Those Hanger-ons

I’ve read the Spartan’s of old, after conquering cities around them, would leave one close by. The purpose was, said they, was to keep them always alert and vigilant. In the book of Judges we find God left certain nations to prove His people. David seems to be calling attention to this in Psalm 59:11, where he asks the Lord, referring to his enemies, “Slay them not, lest my people forget.”

We can apply this, I believe, to a Christian’s individual life. The scriptures seem to bear out the fact this is also true of us. After one’s conversion, God leaves something of our old life that stays with us throughout our pilgrimage here on earth. Rather than being a hindrance, as most of us believe, actually, it’s a great help. It is the thing that keeps us humble and dependent upon Him; a constant reminder of the weakness of our flesh. Pray and plead all you want for its removal, but like Paul, who prayed fourteen years for God to take away his thorn; you will also get an emphatic “No.”

The very thing we have been praying against is the thing that has made us (if we are of any use at all) what we are today. The old Puritan had it right we he said, “Paul’s thorn was the tack that held back the veil, so he could see the face of Jesus more clearly.”

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities…for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Maranatha-The Lord Cometh

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”

(Jude 1:14)

I have known prophetic Bible teachers so dogmatic about every little detail of Christ’s coming that those who were not of the same mind were treated like dogs! There is never an excuse for being uncharitable to a Christian brother. Great and godly men have differed on minor details throughout the centuries. The early Christians greeted one another with, “Maranatha” (The Lord Cometh). Not how or when He was returning, but the fact of His return. They were not dogged over details of little consequence.

It is possible to lose the blessed of the “Blessed Hope.” It’s not a rapture we are to look for, but our Redeemer; not a Kingdom, but rather, the King. We are not to be enthralled with an event, but a Person! Much of what is written about the Second Coming today needs to be put in the fiction section of bookstores, not alongside books about facts. To some, prophecy is no more than a novelty.

Many things about prophecy we will not understand until after it comes to pass. Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it come to pass, ye might believe.” The implication is that they would not understand the full significance of foretold things until they were fulfilled. Hindsight, if you please.

“Maranatha! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

(1 Cor. 16:22-24)

The Spiritual Realm

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

(Gal. 5:25)

There is no secular and sacred to one whose life is lived in the Spirit. All ground is holy ground to them, whether it is at church, play, or work. Those who live a life in the Spirit are characterized as being filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, etc. Such people are not religious oddities, who try to impress by flamboyant externals. You can decorate a Christmas tree, but it has no life. The thing that marks a spiritual person is their inward disposition. They are under Divine control in a world that is out of control.

These types of believers are not bound and shackled by a list of legalistic do’s and don’ts, dictated by someone who has appointed himself both judge and jury. They are not actors upon life’s stage, living by a script written for them by the hand of man. But rather, they are free men living by the Scriptures, written by the finger of God. These need no prompter behind the scenes, giving them their lines and dictating their every move. They have them written and engraved in their hearts, and an inward prompting directs all the right moves for them.

"We would rather live by a set of standards than live in the Spirit."

(Salle Jo Sandlin)

I Don't Care Anymore

Speaking to a friend by phone I made this statement, “Sometimes we Christians must have an, ‘I don’t care’ attitude.” Let me explain. In the area of which I speak there are two types of care: first, the legitimate kind you can do something about, and secondly, the illegitimate sort, of which nothing can be done. We must never worry about anything that cannot be affected or changed by us.

Paul tells us we are to “be careful for nothing” (full of care). That is, the latter kind mentioned above. Jesus taught His followers this type of care will cause one to lose their joy, and that the bounce in their spiritual step will cease. Unhealthy cares will directly hinder your fellowship with your Lord, as well as your brethren. Ask Martha, if you doubt me.

Those things in life we can do nothing about need to be thrown to the wind. Family, business, health, and politics, along with all other unsolvable problems, need to be treated as the chaff the Bible speaks of. “Let them be as chaff before the wind...like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” If you do not, that chaff will smother you to death. As Oswald Chambers has said, “It is okay to be on top of the feather bed, just don’t let it get on top of you.” My friends, let’s stay on top of things, and throw the rest to the wind!”

Finding Out for Yourself

Concerning a scripture found in the Old Testament book of Hosea, Jesus challenged the religious crowd of His day to, “[Go] ye and learn what that meaneth.” Evidently they didn’t take the time to discover its sense, for later on He says to them, “…if ye had known what this meaneth.” They knew what it said, but not what it meant. The former has to do with the letter, the latter with the spirit. It takes two wings to fly, if you’re to soar into the Heavenlies.

Far too many of us are echoes of what others say and believe. Such resonance from us carries an empty, hollow sound. Paul said we are to be fully persuaded in our own minds. And Jesus tells us that to accomplish this you must go and find out for yourself. There are times when you will spend days, weeks, yes, even months and longer, mulling over one text and its meaning. Read about some of Daniel's experiences along these lines, if you doubt this. The deep things of God are not revealed to shallow, superficial saints.

"The Bible sure do shed a lot of light on dem Commentaries!"

(quoted from an old-time black preacher)

Enjoying Life

“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.”

(Eccl. 9:7)

Enjoying life is a reoccurring theme in Ecclesiastes. Solomon brings it up on five different occasions. The Bible says we are to live life to its fullest. Jesus came not only that we might have life, but have it more abundantly! Yes, death is coming, but we are not to sit around and brood; but, rather, we are to enjoy richly all the things God has given us. There is a segment of Christianity today that is miserable, waiting for a Rapture to find joy, never realizing God has rapturous joys now in this life. Peter speaks about those who love life, 1 Pet. 3:10.

The man or woman, who knows the God who made the sun, can enjoy everything He gives us under the sun. There is nothing wrong with eating, drinking, and being merry as long as we do not (like the rich fool) leave God out of it. The prodigal son found out these things could be a blessing or a curse. Doing these things in the far country brought no joy, but once there was a sacrifice, he was able to enjoy them. Eating, drinking, and being merry can be devilish or delightful. It all depends on whether we find enjoyment in the things themselves or see them as special gifts from God. If the former, they are empty enjoyments; if the latter, there is fullness of joy.

"We can make the things of this life sensual or spiritual. It all depends on which side of the sun we view them from."

(rds)

Our Euroclydon

“But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.”

(Acts 27:14)

*Please read the entire chapter

As we journey through life, each has his or her Euroclydon. The name is associated with a cyclonic tempestuous northeast wind that blows in the Mediterranean. Hence the old sailors’ yarn when a northeastern arises, “It’s going to be a Euroclydon.” That is, its a storm that is as bad as it can get, one where possibly all hope is taken away, as in our story.

Paul had been through many storms in his life and ministry, but there comes into each believer’s life what might be called the storm of all storms, one big one that each of us experiences only once, generally speaking. Job had his, Esther had hers, and yes our blessed Lord had His — a storm in which there is no light, where most everything has to be cast overboard, even some essentials.

What is one to do at such times? When all hope seems to have fled, when the tempest is tossing you up and down, when you have been stripped of almost everything, when no light has been seen for a long period of time? It is imperative at such a time for us, as Paul did before those hopeless mariners, to say, “BE OF GOOD CHEER: FOR I BELIEVE GOD, THAT IT SHALL BE EVEN AS IT WAS TOLD ME” (Read Rom. 8:28).

For some years I have worn an I.D. bracelet with an inscription on it of just three words. It has given me an opportunity to witness on various occasions. Recently a nurse at the VA noticed it and asked what it said. I showed it to her, tears welled up in her eyes and she choked up. After she contained herself she read it outloud, “I BELIEVE GOD.” Then added, “O, Mr. Sandlin, you’ll never know how much I needed that today!” I need it everyday, don’t you?

An Evening Stroll

During a walk with the Lord last evening I mused on the following glorious thought.

1. We were crucified with Him..."I am crucified with Christ..." Gal. 2:20

2. We were buried with Him..."Therefore we are buried with him..." Rom. 6:4

3. We raised with Him..."Wherein also ye are risen with him..."Col. 2:12

4. We're seated with Him..."And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:6

5. We are coming back with Him..."For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 1 Thess. 4:14

6. We will reign with Him…” We shall also reign with him.” 2 Tim. 2:12

7. We will live eternally with Him…”And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:17

AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN!

There Are Still a Few Left

“And he [Elijah] said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left….“[And God said] I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him...Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

(1 Kgs. 19:14,18;Rom. 11:5)

Whenever I hold the door for a woman, I always whisper as she passes, “There are still a few of us left.” Many of God’s good people today, and understandingly so, feel there is no one else out there, that they must go it alone. But at such times one must listen for that still small voice saying, “There are still a few of us left.”

No matter how bad it may appear on the surface, God has always had His fragment of followers, those who have“turned the world upside down,”as Luke’s inspired history tells us in Acts. You may not hear much about them but nevertheless they’re there. No need to fall into the Elijah syndrome; you’re not left alone!

One has coined the phrase, “The silent majority.” Old Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say to the young preacher boys leaving his school to go into various towns to start a work for God, “Boys, remember: into any community you enter, you and God make the majority.” Paul put it this way, “If God be for us who can be against us?

A young lieutenant with a railroad spike for a backbone told his outnumbered men, “Men, the enemy is all around us, don’t let one get away!”

We Fallible Fathers

Every godly father longs for and desires a happy household. But, for one reason or another, this is not always the case. Sometimes the reason is apparent; at other times, it’s a mystery. How could God’s first two children disgrace their heavenly Father? And years after, God says of Israel, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” You certainly couldn’t blame the Father in these cases.

In 2 Samuel, chapter twenty-three, we have, “...the last words of David.” We are told how God anointed and raised him up on high, and that he was the “...sweet Psalmist.” David was a good and godly man; yet he had his share, along with many other greats, of family trouble. For example, his wife, Michal, became a snare to him, and one of his sons, Absalom, caused him humiliating embarrassment. Certainly, all of this must have been heart-breaking to this melancholy man of God.

Yet, in spite of his family troubles, he looks past the veil of tears and remembers God’s eternal promise. In verse five he says, “Although my house be not so with God; yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant.” Its been said, "When we suffer in time, we can find solace in eternity."

The blessings of God the Father are upon godly fathers!

The Plurality of God's Mercy

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

(Rom. 12:1)

Paul uses God’s multiplied mercies in pleading with the Lord’s people to give Him that one thing in life most precious to them: their bodies. Just the common everyday mercies of God, not to mention those special times when we are in dire need of it, should be incentive enough to present to Him our most cherished possession. I can imagine the old “bond slave” saying to us yet, “I beg you, for mercy’s sake.”

We read of God’s mercies being great, rich, manifold, plenteous, abundant, sure, everlasting, tender, high as the heaven, filling the earth, and new every morning. Bunyan said, “All the flowers in God’s garden are double.” And so it is with His mercy, there is not a single mercy. They are found in clusters. Is it any wonder then that David tells us, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever.”

O, dear trembling child of God, fear not to approach His throne of mercy. As the Mercy Seat of old, it is still sprinkled with blood; but now, that of His own blessed Son, thereby giving us boldness to enter in. There is nothing little about our God or His mercy. It’s as big as He is. It can’t be measured! Let us learn then to no longer linger there, BUT TO LIVE THERE. Let we, who are “vessels of mercy,” pitch our tents at the foot of His mercy seat.

WHERE IS IT?

“The words of the LORD are pure words...Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them... for ever”.

(Psa. 12:6-7)

The Journal was never intended to create controversy but rather, as the subhead on our blog reads, “Brief, Biblical Essays for Thinking People.” Its purpose is to get God’s people to think for themselves. Ravi Zacharias, I understand, has a radio program named, “Let My People Think!”

I realize, as the saying goes, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” An oldtimer commenting on this idiom said, “True, but you can make him thirsty.” Believing strongly in the priesthood of every believer, I stand with Paul when he wrote, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." (Rom. 14:5)

God promised to preserve His Word’s,’ not just His Word in general. Not something abstract but absolute; not generic but specific. He preserved Noah, He preserved Israel, He preserves us, and He preserved His Son.

A young preacher asked his Greek and Hebrew professor where God’s preserved Word was. The scholar turned to a shelf on his bookcase, waved his hand over some twenty-five translations and said, “They are in all of these translations.

He went on to say all translations were imperfect and it was up to each to “dig out the truth.” The problem with this reasoning is you may accept one part as authentic and I a different one. But one of us may choose a text that is not the true Word, thus putting our faith in error. There can be serious repercussions to such a belief.

To argue learned men are to search it out doesn’t change the above fact. Also if you trust another to what is and isn’t, you need to join the Catholic Church. They believe only the Church can interpret the Word. If there is not ONE BOOK then there is no absolute authority! When this happens, “...every man did that which [is] right in his own eyes.”

In closing let me say I will not be carrying on any controversial correspondence. After 60 years, believe me, I am more than familiar with all the arguments. I just wanted some of the younger generation to hear the other side. If you don’t agree, that is fine. Your position doesn’t bother me, as I hope mine doesn’t you.

In Christian Love,

An Old Disciple

Moving Molehills

“Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Paul is not discouraging the moving of mountains; that would contradict his Lord’s teaching. But he does emphasize the importance of taking care of the internal part of our lives before the external. What good does it serve us if we’re triumphant in removing mountains publicly, yet are personally defeated by molehills privately?  

The little quip I quote so often, “The most important part of our lives is that part that only God sees,” is true. Samson, like many saints today, never grasped this fact. He displayed great power outwardly in removing mountainous obstacles, but was defeated by the “little hill” inwardly.

After years of Bible study, as well as observing people, I am convinced the greatest faith today is personal faith. What I mean by this is that inward faith that gets the victory behind closed doors. Like David killing the lion and bear in secret before taking on the giant publically.

For the most part, Elijah’s ministry was public, and Elisha’s private, behind closed doors. Interestingly, the latter did twice as many miracles. Is there not a lesson for us in this? I believe so.

The Divine Chauffeur

“And immediately the Spirit driveth him [Jesus] into the wilderness.” (Mk. 1:12)

“[The maniac of Gadara] was driven of the devil into the wilderness.” (Lk. 8:29)

Who, may I ask, is sitting in the driver's seat in your journey of this life? Is it God’s heavenly Spirit or a hellish devil? The results of the first is always constructive, the latter destructive. The former will drive you to victory, the latter to defeat. It’s your choice whom you designate to transport you through life. You can change drivers.

Wilderness experiences are not the same; it all depends on the one behind the wheel. God leads His dear children into and out of wilderness situations. The devil leads into but never out of; he leads one to stay there indefinitely. Israel had their time in the wilderness but God led them out to the land of milk and honey!

Darling David tells us, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake,”  (Psa. 23:3). This is how you know who is in the driver’s seat.

LETTER MONTH

Beloved in the Lord,

I cut my spiritual eye teeth, so to speak, on radio preachers such as M.R. DeHaan and Charles E. Fuller. Each of these men had what they called “Letter Month,” once each year. I thought it would be nice for us to have the likes.

The rest of this month of June I have thus designated. Please let me hear from you, it would be a real encouragement. Since brevity is best, just a brief note on how the JOURNAL has played a part in  your life. I would really appreciate it.

“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” (Prov. 25:25)

Looking to hear from you.

An Old Disciple

P.S. Post your comments on this site or write to me: diclvsal61@gmail.com

Helping in Life's Battles

“And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.”

(Judges 1:3)

Among the Twelve Tribes of Israel, you might say, Judah was the greater and Simeon the lesser. Nevertheless Judah appeals to his brother and neighbor to join him in his battle. With the understanding he would do likewise for his comrade in arms.

Here we find the greater can be blessed by the lesser, (Gen. 47:10;Heb. 7:7). This principle is found throughout the scriptures, (see 2 Sam. 10:11 as another example). “The strongest should not despise but desire the assistance even of those that are weaker.” (Matthew Henry.)

Paul tells us we are helpers together, (1 Cor. 1:11;Rom. 163). No man is an island, no man stands alone! We all need to read often 1 Cor. 12, concerning our need for one another; and then heed its teaching. You can’t make it on your own, EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY!

The Canaanites were the common enemy of them both, they were not one anothers. Someone has said, “If we have the same enemy, we’re friends.” We need to walk shoulder to shoulder against Satan’s kingdom of darkness. Even though we belong to different camps!