Knocking Out the Props

Nothing to Lean On-But God Himself

It’s a fearful thing when God slowly, but surely, begins removing various supports that we have put our confidence in; things that are substitutes for our trust in Him. But surprise of all surprises, once these human props are eliminated, we find our faith flourishes.

We discover faith thrives best in the midst of difficulties. But to realize this we must first be “…shut up unto the faith.” That is, left with no way out but faith itself. When all the safety-nets are taken away. There’s always a calculated risk attached to faith! But God works best “…when all hope [is] taken away.”

We’re told our father Abraham, “Considered not,” that is, he did not consider the human impossibilities; neither in his situation or Sarah’s. Faith makes the impossible possible! We must learn to turn our eyes upon God and from anything or anybody that would invade that faith.

God will never betray the one who trusts in Him!

Timing is Everything

God’s Timing

Not only is our Sovereign the God of eternity, but He is the Lord of time. He controls every aspect of it. He can make it stand still, go backward, or run it ahead. But He is distinctively the God of the present. And why is this? I think C.S. Lewis put it best when he said, “Where, except in the present, can the Eternal be met.” Therefore, as they say, “There is no time like the present.”

We must be cautious that we do not mistake a seemingly right situation for the right time. Take Simon Peter’s case for example. The Lord had told him how he would die (John 21:18-19). And in Acts 12:3-6 the circumstances would lead one to think this was the time his Lord had spoken to him about. But though the situation was right, the timing was wrong, for this memorable event could not come to pass until, as Jesus had said, “…when thou shalt be old.”

It is not the circumstances, but timing, that counts. Let us keep our eyes on God’s clock and not on the conditions. If we do, we, like Peter, will sleep better.

“My times are in thy hand.”

Spiritual Anemia

Back to the Blood

“life...is in the Blood”

Driving to the store recently with my wife, we were listening to a Christian radio station. One of the songs played was, “There is Power in the Blood,” It brought back sweet and precious memories. I turned to Salle and said, “I sure miss hearing those blessed old songs on the Blood.” May God help His children and churches to get back to the Blood.

Our pale and lethargic spiritual lives can be, I believe, traced back directly to the lack of the Blood of Christ in our own. Just as with our physical blood, there will never be a day when we can live without His Blood applied to ours. Healthy, robust Christians make much of the blood of Jesus. To those who think otherwise, God’s Word says, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain.”  The Veil is shut to Bloodless comers.

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”

Humanities Great Hatred

The World's Hatred of God and His Son

“...now have they...hated both me and my Father”

(John 15:24)

God loved the world and gave His only Son for it; this world in return hates God and rejects His Beloved Son. As they go their merry way thinking of this as being only a trifle in life, they do not realize the horribleness that awaits them at the end of walking the broad way. The old song, The Great Judgement Morning, that has been muted in most pulpits today, gives a miniature picture of what awaits them.

“And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,

As the lost were told of their fate;

They cried for the rocks and the mountains,

They prayed, but their prayer was too late.”

Read Psalm two if you want to see the fundamental cause for the creature turning on his or her Creator. It has to do with rule and restraint. No Sovereign Monarch, even if Divine, has the right to tie them down in any area of their lives, say they. If He attempts to, they will simply snap the cords as Samson of old, did his. What is an intolerable yoke for the world's rebels, is an easy yoke for God’s submissive children!

Both the leaders and people of this insurgency have only one choice and chance for pardon, to lay down your arms, and as the custom of conquered foes of old, to kiss the hand (in this case nail-scarred) of the KING. If not, you can be sure God will get the last laugh. (Prov.1)

A warning to professed Christians. If you’re running with this God-hating world; you’re running with the wrong herd.

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Not So Bad-Not So Good

Cold Christians

"I would thou wert cold or hot…thou art lukewarm, and neither cold or hot.” God is an extremist, at times. In the case of His people's zeal, it’s to be one way or the other, no middle ground. He prefers a state of coldness over one of lukewarm-ness. To Him, anything is better than that condition. In our day, we criticize coldness and accept lukewarm-ness. But it is the latter that nauseates God. Tepid Christians are the ones who sicken Him.

My dear, departed friend, Marvin Clanton, was so misunderstood when he used to say, “God says it’s alright for you to be cold.” What the blind brethren did not understand is that this is what our text says. A cold Christian is more honorable in character than a lukewarm one. Though he is in a sad state, nevertheless, he’s honest. There’s no disguise, concealment, or pretense with him.

God can do something for an honest man, no matter what his condition; but there is no remedy for a self-deceived, self-conceited one.

“My best members today would have been considered backsliders twenty-five years ago.”

( By the late James Barnes, a friend)

The Same Cloth

Folks Like Us

“We also are men of like passions with you”

“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are”

Neither Barnabas, Saul, or Elias would allow anyone to think of them as any different from the common man. Nor would any other Spirit-Filled saint found in the Holy Scriptures. They knew they were cut from the same piece of soiled cloth as any other man or woman. Most certainly, they were well aware they belonged to God, but just as conscious they were human; thus living within the boundaries of humanity.

Life comes with its downs and ups (we always end right-side- up), as David reminds us. It comes equipped with its valleys as well as its mountains. Bible Christians were not always on a spiritual high. I like the way one writer puts it, “They did not attempt to use God as a giant tranquilizer to obliterate their difficulties. Neither did they scoff at nor condemn as ‘unspiritual’ those who were hurting.”

You can hide your head in the sand, so to speak, refusing to acknowledge your brethren who are presently having a tough time of it. But know this, at some point in this life, every saint will experience Ecc.2:14, if you please, “walking the floor of hell.” It’s good to remember at such times the three Hebrew children. While walking in the fire they discovered the “Fourth MAN.” You can read of Him in Revelation chapter one.

“And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.”

The Courthouse Drama

Faith On Trial

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Biblical faith has never won in the world’s court of popular opinion. Can you imagine, when questioned, the answer the judge and jury  would hear from the witness? That is, to its basic substance and evidential proof? Remember, it is a judicial system whose philosophy is seeing is believing.  You know, “Come down [now] from the cross, and we will believe.”

“Well sir,” says the confident witness, “My substance is hope.” When asked to define what this hope entails, there is snickering in the courtroom; then all-out laughter when the answer is given. “My hope is not seen...as yet! For hope that is seen is not hope.” “Concerning my evidence, it too is not seen...yet” This time, uncontrolled pandemonium breaks out.

A foolish faith says the world. Yes. But the WORD says, one that pleases God. Paul, that little man with a giant of a soul within, tells us, “He walked by faith, and not by sight.”  In contrast, Thomas said, “Except I shall see...I will not believe.“ Oswald Sanders writes, “A faith that does not walk may soon become too weak to stand.” Blind faith eventually sees. Ask Paul (Acts 9).

A Lesson On Boiling Water

Just Forget It

“A watched pot never boils.” Ask any of us impatient men, and we will attest to this little cliché. How many times have I put the kettle on to boil water for a cup of coffee, and it seemed it was going to be the next day before it bubbled? On the other hand, a woman puts a pot on the burner, goes about other business, and, presto! the water is boiling.

So what is the cause of the male’s downfall? Simple. We spend our time standing around watching and waiting for results, while the ladies don’t worry about it. They busy themselves doing other things, while the process is going on. What seems like eternity to us doesn’t even flutter them.

And so it is in the spiritual life. Those who do nothing but stand around checking their spiritual growth will find that’s the sure way to stunt growth. The best way to grow is to forget it. Don’t lose any sleep over it (Mk.4:26-28). Get busy about other things and people, and it will surprise you how fast you will sprout up. Unconscious growth is the best kind.

Ultimate Christianity

“Tried with fire.” Was Peter thinking of his forefathers in the book of Daniel when he penned these words? Possibly so. You remember those three brave believers would not bow to the intimidating threats of the hierarchy, though it meant being put into the fires. Their answer to the King is the ultimate Christian testimony: “Our God...is able to deliver us...and he will deliver us...But if not...” A general consensus—God is able; an individual trust—God will; a personal acceptance—if God doesn’t.

You can’t stop a person armed with this philosophy. These three Jewish saints are undoubtedly the ones referred to in Hebrews eleven, where we are told, “and others...not accepting deliverance.” They knew it was just as great, if not greater, to be delivered in the fire, as it was out of the fire. Maybe they were trusting the promise of Isaiah, “When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

There is a double blessing to be found in the fire. They had a Divine Companion Who entered with them, and they had a glorious liberty. Both fellowship and freedom are found in the midst of the flame.

Amy Carmichael tells the following precious story. “One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. ("He shall sit as a refiner"; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, "then the fire eats it," and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; "it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now." "How do you know when the gold is purified?" we asked him, and he answered, "When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure.”

What's On Your Plate?

Eat All That’s On Your Plate

“Whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question…” In the context, Paul is discussing meats offered to idols. He shows the Christian’s responsibility in different situations that may arise in the eating of such. I’d like to take these words and apply them to our lives in a practical everyday way.

How many remember their Mother saying, “Make sure you eat everything on your plate?” And that meant eating those detestable vegetables. Your loving chef knew what was good for you, even if you didn’t!

And so it is with our single parent Heavenly Father. When He prepares and sets our meal before us, He expects us to eat everything on our plate. We are to accept whatever’s placed before us and believe Father knows best.

His only begotten Son, and our Elder Brother, left us an example by wiping His plate clean! And that included partaking of what you and I try to set aside and dispense with, crucifixion of self.

Putting the Cross in the mix makes even the bitter sweet.
(Ex. 15:23-25)

Frustrated Saints

“[He] hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose.”

The word frustrate is used three times in the Scriptures. My intention is not to expound the texts but explain the word. Webster gives the definition as “in vain; to cause to have no effect; to prevent from achieving a goal or gratifying a desire.” It is plain to see that if Satan can keep a Christian frustrated, he or she will never reach the potential God has set for them. Our adversary knows, to keep a saint frustrated is just as effective as getting him or her to fall. Either way, the believer is ineffective.

I have observed that there are three areas in which the enemy of our souls works to achieve his goal of keeping us continually frustrated. If he can get us “entangled” in any one of these, he has bound us. The first has to do with the political see-saw of our day. The second, with its social ills. And the last, with the sad spiritual condition of God’s elect.

Let’s face it; the root of all frustration is to be found in our inability to control people and situations. Happy is the man or woman who has learned that only a Sovereign God can accomplish this. Therefore, Let us keep our eyes upon a never-changing God in this ever-changing world.

C.S. Lewis on Politics

Christians in Politics

(by C.S. Lewis)

Politics, Christians in From many letters to The Guardian [Footnote: a weekly Anglican newspaper], and from much that is printed elsewhere, we learn of the growing desire for a Christian “party,”a Christian “front,”or a Christian “platform”in politics. Nothing is so earnestly to be wished as a real assault by Christianity on the politics of the world: nothing, at first sight, so fitted to deliver this assault as a Christian party.

. . . It remains to ask how the resulting situation will differ from that in which Christians find themselves today.

It is not reasonable to suppose that such a Christian Party will acquire new powers of leavening the infidel organization to which it is attached. Why should it? Whatever it calls itself, it will represent, not Christendom, but a part of Christendom. The principle which divides it from its brethren and unites it to its political allies will not be theological. It will have no authority to speak for Christianity; it will have no more power than the political skill of its members gives it to control the behaviour of its unbelieving allies. But there will be a real, and most disastrous, novelty. It will be not simply a part of Christendom, but a part claiming to be the whole. By the mere act of calling itself the Christian Party it implicitly accuses all Christians who do not join it of apostasy and betrayal. It will be exposed, in an aggravated degree, to that temptation which the Devil spares none of us at any time—the temptation of claiming for our favourite opinions that kind and degree of certainty and authority which really belongs only to our Faith.

God in the Dock, “Meditation on the Third Commandment” (1941), para. 1, 4–5, pp. 196–198.

Think About it

The Result of Right Thinking

One of my wife’s favorite literary characters is Winnie the Pooh (smile). She loves it when he gets into one of his messes, sits down, taps his forehead, and says, “Think, think, think.” Would to God, in this one particular, we Christians would emulate this comical cartoon clown. Many have flabby brains from lack of exercise. We can’t get out of a jam for the same reason we got into it; we don’t think.

A Christian can be carnally minded (fleshly), or spiritually minded. It’s his or her choice. To choose the former is existing; to pick the latter is living. The Prodigal Son got out of his dilemma and back to living, when he started thinking spiritual thoughts.

This runs true throughout the scripture. David tells us in the Old Testament book of Psalms, it was when he started to think on his ways that things began to turn around. And Peter in the New Testament, like the Prodigal, we’re told, “...when he thought thereon.” That is the moment when God’s heavenly sunlight  broke through the dark clouds in his soul!

God is not going to do our thinking for us. That’s why he gave us a brain. But He does tell us how to think, so that we may have an inward, tranquil life. I admonish each of my readers to, as Paul said, “…think on these things.”

Sticking to the Script

Scripted Saints

“Therefore David enquired again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.”

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” There's absolutely no evidence that Einstein actually made this statement; but it's still a great quote! If this saying is true it is imperative, as sane saints, we reject any and all forms of  scripted living.

I personally believe the average Christian church, family, and individual, live scripted lives, consciously or unconsciously. It is the same-o, same-o, Sunday after Sunday, day after day. Most certainly, life is regimented, but to stay in step 24/7 will drive one wacky. At least it would me.

When our church services and lives become predictable, they become pitiful. When David was fighting the Philistines, God told him to go up a different way. Many, I find, have a problem doing things a different way. We refuse to go “ off script.” To adhere to a man-made script is to lose the liberty of the Spirit.   

While Peter was preaching in Cornelius’ house, the Holy Ghost fell upon them and interrupted the services and his preaching. When this happens, it is a wise saint who shuts everything down and gets out of the way, not ignore it and go on with business as usual as we are so prone to do.

The sanity of the saints depends on, “Times of refreshing... from the presence of the Lord.”

An Open Letter to My Son-in-law

My Beloved Son-in-law

Let me congratulate you on your forty-fifth year as an evangelist, bragging on Jesus, from behind the sacred desk. What a blessing that He chose lepers such as us to tell the good news. We certainly did not take this honor upon ourselves, but being called of God, are so very honored by Him.

Job's statement is so pertinent today: "How little a portion is heard of him." 

June eighth, I myself, began my sixtieth-year of pointing people to the bleeding Lamb. Apart from my salvation, (and I'm sure it's true of you) the day I heard those immortal words, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men," was the second greatest day of my life.

I read once, "When God has an impossible task to perform, He takes an impossible man and crushes him." How blessed to be crushed under His nail-scarred heel. 

When I think of you and the ministry God has called you to, I'm reminded of a thought I had that I wrote down in the flyleaf of my Bible, "Anywhere, Anytime, Anything, at Any Cost!"

I am praying for a fresh anointing upon you this special day. "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

I close with something I heard an old camp meeting preacher say years ago. "I'll preach till the PREACHER comes."

An Old Disciple,

Dad

The Husband/Wife Relationship

One Roof and Two People

"And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel." Jacob was put out with his favorite wife, and, in this case, justifiably so. Rachel was blaming him for something over which he had no control. Disagreements in the home should not surprise us. As an old preacher, Dr. Bob Jones, used to say, "You can't put two completely different personalities under one roof and not expect conflict from time to time.

As long as the exception does not become the rule, we who still retain the Adamic nature should not be overly concerned. Personally, I've always been suspicious of couples who say they never have any disagreements. I think, in such cases, one of the mates has died without the other realizing it! My wife has a book entitled, Marriage to a Difficult Man: the Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. I mentioned to her that she should write one and call it, "Married to an Impossible Man"! Jacob's seed has not died out; I'm proof of that.

A few violent storms should not destroy the enjoyment of those long, tranquil seasons between.

I like what my wife tells young brides. "Marriage is like riding a train; there are a lot of "getting off" places. But if you'll ride it through, you'll get to your desired destination.”

My "FATHER" and I

With a plurality of children, it is a wise father who makes each feel like he or she is an only child. Our Heavenly Father does this with every one of His children. In our Father’s House we are told that He “…will give [to him that overcometh] a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”

Here is a relationship that is not only unknown, but unknowable. It is a peculiar and individual intimacy with God, which none other can ever know. Therefore, there can be no comparison among siblings, for no one knows, save the person themselves, what transpires between the Father and that individual. You might say it’s a little secret between God and His child.

As a family member I address Him as, “Our Father”; as an individual child, He is “My Father.”

Miniature Pontiffs

Miniature Pontiffs

Martin Luther wrote, “I am not as concerned with the Pope that resides at Rome as the one that lives within me.” Totalitarianism is alive and flourishing in many circles of Christendom today. One expects this of the cults, but not Christians. When it comes to lording it over one another, Jesus tells His followers it should not be so with them.

Far too many are like Martha. We try to control every aspect of the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Such pastors and people know absolutely nothing about the priesthood of all believers. The scripture is clear on this matter. No believer, including a minister, is to ever have supremacy  over another’s faith. FAITH MUST BE FREE!

We need to constantly remind ourselves of the Apostle’s words, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”

You Just Wait and See

“And it shall come to pass…And when this cometh to pass…And it came to pass.” The first text is a promise made; the second, a promise anticipated; the third, a promise fulfilled.

Child of God, did the Lord make you a promise in the past? If so, you can have full assurance in your present situation that it will happen. For in the future, your testimony will most certainly be, “And it came to pass.”

Let us take solace in God’s word to Habakkuk. When everything around him was dark, and all seemed impossible, the prophet received this encouragement from God concerning the promise He gave him, “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it shall surely come, it will not tarry.”

It is better to be as low as hell with a promise, than in Paradise without one! (Puritan John Flavel)

In the Sweet Hereafter

“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”

I am neither a novelty preacher or writer; nevertheless, to get a point across it is sometimes necessary to have a play upon words. When Jesus spoke, in our text, of the hereafter it was in reference to this life, not the next. Thus we find there is a here and an after-here. There becomes here when you drop the “T.” When you arrive there it becomes here to you. I speak of a double-here. Where you’re at and where you are headed. They’re both here in time.

Peter writes of that blessed hereafter, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Also Daniel could testify to what awaits one in the hereafter, when finally loosed from the lion's mouth, “So this Daniel prospered.”

And what saith darling David about the storms of life; when we have moved from the first here to the second here? “For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”

Our blessed Lord leaves us an example of this truth. After His great temptation we read, “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” O, the sweet hereafter!

The Real Culprit

“Get thee behind me, Satan.” The late Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “If we cannot discern the chief cause of our ills, how can we discern the cure?” Jesus looked past the means to the real culprit.

When we play our blame game, we usually list either the political, social, or cultural conditions for our dilemma. But they are only puppets on strings, controlled by Satan behind the scene.

If we can only see flesh and blood as our adversary, then we will never overcome. We are in a spiritual battle with the Prince of Darkness, who hides in the shadows. Those who have put on the armor of light will recognize him for who he really is.

Lon Chaney, the actor, was known as “the man of a thousand faces," but it was always him behind each one. So it is with Satan.

Throw Your Worries to the Wind

“...the chaff which the wind driveth away.”

Idioms such as “Cast it to the wind,” or “Throw it to the wind,” simply means to discard or dispense with; especially in an abrupt or reckless manner. I believe this is what we’re to do, like the useless chaff, cast our worries to the wind.

When worrisome caution challenges Biblical faith we are to, “Throw caution to the wind.” In this particular setting, personally, I’m cautious of cautious Christian’s. As A.W. Tozer says concerning trust, “We need a reckless abandonment.”  

Sometimes, like Paul when in the storm, we need to cast everything out that hinders, and let come what will! The saints of Hebrews, chapter eleven, cast all their doubts and fears to the wind. God said, “They had a good report card.”

As a missionary friend of mine used to say, “RISK EVERYTHING ON GOD!” Let’s do it beloved, let’s cast everything to the wind. Right now!