Ecclesiastes Christians

There are three types of people in this world: those with a saved life, but a lost soul; those with a saved soul, but lost life; and those with both a saved soul and saved life. During the time of this transitory experience in Solomon’s life of which he writes, he would fit into the second category of the above three mentioned.

Life at best can be perplexing at times. Hard to understand, let alone control. When we attempt to comprehend things from the human standpoint, we’re standing in the wrong place. As David said, “When I thought to know this, it [was] too painful for me.” That is, until he looked at it from God’s perspective.

It is not looking at the things under the sun, but unto Him above the sun. The Ecclesiastes Christian says, “Life is not worth living.” The Spiritual Christian, “Life is worth living.” The first finds life without God is gloomy; the second, life with God is glorious! You cannot enjoy life to its fullest without the Giver of Life’s breath upon you.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 R.D. Sandlin

Honorable Men and Women

The Bible speaks of both honorable men and women. And these were not honest because it was the best policy, but, for them, there was no other policy. There is only one avenue open to this sort of glowing character.  

Ludwig van Beethoven said, “To me, the highest thing after God is my honor.” Honest folks are not without faults, but they are without guile. As another has said, “The worse mistake an honest man or woman can make is an honest mistake.”

In the movie, Rob Roy, a son asks his father, “Father, what is honor?” To which the parent answered, “Son, honor is something a man gives himself, and no one can take it from him.” “An honest man or woman is the noblest work of God,” says one.

“I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an “honest man.” (George Washington)

 R.D. Sandlin

Let's Pray About It-No!

I understand the conventional and acceptable thing to say in any situation is, “Let’s pray about it.” But woe be to the man or woman who suggests, “Let’s think about it first.” Behind all meaningful prayer you will find sanctified thought. Think it through, then pray it through.

When Paul mentions making our requests known to God, it necessitates prior thought. Esther was ready to make her request known to the king when asked, because she had thought her petition through. We give more thought to what we will request of a banker than our King.

My wife and I visited a church some years ago and I was asked by the pastor to lead the congregation in prayer. I hesitated a few moments to gather my thoughts. While I was doing so, he once again asked, thinking I had not heard him.

I wonder sometimes when some of us come to God in prayer, if He doesn’t ask the angels, “What will this babbler say?”

R.D. Sandlin

Monotony in Prayer

Take Christ out of our service to God and you find boredom; leave Him out of your prayers and you’re faced with monotony. Prayer, like the Bible, is to be Christological to the core. One reason our prayers, both privately and publically, are so dry and dull is because there is so little of Jesus in them.

What a wilderness we make of our prayer life when, as one old divine puts it, we have “untheological devotions.” Paul was a great intellect, as well as theologian, but we see Paul at his very best in his prayers. I read recently somewhere that Paul was our master teacher in divinity, but especially in devotion. He fell asleep at night full of praise and prayer to Christ Jesus, and in the morning he began again where he had left off the previous night.

I encourage each of you to take note, when reading Paul’s epistles, how he fills his prayers with the person of Jesus Christ. Nowhere will you see this man’s magnificent mind and great heart revealed more than in his prayers. It was, Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, Jesus, my Lord, Christ Jesus, Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ, in every prayer of his. He knew how to get God’s ear; he incessantly bragged on His Son. Nothing will endear God to a man or woman like constantly speaking to Him of His only begotten Son.

God never tires in hearing such prayers. And you can always be assured of an immediate audience when such prayers are offered up!

R.D. Sandlin

The Majority Report

“If God be for us, who [can be] against us?

When God is for you, your minority status moves up to majority. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to tell his preacher boys, “When you and God enter a town, you’re with the majority.” Therefore, the popular saying, “Daniel in the lion’s den,” to be Biblically correct, should be, “The lions in Daniel’s den.” God is not now, nor has He ever been, or will He be in the future, in the minority.

God is the supreme eternal majority: He can out wit, out vote, out fight, out think, out maneuver, out last, and out run, any and all, from eternity to eternity. He always has the last say and deciding vote in every situation. If God is against you, it matters not who is for you. Ask Pharaoh.

Jesus was always conscious of the fact that His crowd was in the majority. On one occasion, He mentioned He could call twelve legions of angels if He so desired, and God would presently supply them. If you use a Roman legion as a standard, that would be 72,000 angels. The full strength of a legion was 6,000 men. You might recall in the Old Testament one angel killing 185,000 of His people’s enemy.

Elisha’s Prayer

“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are] more than they that [be] with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

ONE MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD IS THE MAJORITY!

R.D. Sandlin

 

 

Lifetime Repentance

“God...granted repentance unto life.”

When the Methodist preacher, William Taylor, was asked what he would choose for a gift in his old age, he answered, “Repentance unto life.” In his book, The Apostle Paul, Alexander Whyte writes, “If you are well read in Paul’s old-age Epistles you will find far more repentance unto life in his last years, than even in his years of immediate conversion and remorse. You meet with an ever deeper bitterness at sin, and at himself, as time goes on with Paul: and, then, a corresponding amazement at God’s mercy.”

Studying Paul’s Christian life from start to finish you’ll find the following: at the beginning he says, he is “the least of the apostles”; later on, that he is “less than the least of all saints”; then, as an old man, declares, “I am chief [of sinners].” It is well to remember, “Christ in you,” does not negate the sin that is in you. The more Christ fills our lives the more sinful we will see ourselves to be. The Biblical principle is that light manifests darkness. This, seeing one’s sinfulness, is not a bad thing, but rather a good thing. It is here we learn true mercy and grace!

When a saint believes he or she is getting worse in God’s sight, in reality, they are getting better.”

Faith without Frills

Showing no disrespect, but real, honest to goodness, down to earth faith, is a “Plain Jane.” You might say, “There is no beauty that we should desire [her].” She is not “dolled up,” to make her more attractive. She never calls attention to herself.

True faith is modest, simple, unadorned and basic. She is not a party girl; she is a working girl. She works seven days a week, and if she isn’t working, she dies. Her job is serving as a messenger girl who carries our requests to the front office.

Whenever she is used as the means of making our “wants and wishes” known to the “ONE” in charge, you can be sure she will return with one of two things for the recipient. The desired thing we longed for, or a peace that passes all understanding that will keep our hearts and minds.

“The sovereign cure for worry is prayer.” (William James)

R.D. Sandlin

 

"The Book" and the Books

Most certainly, the Bible is the, “Book of Books!” But this does not abnegate all other books. Even Heaven has other books in its library. Paul was pre-eminently a man of “One Book,” but that does not mean it was the only book he read. Luke records he was familiar with the poets.   

As an old man shut up in prison, and on his last leg, so to speak, he told Timothy to bring his books and the parchments.  The aged saint was reading and writing up till the end. As Calvin said, “Paul has not lost his delight in books, even when he is near his death.”

Good books can make us better people. How many from the past, to this present, give testimony to the fact that it was a certain book that turned their whole life around. Paul seems to bears this truth out. “Give attendance to reading...that thy profiting may appear to all.”

Thomas Boston wrote concerning his reading of good books. “I plied my books. After earnestly plying my books, I felt my heart begin to grow better. I always find that my health and my heart are the better according as I ply my books.”

What about Lot?

“And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked... (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed [his] righteous soul from day to day with [their] unlawful deeds;)... The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”

When we read God delivered “just Lot,” it doesn’t mean only Lot, for others came out of Sodom with him. The word “just” is used here as in justified. The context supports this by the kindred words righteous and godly.

Professing Christians sometimes like to use Lot to defend their sinning and to prove eternal security. But, I’d remind such of the old camp meeting preacher’s statement, “Eternal security only works if you’re saved.”

The question is not, “Can a Christian sin?” The question is, “Can a Christian sin and get by with it?” Hebrews tells us if one does, and goes without any type of chastening, “then are [they] bastards, and not sons.” That is, they don’t have a heavenly Father!

But the test goes much deeper than a fear of God hurting you for sinning; it comes down to a fear of you hurting God by your sinning. David said, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” There were others involved in David’s sin, yet, as far as he was concerned, it was his God who stood at the front of the line.

When I was a pastor and one of my flock doubted his or her salvation because of some horrendous sin he or she had committed, I asked only one question, “How did you feel when you sinned?” If the answer was “Awful,” they were safe-home. If there was no sensitivity, they had no home.

The word “vexed” in our above text comes from a French word, which in turn is taken from the Latin. It means: “To agitate, to trouble, afflict, harass, distress, provoke.” Again I would ask, “How do you feel when you sin?” 

It Was Good Advice

Many years ago, while serving as a pastor, I like many preachers had my share of church problems. The most trying being when a segment of influential members left. After their departure, I continued opening the sore, so to speak, in my messages. One of my best parishioners met with me and revealed that he and his family would be leaving our assembly. When asked why, referring to our past troubles, he said, “Preacher, it’s over, but you won’t let go of it.”

I had allowed the painful past to be a part of what should have, and could have, been a pleasant present. I kept my shovel handy so I could visit the graveyard daily to dig up the putrefying corpse of yesterday. I refused to heed Paul’s words, “Forgetting those things which are behind.” Like the maniac of Gadara I dwelt among the tombs. And can you believe, I wondered why I didn’t feel alive. But thank God, I finally woke up, cast aside my grave-clothes, and began again living among the living.

Maybe some of my reader’s need also to heed my friend’s advice, and leave the cemetery behind them.   

Have a Seat

“Sit ye here, while I go...yonder.”

While ministering in Ireland many years ago, I had a great Bible truth ingrained in me while watching shepherds with their sheepdogs on a mountainside. The two were inseparable, except for those times the master would command his companion to “sit.” Then, old faithful would stay, even if her friend left her sight. She would not move until hearing his order to do so or a gesture from him to indicate she should.

One of the great lessons of the Christian life is to learn simply to sit.  Mary is a good example of this. When Jesus came to town, her sister Martha, “ran” to meet Him. But it is recorded of Mary, “Mary sat [still] in the house.” And she did not move until being told, “The Master is come, and calleth for thee...As soon as she heard [that], she arose quickly, and came unto him.”

It takes a strong person to sit still. Isaiah puts it this way, “Their strength is to sit still.” Wise Naomi knew this. She told Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.” And so it is with our heavenly Boaz!

All the fuss of life is gone once we “sit still” and let Him engineer things.

Homesick for God

I will arise and go to my Father”

I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt who said he thought the story of the Prodigal Son was the greatest piece of literature ever written. It had all the ingredients to make it so. I personally was drawn to Christ from the preaching of this magnificent narrative.

Contrary to popular option, the son is not the main character, but the father. It was not the house the boy ached for, but his father. It was a person he was homesick for, not a place. As a teenage boy returning from Korea, it wasn’t the old dilapidated dwelling I longed for, but my precious little mother I yearned to see. Wherever she was, was home.

In a sermon by George H. Morrison entitled, “Homesickness of the Soul,” he tells the following story.

“One of the saddest letters in all literature is a letter written by our own poet, David Gray. David Gray was born eight miles from Glasgow; he went to the Free Church Normal in this city. His honest father would have made a preacher of him, but God forestalled that by making him a poet. Well, nothing would satisfy David but he must go to London. He suffered much there and fell into consumption. And this is one of his last letters home:— ‘Torquay, Jan. 6, 1861. Dear Parents,—I am coming home—homesick. I cannot stay from home any longer. What’s the good of me being so far from home and sick and ill? O God! I wish I were home never to leave it more! Tell everybody that I am coming back—no better: worse, worse. What’s about climate, about frost or snow or cold weather, when one’s at home? I wish I had never left it. . . . I have no money, and I want to get home, home, home. What shall I do, O God! Father, I shall steal to you again, because I did not use you rightly. . . . Will you forgive me? Do I ask that? . . . I have come through things that would make your hearts ache for me—things that I shall never tell to anybody but you, and you shall keep them secret as the grave. Get my own little room ready quick, quick; have it all tidy, and clean, and cosy, against my homecoming. I wish to die there, and nobody shall nurse me except my own dear mother, ever, ever again. O home, home, home!’”

Our Corinthian Culture

They teach Sunday school classes, preach, sing, usher, and hold important church offices. They are professing Christians who are in good standing among many of their brethren in our assemblies. They’re husbands, wives, young adults, friends, and neighbors. No one dare speak out, for who are we to throw stones. And God have mercy on the one who mentions church discipline. In fact, this generation of Christians would not understand the meaning. I’m speaking of the vast amount of fornicating Christians around us. Or should I say, professing Christians.

Many permissive saints may not think much of the immorality that prevails amongst the so-called followers of Christ today, but that is only because of their ignorance. Or is it their cowardice?

The following scriptures show what God thinks of this wicked sin. By the way, you can forget revival in your church until this mess is cleaned up.

 

THUS SAITH THE LORD

Write unto them, that they abstain from...fornication.

It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you.

Now the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. Flee fornication. Every sin  that  a man  doeth is  without  the body; but he that committeth fornication  sinneth  against  his own  body.

Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own  husband.

Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication ...which they have committed.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are...fornication.

But fornication ...let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth...fornication.

For this is the will of God [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrah...giving themselves over to fornication...are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance  of eternal  fire.

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them...who taught...the children of Israel...to commit fornication.

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

And the woman... arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and  pearls...and filthiness of her fornication.

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator... with such an one no not to eat.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When It Rains It Pours

I like to use quips both in conversation and my writings, especially when they have a scriptural principle. Concerning the title of our article, don’t you think this axiom could have originated with Noah? Sayings such as, “It rained buckets full,” and the idea of a, “rain barrel” may well be traced back to his day.

As severe as this trial was upon the old man, there was a silver lining, a multi-colored one, if you please. And like Israel’s cloud, although this test had its dark side, it had its bright side also.  God promised it was a one-time thing. Once it passed, it would not happen again. As we’re so often told in the Bible, “And it came to pass.”

In spite of the prolonged darkness and being tossed to and fro for what Noah must have felt an eternity, he saw the sun shine again through the upper window. After being shut-in for so long a time, he was once again able to place his feet on solid ground. The storm had passed and everything was now new. There was freshness in the air; it was a new beginning.

“And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Where the Ice Cream Fits In

Years ago, I remember a popular song entitled, “Three Little Words.” Today, I would like to discuss three words from scripture and their practical meaning. The first of these is justice, which means, “getting what you deserve.” The second is mercy. This is “getting less than one deserves.” And lastly, grace, which is getting more than a person deserves.

Let me illustrate how this trio fits together. A father made plain to his son that if he disobeyed again the boy would receive ten swats. And, of course, the inevitable happened. In the child’s bedroom, the father proceeded with the punishment, but stopped at nine swats. After they had prayed together and hugged, the father took his son to a nearby ice cream parlor. While sitting at the table enjoying their ice cream, the father looked at his boy and said, “Son, the ten swats I promised was justice, but withholding one was mercy, and the ice cream you are enjoying so much—is GRACE!

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

A Song Says It

This world, as we know it, is anything but original, they’re plagiarists. Most if not all their movie plots, quips, story books, songs, etc., that have any substance, can be traced directly to the Bible. For example, the song, “People Who Need People.” Scriptures teach this truth throughout. Even the man Christ Jesus, in His humanity, needed others.

In spite romanticizing loners and depicting them as different from all the rest of the flock, they’re a very lonely people. And I might add, always in danger. Used rightly, the saying, “There is safety in numbers,” is true. “Woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up.

In the Old Testament, the people of Laish illustrate this fact. They lived independent of all others, and within themselves. They were isolationists! When trouble came, they had no one to come to their assistance. Read the following excerpts from Judges, chapter eighteen.

“[They] came to Laish, and saw the people that [were] therein, how they...had no business with [any] man...And [there was] no deliverer, because ...they had no business with [any] man.”

Sooner or later, everybody needs somebody. It’s good to have neighbors help put out the flames when your house is on fire. You’ll not be able to do it alone.

Choice of Means

"God... devises means...” So says the wise woman of Tekoah to David. I’ve never had a problem in God’s use of means, as long as I could be the one to pick and choose them. My difficulty arises when God does the selecting. I speak particularly of three areas.

To start with, I prefer to hand-pick those who minister the Word of God to me. I want to be the one who decides whether it is to be Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. Many of us like to choose our preachers like we do our ice cream; we only like certain flavors. And we refuse to try any other.

I also want to have a say in determining who will rebuke me. I do not cherish the thought of Balaam’s “dumb ass” correcting me. As hard as a rebuke is, I can endure it, but certainly not from one who I feel is inferior to me. Let them be at least an equal, not someone I consider beneath me.  

Lastly, there is this thing of a use of means in healing. I desire God to directly heal me, without the use of any means. I don’t want clay made out of spittle as a means in my healing. Some of us have the same problem Naaman had; we have a preconceived idea of how we are to be healed. Certainly not in the “muddy Jordon.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to go to doctors, in spite of the fact the Great Physician Himself plainly told us sick people need a physician. Like Paul needed Doctor Luke, his constant companion.

It’s good to remember, in God’s closet there are a variety of garments He disguises Himself with (the garb of a gardener). And in His tool shed are a great host of devices He uses as means (the pool of Siloam).

“For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

Everthing Includes Little Things

The Bible tells us to pray about everything, not just big things. The “everything” includes little things. The carnal man or woman is impressed with the miraculous, but not the mundane. But to the spiritual person, answered prayer concerning those small insignificant things in life is as much a thrill as moving a mountain.

An event that took place in the life of Elizabeth Elliot illustrates my point. Several friends of hers who were mountain climbers were beginning their ascent when one of them was jarred a little, and one of her contacts fell out unto the snowy ground below. There were a lot of footprints at the bottom where it had fallen, as well as debris left by some of the group. She and Elizabeth looked diligently for the lens, since the young lady would need it to make the climb to the top. After a while, realizing the impossibility of the situation, they had all but given up. But as a last resort, decided to pray. And it was then, low and behold, they noticed a movement on the ground. And can you believe, there was a little ant dragging the lens through the snow!

Dear friend, God can help in any and all situations, big or small. Remember, He is also the LORD of the ant. “Go to the ant... consider her ways, and be wise.”

Thinking Things Through

The old-time country mother, when asked by one of her children for approval to do something of significance, would reply, “We’ll have to wait and get the mind of your father first.” This is the meaning of having the mind of Christ. Words are simply formations of a thought process. Thus, God’s mind is found in His Word.

But once His thinking on a matter is ascertained, we must work it out to its logical conclusion. Sanctified logic is perfectly legitimate, as long as it is not placed first. You know, “the cart before the ox saying. We are to come at things scripturally, then logically. Samson’s mother is a good example of a scripturally logical thinker (Jud.13, notice verse 23). To get a firm grasp on truth, it must be thought through.

We need active thinkers; idle thinkers never get anywhere. Paul was possibly the world’s greatest thinker. You might say he was a born thinker. He was unable to leave anything alone; he pursued it to its very root. He was constantly thinking of the issues of life, and so should we be. Refusal to think things through to their end is the cause of most, if not all our problems.

Agatha Christie’s eccentric Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, referred of his brain as the “little grey cells” at work. Some of ours have been on the dole long enough; it’s time we put them to work!

WHAT IS YOUR GOD'S NAME?

“The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee... Send thee help... strengthen thee... Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.”

 

“I appeared unto...Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty.”

God is known by many names in the scriptures by which He reveals himself to His people. But the one title with which every saint must be familiar if he or she expects to be an overcomer, is “God Almighty.”  

I emphasize, it is imperative!  

Jacob, along with Abraham, Isaac and a host of others, could never have achieved, personally or publically, the things they accomplished without the help of the “Almighty”.

Mini-professors who serve a miniature god need not think they will attain unto anything in life larger than their deity. A book title I saw once described this sort: Their God is Too Small. This is why they’re forever excusing his impotence.

Like Israel who worshiped Baal, the one who couldn’t answer his own prophets when they needed him most, even so, today’s play actors bow at the altar of a god who also cannot aid them in times of distress and need.

It is time again, in this apostate generation, as Elisha of old to cry out, “Where is the God of Elijah? And then upon seeing Him work, ask for a “Double portion.”

Prayer:  “ALMIGHTY GOD, I beseech thee to once again move among your people. In thy mercy, grant it Lord.” AMEN and AMEN!

David's Last Prayer and Final Words

The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended”—“So when David was old and full of days... [his] last words...”

Psalms is preeminently a prayer and praise book. In the seventy-second Psalm David tells us his prayers are ended. Although this Psalm was possibly the last chronologically, yet it is placed in the middle of the book. This is not unusual in scriptures. First Thessalonians was the first of Paul’s writings, however Romans is listed first in order.

C.H. Spurgeon said, “Prayer is not so much a heavenly exercise as praise.” Prayer is for time, but praise is for eternity. The one ceases at death; the other continues for ever and ever. Remember, praise is the chief occupation of heaven. “And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants.” 

That outward royal apparel adorning King David’s body was trivial in comparison to the glorious attire of which his soul was clothed, the “Garment of praise.” While on earth his testimony was, “I will yet praise thee more and more.” And I’m fairly certain, when entering heaven, he said to his lovely Lord, “I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”

O friend, let us heed these inspired words, “...the last words of David [to] the Levites [were]...to stand every morning... and praise the LORD, and likewise at even.”

“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.”

Don't Forget Your Shoes

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that [was] upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

The relationship of Jonathan and David in the Old Testament is a beautiful picture of Christ and the Believer in the New Testament. In our story Jonathan gives his future king everything, but one thing. Sometimes we boast in what we’ve given to the Lord; but He is more interested, I think, in what we haven’t given Him, that one thing we are holding back. In Jonathan’s case, it was his shoes.

If David was going to flee away from his adversary Saul, he would need shoes for those hot sands. How many there are who would have others believe they have given “all” to the Lord, when in reality, like Ananias and Sapphire “keep back part.” I think it may be good for each of us to sing afresh, “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?”

You’ll remember the sacrifices of the Old Testament were, for the most part, divided evenly; one portion went to God, another to the priest, and an equal part to the one who brought it. But the whole burnt offering was exclusively for God and God alone. It represented complete dedication and consecration to Him. God is a jealous Lover; He will not share you with another.

Jesus made plain God wants the whole man. In Mark’s gospel, discussing the first Commandment with a scribe, our Lord says we are to love God with all our heart (emotional), with all our soul (spiritual), with all our mind (intellectual), and with all our strength (physical). When he heard this ,the scribe said, “This is more than all burnt sacrifices and offerings.” And so it is my friend!

Characterless Characters

A person can be a character without having any. The term, “They’re a real character,” doesn’t necessarily mean the person referred to possesses it. It is a trait I have observed, over long years, that is rapidly becoming extinct. To me, character is the backbone of an individual’s life; it is the thing that holds one up so he or she can walk straight and tall, in the midst of a “crooked and perverse” world.

If you were asking me to describe this present age, I would simply use one word, “shallow.” In my opinion, the mass of humanity is void of any inner substance. Their character is so lean they don’t even cast a shadow. We can imitate a lot of things in life, but character is not on the list. Like an actor playing a part, sooner or later the make-up has to come off and the garments changed. It is then everyone sees them step out of another’s character into his or her own. “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.”

The greatest test of a man’s character is how he takes charge of his own life. No Christian need stay the way he or she is. An old Hindu proverb says, “There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.” Self-conquest is the greatest victory of all. Robert Browning said, “When a man’s fight begins within himself, he is worth something.”

Be Careful What You Pray For

Harry A. Ironside, Bible teacher and long-time pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, tells a heartbreaking story in one on his books. While visiting a parishioner in her home, he heard a child crying from the other room. She asked Dr. Ironside if he would like to see her little girl.

When he entered the child’s bedroom, he saw her sitting in a highchair with her back to him, looking out a window. As he approached the little one to get a better view of her, he gasped because what he saw was a thirty-two year old woman in a five-year-old’s body. Her speech, actions, and aptitude were those of even a younger child.

The mother then told him of how the child had contracted a life-threatening disease those many years previous, and because of a mother’s love and the girl being her only child, she asked God to spare her. But the child only drew closer to death. She told Dr. Ironside she then prayed this prayer: “Lord, if you do not give my daughter back to me, I don’t know if I can continue to love and serve you.”

The mother then recounted how the child, that very evening, began to change for the better. Then, with tears streaming down her face, she said to her pastor, “Oh, how I wish that I had left the choice with God!”

“And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.”

Peter the Intellectual

Are you surprised at me calling the “unlearned and ignorant” fisherman an intellectual? This scriptural term (unlearned and ignorant), is in reference to a formal education only, not to his intelligence. The same was true in the case our Lord, His critics asked, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? “ One can be highly intelligent without an education. The opposite is also true.

A.W. Tozer did not have what the world would consider a proper education; his schooling extended merely to the ninth-grade. But this self-taught man (he would say, “Spirit-taught”) was considered by his peers a remarkable “wordsmith.”

Peter wrote two letters (epistles), his purpose being to “stir up” God’s people. Paul uses the same phrase to Timothy. Notice in Peter’s statement how he intended to accomplish this. ““This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets (Old Testament), and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour (New Testament).”

He did not directly approach their heart first, the seat of the emotions. But rather engaged their minds, the intellect. Martyn Lloyd-Jones encourages Christians when dealing with any and all life’s problems, to approach them in this order: mind, heart, will. This is how Peter handled the biggest test of his life. “And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him.... And when he thought thereon, he wept.” Peter worked his repentance out in his mind first. The heart and will followed closely. To have done it any other way would have made his tears a waste of water.

   

The Bonus of Obedience

"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” (Deut. 28:2)

God’s promise to His people in olden times was that they’d be overtaken by His blessings as they traveled the road of obedience. In verse five, He pledges to all who will hearken to His voice, “a basketful of blessings.” It is this sort who, in our congregations, robustly sing, “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing.”

The wise man tells us, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” Is it any wonder then that a man such as Jacob was willing to limp through life to have them? He no doubt felt, if only he could have God’s blessings upon him, anything was worth that. As a result of his desire and committal, the old man never did outrun God’s blessings, from Penuel to the end of his days; they were always catching up to, and overtaking him.

Being on God’s road of obedience does not mean perfection. It does not mean that we will not stumble and fall on our faces from time to time. But it does mean we are headed in the right direction, toward that Celestial City, with a promised occupancy for all who “obey the gospel.” But, until we arrive there, one can be sure each act of obedience to the Lord will be followed by God’s blessings. And I have found in my own life, they can catch-up real fast!

God’s great promise to His obedient children is, “I will... open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it].

A Thought for Thinkers

Any regular reader of The Journal is aware of the fact each article, for the most part, is to challenge thought. These essays are not for “spoon-fed” Christians, but rather for those who desire to go a little deeper and hold their breath a little longer than the average, without boasting of the fact they’re capable of doing so.

One of the many descriptive terms God chose that His people might betterunderstand His various attributes, and character is, The Word. Now we know a word is a direct result of a thought, therefore, our God is a thinker. Thus, being made in His likeness and image, He gave us a mind to think with. And, generally speaking, each adult individual is capable of thinking for himself or herself.

It is to these independent thinkers I have a warning. I have found thinkers are more prone to be worriers than those who keep their minds always out of gear and in neutral. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it so well. “Thinking is right up to a point, but if you go beyond that point it becomes worry and anxiety and it paralyses and cripples. In other words, although it is very right to think about [particulars], it is very wrong to be controlled by [them].”

 

Jesus' Prayer in Darkness

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The doctrinal implications of this scripture are, to say the least, heart rending. But so too is its practical application. This utterance from the Cross was from one of David’s Psalms. Was this twenty-second Psalm a present and personal experience with David, as well as being prophetic? Or was it only speaking prophetically of Christ’s day? Both Isaiah and Job faced times of deep darkness in their lives, as well as David. Saint John of the Cross refers to these times as, “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

Nevertheless, none has ever gone through the gloom of blackness our blessed Lord suffered. Three truths caught my attention while reading this text recently. First, God was still His God, even when He seemed to have no God. Second, He still prayed, although He did not have a prayer hearing or answering God at the time. Third, He wanted all around Him to know (He cried with a loud voice), that in spite of the circumstances, He continued to believe in His God, and He would go on praying to Him, though the heavens were brass.

Let me speak to all such who may be experiencing these long dark nights. Remember, “Joy cometh in the morning.”  Mark tells us, after Christ’s long ordeal, “very early in the morning...at the rising of the sun,” new life entered Jesus. And so it will be with you dear suffering saint of God. I beg you; see it through till the end! For I guarantee on the authority of God’s Word, you’ll walk again in “newness of life.”

Jesus and His Bride

Many years ago my wife and I visited Niagara Falls in the state of New York. While viewing the lower part of the falls, the tour guide told our group a heartbreaking story. Some years previous, before there were safety rails, a newly married couple was viewing that great rush of water. The young bride ventured too close to the edge and fell in. Immediately, without a second’s hesitation, her young lover dove in after her. As he held her in his arms, they went over the falls together, plunging to their death.

The spiritual application is obvious. The bridegroom died for his bride, not for himself. He needed no saving; she did. And it was his love for her which moved him to take that most dreadful leap into what was to be their watery grave.

Paul tells us, “Ye are bought with a price.”  In the book of Leviticus, the redemption value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty was fifty shekels of silver. But for a woman, it was thirty shekels of silver. Unknown to Judas and the priests, they would forever show the world, the thirty pieces of silver was not for Jesus, but for His bride. His death was for her redemption.

Unlike the bride in our story, who died with her lover, our story does not end there. For we not only died with the Lover of our souls, but were raised with Him, and now walk with Him in newness of life. Hallelujah! Saints of God, we’re on our “eternal honeymoon!”

Prayers Paradox

A few months ago after a phone conversation with a friend, just prior to ending the call, the person said, “You pray for me and I’ll pray for you.” I thought to myself at the time, and since then, how strange a statement. You would think each would pray for himself or herself. After all, who knows better one’s needs than the individual? Nevertheless, God has ordained it so.

In the very first church Paul established, he taught the new converts at Thessalonica this truth. Listen to this giant man of prayer asking the lesser, so to speak, for their prayers, “Brethren, pray for us...”  But who, also said, “We pray always for you...” This was the rule in his other epistles as well. Interestingly, this great man of God asks prayer from those we would think beneath us spiritually.

Many years ago I began asking little children, and saints who were considered least esteemed in their church, and yes, even those who by their outward appearance seemed to be worldly, to pray for me. I have found such people, as well as other kinds, often have something between themselves and their God the rest of us have not been let in on. James admonishes us, “Pray one for another.” Brethren, LET’S GET TO IT!

*Miracle Lives

Christianity is the only religion in the world whose credentials read, “Miraculous.” Oswald Chambers writes, “If Christianity is not miraculous, it’s a sham.” Its founder was not only a miracle worker, He Himself, was a miracle. His birth and resurrection were the two greatest miracles this world has ever, or will ever, see.

Every true Christian is God’s, “Miracle Child.” Whenever natural man asks us, as it asked our Saviour, “shew us a miracle,” we should be able to say, “You’re looking at one.”  In a genuine Believer’s life is something that cannot be explained apart from his or her miracle working God!

Therefore, each of us who name the name of Christ ought to be a walking miracle. I’m not speaking of miraculously walking on water, but rather, walking miraculously on land. A similar walk in principle to the one He walked on earth. The world’s description of us being, “They’re miracles in shoe leather.”

Hard Sayings

“This is an hard saying; who can hear it...From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

In John the sixth chapter, Jesus spoke of “eating His flesh and drinking His blood.” And if one didn’t, he or she would forfeit eternal life. This difficult saying caused many to give up on following Him, in spite of the fact He was speaking spiritually, and told them as much in verse sixty-three. Even Peter understood it to be so v. 68, b. To take it literally would mean one believed in cannibalism.

This is seen also in the following chapter. There He speaks of “rivers of water” flowing out of a man’s stomach. But in verses 38-39, again, it plainly says He was speaking spiritually.

Just like wading through lengthy genealogies produce patience and character in us, even so, the hard sayings have their purpose. I believe one of the main purposes is in getting the spiritually minded to think. Jesus always made His hearers think.

You can depend on the dunces to give up when the thinking gets tough!

Modern translations attempt to make Jesus’ hard sayings easier by replacing them with ones of their own. But I find theirs much more difficult to understand, if not impossible. In trying to make it more acceptable, they leave it less challenging.

Peter, speaking of Paul’s epistles said. “As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood.”  Notice, he did not suggest a better rendering of Paul’s letters or a more up to date translation. We are to put on our spiritual thinking-caps, and work through difficult passages. It takes spiritual and intellectual sweat to understand the hard things of the Bible, which this generation of Christians, is not into.

Bowing to Our Books

Evangelist D.L. Moody, commenting on marking your Bible said, “It can be a helpful thing, provided one doesn’t become a slave to it.” Because of the makeup of my temperament, I was a servant to my markings for years. Bold lettering, notes in the margin, and different highlighted colors characterized my Bibles. Many years ago, my youngest daughter Charity, while leafing through my Bible said, “Man, this looks like a coloring book.” By her statement you can see how bad it had gotten.

I find this type of slavishness is also true in the reading of books. As long as the Bible remains the Monarch of all other books, fine. But when you are more interested in what someone else has to say, over God, you have a big problem. If one is blessed more by his or her books, rather than “The Book,” it is time for him or her to take inventory of their spiritual life. The writings of others, no matter how godly, are at best, fillers. The Bible is always the exclusive Book. Paul’s reference to the two groups when writing to Timothy proves this, “...when thou comest, bring [with thee]...the books, [but] especially the parchments.”

Let us not unconsciously become the servant of men, remembering it is possible to make the Word of God to none effect by their traditions. The Word of God is to be the first and last Book we go to for our final authority. I love my books, but need to constantly remind myself, there is only “One Book” on this earth that will never pass away.

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! [yea, sweeter] than honey to my mouth!”