HURTING THE ONE YOU LOVE

“Jesus Wept...He...wept.”

(Jn. 11:35 Lk. 19:41) ;

In 1944 a group called, “The Mills Brothers” sang a song that became very popular entitled, YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE. I’m sure its success could be attributed, for the most part, to how true to life its lyrics were. Years ago I heard an elderly preacher say the reason we hurt loved ones is because we know that no one else would tolerate it. He went on to mention how ironic it was, the one being hurt showing his or her love to the other who was doing the hurting. I remember all the hurt I caused my dear mother as a young man. Her tears streaming down her cheeks, while biting her bottom lip, hurt me more than a slap across the face ever could.

Twice it is recorded in the Holy Writ that our Lord wept. Our incarnate God has emotions. The difference between His and ours is He keeps His under control, they never run wild, so to speak. His are Holy emotions!  I think of how much grief I have caused Him over these many long years. While I kept hurting Him, He kept loving me! How little is preached or written on His life of personal hurts. We’re told He groaned and that He was grieved. Jesus was not only capable of being hurt physically, but emotionally. He was in the same skin as we, but with the absence of a sinful nature. 

As the sun is setting in both my physical and spiritual life, like many Old Disciples,  there have been some reversals from a few of my previous beliefs. One of the most life-changing is I no longer fear God hurting me in chastening. My greatest fear now is in me hurting Him with my living. I have spent some time meditating on Peter’s denial of Him and the events that followed. I do not think this man of clay that loved his Lord so dearly wept bitterly because of the personal embarrassment it brought him, nor the fact of letting himself down. I personally believe it was the hurt he saw in Jesus’ eyes when the Lord looked at him. Hurting the One person who would never hurt him was more than he could take.

“We’re told Jesus was, and is, ‘The Man of Sorrows’; it breaks my heart that I was and am the cause of much of it.”

(rds) 

An Old Disciple  

THE FLIPSIDE OF ANSWERED PRAYER

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us...And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go….”

(Acts 16:9-10)

We all desire answers to our prayers, and rightly so, but there is another side to answered prayer that one hears very little of today. We see this flipside in our main text. Paul was not content merely to get answers to his own prayers: he wanted to be an answer to others’ prayers. We each need to search our hearts and ask ourselves the question, “Has God used me lately to be an answer to somebody’s prayer?” Our opening reference is not an isolated one; this truth is found throughout the Bible. 

I think that being someone else's miracle is better than experiencing your own. It is a wonderful thing to be a WALKING MIRACLE in the lives of others. I wonder what we’d say if the Lord were to come to us and ask, “Choose one of the two: do you want me to answer your prayer, or do you want to be an answer to another's prayer?” As they say, This is where the rubber meets the road.” It is greater to be a blessing than to receive a blessing!  I think it is put up or shut up time.

During the Great depression a little girl was sitting on a street curb singing, “Jesus Love Me.” A passerby asked, “If He loves you so much why do you not have any shoes?” The urchin’s reply: “Oh, I prayed and asked God for some. But the person He told to help me hasn’t done so yet.” Humm, sounds like 1 Jn. 3:17 to me:“ But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

An Old Disciple

THERE IS NO COMPARISON

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

(Rom. 8:18)

There were periods of time during my wife’s struggle with cancer that I was personally perplexed. Then, as always, the blessed Comforter led me to the above text. During those hours of her suffering, had I compared it as a drop of water to that of the ocean, I would not have come close. There is absolutely no comparison of our suffering now to our glory then!

In our text Paul makes reference to...“the sufferings of this present time.” Also in 1 Cor. 7:26 he mentions, “...the present distress.” A study of church history, I think, shows that every age of Christians has had their share of suffering and distress in one form or another. The consistent principle is, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer…” 2 Tim. 3:12 

I like how Matthew Henry puts it, “[Our] present state is a state of education and preparation for the inheritance...the honour and happiness of an heir lie in the value and worth of that which he is heir to.” He goes on to say, “[the] sufferings of this present time, strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time.” It’s “…light affliction...for a moment.” 2 Cor. 4:17

There seems to be a scale. Paul puts suffering on one side of the balance and glory on the other. The former is found wanting; for the latter outweighs it. WEIGHED DOWN BY GLORY. Imagine going throughout eternity weighed down by glory, so to speak. That makes me want to shout, “GLORY! GLORY! GLORY!” This glory is not going to be shown to us, but seen in us.

THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST

“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth His cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end...He divideth the sea with His power, and by His understanding He smiteth through the proud. By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of His ways: 

but how little a portion is heard of Him?

(Job 26:7-10, 12-13)

Please allow me the liberty to apply this portion of scripture differently from what is generally taught and believed. Paul tells us we can use all scripture for instruction. In our opening text, Job is telling us of a few of God’s mighty works, then adds “... but how little a portion is heard of Him?”

Does this not apply to the Lord Jesus? We hear much of His works, and rightly so, but little of His Person.

Those familiar with Paul’s writings may have noticed in his latter epistles, when older and shut-in, he speaks more of the Person of Christ than the Work of Christ as he did in his earlier books. The last letters are more profound and mellower than the first are. In closing out his life and ministry he seems to be calling the saints’ attention to their relationship to the Person of Christ— the union between Him and their soul. 

As mentioned in a recent article, I am giving myself, in the time I have left on this earth, to an in-depth study of the Person of Jesus Christ. I’ll turn eighty-six on the fifteenth of this month and I want to go out talking, praying, writing, thinking, and longing for Him and Him alone. So for whatever time I have left, you can look for my writings to be all about HIM! HIM! HIM!

“And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.”

(Matt. 17:8)

An Old Disciple

WE JUST THINK WE KNOW THEM

“I knew thee that thou art an hard man...” 

(Matt. 25:24)

In Matthew chapter twenty-five Jesus continues His Olivet Discourse begun in the previous chapter. The two chapters concern themselves with His return and coming Kingdom. The stories He uses to illustrate this great event are parabolic. The above text is about a servant who thought he knew his master, but had absolutely no conception of his true character. 

Small and uncompassionate thinkers fit into this category. I shamefully confess I was among this hord for many years. When our children were small I once said, sarcastically, to one of my boys who had been mischievous, “I know you, boy!” My wise wife, when we were alone, said to me, “You really don’t know anything about him. You were not brought up in a Christian home as he.” I had made the mistake so many make concerning others, “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.”

When evaluating others we need not only take ourselves out of the equation, but to remember that time and events play a big part in changing people, for better or worse. What someone was, in the past, does not necessarily men that is what he or she is, now. Saul of the New Testament and Saul of the Old show this contrast for the better or for the worse. 

Far too many of us, I think, major on knowing others when the real focus ought to be on, “Know Thyself.” Once we know this person (ourselves), we will be far too busy in our attempt in figuring out someone else.  

“Before we remove a tiny speck out of our brother’s eye we need to work on getting the telephone pole out of our own.”

(rds)

An Old Disciple

ISAIAH’S CRISIS

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne...Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King...Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

(Isa. 6:1,6,8)

Isaiah is on the brink of entering his prophetic ministry, so God sends a crisis in his life. In a creature-created crisis we learn nothing, it ends in frustration. But in a Christ-created crisis we learn a great deal; its end is fruitfulness. Nowhere do we get a more honest and clear picture of our heart than during those times of a God-created crisis. And in most, if not all, it is not a pretty portrait. It ends in our beholding the unpleasantries of our inner self as well as getting a true look at those we dwell among. “Woe is me,” resulting.

In Isaiah’s case, as in ours, the Lord had to remove the king of his life. God has to take people and things we hold dear and in high esteem before we can say, “I saw the Lord...mine eyes have seen the King.” Moseses and Elijahs must be taken out of the picture before we can see, “Jesus Only.” Such a vision leaves one no longer disillusioned concerning himself or others; he or she will see clearly, no longer seeing men as trees. All the props are gone and now it is just us and God, face to face. Everything is tainted, except our GOD!

After such an experience as Isaiah’s a man or woman will be willing to go anywhere, do anything, and be, if God so chooses, “...the filth of the world... and the offscouring of all things” (1 Cor. 4:13). The prophet could say with Paul, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). And

“immediately” he got a move on (Acts 16:10)! There was no hesitation, no procrastinating. This type of person doesn’t consider the impossibilities involved, as Abraham of old didn't. For he or she lives in the realm of the supernatural!

An Old Disciple

SOVEREIGNTY OBSERVED

“... behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.”

(1 Sam. 15:26)

Nowhere, I think, is the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ seen better than when one of His own is sinking in the mire of despair. Nor is it heard clearer than when we hear that soul cry out in his or her agony, “Do with me, O Lord, what pleases thee. For whatever pleases thee, pleases me.” The man after God's own heart was such a saint.

Our Lord confronted His disciples in one of His parables with this question, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” (Matt. 20:15). Does not the Potter from Heaven have the right to make one vessel unto honour and another to dishonor if it so pleases Him in fulfilling His plan?

Jesus teaches the principle, that in life, often we have to wait and find out the "what" and "why's. “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know (why) hereafter.” (Jn. 13:7) You know, like the old song says: 

“Tho' shadows deepen, and my heart bleeds,

I will not question the way He leads;

This side of Heaven we know in part,

I will not question a broken heart.

We'll talk it over in the bye and bye.

We'll talk it over, my Lord and I.

I'll ask the reasons - He'll tell me why,

When we talk it over in the bye and bye.

An Old Disciple

GOD-A LIVING REALITY!

“As the Lord liveth…”As God liveth…”

(Text- many)

Those who have read the Word in its entirety are familiar with the twin texts mentioned above; they are used throughout the Bible. The common thread that characterized every saint in scripture, regardless of his or her station in life, geographical habitation, age in which they lived, or intellectual aptitude was that in each life God was a living reality. 

A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes to our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.” Our conception of God shapes our lives. A god molded, mentally or manually,  from our own imagination will invariably take on the likeness of its designer (Psa. 115:8). Aaron created a god likened to an animal, for the Jews acted as such.

You will be hard pressed to find anyone in the scripture arguing God’s existence; the lives of His people were proof enough of His being! A life without God was inconceivable to them. “Should anyone,” says Martin Luther, “knock at my heart’s door and ask, ‘Who lives here?’ I should reply, ‘Not Martin Luther, but the Lord Jesus Christ.’”

Everything in Bible saints’ lives revolved around God as the center. Their entire personalities and activities were under His control. “They that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name” (Mal. 3:16).

Personally, in my own life, I find a continued appropriation of God and all He is, is becoming more and more the norm of my life. And as one olden T.V. personality used to say, “HOW SWEET IT IS!”

An Old Disciple

THE RETURN OF CHRIST TO EARTH

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me...I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also...For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God...He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

(Jn. 14:1-3;1 Thess. 4:16;Rev. 22:20:)

THOUGHT

“It [the second coming of Christ] is the medicine our condition especially needs.” 

(C.S.Lewis)

THE HOUR OF DECISION

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision...”

(Joel 3:14)

William James wrote, “There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.” I have personally observed that a life of neutrality leads to no place. Passiveness causes spiritual paralysis. The oldtimers would tell us, “Make a decision even if it’s wrong; God can correct a wrong decision but He can’t correct no decision.” In Acts 16 God corrected Paul on two wrong decisions; then he got it right on the third.

The worldly idiom, “Between the devil and the deep blue sea,” put simply means:  you are in a difficult situation where two possible courses of action or choices are equally bad. This is never the case in a believer’s life; there is always God’s way! I generally counsel saints to deal with any known sin in their lives, make sure God’s Will is pre-eminent,  claim by faith the fulness of the Spirit, then do what you want.

  

Who better can decide right than the above mentioned? One thing you can be absolutely sure of is: God’s way never leads out of the way of holiness. When Paul was stopped by the Holy Spirit from pursuing the two avenues mentioned previously, his honest intent was to please his Lord and glorify Him. The hardest decision is not between right and wrong, but best and better. Best is never as good as better! A random reading of the book of Hebrews proves this to be so.

Some of my readers need to make their long overdue decision by taking the first step. Then to continue putting one foot in front of the other. As you walk, be sure to tune your ear to that still small voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

An Old Disciple

THE ACCUSER AND OUR ADVOCATE

“...that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan…the accuser of our brethren...accused them before our God day and night...My little children...if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

(Rev. 12:9-10; 1 Jn. 2:1)

We have an advocate (lawyer) on call 24/7. The reason for this necessity is because our adversary, the devil, accuses us before our God day and night. One would think he would cease after 2000 years of losing every case he fought in the Supreme Court of Heaven! 

Jesus is the great Satan Silencer! You remember when the Devil tried our Lord, he gave up after three attempts, “Then the devil leaveth Him…” (Matt. 4). He has always left God’s courthouse with a drooping head. What a joy, both to the defense lawyer and accused, when hearing THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH SAY, “NOT GUILTY! AS CHARGED."

Arise, my soul, arise,

shake off your guilty fears;

The bleeding sacrifice,

in my behalf appears;

Before the throne my Surety stands,

Before the throne my Surety stands,

My name is written on His hands.

My God is reconciled;

His pardoning voice I hear;

He owns me for His child;

I can no longer fear

With confidence I now draw nigh,

With confidence I now draw nigh,

And "Father, Abba, Father, " cry.

THE APEX OF THE WORD OF GOD

“...for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name.”

(Psa. 138:2)

I find the few commentaries I possess tiptoe, so to speak, around this text. But, as the old preachers would say, “It says what it means and means what it says.” We’re told by Paul that God has magnified Jesus’ name above every name (Phil.2:9). Our text doesn’t belittle that blessed truth, but rather guards and protects it. For without THE final authority in ALL matters, a person could do with His Name whatever suited his fancy, as many have done in history and in our own day.

God didn’t hand down to His people an imperfect BOOK, but a Book in which He preserved all His Words (Psa. 12:6-7). To the English-speaking people, it is to be found in the old A.V. 1611, King James Bible. As to arguing for other nationalities, God will take care of them. At Pentecost we are told well over a dozen nations were  present; all with different tongues (languages), “...every man heard them speak in his own language...And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? (Acts 2:6,8) An imperfect Book produces an imperfect faith (Rom. 10:17).

Without an authoritative Book, to be sure, “...every man will do that which is right in his own eyes”; and who is to say his word is not as good as yours? There are many translations today all professing to be the Word of God. They do this, not by comparing theirs to the previous translation, but to the 1611 K.J.V. HUMMM! There is a vast difference between

containing the Word of God and being the Word of God! 

The ETERNAL WORD (GOD), is not 99% perfect; the LIVING WORD (CHRIST), is not 99% accurate: nor the WRITTEN WORD 99% correct: they are ALL 100% PURE!

I hear someone say, “I don’t believe there is ONE BOOK in which God preserved ALL HIS WORDS.” I ask you, “Who told you that? The Holy Spirit?

An Old Disciple

All In Good Time

"To every thing there is a...time to every purpose under the heaven." 

(Eccl. 3:1)

I remember my dear Granny saying,  "All in good time." This is what the wise man is teaching in Ecclesiastes chapter three. He tells us, from birth to death and all in between, there is a time element involved in the things of life. As I have often mentioned, one of the most important, if not the most important, words in the Christian faith is, "wait." God's promise to all who do so is, "None that wait on thee [shall] be ashamed." 

No one ever had reason to blush who waited on their God. He always comes through, though admittedly, most of the time, it's at the nail-biting last minute. There were no red faces on the likes of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Zacharias, as well as scores of others who waited long for God to fulfill His promise to them. And I can assure any and all who may be reading this article, who have been patiently waiting for their Lord to keep His Word to them, He will never cause you any embarrassment!

"[At] an appointed time...though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
(Hab. 2:3)

An Old Disciple

ALMIGHTY GOD-DO YOU KNOW HIM AS SUCH?

“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty…”

(Ex. 6:3)

Question, “Do you know Almighty God?” 

Answer, “I know God.” 

Questioner, “I didn’t ask you that. I asked, Do you know ‘ALMIGHTY’ God?” 

The godly trio mentioned in our text could have answered this inquiry in the affirmative. Acquaintance does not guarantee apprehension. A child may know his or her father and yet be unaware of his power — being a black-belt karate expert.

Abraham knew God’s Almightiness by the fact that He took a humanly impossible situation and made it possible; Isaac knew his Almighty God in the case of Him blessing his sowing by giving him returns of one hundredfold (the only person this is said of); and Jacob, what did he know of Almighty God? He saw Him take a life that others would have given up on and make him into a Prince with God!

God was never hesitant to say of these men, in spite of their human frailties, “I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB.” As the writer of Hebrews tells us of the likes of these saints, “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” Why? Simply because such are not ashamed of Almighty God! They believe, within the confines of His Will and Word, there is nothing too hard for God! They, like David, believe the adage, “The bigger they come the harder they fall.”

An Old Disciple

    

ALWAYS GO TO THE ROOT

“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

(Rev. 22:16)

John was the recorder of Revelation, the angel the messenger, but Jesus was the author. He likens Himself to the brightest star announcing the arrival of a new day. When He returns the second time He will do just that: shatter the darkness of this world by ushering in the dawn of a new and glorious day. ETERNAL LIGHT! The saying is, “He will outshine them all.”

But He also, in His personal description of Himself, includes two other characteristics. He tells us He is David’s root and offspring. The first refers to His Deity, the second to His Humanity. The former speaks of the Creator, the latter has to do with His royal rights to the Crown! And He has every right to our crowns also: ask the four and twenty elders. Rev. 4:10; 5:5

If David were ever tempted to take pride in the fact that Jesus was his offspring, I’m sure he would be reminded, “Boast not...But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” Rom. 11:18 The Jews of Jesus’ day prided themselves they were of Abraham’s seed, but Jesus told them, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Jn. 8:58 Paul writes, “He’s before ALL things.”

The Self-help Guru tells his followers to go to the root of their problems, to fix them. When we saints go to our ROOT He fixes our problems for us!

An Old Disciple 

PROPHETIC NOVELTIES

“ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

(Matt. 24:26-27)

Beware of teachers with their prophetic novelty doctrines. These are not only found among the apostates and heretics, but also in the Evangelical and Fundamental movements. I can understand a novice falling for these novelty foretellings, but not a seasoned saint. Yet, to my chagrin, many do. 

As I have mentioned a number of times, much of today's literature on prophecy should be placed in the fictional section of Christian bookstores, not on the prophetical shelves. Novelty has replaced orthodoxy. 

These prophetic imposters are not difficult to spot: they emphasize a kingdom over its King; their affection is more on earth than Heaven; and signs are more important than to Whom they point. Those Christians who are duped by their jargon put down their books or go away from their meetings without being changed, in spite of the fact that each time, in his writings, that Paul mentions Christ coming, holy living is in the context. These prophetic pretenders take the blessing out of the Blessed Hope!

It cannot be contended, prophecy is an essential doctrine in the Word of God; but it is not a basis for fellowship. Those who argue the opposite end up producing more friction than light. It is of utmost importance that students of the Bible keep in mind many passages of scripture which promise or foretell the Lord’s return, have in them an element of obscurity. When on earth Jesus foretold certain happenings, He gave this warning to His followers, “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he” (Jn. 13:19). The implication is that they would understand the full significance of the prophecy only after it had been fulfilled. 

“I care little about the luggage, friends, or means of transportation connected with His Coming; I’m excited about seeing HIM!”

(rds)

An Old Disciple

THE VERSATILITY OF PRAYER

“Praying always with all prayer...”

(Eph. 6:18)

The above scripture along with companion texts as: continue in prayer; pray without ceasing; instant in prayer; praying night and day;  etc. show prayer can and should be made anywhere and everywhere. Without argument we should have a regular place of prayer, but it is not to be thought of as limited only to our closets. Prayer is adaptable to unlimited geographical spheres. Wherever we are, whatever the condition, we can pray. Pray not only on your knees but on the go.

You can pray standing in the marketplace (grocery); at the well, as Abraham’s servant (at a water fountain); on a sickbed, as Hezekiah (in the hospital); in prison, as Paul (shut-ins); sitting in your home, as David (in your rocking chair); even when hanging on a cross! Wherever you are, prayer is! George Mac Donald writes, “Never wait for fitter time or place to talk to Him. To wait till thou go to church or to thy closet is to make Him wait. He will listen as thou walkest.”

“Had Peter waited to pray for a better place, he would have drowned in despair.”

(rds)