LIFE LIVED IN THE SPIRIT

“ Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

(Zech. 4:6)

Anything good, godly, lasting, true, or constructive done in this world has, is, and will be done by the Spirit of the living God! All else will come to naught. There are only two things on this earth that are truly Holy; the first being the Holy Word of God, and the second, equally true, the Lord’s Holy Spirit. Of the latter it can rightly be said that whoever or whatever He touches is Holy, whether it be a person or piece of ground.

The Bible speaks of a life lived in the Spirit: we are to be clothed with the Spirit; filled with the Spirit; led by the Spirit; baptized with the Spirit; anointed with the Spirit; we are to walk in the Spirit; live in the Spirit; manifest the fruit of the Spirit; have the power of the Spirit;  we’re to be sealed with the Spirit. We are also taught by the Spirit, comforted by the Spirit; sanctified by the Spirit. To mention just a few of His ministries to us.

He is the most sensitive of the Godhead. One may speak against the Father or Son, yet forgiveness is possible. But not so with the third Person of the Trinity. (Mk. 3:29) He can be grieved, lied to, resisted, and quenched, among other things that cause Him deep hurt. This blessed Holy Person is forced to live in some horrid conditions in the houses He has taken up residency in. But he is a good house cleaner. He can make things spick and span, if we only ask Him!

“Paul speaks of the ‘Love of the Spirit.’ I Wonder, do we have a love for the Spirit?”

(rds)

GOD’S PROMISES AND HIS TIMING

“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Now it was not written for his sake alone...But for us also...”

(Rom. 4:19-24)

I have noticed in reading through God’s Word that his promises can come at what we’d consider the most inopportune of times. That is, they are not made during the brightness of the day but rather the darkness of the night and, I might add, as the scripture records, “[a] darkness which may be felt.” It seems our God prefers impossible situations to the possible. The latter falls under one of our attributes. He waits till the time it is humanly impossible, then makes the promise that He will do the impossible!

As in Abraham and Sarah’s case in the Old Testament so it was in the New Testament with Zacharias and Elisabeth — they were well past the years of parenting when God promised the birth of John the Baptist. And what of that great promise to Jeremiah in chapter thirty-three, verse three, of his book? It was made while the prophet was in prison. Again, in Acts, God waited until all hope was taken away that Paul and others would be saved in the storm, that God made promise of deliverance. The list goes on. 

God’s promise is His Holy pledge! It involves His character. As the old Christian saint said when asked her answer if God broke His Word to her, in promising to save her, “Well, I’d lose my soul, but God would lose His character.” As another has said, “God’s promise and His performance are inseparably linked.” You can depend on God standing true to His promises. As the old missionary said, “His promises are the promises of a gentleman; and a gentleman always keeps his promise.”

THE ANSWER IS NOT ASCETICISM

"Let your moderation be known to all men.”

(Phil. 4:5)

If there is not a moderation of legitimate things in our lives, then there will be a condemnation. When this happens, we believe the answer is abstinence from these God-given enjoyments. And, because we are not disciplined by grace, we impose our restrictions upon others, begrudging them of finding joy in doing those same lawful things which we refuse to be moderate in.

This is why I say the “temperance” movement of old was a misnomer. In actuality, it was the “abstinence” movement. Giving up things you enjoy is not the answer; the answer is found in the inspired word “moderation.” God has given us richly all things to enjoy, but we are not to misuse or abuse these privileges by going to the extreme.

" Eating a bar of chocolate is moderation; consuming a box of chocolates is excess. And so it is with all good things in life."

(rds)

THE ETERNAL TWO

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

(Gen. 1:26)

To check the rightness of one’s true belief in God, you do not ask about his or her church name or affiliation. Nor do you question them about secondary issues such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, etc. The one and only real test of an authentic Christian is who he, she, or they consider Jesus Christ to be. This is seen especially in John’s small, but powerful, second Epistle, the shortest book in the New Testament.

A person can be wrong on a lot of things, but if he is right about Christ, he is one of God’s own. This lesson needs to be learned among many Fundamentalists and Evangelicals. On the other hand, people can be right on many of the doctrines of the Bible, but, if they are mistaken about our Lord Jesus, nothing else matters. They have no hope. This, too, needs to be learned among the before mentioned groups.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of Go!. There was never a time when He did not exist. He is not a created being, as you and I; He is the Creator. Isaiah calls God the “Everlasting Father.” My older son is fifty-seven years old, therefore, I have been a father for the same period of time. If God is an everlasting Father, then He has an everlasting Son.

This brings up something else of interest. “God is love,” says the Scriptures. Love is something one person has for another. If there was only God, without another being present, then there was no love before there were two. But God is eternal Love. He has loved someone eternally, and that ‘Someone’ is His darling Son. DO YOU LOVE WHAT GOD LOVES?

THE WRESTLER AND THE SOLDIER

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

(Eph. 6:11-13)

I seriously doubt there are many scriptures I have studied, preached on, and wrote about more than the Christian’s armor, as found in Ephesians 6 — and, I may add, tried my best to appropriate in my personal life. What I am going to present to you I am not dogmatic on; but for some reason I feel comfortable with it, that is, I can live with it. If you doubt its accuracy, no problem on my part.

In meditating on the above portion of scripture recently I was drawn to the wrestler and soldier in our text. My dilemma is a man attempting to wrestle in a suit of armour. It is just not done, to my knowledge. The wrestler in such cases would have the advantage. But if the soldier refused to wrestle and chose to fight using his sword, then the whole scenario changes. No wrestler, completely stripped, other than his trunks, would have a chance.

Jesus tells the story how He entered the strong man’s house (Satan’s) and spoiled his goods. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, He taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Lk. 11:21-22). Notice when Jesus defeated Satan He left him armor-less, leaving him only two means to fight, by wrestling or by words.

The “Wherefore” in our text seems to me to indicate we are not to wrestle with Satanic powers, but stand our ground with our sharp twoedged sword. I don’t know about you but from henceforth I am not going to get into the ring with Satan as an opposing wrestler; it’s a losing fight. I’m going to enter as a soldier with God's armour on and His sword in hand, like our Lord, when He defeated Satan by saying, "It is written"; thrice over; three quick slices with the sword. And we're told after this, "the devil leaveth Him." (Matt. 4:11)

Tagging It With God's Name

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

(Matt. 7:22-23)

It’s a serious thing to tag God’s name onto our self-righteous works. His labeling is stitched into many a man-made endeavor. His name doesn’t make something cheap all of a sudden become classy. God places His own trademark on whosoever and whatsoever pleases Him; and there is no disputing it is quality material.

You’ll remember when Jacob was seeking spiritual blessings he brought God’s name into his carnal scheme. His father, Isaac, asked him how he found venison so quickly, to which he replied, “The LORD thy God brought [it] to me.” God didn’t have anything to do with it; it was Rebekah’s and Jacob’s plan from start to finish.

Putting a Hart Schaffner Marx label inside a Penney’s suit still leaves you with a cheap suit. Mark it down, what we plant won’t bloom. The world’s greatest authority said, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up”.

We Christians need to cease taking God’s name in vain by forging it to our connivances.

CHRISTLIKENESS

“ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps…”

(1 Pet. 2:21)

The context of the above Scripture is endurance of unjust suffering and commitment of ourselves to God during such times. It also mentions in the same setting Christ’s not sinning and bearing others sins. Those who believe we should follow Him in every respect would have a problem with following Him in the latter of these two cases.

In recent years there was a popular slogan among Christians, “What would Jesus do?” But it is not so much what He would do in particular situations but what would He think. It is not in actions first, but in attitude we are to major; not in His practice but in His principles that we’re to concern ourselves. YES! Most certainly we are to act, but not in kind, but in spirit.

Paul speaking to the Corinthian Church concerning his young protege Titus wrote, “...walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?” (2 Cor. 12:18) It is not in exactness, but example. Elisha had Elijah’s spirit, but didn’t always do things just like his mentor, but did them with like spirit. They were complete opposites, but had the same spirit in actions.

We do not go into churches and drive out money-making schemers, but we can detest and speak out concerning the commercialism of things. We don’t wash feet when people enter our homes after a long journey, but we can humbly serve and refresh them. We’re not literally to be crucified, as some in the Philippines at Easter season; but we can and should be in spirit, daily!

Moses was not aware his face shone after being with God, but the people around him were. Worrying about yourself being Christlike can become a very narcissistic thing. It is not important that you see it; it’s crucial others do. Let’s concern ourselves with being true to Christ, giving Him our undying loyalty; the other will take care of itself.

AN UNATTAINABLE DESIRE

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after...”

(Phil. 3:12)

Sinless perfection is unattainable in this life, says this godly man. But there is such a thing as stages of perfection, such as a carpenter experiences at each finished phase of his work. For example, at the end of sanding a piece of furniture he’s making, he may say, “Perfect,”that is, at that stage. Perfect perfection will come to us at the end of God’s completed work in our lives! It is then our high hopes will be realized.

Although Paul, to his own admission, had not attained to complete perfection, he still followed on, pursuing it. He never ceased striving for the unattainable in his life. He knew moral and spiritual perfection was an impossibility in this body and in this life. Nevertheless he believed "a little is better than nothing," as the saying goes. Most certainly this type of Christian gets closer to their goal than those who make no effort at all.

David Brainard prayed, “Lord, make me as holy as a redeemed sinner can be made, in this life.” If you and I are going to pray this same prayer, then we will need to make up our mind that it will bring a strain on every spiritual muscle in our bodies. Ask any athlete or soldier who desires to win the race or war, says the Apostle. Having a godly life boils down to just one thing, how bad do you want it? What are you willing to pay for it? 

An Old Disciple 

OUR OBSESSION-BEING FIRST

“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.”

(Pro. 18:17

Matthew Henry commenting on this verse says, “This shows that one tale is good till another is told.” Generally speaking, anyone presenting his case first makes it look good, whether it is or not; that the argument of the one following will not have the same convincing weight. In our essay today I want to apply God as the follow-up to the first person’s argument.

Whenever you hear someone screaming for his rights you’re listening to a man or woman who desires to be first. But as Oswald Sanders says, “The  only rights we have before God is to give up our rights.” How we fight to be first in line, at the head, leaving God at the end of the line! But I remind all such, “The last shall be first.” Putting two before one is always bad math.

The little quip, “First things first,” is ever true, especially when it concerns God. “In the beginning God”; “He is before all things”; “But seek ye first...God!” He is to be first in all our relationships, decisions, thoughts, etc. Our desires are additives for putting God first in our lives. Solomon found this to be true. (1 Kgs. 3:5-13 cp. Matt. 6:33) First means, NOTHING BEFORE!

An Old Disciple

GRACE COST GOD

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…[He] gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

(Titus 2:11-15)

Grace is free, unconditional, unmerited for the recipient, but not for the conferrer. Grace cost God dearly! None can delve its depth other than to say, “It was an eternal hurt.” To watch His Beloved Son suffer the everlasting torment of the damned in real time will be forever a mystery. Nevertheless the endless agony of what every sinner would have, or will, endured for infinity He suffered. Remember, the Passover Lamb not only suffered death, but was burned in the fires.

Today we hear much about grace: grace preachers; churches with that name; we talk about it; sing about it; write books on the subject; but I wonder if it falls under the category Peter speaks of in his first epistle, “...this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” Jude speaks of “ ungodly men, [who] turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness,” (that is, sexual lewdness). Grace doesn’t free us to sin; it frees us from sin! A real grace experience has the highest moral values.

Grace is not an enemy of God’s moral law; they’re not opposites, they’re compatible. Grace teaches us that...“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” What God’s Moral Law says God’s Grace says “Amen!” to. Those who have tasted the genuine grace of God are those who mourn and weep behind closed doors over the least little sin; I use “little sin” in a descriptive sense only. To sin is to hurt our God, and He has been hurt enough, for time and eternity! Don’t you think?

An Old Disciple

FAMILY FUSSING

“And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?”

(Lk. 12:13-14)

Often through the years, I’ve been asked by young preachers what to avoid in their new pastorate. One of my top advisory helps is, “DON'T GET INVOLVED IN FAMILY FEUDS.” Jesus wouldn’t! The reason is, down the line, the members will kiss and make up; then both will put their hand to the same saw and cut off the limb that you’ve climbed out onto. 

It is true that there are and always have been dysfunctional families. I speak here of a normal Christian family. When using the term “normal” I do not mean perfect. As the wise old preacher would say, “You can’t put two completely different personalities under one roof and expect perpetual harmony.” At the beginning there was perfection, but not after the Fall. And I might add, the more in the family the more the problems.

But with all its differences, misunderstandings, and yes, hurts, the fact still remains: “Mid’ pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” As another has said, “At the end, only two things matter to a man ... the affection and understanding of his family.”

Family is God’s top priority. After all, He has one. It’s called THE FAMILY OF GOD. Someday He will perfect it, but until then we shall have our differences, fusses if you please. But these do not cause true family members to lose their deep love for one another. Someday our heavenly Father will have His day. We could call it “FATHER’S DAY!” It is when all the family will be lovingly knit together around His throne. We'll all be Home then.

What a FATHER’S DAY that will be!

YOU NEVER KNOW

“Who can tell if God will…?” 

(2 Sam. 12:22)

Nathan had just told David that the baby Bathsheba had born to him would die. As soon as the prophet departed the child became very sick. For seven days David fasted and prayed that God would spare the infant. During this time he neither bathed nor changed his clothes. On the seventh day the baby died, but the servants feared to tell David. Their reasoning was, if he took the sickness so hard, what would the baby’s death do to him.

But to their surprise, when David learned of the death of his baby, he arose from the earth, washed and anointed himself, changed his apparel, and went to the House of God and worshiped. Then he went to his own house and ate. His servants inquired of him the reason for his strange behavior. They wanted to know why, when the child was sick, he carried on so; but the death he seeming took in stride. David’s reply was, “Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again?” Or as we would say today, “You never know.”

David believed, as long as there is life there is hope; and as long as there is hope, there is room to pray. But once dead and out of the reach of prayer, he knew he could not undo the situation. So David returned to life’s daily duties, with its disappointments and its delights. It is a wise individual who can walk away from circumstances that no longer has a soul in them. We all have a choice, we can spend life in a graveyard with things that can’t be brought back; or we can get back among the living and do some great things for God, as David did.

The washing and changing of your garments in David’s day represented a new beginning. Maybe someone reading this needs to run the bath water, and lay out a fresh change of clothes!

DAVID’S DEEP DESIRE IN PRAYER

“O LORD, when I cry with my voice...answer me...in the day when I call answer me speedily...save with thy right hand, and answer me...Hear my prayer, O LORD... in thy faithfulness answer me.”

(Psa. 27:7; 102:2; 108:6; 143:1)

David’s deep desire when he prayed was not only that God would hear him, but that He would answer him. Most, if not all, believe God hears prayer (Psa. 65:2).  But many, as Job of old, do not have faith He will answer their prayers (Job 9:16). David goes on to tell us that the Lord satisfied his longing. “I called upon the LORD...the LORD answered me...In the day when I cried thou answerest me” (Psa. 118:5; 138:3). He believed in a prayer hearing AND prayer answering God.

David had his share of sins, shortcomings, faults, and failures; but believing God heard and answered prayer was not on the list. David would be the first to admit to his unworthiness, but not that his God was! God made promises, and in spite of David’s inherent weaknesses he believed them. He was, like us, a weak saint at best, but never a wicked one. His secret, as those before and after him, was God’s glory. And answered prayer does just that! (Jn.14:13)

“Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them” (Psa. 99:6). Those pseudo spiritual believers who believe Bible saints could do no wrong should not look too closely at the lives of the three men mentioned. The truth is every child of God that ever lifted their voice to God was tainted with some kind of handicap or the other, something that would make one hesitate in asking God to answer their prayers.

But God does not answer us for our sake, but for His sake and His sake alone. Ezra blushed and was ashamed to even look up in prayer, nevertheless he prayed, and God answered. And so should we, O child of God. He still answers the prayers of His red-faced saints!

A Old Disciple

AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT

Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

There is not now or ever been, nor will there ever be, a doctor, psychiatrist, or religious guru who would dare make such an astonishing statement. But this unschooled, simple-living carpenter, from a small town, the son of a humble widow, did!

Whether rest is needed in body or soul, humanity’s Great Physician promises solace to all who are, for lack of a better phrase, just plain worn out from it all.

O weary saint, ask your dear Lord to minister to you. After all, that is why He came, “to minister.” Let us not be so proud or pseudo-spiritual, like Peter of old, that we refuse Him when He desires to wash our tired feet.

Hebrews teaches there is a threefold rest to the people of God; a past, present, and future rest. There is the rest we entered into at salvation. And we will enter into our eternal rest at death’s door (or at His coming). But there is a present rest for all who will enter in by faith.

I find more and more now, not only because of Spiritual weariness from the time in which we live, but because of my age and physical malady, I need more often, like John the beloved, to lay my head on His blessed bosom. What a restful place it is, listening to His heart say, “O, how I love you, my child.”    

COMING TO TERMS

COMING TO TERMS

“But by the grace of God I am what I am..”

(1 Cor. 15:10)

As Matthew Henry says, “It is God’s prerogative to say ‘I AM THAT I AM’. It is our privilege to say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”  Any and all good we have received from the risen Christ; any and all bad from the fallen Adam. Although each believer has many of the former's godly characteristics, he or she still retains many of the latter’s traits.

And in this sense we need to also say, “I am what I am.” I’m not referring to God’s grace and what He has made us, but to our inherited nature: that is, our sins, idiosyncrasies, failings, along with a host of other undesirables. I am not advocating a passive acceptance of things we can change, but those we can’t change.

As the little plaque on my bedroom wall says:

“God grant me the

SERENITY

To accept the things I cannot change

COURAGE

To change the things I can and the

WISDOM

To know the difference.”

Concerning the unchangeable things in our lives we need to come to terms with the fact that they are just that - unchangeable. That is we need to accept these problematic faults and move on with our lives. If not we will spend a lifetime attempting to change the unchangeable and neglect changing the changeable.

When God showed Paul he could not change his thorn for a rose he accepted the fact and moved on. And so should we, my friends!

An Old Disciple

APOCALYPTIC ANXIETY

"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth..."

(Lk. 21:26)

Recently I read the following on one of the news outlets, "We’re in an age of ‘apocalypse anxiety’ and will never stop worrying about doomsday." I agree, if you qualify the "We're." He made an all inclusive statement, which is true of most, but not all. Those who walk close to God and are familiar with the Scripture "do not worry their pretty little head one iota," as my dear mother would have said. 

I like the way in which the old camp meeting preacher put it, "The worst thing that can happen to a child of God is for them to drop an A-bomb and blow us into the arms of Jesus." Or as C.S. Lewis put it, "If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.”

Jesus admonition to His elect was, is, and alway will be, "Let not your heart be troubled." We who are of God's seed can bear up to any of those things that may lie ahead for the simple reason we know something much better and glorious follows. To mention just a few, we're told: it is a time of peace on earth; the calf and young lion shall lie down together; Satan and evil will be quenched; no more wars; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; righteousness shall be the universal rule; and best of all, Christ shall be enthroned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

O, children of God, no matter how dire the situation may get, remember what awaits us. Christ left us a principle to follow,"For the joy set before Him endured the cross." Look past and look to!