Month: June 2010

Attitude of Gratitude

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:17

Over the years this writer has met a number of people who believe that because God is love, He will not punish anyone for sin. Some also blame God for allowing so much evil on the earth. After all, isn’t He sovereign over all His Creation?

When things go terribly and painfully wrong in their lives they blame God along the lines of, “I thought God was supposed to be a God of love?” Or, “If He is almighty why doesn’t He bring an end to all the misery on earth?” Since they have no answer to these questions they then reject the existence of God.

The idea that God will express His love toward man by always forgiving sin, regardless of man’s actions, because He is kind and loving, does not appear in the Bible. God is holy and righteous and to forgive sin without justice would defile His divine nature. The revelation of God is that He cannot forgive; He would contradict His nature if He did.

The only ground on which God can forgive people for their sin is the cross of Christ (“through His blood”) and in no other way. Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony of Calvary.

God does not forgive us because He loves us. Love sent the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross of Calvary. We are forgiven because Jesus Christ died for us and we become beneficiaries through another act of God; the new birth. Our part is no more than believing and receiving God’s gracious gift of Christ who died for us.

It is the knowledge that our sins are forgiven, and at such great cost, that will awaken the deepest well of gratitude toward God. The first act of faith for a new believer is always to thank God. Without this heartfelt gratitude there is no salvation. Without the continuance of the attitude of gratitude there is no assurance of salvation witnessed by the Holy Spirit.

The Last Straw

“Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord … tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.” 1 Samuel 28:18, 19

These are some of the words of Samuel to King Saul when Saul visited the medium at En Dor. This was expressly against the will and word of the Lord and Saul knew it. He himself had made a law that all mediums should be put to death. It is just one more occasion where Saul shows his lack of comprehension and understanding concerning the Person of the Lord. It is also “the last straw.”

Until now Saul had been told that the kingdom would be torn from him and given to David, not his son Jonathan. Saul’s pursuit of David to kill him was his attempt at preventing the Word of the Lord being fulfilled. This was the same motivation for Satan seeking the Lord Jesus’ death. In both cases their attempts backfired.

This pronouncement by Samuel to Saul that he and all his sons would die in battle the next day because he failed in his responsibilities as Israel’s king to obey the Lord was crushing to his heart. But did he confess his sin and repent? No way. He was a proud man and still stood in defiance even though a timeframe had now been placed for his final disgrace and death.

Saul’s sorrow was not that he had sinned against the Lord but because he had been found out and that the consequences were devastating. We observe this often today. A person commits a crime and when convicted awaiting sentence they profess sorrow at having done the crime. That is too late and is most likely not sorrow for the crime; it is sorrow for having been caught and having to do the time. Genuine sorrow would have been expressed before guilt was established.

At the Great White Throne when Jesus judges all unbelievers they will be like Saul. Sorry for having been caught out and having to do the time (eternity) but unrepentant and still in defiance of the Lord.

Obedience to the Lord comes from knowing Him intimately and therefore trusting His wisdom and Word. Like King David, we will then readily agree with the Lord about our sin and let Him forgive and cleanse us.

They Presumed Too Much

“They did not ask counsel of the Lord” Joshua 9:14

Before any one points the finger at Joshua and the other rulers of Israel we would do well to look at ourselves first.

Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Head of the church has been made more like the Queen of England. The people make the decisions and then ask the Queen to sign off on them. We are in danger of living our lives like that both individually and corporately. We make our plans and then ask Jesus to bless them. Anyone who thinks about this for even a few moments will see how preposterous that is. Jesus is made to be our servant existing for our benefit to do our will. What an abomination that is! He will have no part in it.

When Joshua approached Ai he consulted his leaders and they sent spies ahead, as they did with Jericho, and on receiving their report made the decision to send a modest but sufficient army against Ai. The size of the force was inconsequential; they had not first met the Lord, their Commander in Chief.

When the Gibeonites came to Joshua with their lie hidden amongst plenty of truth, though initially suspicious, Joshua and the rulers believed the lie. They thought they knew all the facts and they thought they were wise enough to make a correct assessment and response without asking the Lord.

Joshua and Israel’s rulers acted just as we do. Being wise in our own eyes we do not “ask counsel of the Lord.” The consequences of not asking counsel of the Lord can have long lasting devastating effects even for many generations.

At the commencement of a meeting we may ask the Lord’s blessing much as we sing the National Anthem at a significant event. We may even thank the Lord at the end as we presume He had some influence but in between He is relegated to the role of figurehead who only has to sign off on what we have decided.

Again, before we point fingers, we all do this and it is a gross shame to our Lord. There is a remedy as Paul writes, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 7:24-25.

Paul also writes, “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the Head of the body, the church” Colossians 1:17-18.

Jesus Christ is the active Head of the church not a powerless figurehead so let us humble ourselves before Him, not asking Him to bless our plans but to genuinely come to Him for His will that we might truly serve Him.

When your children ask …

“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’” (Joshua 4:21)

There is much that can be learned on the subject of parenting by observing how the Lord led Israel, particularly during the 40 years they spent in the wilderness while a new generation was being groomed to enter the Promised Land.

The phrase “when your children ask” is also recorded in verse 6 with regard to this event and similar phrases are recorded in Exodus 12:26; 13:14 and Deuteronomy 6:20 concerning other significant events. It seems we have a parenting principle that we would do well to emulate.

The next generation of Israelites would be provoked to question their fathers concerning the piles of stones. One pile was of smooth river stones on the bank and the other pile was of rough stones in the river. Both would look out of place even apart from being made into a pile.

These provocations were intended to be teaching tools to assist parents explain who their God is and what He has done to the next generation. Are there any events in the Christian life that might provoke our children to ask questions?

Actually there are many in the home. Your daily quiet time should raise interest as will the reading materials and conversations parents have in the home. The two most obvious ones in the church environment are baptism and the Lord’s Table. We should take advantage of these even if a question is not forthcoming.

In explaining the Lord’s Table and baptism to our children (and grandchildren) we explain the Gospel of grace through Jesus Christ to the next generation. We may not have a couple of piles of stones but we have something far better as a means of explaining the Gospel to our children and the unsaved.

Parents have the wonderful privilege of explaining the Gospel of Christ to the next generation and should take every opportunity to provoke their children to ask questions and respond clearly to them. God has given us an example to follow.