deliver such a one (a professing believer in gross sin) to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  We would never dream of such harsh intervention.  But God knows the deceitfulness of a man's heart that works to his utter ruin.  Unless the LORD builds the house they labour in vain who build it, and unless the LORD chasten a man he would freely choose to make his bed in hell.

Paul writes in Romans 7:21-25:  "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."  Only Christ can deliver us from this body of death, the Lamb of God who was made sin for us.  As He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death, so we have been granted the victory of Christ's blood by grace through faith.  Having been risen with Christ we are to live unto Him and no longer to serve the flesh, sin, or Satan.

Do you have peace with God?  You can have it now if you will invite God to search your heart, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ.  Instead of seeing your adversaries or unsettled conscience as the problem, understand that the root cause is likely sin.  We know that the flesh wars against the Spirit:  in your life right now who is winning?  If the Holy Spirit convicts you, do not grieve Him by resisting or justifying yourself:  repent, believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

A Hymn to Remember

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

by Martin Luther

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Savour the Flavour

Moving to Australia has brought many changes to my life.  Some of the changes are huge while others are subtle.  One of the differences between Australia and the States is the coffee.  I will be the first to admit I am no connoisseur.  The quality of coffee is directly proportionate to the size of the mug!   If I want a cup of coffee, I want more than a shot of espresso:  give me some volume!  When it comes to discerning the quality of coffee, however, I might be among the worst.  I am like Emile, the brother of the rat-gourmet chef Remy in Disney's Ratatouille.  Remy appreciated all the dynamic flavor combinations of food, but Emile would eat just about anything without even noticing.  Today's events were proof I still have far to go in appreciating good coffee!

I have a friend who works in the coffee business as a coffee roaster.  As we shared a "cuppa" this morning at his bustling shop, he asked a barista to provide a good espresso and a bad one.  He explained the principle of making coffee similar to how olive oil is squeezed in a press.  The weight of the press alone on the olives makes the extra virgin oil, the purest oil set aside for use in cooking.  The last drops from an olive press will be too bitter for cooking and would be used as fuel.  The reason why their coffee house is growing in popularity is because of the quality of the coffee, he said.  I confess I had a hard time not smiling in disbelief.  Is the coffee really that much better than at other places?  I mean, isn't coffee coffee?

As we sat down, two small cups of espresso were brought out.  I tried one which tasted like espresso I was familiar with.  Then I had a taste of the other which literally made me cringe.  It had a flavor so pungent, a taste so initially revolting, I wondered how anyone could drink such a thing.  "So, which one do you like more?"  I pointed to the one that I considered more drinkable, the first one.  Guess what?  It was the BAD coffee!  He took a sip of the rejected brew:  "This is the good one.  There is more of the flavour of the beans, a hint of peanuts, and some citrus."  I sat back in my seat amazed.  Here is a coffee professional telling me that I preferred the bad coffee, that my taste buds were telling me wrong!  The barista who made the coffee came out and asked which one I liked more.  When I pointed to the bad espresso he said without expression, "Interesting."  This morning only confirmed my coffee ignorance!

I continued to talk to my friend and sipped from one cup and then the other, comparing the two more carefully.  The first one tasted normal; there was nothing so different about it at all.  But the second cup was certainly different from any coffee I have ever had.  Once I was over the shock of the initial burst of flavour, I found that I actually could taste a hint of citrus.  It didn't seem so bitter as I tried it again and again.  I came to the conclusion that I initially preferred the taste I am accustomed to.  Apparently I make bad coffee!  Once I was convinced of my error, with an open mind I gave the good coffee another chance.

But consider the spiritual implications of this coffee experiment:  people prefer what they are accustomed to.  When I tasted the good coffee, I honestly did not like it with the first sip.  Without my friend's direction, I probably would have never tried it again.  I would have convinced myself that the second cup was not for me!  Because he confirmed that it was actually good coffee, and I trust his expertise as a professional in his field, I gave it another chance.  So often that is how it is in the Christian faith.  We have our opinions and ideas about what it means to live a Christian life.  We are content with our relationship with God.  Then someone comes around and tells us that we must repent and be filled with the Spirit and we immediately recoil!  This is something new, something unfamiliar to our experience.  But if we will just trust God and His Word, we will find that we have simply grown accustomed to our level of intimacy with God and see no reason to progress further.

God is so good to lead us gently.  He will never force His Spirit upon us.  My coffee-roasting friend decided to treat me to something really special.  I could have said, "Well, you can have all the good stuff to yourself.  That leaves more of the nasty stuff for me."  I can continue to decide I still like my own coffee my way and not learn from the professionals.  There's no such thing as a professional Christian, only professing ones by the grace of God.  Many believers have discovered a closeness with God that a handful of people ever personally experience.  For me, I want to have the closest relationship with God I can.  My flesh will resist at every point, but that is the desire of my soul.  I want to go for the good stuff, not be satisfied with the dregs.

As the song says, "Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be."  When Jesus turned water into wine, the master of the feast could immediately tell the best wine had been saved to last.  Though I am lame at discerning between excellent and poor coffee, may I always go for the highest quality relationship with my Saviour, Jesus Christ.  May I daily savour the flavour of a close walk with Jesus!

Profitable Labor of Love

"In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty."

Proverbs 14:23

Before I went to bed last night, I read this proverb of Solomon recorded in scripture.  I considered how this statement is true on many levels.  There are those who cannot speak and work at the same time.  Instead of working, they spend much of their working hours talking.  Then I thought about how common "chatting" is these days either online, with text messaging, or in person.  Not only does superficial chatting waste time that could be spent more effectively, but it leads to poverty in relationships.

We all know marriages and other close interpersonal relationships require a good deal of labor and maintenance.  Unless we have conversations of depth where we share our feelings, struggles, and dreams, it is virtually impossible to really get to know someone else.  For me personally, when I have conversations of depth it enables me to better understand what I am feeling and thinking as well as others.  The labor of putting my feelings into words works wonders in aiding me to know what actions I should take.

Would it be better to have 100 people to chat with or one person to whom you can bare your soul?  I say the latter.  But such a friendship will have a cost associated with it.  It is hard labor to trust someone enough to share your heart.  It makes us vulnerable and forces us to invest our love in someone else without any fall-back plan.  I will never trade the close friendships I have for a million superficial ones, and thankfully I don't have to.  What richness friends bring to our lives!

All relationships I have on earth pale in comparison to the relationship that God has with me and I with Him.  He always has my back - and my front - both in the spiritual and physical realm.  God understands all I have and will experience perfectly.  Jesus is a friend who indeed sticks closer than a brother.  I have a younger brother I love very much, and there is hardly a person I am more proud or fond of.  But he lives far away in the United States while I live in Sydney, and even when we enjoy time together it is only temporary:  we have families, jobs, lives, marriages, children, and ministries which demand our attention.  Nothing can separate me from the tangible love and presence of Jesus Christ except my own sin.  And even when I fall into sin when I draw near to God in humble repentance He draws near to me according to His Word.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

The same principle which applies in marriages and friendships applies to the relationship we have with God.  If all our prayers are idle chatter and superficial, we won't know Him very well.  Poverty would better describe our relationship instead of richness and depth.  Whatever we sow, we will reap.  If you plant one row of carrots, you would be a fool to expect the whole field to be fruitful.  Unless we are willing to labor in our pursuit of Christ and fortifying our relationship with Him, we will have a poor relationship indeed.  Our relationship with God will be laborious if it is healthy and good, and it is wise to invest in this eternal partnership God has offered by His grace to us.

Allow me to encourage you with a passage found in Galatians 6:9-10:  "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. [10] Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  This passage is often used to illustrate how we ought to do good unto our brothers in sisters in Christ.  But how much more should we do good unto our Brother, Savior, and Redeemer Jesus Christ, who is the HEAD of the Household of Faith!  Let us labor for Jesus making use of every opportunity He gives us.  There is no one richer than a man who is a friend of God.

The Wait is Over!

At church yesterday the message God placed upon my heart emphasized the necessity of Christians to be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.  It should be no surprise that the devil has sought any possible means to dissuade people from seeking the fullness of the Spirit.  Some have been deluded to think the gifts of the Spirit are no longer necessary today.  1 Corinthians 14:37-40 says, "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. ³⁹ Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. ⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order."  No longer need we be ignorant, nor must we remain without power.  A pastor recently told me most churches are so concerned about "decently and in order" that "all things" are not encouraged.  I believe all things should be done decently and in order for our God is not a God of confusion:  we are the one who become confused!

Consider Saul who was later called Paul, an apostle and servant of the Most High God.  After Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, Ananias was commanded by God to seek Saul out and pray for him.  This is Luke's account written in Acts 9:17-18:  "And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."  Jesus is the One who baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I find Paul's public recounting of this event in Jerusalem to a crowd most interesting.  He supplies additional information Luke did not record at first.  Paul's testimony from Acts 22:12-16 reads:  "Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, ¹³ came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. ¹⁴ Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'"  I am drawn to think over the question Ananias poses in verse 16:  "Now why are you waiting?  Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord."  Paul had been filled with the Spirit:  what was he waiting for?  After praying with Paul, Ananias exhorted Paul to action.  "Why are you waiting?"  I hearken to the question the Ethiopian eunuch asked Phillip:  "Here is water:  what hinders me from being baptized?"

Why indeed are we often sluggish to obey God in both water baptism and the baptism with the Holy Spirit?  We need not wait any more!  Acts 1:4-5 records the words of Christ to the disciples after His resurrection before the day of Pentecost:  "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  The Spirit was poured out upon the believers as they prayed in one accord in the upper room.  Does that mean we must wait to receive this as well?  Some mistake Christ's words as applying to us today, that "wait" means "quit serving."  Not at all!  The wait is over because Christ has ascended and God's Spirit has been sent!  Today is the day of salvation and the day of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  It is only through the Spirit that we can serve God effectively, exercise spiritual gifts, resist the devil and all temptation, have understanding of God's Word, and victoriously engage in the spiritual battles we face daily.

Born-again Christians affirm that if a person will confess their sins, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ, they have assurance of salvation through the Word of God.  Yet some of these same believers (and I was once one of them!) stop short of believing if a person will confess their sin, repent, and ask in faith for Christ to be baptized with the Holy Spirit it may or may not happen.  How can this be?  Speaking for myself, I used to be the aforementioned person.  To put it bluntly, I for a while desired the baptism with the Spirit yet was unwilling to lay down my own will at the cross and humble myself.  I actually used scripture to fortify my position and hid behind a facade of spirituality.  In doing so to my shame I robbed God of glory and sacrificed my usefulness for His kingdom in exchange for pride.  But glory to God, He changed my heart and opened my eyes.  He showed me my great need for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, enabled me to believe the promises of His Word, and gave me faith to pray to receive.  Like John the Baptist I personally affirm that Jesus IS the One who baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire.  We have God's assurance in His Word in the matter and the testimony of the Holy Spirit to confirm the truth in our hearts.

Do you possess, by God's grace, the fullness of the Spirit?  Know that you can and that is His will for you. Jesus says in Luke 11:13:  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"   1 John 5:14-15 affirms:  "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."  Now why are you waiting?  Jesus says to you in Luke 11:9: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Are You Dedicated?

"So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD."

1 Kings 7:51

Isn't it wonderful when God weaves a thread through your day?  Before going to church this morning, I read this passage during my devotional time.  There was a wonderful connection between this scripture and the message I later preached, not only confirming God's Word but the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit.

As I read this passage, I considered the word "dedication."  When I thought of dedication, I though of Hannah dedicating her pre-conceived son Samuel for the LORD's use.  Though she delivered Samuel as a child for service in the tabernacle, Samuel had a choice to either serve God or rebel.  He chose to honor God with his life and became a prophet mighty in word and deed, and in honoring God honored the choice his mom made to dedicate him unto God.  I see a similarity in how King David dedicated the silver, gold, and furnishings for use in the temple Solomon would later build as king.  Though David dedicated valuable goods for the building of the temple, King Solomon had command of the gold and silver.  He chose to use them for the use designated by his father.

The definition of the Hebrew word translated "dedicated" is: "to sanctify, consecrated, dedicated, hallowed."  This led me to consider that all children of God have been dedicated for God's use in this sense, for God has sanctified us for His use.  Hebrews 13:12 reads, "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate."  Jesus has sanctified us by His own blood, as Jude affirms through his address of all believers in Jude 1:1:  "Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ..."  As Hannah dedicated Samuel, as David sanctified the gold and silver for use in the temple, so we too have been dedicated unto the Father through the blood of Christ.

The question remains:  will we use our freedom from sin and death to dedicate ourselves unto God, or misdirect the gifts and talents He has granted us for any other purpose?  Am I resolved to lay down my will so my life will be dedicated for God's will and glory?  Both Samuel and Solomon honored God by honoring their parents through obedience, and we honor the Father through the leading of the Holy Spirit in obedience to Christ.  God did not grant us silver or gold for a temple made with hands, but the glorious presence of the Holy Spirit's presence to fill the temple of our bodies!  Praise God that He has granted the Holy Spirit in His fullness to followers of Jesus Christ!  As Paul exhorts in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

The Giver is Greater

As I watched television last night, a man climbed a platform to be recognized with an award of excellence in Australian Rules Football.  The round medal was connected to a ribbon to be worn around the neck similar to medals awarded during the Olympic games.  The recipient bowed his head as a smiling presenter carefully placed the medal.  The man slowly stood up, and raised a fist in triumph as he acknowledged the cheering crowd.  It struck me that while the athletes generally receive the glory or recognition, the game of Australian Rules Football is bigger than each individual player.  Awards given for excellence are even greater than the star players.  The man literally had to bow to receive the award from the presenter who represented the league which gives the player any credibility at all!

The Olympic games are greater than any single athlete.  That spectacle of sport is a bigger stage than any personality.  The greater the stage and the higher the stakes only magnify the glory of the participants.  In the United States at the moment the National Football League and the players are in the middle of a labour dispute.  The owners of each franchise own the rights to the NFL, but the players claim the NFL wouldn't be what it is without their talent.  Though it is a mutually beneficial relationship, I side with the owners.  Without the National Football League those players would be virtually unknowns:  no advertising campaigns, no video games, no television coverage, no multi-million dollar contracts.  The NFL is bigger than any player.  Players are drafted and retire, traded, succumb to injury or rise to stardom, but the league keeps churning on.  Every year 32 teams battle for the coveted Vince Lambardi trophy.  The game is bigger than them all.  The game honors the greatest NFL players in a Hall of Fame:  the players do not honor the game by playing, though many play honorably.

This line of thinking led me to consider of the relationship between Jesus and His followers.  Jesus has died on the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven.  Because He physically has left the earth, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within and come upon every believer.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given spiritual gifts (not awards or rewards!) so we might honor Jesus Christ and edify the church.  To receive these gifts we must not only bow our heads but lay down our will to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.  In some circles today, the gifts of the Spirit almost eclipse the view of Jesus.  He is seen as our means to obtain power and this is sin.  Jesus is not a means but our ultimate all:  as Christ lay down His will before the Father, we ought to lay down our will completely before Him.

No matter how decorated a general might be, the country who granted him a career and recognition remains greater than he.  How true it is that a man of authority must be a man under authority!  While athletes are governed by rules of conduct and sportsmanship, Christians are under the authority of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who make up the triune God as revealed in the Bible.  No man can cast a shadow upon Christ no matter how gifted or skilled he might be.  While men are recognized for their talents on gridiron or their volunteer work off of it, every gift given by God to man is received only by grace.  Is any person worthy to receive even a scrap from their Creator's table, much less to be counted fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ?  Romans 8:14-17 reads, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

While professional football players receive glory on the field, there is also a measure of suffering they endure for their effort:  knee replacements, chronic arthritis and pain, early onset of dementia from head injuries, even paralysis or death.  Christians are called to give all glory to God despite certain suffering as we serve Him faithfully.  Consider the next verse:  Romans 8:18 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  For children of God it is not the promise of rewards, gifts, awards, or compensation which moves us to serve God:  it is love!  God has revealed such gracious love to us in sending His Son Jesus to die for us!  What a privilege to be permitted to serve and even suffer for His name's sake.  Every gift we receive from God's hand gives us greater appreciation and love for Him!  His gifts are greater than us, and God is greater than His gifts.  Let us bow our heads and thank Him for such indescribable gifts of salvation, forgiveness, peace, joy, grace, mercy, and love - all with infinite quantity and divine quality!

Faith Out of Date?

As a eating enthusiast, I enjoy cooking and baking a great deal.  The quality of ingredients used plays a key role in creating an edible masterpiece.  I appreciate an omelet packed with delicious contents, a well-formed Snickerdoodle, or sweet zucchini bread with a crack down the middle.  Though I have met with relative success in the kitchen, there have been occasions where everything seemed to go very wrong - like the time I put in a cup of sugar instead of a tablespoon in the pancakes.  Sometimes failures in the kitchen are not the fault of the cook.  When the oven will not heat up to the correct temperature, baked goods will not rise property.  If baking powder or yeast is very old, it will affect the amount of rise and texture.  Both ingredients for baking and medicines have a "use by date" because their effectiveness is directly tied to their freshness.

But what about faith?  Is old faith just as good as new faith in Jesus Christ?  No way!  Our faith is to be renewed day by day as we affirm our belief in Christ and trust in Him.  Jesus commended a woman in scripture for her great faith, and chastened his disciples for their lack of faith.  We walk in faith and exercise gifts according to proportion of faith (Rom. 12:6), and people also have faith of varying strengths (Rom. 14:1).  Even the smallest amount of faith in Christ is real faith.  Genuine faith in Jesus is saving faith indeed.  As we are to grow in grace, Christians are also called to grow in faith (2 Cor. 10:15).  Faith is not work to be done but a gift to be received. 

1 Peter 5:8-9 reads, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."  Faith helps us to stand and trust in Christ but also to resist attacks from Satan.  When Paul talks about spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:16, every believer in Christ is exhorted to put on the whole armor of God:  "...above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."  Every believer has been given a shield of faith to aid and protect us from satanic attacks.  A shield used in a battle by a Roman Hastati  would be battered by stones, burnt by flaming arrows, chipped from slashes of spears and swords.  The leather straps used as handles over time could become brittle or snap.  Needless to say, shield maintenance and replacement was a part of life for a soldier.

I have a great burden for Christians who have gone into battle and fought valiantly for Christ and the Gospel, yet their faith has grown old and stale.  The spiritual fight has whittled their shields to the size of a dinner plate!  They can be more focused on fighting and contending than abiding in Jesus!  More and more arrows find their mark and cause pain.  Instead of finding strength when a man reads God's Word, his mind becomes more focused on difficulties.  He picks over theological bones in online forums rather than drinking the wholesome milk and eating the meat meant to nourish in God's Word.  This is a real danger for all believers.  Instead of trusting in God has a child, we can have intellectual hindrances that keep us from taking God at His word.  We can carry the same genuine shield of faith, but it can be old faith built by things God said or did years ago - rather than what He has spoken to us today!  God is showing me I need renewed faith in Him.  Won't you wait on the LORD to renew your strength by renewing your faith?  He is our Refuge, our Help in trouble. 

Isaiah 40:29-31 reads, "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹ but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  Take a moment to inspect your faith.  Is it out of date or in dire need of maintenance?  It is time to purge our pantries and have God restore our shields of faith.  Fresh faith will give us renewed effectiveness for God's glory!

The Power of Giving

The picture on the front page of the Rouse Hill Times this past week caught my eye.  On a hospital bed lay a man propped on pillows with a ventilator tube in his throat and a serene smile on his face!  Above the picture of this young smiling man the headline read:  "Selfless - He's 18 and paralysed, but he only wants to help others."  Inside I read the inspirational story of Blake Nixon, a young man who days before this Christmas was left a quadriplegic as a result of a tragic car accident.  Though his circumstances have been harder than most could imagine, joy radiates from the smile on his face.  Instead of focusing on his lack of ability or drowning in sorrow, Blake decided to have his head shaved to benefit the Leukemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave campaign.

This is not the first time Blake has endured tough obstacles in his life.  His mother passed away in 2007 due to breast cancer.  Few people his age have endured these kind of struggles and for that reason his smile means so much.  Blake thinks about how to benefit others as he lays in a hospital bed.  This young man, despite his paralysed body, has done more for people suffering from cancer than most people in the world whose bodies function perfectly.  Without lifting a finger Blake's smile and the act of joyfully giving what he can lifted my spirit.

Blake's giving heart takes me back to a moving story written by Shel Silverstein called The Giving Tree.  No matter what phase of life the human character was going through, the tree always was happy and content to give.  We always think that helping involves us doing something physical:  helping mow the lawn, helping with the dishes, helping pay the rent.  But Blake has helped people through his attitude and by shaving his head to make a difference in the world.  I have not been diagnosed with cancer, but Blake's sunny disposition has been a blessing to me as well.  Good on ya, mate!

The headline made me think about my Saviour, Jesus Christ.  There is no one who has walked the earth who has given more.  Jesus Himself was also paralysed on the cross by nails which pinned Him down as He bore the weight of the sins of the world.  He also paid for every sickness, for by His stripes we are healed.  Christians should be the most selfless people in the world because Jesus modeled it perfectly.  He has granted us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live in the joy of the LORD.  What can we do to give ourselves to others for God's glory?

Thanks for the lesson, Blake Nixon.  May we never forget that Christ gave His all so we might give ourselves completely back to him and others!

The Crown of Grace

As we sang "Amazing Grace" in church yesterday, it struck me how amazing God's grace really is.  Like the peace of God which passes understanding, it is past finding out.  The brutal irony remains that the place where grace ought to flourish the most - among the people who profess to know God - is the one place grace is not found.  Instead of seeking restoration or salvation for the woman caught in the act of adultery, the Pharisees were gathering stones to injure and destroy.  It took Jesus stepping into the scene to prevent destruction.  Instead of sympathizing with the adulteress, Jesus desired the woman cease her sinning and be saved.

In my own life I have struggled with giving grace freely.  It is very easy to limit the grace we dole out, but we are rewarding according to merit.  If we only give grace where it seems warranted, it is not grace!  All people are undeserving of God's favor, for we all have sinned against Him ignorantly, willingly, and purposefully.  When we see people in sin we are not shocked, for all are sinners.  But when we see professing Christians stuck in sin, our flesh recoils in that familiar Pharisaical disdain:  how dare he!  And when we do so we become hypocrites equal to the worst of sinners.  Because we do not consider our own past faults and sins, we now stand in judgment of those who are devastated by sin's curse and condemn whom God has forgiven.

I am grieved when I see people "punished" by men after they have freely confessed their sin and repented.  That is one thing God never does.  Is not guilt and separation from God punishment enough?  Instead of the grace of God, man's method is devised of making up for wrongs through trying to do good.  "Penance" is something placed upon one who has voluntarily confessed their sin to a pastor or priest.  Penance is defined as, "a punishment usually consisting of prayer, fasting, etc., undertaken voluntarily as an expression of penitence for sin; a punishment of this kind imposed by church authority as a condition of absolution."  Should prayer or fasting ever be a punishment?  Can one work off the debt of sin through any mortification of the flesh?  I have known people who have freely confessed sin, repented, and were forced to stop all formal service for God for an arbitrary space of time.  It is as if the church refuses to believe that the sufferings of Christ are enough to pay for sin:  we must do all we can to further increase guilt and humiliation.

It seems that in the church we often construct an environment where failed people are no longer allowed to fail.  We are all failures before God, but the lie of Satan is we can never let others know how rotten we really are.  As a man, I am aware of my gross failures and past sins.  As a pastor, I am aware that many people do not feel safe or free to share their own failures because of fear they will be judged, ostracized, or condemned.  Because they feel this way, they keep their sins hidden.  Why should they confess sin and repent to be punished by man in addition to their burdened consciences?  These people can be casual church attendants or people in leadership.  All cry out and long for the grace of God.  Those in leadership feel additional pressure to be outwardly perfect and the lack of confession can not only hinder but destroy their witness entirely.

How beautiful it is that God gives us grace!  How wonderful it is when we can share church fellowship where everyone sees themselves as a complete wreck God has restored!  What a testimony to the life-saving power of the grace of God where all who repent are included, and none who are lost remain excluded:  God's grace is available to all, and it is only our own pride, fear, and selfishness that prevents us from rejoicing in it.  I am tired of the work of Christ's church being hindered because of this lie of perfection before service.  Peter was not a perfect man, nor was Paul.  But God used them anyway.  King David was a great king in Israel, and he sinned horribly with Bathsheba.  Though there were consequences in his life, God allowed His reign to continue.  Why?  Because he freely admitted his sin before God, something Saul would not do!  Though flawed, David was a man after God's own heart because he acknowledged and repented of his sin.  Allow me to share a beautiful song of forgiveness, Psalm 32.

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah ⁶ For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. ⁷ You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah ⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. ¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"

Psalm 32:1-11

Let us put aside the bit and bridle of guilt and shame which prevents us from repentance.  Instead of demanding penance from those who are in sin, may we seek to restore such in a spirit of gentleness and realize soberly that we too may be drawn away from God to sin.  Let us be honest with God and one another, confess our sins one to another, and pray for one another that we may be healed.  The church is as desperate for this healing as the lost, sin-stricken world in which we live.  Do we mash a crown of thorns upon the heads of those who transgress as those who crucified Christ and in doing so pierce ourselves with sorrows, or do we lovingly adorn them with a crown of grace?  May our lives be a testimony of God's grace, forgiveness, and restoration!

Yancey quote...

I have been reading the Philip Yancey gem Where is God when it Hurts? and came across a terrific paragraph.  His point is that God made the world good, but it has been polluted by sin.  While we see the skill and beauty of God in His Creation, man has labored continually to destroy God's handiwork.  I speak not in terms of environmental destruction, through there could be a case easily made, but the wreckage man has made of His relationship with the Creator.  We have been separated by God because of sin:  sickness, death, and suffering have followed.  Praise God He seeks our restoration through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ!  Thank God for His wondrous grace.  This quote can be found on page 59:

Imagine this scenario:  vandals break into a museum displaying works from Picasso's Blue Period.  Motivated by sheer destructiveness, they splash red paint all over the paintings and slash them with knives.  It would be the height of unfairness to display these works - a mere sampling of Picasso's creative genius, and spoiled at that - as a representative of the artist.  The same applies to God's creation.  God has already hung a "Condemned" sign above the earth, and has promised judgment and restoration.  That this world spoiled by evil and suffering still exists at all is an example of God's mercy, not his cruelty.   - Philip Yancey

Satan Wins!

Much is made in Christian circles that Satan is a defeated foe.  Some downplay the attacks and deceptions of Satan through the broad application of 1 John 4:4:  "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."  So why is it then, that so few Christians seem to live a life of victory and power?  Why is our labor futile and fellowships rife with division?  If the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead fills us with that life-giving power, why do so few actually walk in the demonstration of it?  One of the main reasons is simple:  sin.   Though Christ has crushed the power of Satan under His feet, we can grant the devil legal authority through strongholds of sin.  He will gladly take back whatever territory we give him and fortify himself.

Ephesians 6:11-12 reads, "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."  It was necessary for Paul to instruct the Ephesians concerning the spiritual battle they faced continually as children of God.  They likely recoiled against the immorality, idolatry, and pagan practices of the day and laboured to defeat them.  But Paul told the Christians at Ephesus that their battle was of another kind:  they were fighting a spiritual battle of hand-to-hand combat against satanic forces.  The intent of our enemy is to steal, kill, and destroy.  His easiest victories come when we don't realize he has us in a vulnerable position by our secret or unconfessed sin.  A direct assault against God's people is rarely effective because they have been granted victory over sin through Jesus.  But if we offer position by our sins, he will choke us out.  It is when we justify our lack of confession or repentance that Satan wins.

A child of God can be down but is never out.  We have the hope of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Saviour.  A great lie of Satan is that we must only confess our sin to God and not to the person we have wronged through our sin.  A Christian's conscience will not rest easy until a full confession is made.  William Gurnall, a Puritan writer, had this to say about this tactic of the devil:

The very strength of some temptations lies in the concealing of them, and the very revealing of them to some faithful friend, like the opening and pricking of an imposthume (abscess), gives the soul present ease.  Satan knows this too well; and therefore, as some thieves, when they come to rob an house, either gag them in it, or hold a pistol to their breast, frighting them with death, if they cry or speak; thus Satan, that he may more freely rifle the soul of its peace and comfort, overawes it so, that it dares not disclose his temptation.  O, saith Satan, if thy brethren or friends know such a thing by thee, they will cast thee off; others will hoot at thee.  thus many a poor soul hath been kept long in its pangs by biting them in.  Thou losest, Christian, a double help by keeping the devil's secret - the counsel and prayers of thy fellow-brethren.  And what an invaluable loss is this!" (The Christian in Complete Armour, pg. 100)

How Satan will lie to us!  He will tell us we will lose all credibility, that the concealing of our sin protects others from pain, and points to our changed behaviour as an impetus not to publicly confess.  But what does God's Word say?  James 5:16 reads, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The offering of Job's friends was not accepted until Job prayed for them.  Likewise, we must confess to the one we have wronged before our guilt shall be absolved before God.  Ephesus was a Christian fellowship that did well, yet God had something against them:  Revelation 2:2-5 reads, "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent."

The first step of repentance is acknowledgment, agreement with God.  The second step is confession.  Without confession there is no repentance, and without repentance there is no salvation.  If we harbour sin in our hearts, we cannot expect to be filled with the Spirit because we have polluted His temple.  The temple must be purged of all filth by the blood of Christ before we can expect the glory of God to fill the most holy place.  Without the Spirit we have no power, are devoid of all spiritual discernment, become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, the Word becomes unfruitful, and put up no resistance to Satan's schemes.  We have traded the power of God for the satisfaction of our lusts, and willingly place ourselves under bondage again.  Doctors cannot treat a man who refuses to see a doctor, and God will not deliver even a Christian who will not humble himself in confession and repentance.  Satan wins when we hide our sin.

If we will but humble ourselves and confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Are you tapping out, O Christian?  Do you feel powerless in the jaws of the enemy of your soul?  No man who hides a deadly serpent in his bosom is better for it.  Confess your secret sins in agreement with God.  You can be sure Christ will deliver you and by His grace grant you the victory He purchased with His own blood!