Captured by Grace

    In his book "Captured by Grace" by David Jeremiah he wrote these words, "In the end, we must acknowledge the darknes within us and the light that comes only from God. Both are unrelenting, and both define every moment of life.  Every atom in our bodies is infected by the disease of sin, but every atom likewise be covered by the grace of God.  The vilest offender can reap the deepest joys of heaven."  Earlier, Dr.Jeremiah pointed out in his book that Paul the apostle called himself the "chief" of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) because he had been a persecutor of christians and had christians condemned for their faith.
    In fact, it was on the road to Damascus that we find Jesus confronting Paul.  He tells us the story in many places, but it is first found in Acts 9 where Paul, who is then called Saul, is on the road to Damascus and he ssees a bright light.  Jesus asks Paul, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  He then tells him that he must rise and go into the city and there he will be told what to do.  As a result of the vision, he is blind for three days.  You might think of it as a divine time out.  A little quiet time for Paul to think about what he has heard.
     This moment is the defining moment of Paul's life.  He realizes that he has made a horrible mistake in the direction of His life and that Jesus really is who He says He is.  Yet, despite this he realizes that though he doesn't deserve it that God had mercy on him.  And at some point if you come to the cross we all must realize the same thing.  That for grace to truly be grace it must be a gift and not something earned.
     In Romans 3:23-25 it says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displaed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.  This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed."  There are a lot of important words in these verses: justified, grace, redemption.  But, one of the most important is "freely".  It is the greek word "Dorean" and it means "undeservedly".   It means you didn't earn it.
   

Rewards in Heaven

      I read recently where a believer was complaining that life seems unfair.  He was complaining as the psalmist does in several of the Psalms that the unjust seem content and unbothered by their unjust acts while the righteous sometimes suffer.  He asked for an explanation of this.
    It is true that life is unfair at this time.  There are some people, famous athletes, dictators, the rich and famous who are not living according to God's commands and appear unbothered by it.  The Bible declares that they are getting their reward in full now (Matthew 6:16).  So when the cameras stop filming and the awards lose their tarnish then it is gone forever.  These people have not laid up any treasures in heaven.
    While the righteous are guaranteed that they will be persecuted on this earth because Jesus was persecuted.  Jesus, in fact, never promises an easy road as a believer.  Jesus told his followers that they would enter through a narrow gate that many are missing (Matthew 7:13-14).  This is in contradiction to what is taught even in many churches today.  But, if you want to save your life you shall lose it (Matthew 16:25).
    For am example of where this is talked about look in Psalm 73.  The psalmist says, "But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; My steps almost slipped.  For I was envious of the arrogant, As I saw the prosperity of the wicked"  The psalmist goes on until Psalm 73:17 where it says, "Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end."  So, what end is the psalmist talking about.  Well, the Bible is clear that one day he will seperate the righteous from the wicked like sheep from goats see Matthew 25:31-46.  Then, God will provide the reward the righteous did not receive while on earth.  Then, God will make it right. 
     So, while it is not fair on earth at times, our treasures are not to be fully placed on this earth.  Like those who came before us our reward is in heaven.  Would you rather have temporary blessings for a few years or eternal blessing forever?  Where are you placing your treasures?

Fan or Follower?

     A few weeks ago, my family and I started going to a Wesleyan church and the pastor was in the middle of a series asking the basic question "Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?"  I really enjoyed the services and got a lot out of it.  It is a good question because being a follower of Jesus is a high calling that requires dedication and trust in God.  So, our family decided to keep looking at some other churches, so we went to a new church this week, in a different town with a different pastor and guess what question he was asking?  The same one: Are you a fan or a follower.  Not only that, but the passage was in Luke 6, which is a chapter I had looked at the day before.

     So, now I am starting to feel a little paranoid and maybe a sense that someone is trying to say something to me that I didn't get the other three messages.  The pastor at the Summit Church in Kernersville pointed to the question in Luke 6:46 "And why do you call Me "Lord, Lord " and do not do what I say?"  This is one of the questions Jesus poses in his Sermon on the Mount to his disciples.  Jesus is telling us that if we call His Lord then that means we will do what He says.

     I said earlier in this post, that it means that you trust the Lord also.  Because if you are going to follow someone, then you are saying you believe that they have an idea of where they are going.  It means that you believe the person is a trustworthy guide to get you from point A to point B.  In the case of following Jesus though, it means more than just you want to follow passively, but your "all in".  Your giving Jesus everything that you have and if he's wrong there is no "do over". 

     One of the points the pastor made this morning is that he asked the question do you spend more time in prayer asking God to do things for you or to asking what he wants you to do?  That is not saying that asking for things is wrong.  But, the point is that God is not the servant.  I think that is a mistake that many people make.  They treat God as if he is the one who is suppose to be the giver, when he has already given His Son on a cross.  Now, he requires us to give and to sacrifice and to show how much we love Him.  I don't know about you, but I think this is a good message because even though I am a follower of Jesus, I know I could do better than I am.

Ezekiel's vision

      A lot of times when you mention prophesy, people get a glazed look in their eye like you are speaking another language and try to end the conversation as soon as possible.  They have in mind people who try to predict Jesus coming to the day and hour or someone who is extreme in their views at worst and at least someone who is talking about something that isn't very practical.  If you ask people about Old Testament prophesy you will probably get the response that they don't know much about it or blank stares because they haven't read it or if they have they don't know what they have read.

      There is that struggle with some of the Old Testament if we are going to be completely honest.  And since this is my blog, I will be honest.  Some of it is very difficult to understand and every harder to find out how to apply.  Which is why many busy christians don't bother with reading it hardly at all.  Which in some ways is a shame because if you plum the depths of it you will find riches there.  I believe all of the Bible has riches in it if you are open to receiving it.  Sometimes it takes more work and is less evident at first.

      One of those places is in the book of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel starts his book of prophesy while already in exile by the Babylonians.  He sees a series of visions where the Spirit of God shows him visions of Jerusalem and the men of leadership there committing acts of idolatry.  God has Ezekiel act out his prophesy in front of the people in a variety of ways.  One of the ways that God appears to him is with the cherubim under the throne of God. 

      The cheribum themselves sound like something out of a science fiction movie.  We are told that they have four faces and four wings each (Ezekiel 1:6).  They gleam like bronze and have feet like calf's hoof and under the wings are hands like humans (Ezekiel 1:7-8).  The four faces are in the likeness of man, lion, bull and eagle.  Their was a wheel beside each being that Ezekiel called the whirling wheels Ezekiel 10:13 and eyes throughout the cherubims bodies.

     Ezekiel's vision is in some ways troubling and in some ways mysterious and it is unclear how we are to take the vision if some of it is symbolic.  Some commentators have said that the four faces are symbolic of the different types of creatures God has made including flying things, domestic animals, wild animals and mankind.  And that may be part of what is going on here.  Whatever the symbolism is I think there is also the message that Ezekiel has for us that God is all together different than we think He is.  That God is unique and powerful and holy and something completely different than we imagine.

    At one point early on in Ezekiel's vision, God lifts him up and takes him to the temple and tells Ezekiel to dig through a wall (Ezekiel 8:8).  So, he does and he comes to a door.  He enters this door and is shown 70 elders of the people of Israel.  The seventy are the group that would later make up the Sanhedrin.  These are the religious and community leaders of Israel.  God shows Ezekiel what up until now has only been suspected, that they are bowing down to idols in their hearts.  God is saying to Ezekiel that what is done in secret He sees and will judge.

    And that is one of the great truths here that gets lost in the symbolism and the wierdness of the visions and creatures.  God is saying that while it may appear that he doesn't see what is going on that He does.  The judgments that feel on the people of that day were a result of God disciplining his people for their idolatry.  There is a lesson to be learned here.  God sees the good, the bad and the ugly which is done in secret.  His eyes, which are covering the angels around the throne sees what is going on.

     One of my concerns about the church today is that the church appears to be busy and full of activity, but is a lot like a New Years Eve party with all the whistles and noise and no substance.  You can hear it in the sermons that are listened to each Sunday in most churches.  You can see it in the lack of an impact the church makes on the community each week.  You can see it in how apathetic the witness is of the church.  The church appears to be a mile wide and a inch deep.  Hopefully, this is not a reflection of the heart of most christians, but I fear that it is.  For those who have settled into their christian life like a well worn easy chair, the Spirit of God cries out to us and says that he sees the state of our hearts and minds and calls us to take up our cross, to quit compromising with the world and its values and to live holy lives.

A few thoughts. . . .

     I started a new book today called "The Warfare of the Spirit" by A.W.Tozer which has a quote in it that I would like to share with you.  It says, "Our Lord did not think about money the way His professed followers do today; and more particularly He did not give it the place our religious leaders give it.  To them it is necessary; to Him it was not. He had nowhere to lay His head, and we have made poetry out of His poverty while being extremely careful not to share it."  (Tozer, p.6).

     I thought about what Tozer is saying there and what he says later in this chapter.  Already I am only a few pages in and I feel challenged.  Tozer does that for me.  The man simply doesn't preach like a modern day preacher who panders to others.  He speaks about the reality that Jesus was persecuted by the world and told us that if we reflected Him that we would also be persecuted.  It just seems to me that the church today doesn't preach that message.  It speaks about the promises, but not the promise of persecution.

     As I sat watching the praise band the other day in worship, I noticed the loud music and the band playing.  I noticed they had two spotlights and probably more moving around.  I noticed several people raising their hands.  I noticed a lot of noise, but does that really equate with worship.  It looked more like a movie production than a worship service.  Maybe I'm just old fashion, but I am 44 years old and have been in church all my life and have never needed a spotlight before.  

     Sometimes I wonder if the church spends too much time trying to placate the world and become its friend.  About a week and a half ago, I visited a church with my kids and one of my daughter's friends.   I wasn't getting anything out of the service and so we left a little early.  My daughter, who gets her intelligence from her mother, said something that hit the nail right on the head.  She said, "That pastor talks a lot about himself."  I thought about it and she is right.  We endured a long dialogue about how many television stations they were now on and how their ministry was growing and I thought about what Jesus said when he warned about how to beware when all men speak well of you. 

      Another quote from Tozer, "One truth we may learn form His life as well as from His doctrine is that earthly riches cannot procure human happiness.  It is hard for a rich church to understand that her Lord was a poor man.  Were He to appear today on our city streets as He appeared in Jerusalem, He would in all probability be picked up for vagrancy." (Tozer, p.6).  Not only a vagrant, but a hated vagrant.  Watch what Jesus says about himself in John 15:20  "Remember the word that I said to you, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."  We need to remember that when Jesus spoke, sometimes people not only stopped coming, but sometimes they walked away also.  The word of God is a narrow gate and not everyone unfortunately finds it.

      I wonder what your experience has been like or if it has been similiar?  Has the church walked away from being the church that Jesus has called us to be?  Are we spending too much time pandering to the rich and well off and not being true to the gospel?

Treasures in Heaven

Jesus said in Matthew 6:20-21 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break in or steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

    So when I read this verse, a couple of thoughts go through my mind.  The first is the most important "Do I do this?"  The verse is interesting in that the person who Jesus is speaking to is not passive.  The NASV uses the words "lay up for yourselves".  I have a tendency to look at the original greek or hebrew to understand words in the Bible better.  In this case, it isn't all that helpful.  It is what it says.  Which is that the person should be actively storing up treasure or things that you would put in a treasury in heaven.
     So, again, I ask "Am I doing that?"  And I come back with the answer "Yes and no."  I mean, I try to lay up treasures in heaven.  I really do try, at least some of the time.  But, to be completely honest, there are days that won't be a part of that holy registry.  Nothing much of value was created or stored up on that day.  I think the key issue is not the treasure, but where the heart is.
     In Adam Clarke's commentary on this verse he says, "If God be the treasure of our souls, our hearts, our affections and desires will be placed on things above."  And I think if the truth be known that this is a problem for all of us.  Because of the fall mentioned in Genesis 3, we all have a tendency to put our hearts and affections on here and now rather than heaven.  We all have a tendency to get selfish and to not treasure our relationship with God as much as we should.  Because if we did, a byproduct of that would be that God would be allowed to transform us from the inside out.
      In Genesis 15:1 God speaks to Abraham and says, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great."  I like the way the NIV translates this verse, it actually translates it that God is Abraham's great reward.  It isn't actually what God gives, but God Himself.  So, I think that is the key.  Not trying harder, because let's face it, we are all kinda a mixed bag of nuts.  Your never quite sure what your going to get.  I can't change my heart.  Only God can do that.  So, my first priority is to treasure my relationship with God and allow Him to deal with my heart condition and transform me.  Then, I will be laying up the treasures in heaven that He wants for me.

The Veil

The veil that is mentioned in the Old Testament was a veil that God commanded Moses to created between the holy place and the Holy of Holies where a priest entered only one time a year and that with a sacrifice.  This is mentioned in the Old Testament and also in Hebrews 9:2-10.  The priest would offer up a sacrifice for himself and for the people before entering the Holy of Holies.  This place in the center of the temple represented where God dwelt.

It is interesting that when Jesus died on the cross, it says in Matthew 27:51 that this veil was torn.  It was torn from top to bottom.  From God to men because of what Jesus did.  The way to God was open now to anyone at any time because of what Jesus did.  I wonder to myself what those Pharisees and Sadducees that saw the veil torn would have made of it.  I wonder to myself if they tried to sew it back together.  It seems to me that in a sense man is still in many ways trying to sew it back together, so that we can come to God on our own terms instead of his.

In his little book "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer, the author devotes a chapter titled "Removing the Veil" to this subject.  Tozer comments that what we have today is not a veil of fabric, but a veil over the heart.    For the christian, this creates distance in his or her relationship with God.  Tozer identifes some of the threads of this veil as self-sins of "self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love".  This veil is strong in the church today and in our world.  In fact, most of those qualities are applauded in our world today.

Tozer goes on to say in his book, which I would recommend to you by the way, that our part in removing the veil is to pray and yield and surrender this to God and allow him to remove it.  The veil is torn not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom.  Tozer goes on to say, "We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified." (Tozer, p.47).  As a believer, I must be careful because this world has a firm hold on those things that Jesus told us to rid ourselves of.  The world applauds pridefulness and self-centeredness and those who accumulate toys and things.  Rather, my desire is to be rich towards God and not to be seen sewing the veil back together.