The Wandering Shepherd

Life in Plan B: The Long Arm of the Lord - Zechariah 12

 

John trained in the most elite assault squad the black ops personnel had ever assembled. The team was ready to go anywhere, at the behest of the President of the United States. He never knew what was next, and he never talked about what was yesterday's assignment. He did know that his country had a much longer arm than anyone realized. They could arrive anywhere, it seemed. They could touch anyone...What seemed true of John's work force IS true of the Creator of all. He is reaching everywhere, touching people long before they believe in Him, or are remotely aware He is there...

 

The final recorded burden of the prophet is found in the last three chapters 12-14 of the book of Zechariah. The message is too large for us to digest at once, but in three different lessons we can pick it apart. In the end, you will find the message is about a coming time called the Great Tribulation, the horrifying but essential period of time that God will use to bring Israel into a right relationship with Him. The message was given in three parts and is essentially this:

 

1.      You may not have seen it, but I have been guiding events to get you to the point of surrender in your life for a long time.

2.      False teachers have traded, cheated and broken you, but I will rescue you with the truth.

3.      Powerful destruction is coming as the kingdoms of this world clash in mortal conflict with the God of Israel, but He will overturn the wicked in triumph.

 

Today I want to address the first of the three points. It is BOTH a national truth for the people of Israel, and a personal truth for your life. God has been watching you. He knows your name, your address, your passwords, your internet usage, your bosses' daughter's middle name. He knows. He sees. He has been watching every time you have cheated, lied or stolen. He knows the skeletons in the closet of your heart. He never forgets anything un-surrendered and un-forgiven. By the same token, He knows every kind thing you have ever thought, every loving gift ever given. He knows when you told the truth and no one believed you, and when you gave anonymously and no one else knew. He knows.

 

The problem is not that God is uninformed about US, The problem is that we are ignorant of HIM. He is deliberately watching over you. He stewards you according to His incredibly complex and sovereign plan. You may not be aware of it, but He was involved in getting you here today. You are not here by accident.

 

Let me show you from Scripture what I am talking about. In fact, let's let the Scripture tell US what this is all about...

 

Key Principle: Long before you knew it, the Lord had His hand in your destiny. He stewarded and guided you through life to get to the point where you heard the truth concerning Him.

 

Five Principles That Expose the Long Arm of the Lord

 

The Revelation Principle (12:1): The truth about ME and about the FUTURE come from the God Who holds both in His hands!

 

Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,

 

·         OVERT- God didn't want to be a secret: The message begins a powerful and heavy burden that Zechariah had revealed to Him in order to share with God's people.

·         SPECIFIC - God addressed people specifically: concerns Israel – God knows who you belong to, where you come from and what your family has been.

·         APPROPRIATE - God expressed His Divine right to act: He is Creator of Heaven, earth and man (since the message would pummel all three by the end).

 

The sooner the believer understands that God is not playing cat and mouse games with His Word, the sooner their life will start to progress and their heart will mature. How often in the Scriptures God had to chastise people for not taking Him seriously!

 

Psalms 46: 8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. That established that God is the Lord. Add to that the fact that His Word is sure, and we have the mix to take Him seriously.

 

You may ask how I can tell that many believers don’t take His Word seriously… that answer may surprise you. It is not the lack of Bible learning.. it is the lack of prayer. It is the key clue that something is wrong with what we understand about God from the Word…

 

A little boy one day was trying to pick up a rock. He said, “Dad, it’s too heavy.” He said, “Son, you can do it.” The boy strained and tried, but he said, “Dad, it’s too heavy.” The father insisted, “Son you can do it.” He tried again. “Dad, it’s too heavy.” The father said, “Son, you’re not using all your strength.” “Dad, I am! I am! It’s too heavy.” “Son, you’re not using all your strength.” “Dad, why are you always saying I’m not using all my strength? It’s too heavy.” The father replied, “I know your not using all your strength, because you haven’t asked me to help yet.” There is more strength available to you than what you have. Book of Illustrations, Evans, Tony, page 125, ill. 373

 

The Humbling Principle: In order for God to get the attention of people He is reaching out with something dramatic and measurable. He must break them down! (12:2)

 

2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.

 

You cannot read this and not realize that the last dozen US Presidents have expended great effort on the city of Jerusalem to realize little real improvement. It is already happening, and will grow as time passes into the Great Tribulation, and eventually to the end of that devastating period in world history. The text clues us into the reality that there will be an anti-Jewish reaction by people that perceive Jerusalem to be the center of problems. That isn’t hard to visualize.

 

Sadly, a great many believers in Jesus today harbor significant amounts of anti-Jewish sentiment. For modern European Jews, they seem caught between the Islamists’ blood libels on one side and Christian replacement theology on the other, and Europe is becoming a colder place. It has been going on for centuries:

 

·         In the first century there was a division between followers of Jesus and other Jews over both internal issues of accepting Gentiles into the “church” and the attack of Rome on Jerusalem in 70.

 

·         By the second century, the rise of Apostolic Fathers like Pseudo Barnabas who wrote that the Law was entirely symbolic and Sabbath was not a day of the week (Jews got it all wrong…) as well as Justin Martyr who essentially expressed that Jewish suffering was just because of the rejection of the Messiah – and the fervor spread easily.

 

·         By the synod of Elvira in 306 CE, church members were told that they could not eat with Jews and certainly not intermarry with them. The Council of Nicea in 325 called Jews “evil and perverse”. John Chrysostom, so celebrated by Orthodox Christians he was called “the Golden Mouth” offered sermons about Jews calling them “leacherous, worthless, greedy and rapacious worshippers of the Devil.

 

·         Theodosius the Great expelled all Jews from state positions in 379. By 613 all Jews were commanded to be baptized in Spain or leave the country to “cleanse the land”. Martin Luther by 1450’s wrote “Concerning the Jews and their Lies”.

 

·         Suffice it to say the modern aversion to Israel is not just a political climate – it is rooted in a long history. Anti-Jewish fervor flourishes in Christian churches, and people that say they love Jesus Christ still refer to “Jewing a guy down”.

 

God will use the whole world to humble His people, but we must not celebrate this reality. We cannot claim to love God and then hate what He loves. We dare not poke at the “apple of His eye”. (Zech 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. 9 “For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me.”)

 

Let me get personal for just a minute with this principle. God will do what it takes to break us down to get through to us. That is the humbling principle. Proud and arrogant people don’t reach up to Him for love, acceptance and help. The breaking process is a good one. It isn’t because He hates us – quite the opposite! His strong arm is at work in our lives! He is shaping us and molding us to be remade by Him. It hurts, but it is necessary!

 

The Stewarding Principle: Even as God separates us out for His purpose, He puts His hand of protection on us to keep us in our place (12:3-4)

 

3 “It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

 

God makes people that take advantage of His children pay a special price. It may not be today, and it may not be obvious – but it happens because He declares it to be so. Even while the people of Israel were being pummeled by nations, God kept some alive and re-birthed the nation from the ashes of pain.

 

Between 1933 and 1945, about 67% of the Jewish population of the earth was destroyed. In some countries the numbers were staggering: 90% of all Polish Jews were wiped out. 90% of all Baltic Jews were killed. 88% of German Jewry was eliminated, more than 1,000,000 Russian Jews perished. Who would have believed in 1945 that on May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion would stand in Tel Aviv and announce the approved proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR. Even in the ashes – God kept His hands of stewardship over the people.

 

By the way – the same God has been doing that for you as well. His long arm kept you from dangers untold, and perils unknown to you. He has kept you alive and able to respond to His message to this minute. That is the stewarding principle.

 

The Testimony Principle: God will make it obvious to those who are watching closely that the protection of His people is a sign of His hand upon them (12:5).

 

·Others who seek God's work in them will notice: 5 “Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.’

 

Why do you suppose people are so willing to talk about anything to do with God as long as you don’t bring up Jesus?

 

I love what Pastor Craig Groeschel wrote in a recent message. He said: “What is funny to me is, this is different than years past, but today, you can talk about just about anywhere, you can talk about God. You can talk about God on Oprah. You can talk about spirituality. You can talk about karma … positive feelings coming your way, right now. You can talk about all these different things, but you can’t talk about Jesus. You talk about Jesus and everybody freaks out, I mean, even in public schools you can’t talk about Jesus. I like the story of one fourth grade little girl that was trying to talk about Easter, and her teacher said, “You can’t talk about Christian things here at school,” and the little girl said, “But it is Easter, and Jesus rose from the dead,” and the teacher said, “You Christians are so foolish. Jesus did not rise from the dead.” And the little girl said, “Yes, He did.” And the teacher said, “No, no, the Roman soldiers stole the body of Jesus.” And the girl said, “No! They didn’t.” And the teacher said, “Prove it,” and the little fourth grade girl was frustrated. She said, “I can’t prove it, but when I die and I go to Heaven, I’ll ask the Roman guards and they will tell me they didn’t do that.” And the teacher said, “Yeah, but what if they are not in Heaven?” And the little girl said, “Well, then, when you die, you ask them.”

 

Don’t think people are just mad because Christians have had the floor so long and trod down all the poor and unfortunate other religious groups – that’s the line I hear in Universities today... We are supposed to be the brutal religion of If that were so, we would react differently in our public sentiment to religions that behead dissenters – but you don’t see that in our public sector. Anyone who is watching fairly will be able to see a definite bias against Jesus, as though His message was driving modern terror movements and selfish endeavors.

 

·Those who oppose God will notice: 6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a fire pot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.

 

The dear Baptist Pastor Gerald Steffy wrote: There was a man who worked for the Post Office, whose job it was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses. One day, a letter came to his desk addressed in shaky handwriting to God. He thought he should open it to see what it was about. He opened it and read: Dear God, I am an 93-year-old widow, living on a very small pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension check. Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me? Sincerely, Edna The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to his fellow workers. Each of them dug into their wallets and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman. The rest of the day, all of the workers felt a warm glow for the kind thing they had done. Christmas came and went. A few days later another letter came from the old lady to God. All of the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read: Dear God, How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. By the way, there was $4 missing. I think it must have been those thieves at the Post Office. Sincerely, Edna

 

·Their relatives will notice: 7 “The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.

 

·The people God is changing will notice: 8 “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them.

 

·The enemies of God in the world will notice: 9 “And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

 

The Redemption Principle: God's Spirit will transform the darkest part of men, as they drop to their knees in surrender to the Gospel.

 

·Changing their heart to something new: 10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace

 

·Asking Him tearfully to accept them:..and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him,

 

·Crying out in recognition of His special place: as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

 

·Pain over lost relationships: 11 “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

 

·Individual Pain: 12 “The land will mourn, every family by itself;

 

The family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; This speaks of the people that were of royal lineage, those who were of the house of the civil authority.

 

Some people think WHO THEY KNOW or THEIR POSITION in this life will entitle them to a place at God’s table….No CIVIL AUTHORITY of the very LINEAGE OF KING DAVID will be good enough to settle the sin account with God. Fame and lineage are no substitute for personal surrender and cleansing. David himself felt the wrath of God when he walked astray. Being his child did not protect the many kings from his line that did not personally encounter God. Momma’s faith doesn’t get you into Heaven. Having fame and a publicist in this life rates you absolutely nowhere in the next. FAME doesn’t cut it with the Creator of the Cosmos. You can be very big here, but the king of an anthill in glory.

 

The family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; This addresses the people from the prophetic household, those who were of the lineage of prophets.

 

Some people think WHAT THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED (ostensibly for God) entitles them to eternal honored status in glory…No PROPHET will be able to claim that because God used his mouth to say something significant, that his sin won’t still have to be cared for. MINISTRY cannot replace the personal need to surrender a hardened and sin sick heart to Jesus. Sunday school pins are not collateral for salvation. Prayer meeting attendance will only help you if you know the One we pray to – otherwise you killed an hour in contemplation.

 

13 The family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; This refers to the priestly cohenim – the priestly families.

 

Some people think that because they WERE KNOWN AS RELIGIOUS they would get God’s nod in the afterlife…No PRIEST who has represented God to others - counseled wisely or cared for their practical needs in a loving and sensitive way will be able to say that exempts them from the need to have their personal sin cared for. Holiness affronted cannot simply be ignored or outweighed by some act of goodness. No murderer may plead that he should be treated with leniency for the many people he wanted to kill but did not!

 

Some people think that if the HAVE HAD A HARD LIFE God will wink at their need for a Savior and let them into Heaven…The family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; Though Numbers chapter three included this family under the Gershoni clan, along with the Libnites, they appear to have been too small to number in the later census of Number 26 – suggesting they were representative of those who lost record of their origin among the tribes because of too small a number. The lack of blessing of numbers and the tough circumstances of their lives does not exempt them from the need to personally accept the Messiah. They don’t get a pass because of some “handicap” that lowers the standard for them. They walk the whole distance to Calvary, and kneel before the same punished Servant King.

 

14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. This closes with the simple fact that ALL of them mourn, and all of them bow – the promise that was renewed in Romans 11.

 

Every single Israelite will need to face the fact of their own sin. The generations of great things God did in their families long ago will have no bearing on their personal need to have their sin cleansed. Each will cry alone – realizing the sinfulness of their own life, the distance of their own heart from God. Each will need to experience Messiah on their own – one by one.

 

The fact is, the same thing is true of everyone here today. There are no brownie points and merit badges that will cut corners. You face God as an absolutely holy, righteous, just and magnificent Sovereign.

 

R. C. Sproul makes this insightful observation from Isaiah 6: “The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.” The idea of His holiness is so central to Biblical teaching that is said of God, “Holy is His Name” (Luke 1:49). His name is holy because He is holy. He is not always treated with holy reverence. His name is trampled through the dirt of this world. It functions as a curse word, a platform for the obscene. That the world had little respect for God is vividly seen by the way the world regards His name. No honor. No reverence. No awe before Him.

 

·         First, we dare not underestimate the requirements of the holiness of God in relation to salvation – not national salvation for Israel, nor personal salvation for ME. They both are overshadowed by a HOLY GOD.

 

·         Second, the behavior of a believer must be governed by our understanding of a Holy God. The world’s ever sinking standard is not God’s way of doing things. God has no five miles over the limit He winks at. Be careful. Sometimes Christians use a term like “unconditional acceptance” for God’s love and desire to win a lost soul. They will posit “God unconditionally accepts us”. On further examination of Scripture, that simply isn’t the case. God accepts the one who bows to Him, accepts His terms for sin sacrifice, and is cleansed by the work God initiated. There is no “Plan B” for salvation.

 

God did not accept Cain’s offering because of Cain’s heart. He didn’t overlook his heart and reason, “Well, he at least tried and came with something!” (Genesis 4:5). God doesn’t grade on a curve. His holiness forces the issue. We cannot be guilty and exempted by any means but the one that judicially was established in the Word of the Living God. If goodness would have gotten us into Heaven – Jesus need not die. Love drove Jesus to pay the price that HOLINESS demanded. As hard as it is to hear – it is My Father’s world.

 

A little boy named Nicholas was a part of the kindergarten Christmas program. For weeks, he memorized songs for his part in the program. The night of the program, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher. Each group rose to perform their song. Nicholas’ class rose to sing their song, "Christmas Love." Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row -- center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, except for a small girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down --totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of kids snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised. A hush came over the audience. In an instant, everyone understood. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: CHRIST WAS LOVE. He still is. (Sermon Central illustrations).

 

Long before you knew it, the Lord had His hand in your destiny. He stewarded and guided you through life to get to the point where you heard the truth concerning Him. What you do with what you hear is now up to you!

Land of Blessing - 2 Chronicles 7

 

On November 11, 1938, two decades after the end of WWII, Kate Smith debuted the song written by Irving Berlin called “God Bless America”. In Dr. Richard Land’s book Real Homeland Security, published in 2004, he opened with a pertinent question: “What does it mean when you say ‘God Bless America’? Is that a hope? Is it just an expression? Is it a prayer? Does God bless America because she deserves it?”

 

Land significantly observed that “If America perishes, she will die of self inflicted wounds.” He is not wrong. In fact, I would state it this way… If America perishes it will be because she has bled out her moral commitments while drinking heavily the lethal cool aid cocktail of moral relativity and unabashed narcissism. Ok, so his is more poetic.

 

Consider the US that God is observing:

 

• An unborn baby has been killed approximately every 20 seconds for over three decades.
• More than half of US children spend a significant amount of childhood and adolescence in a single parent home.
• We have become the world’s center for hardcore pornography and export it in huge amounts around the globe.
• One third of the babies born in the US are out of wedlock.
• The push to normalize homosexual behavior and sanction same sex marriage has entered even our military.

 

Those are just skipping the stones across the top of the pond scum of our day. The problem is, the church seems bent on sliding with the signaled  needs of the time. The best selling Christian books reveal the trends:

 

• Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
• The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• Become a Better You by Dave Ramsey
• Love Your Life by Victoria Osteen
• The Secret to True Happiness by Joyce Meyer

 

I am not saying these are bad books –in fact they are not. I am not saying they are un-needed. I am saying just the opposite. Even Christians are showing their desire is to overcome phobias, find and keep relationships, know life’s purpose, manage money better, and find happiness in this life. How would that list of needs stack up with the words of the New Testament and the priorities of the early church and its Apostles?

 

Do you suppose that Peter or Paul would have spent significant time on those issues? How was a believer THEN different than a believer NOW? I suspect in MANY ways. One of the most obvious ones is the HUNGERS that defined their pursuits. We are awash in self awareness, self affirmation and… well just SELF. So what do we do about it all?

 

Obviously, in the days of sound bite theology taught to a generation that was trained to see resolution to every problem by the end of the one hour TV show, many Christian writers have immediately jumped on the bandwagon of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “..and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

 

Sounds simple enough.

 

1. God’s people humble themselves.
2. God’s people pray fervently.
3. God’s people seek God.
4. God’s people turn away from wickedness..

 

…and God fixes the place. Everytime I hear this quoted it sounds like a “four quck tips to save your nation” pitch. I am not being cynical, I am seeking to be Biblical. That message plays well in America. But what happened was both Biblically inaccurate and possible historically impossible. Let me explain:

 

The Biblical accuracy issue has to do with the misuse of God’s promises. God didn’t make a deal with every believer when He made a deal with ONE believer. Dr Land’s book serves well as a warning here: “In this passage God defines the conditions for His blessing on any nation – the people of God must get right with Him.” That is both inaccurate (that is not contextually the deal God made) and dangerous (it leads people into promises that God didn’t make). Let me explain:

 

In context, 2 Chronicles 7 is set at the time of the completion of the Temple of Solomon (the First Temple). Chapter 6 contains the marvelous prayer of the wisest man ever on the planet. Chapter 7 includes God’s response to it. In context, God’s promise was made:

 

1. After a clearly demonstrated obedience to the Lord in the building of the Temple. (6:40-41;7:11). It was YEARS into the process, not days or weeks. 2 Chron. 6:40 “Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 41 “Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good…. 7: 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the LORD and in his palace.

 

2. After a clear and specific set of Abrahamic and Davidic promises to the people of Israel. 2 Chronicles 6:42 “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David.”

 

3. After the deliberate and public seeking of the God of the Bible by the responsible official of the people.  2 Chronicles 7:1 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’S house. 3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

 

4. After nationally sponsored obedience to the specific prescriptions of God’s corrective laws to His people were meticulously executed. 2 Chronicles 7:4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the LORD, which King David had made for giving praise to the LORD—“for His lovingkindness is everlasting”—whenever he gave praise by their means, while the priests on the other side blew trumpets; and all Israel was standing. 7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat.

 

5. After God said that He agreed to specific terms of a work and a people represented in the passage. 2 Chronicles 7:12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

 

6. And followed by His commitment to watch closely the work they did when He DID heal them. 2 Chron. 7:15 “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 16 “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

 

7. And was followed by a conditional commitment to the King to whom the promise was given. 2 Chronicles 7:17 “As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

 

In other words, God has no specific arrangement with American Christianity, and if He did from the verse it would be couched in a number of tough steps we need to think through. What God DID give us was this account to look for eternal truths and principles from. Look at them carefully by going back over the seven statements above and seeking the timeless principles behind the account God made with Solomon. Instead of being quick to grab guarantees, let’s be clear about what WE must do, and understand that we cannot legislate God’s blessings, because we don’t know His plan for the nation. Expecting no guarantees, let’s learn the lessons:

 

1. Solomon built the Temple over the long haul in obedience to God (6:40-41;7:11). We must commit on a local and tangible level to build God’s work in order to see God’s work progress in the lives of people around us. It is not enough to come and hope that someone else does the ministry, we must do it. We must look honestly at our schedules and see how much the Kingdom is getting, as opposed to the world of personal satisfaction.

 

2. We must be deliberate in learning the clear and specific set of promises to the modern believer from the Word of God. We must not appropriate someone else’s promises, or borrow Israel’s identity. She has her promises and we have ours.  (2 Chronicles 6:42).

 

3. We must be unashamedly deliberate about seeking public officials that recognize their responsibility is before GOD, and not just the voters. (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

 

4. We must use our resources individually to support any group that will aid national obedience to the specific prescriptions of God’s corrective laws and open oppose those who want to trash Biblical values (2 Chron. 7:4-7). Our testimony can be gracious even when we give NO WAY on truth.

 

5. Now look at 2 Chronicles 7:14. Look at the principles – they are not as simple as a recipe to make brownies…

 

1. As part of the practice of our passionate walk with God – we, the people of the church of Jesus Christ should STOP THE SELF FOCUS that is consuming our world. God’s people humble themselves (kawnaw: to be brought down) only when they STOP THE SELF FOCUS. Let me be clear: If the book lists of Christians are all about how they can be fulfilled and happy, they are still standing in front of God and haven’t humbled in the Biblical sense.

 

2. God’s people pray fervently (pawlal: entreat or intercede). We are called to make prayer our breath, not a formality. I love it when I walk through the halls on Sunday and see people praying together about a need. It shouldn’t be unusual – it is the stuff of Christianity to stand in intercession for one another.

 

3. God’s people seek God (from bawkash: to seek, aim or beg). We should seek God – not God’s blessings, God’s purse, God’s fulfillment, God’s benefits… GOD! We should spend time seeking to know Him – His attributes, His Words, His ways…

 

4. God’s people turn away from wickedness (from shoob: turn or break away). Put it down. Stop watching. Turn it off. Step away from the temptation. God wants to bless you dramatically, but your hands, heart, eyes and ears are already committed to another for entertainment and fulfillment. Slow it down and focus: What does God want me to place in front of Him right now? Do it.

 

One more note before we go. Remember we mentioned that there was the historical possibility that God’s prophetic calendar doesn’t have a grand position with America’s place card on it. I cannot say, because the Word doesn’t clearly say it. What I can say is that we cannot assume that we are to be blessed because we HAVE BEEN BLESSED. God owes me nothing. God owes my nation nothing. God has a story to tell and I want Him to tell it – no matter what it means concerning me. I am His, and He is God. Therefore, with no claim of my own, I seek to humbly come before Him and cry out for my nation. It is what I can do. It is not a guarantee of success for US, but it is a deliberate attempt to apply carefully the principles He has left me as a bread crumb trail to find my way home. This side of home I can only trust Him and await. Fulfillment is the stuff of my Heavenly home. My hungers for any stop gap fulfillment must be reigned in until I get there. It is worth the wait, and He is worth the effort.

 

 

Reading the Map: A Story in the Tapestry - Genesis 11:10-12:8

Carl was curled up on the braided rug, only feet from the crackling fire that warmed the whole end of the house. He sat quietly for a long time watching the quick and succinct movements of his mother’s fingers as she sewed the cloth that hung from her lap to the floor. After a long while of gazing at her work, the puzzled look on his face became an unsettling stare, and his mother wanted to know where his mind was traveling. "Darling, What is the matter, honey?" Carl hesitated, searching for words. He frowned and said, "Mommy, that is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!" Realizing his position on the floor, his mother turned her tapestry over to see the back – the part he was staring at. Carl was right! It was ugly – full of hanging threads and long knots, string and thread was crossed in various ways and made no sense! Mom replied, "Oh sweetie, you are right, but you are looking at it all wrong! From the side you see you cannot see what I am making. The story can only make sense from this side. If you look at it from up here, it is beautiful!" With that she turned the tapestry over for him to see. It WAS flat, colorful and… well, beautiful. Every stitch made sense. Carl saw it and said, "OH Mom! It is PERFECT!" I couldn't see what you saw!

The truth is, that is life is for us on earth. We see the dangling threads, they crossed strings and from our very limited human perspective we try to make sense of life – but often we just can’t this side of glory. Even though that is the case, for the believer, he or she gets a glimpse of how GOD is weaving the tapestry of our lives from up above, and the Word opens a glimpse of HIS perspective – because only from above can the right side of that tapestry be truly displayed.

Key Principle: God’s story will become clearer is your life if you look at things from His side of the tapestry.

In our text today, we can see eight features of our life that have been woven to tell our story. As we look across each, we will see the grand workmanship of an artistic master:

1.    Life’s confusion swallowed you up and you didn’t feel like you were anyone of significance or special importance (Gen. 11:1-9).

Let’s face it. The world is a big place in many ways. I am one of six billion people. Every second five people are born and two people die, a net gain of three people…It took about forty years for the population to nearly double in the end of the twentieth century because of advancement in medical care. Each of the six billion people has their own hopes and dreams. I am just one of the many.

Genesis 10:1-5 tells of a whole group of humanity that moved from the Shinar plain to what is now Europe and Russia. They got there because God separated their language stems and they gathered together in places where they could understand each other. Their bodies adapted to the environment, as did their languages. People in cold regions developed many words for types of snow, but only one for sand.

This adaptation does not prove evolution – quite the opposite. Brad Harrub, Ph.D., Bert Thompson, Ph.D., and Dave Miller, Ph.D.in The Origin of Language and Communication, published in 2003 say: “The most ancient languages for which we have written texts are often far more intricate and complicated in their grammatical forms than many contemporary languages.” Also, consider that when language first appears on the scene, it already is fully developed and very complex. The late Harvard paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson described it this way: ‘Even the peoples with least complex cultures have highly sophisticated languages, with complex grammar and large vocabularies, capable of naming and discussing anything that occurs in the sphere occupied by their speakers. The oldest language that can be reconstructed is already modern, sophisticated, complete from an evolutionary point of view.’[45] Chomsky summed it up well when he stated:  ‘Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world ... There is no reason to suppose that the ‘gaps’ are bridgeable. There is no more of a basis for assuming an evolutionary development from breathing to walking.’[46]

Genesis 10:6-20 tells us of the African dispersion. Genesis 10:21-32 explains the Near and Far Eastern dispersion of linguistic groups.

Perhaps in the litany of people of the earth you came to God when you didn’t feel particularly special. That’s understandable. In fact, its likely that you were… well…average. The problem is, that isn’t God’s view – and His is the TRUTH. We believe LIES about God and ourselves! Listen to what He sees in you:

•    Lie: God doesn’t know me! Truth: I am intimately known: Psalm 139:1 O LORD, You have searched (chawkar:examined) me and known (yadah: experienced) me.

•    Lie: God knows only the big and important things! Truth: He knows every mundane part of my life!: Psalm 139:2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up (the mundane movements);

•    Lie: God is too removed to understand me! Truth: He totally and completely examines and comprehends your motives and actions: Psalm 139:2b: You understand my thought from afar (rawchoke: a distance away). 3 You scrutinize (zerita, from the word to winnow or scatter – zawraw) my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted (sawkan: intimately aware of) with all my ways.

•    Lie: God is taken by surprise at my “spontaneity”! Truth: He knew before you did! Psalm 139:4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

•    Lie: I just got here – no plan, no purpose! Truth: I had a guide blocking all the way! Psalm 139:5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

There is no coincidence or happenstance in your life. God has been at work the whole time. He knows it all – even before we do. He understands it all better than I can. I may seem small, but He knows my name! I am called His friend, His beloved and His treasure. I am neither small nor insignificant based on the precious price He paid for me.

 Peter 1:17b…” conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

2.    God targeted your life long before you knew anything about Him – long before you were even born. (Gen. 11:10-26).

Look at the verses between Genesis 11:10 and 26. Circle the name SHEM (which means “name” and is the basis for the term Semitic people). Drop down to the name Eber in verse 16 (which means “the region beyond” or the “border rim” and is related to one of the words for WRATH in the Hebrew – the idea of the consistent show of God’s principles!). Follow the line of names to Terah (the father of Abraham) and you will find at the end of the line the name that means “lifted, raised or exalted father” – Abraham. God wanted to tell his story, and to do it God told us of a whole line of people that God stewarded along in the process. Some of them were villains, and some were heros. Many we simply know nothing about. That is true of all of us. We come from a long line of people that God stewarded. Many of them never recognized His hand in their lives, but He was working – in part to get you here at the right time, and the right place.

Ephesians 1: 4b…”In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him … In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise..”

3.    You were living your life like others around you, until God’s spoke into your life (Gen. 11:27-32).

Abraham’s story doesn’t start in a startling way. Look at the verses at the end of chapter 11. They tell the story of a family man…

•    His father and brothers were a real part of his life: 27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran;

•    His family faced tragedy and pain: …”and Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.”

•    He had moments of great joy in the album of his life: 11:29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

•    He struggled with personal reversals: 11:30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.

•    His father had dreams that he wasn’t able to complete: 11:31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Now stop and think about what we just saw. That could have been ANYBODY. That’s the point. God chose to use Abraham – and God chose to speak to you. Until He speaks, it is all the same old stuff. Sunrise, sunset – sunrise, sunset. Don’t miss it. God only works with ordinary people. We aren’t extraordinary until the change God makes. We are water before – and the best wine after. It is the touch of the Master that makes all things new!

4.    God opened your eyes to the “trust exchange” that changed everything. “Get out of thy country”: God’s promises always come at the same price – Trade what you see for what you cannot, based solely on my Word! (12:1).

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

The line between SAVED and LOST is found in this verse. God spoke and told Abram to change what he was doing. He told Him to GIVE UP what he knew, cherished and trusted in – and lay it demonstrably on the altar so that God could give him the life that God planned for him. The issue of surrender begins – always – with God’s word. God spoke. God commanded. God made the conditions.

There are no BIG MEN in Heaven – only small ones. Men who know how to fall to their knees and follow instructions. Men who cling deeply to the promises of God because He TOLD THEM TO. Men who know that  God delivers on every promise, dries every eye and heals every broken heart.

If you miss the TRUST EXCHANGE, you miss the big picture of surrender… and that is the essential truth that saves us. God’s terms are that we surrender our lives to Him, because He is God and we are not. In that moment, He takes up residence in the inviting heart. He works in new ways to make alive dead pathways and synapses.

5.    You saw your life as a reflection of what God can do, not what YOU can do. God promised - “I will”: You truly began to see the source of the blessings in your life. Pride isn’t indicative of Godliness. (12:2).

Genesis 12:2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;

The emphasis of verse two is not what Abram could do for God, but what God said He would do in and through Abram. No believer struts his stuff. Real believers cling to the cross and the Crucified Savior and cry. They know their heart. They know their failings. They know the shame and pain they inflicted on their Savior.

The reminders of the death are a part of our faith. We recall the bread and cup, and say that Jesus paid for our sin with His own broken body and spilled blood. We lower ourselves into a baptismal pool in recognition to all the Godhead – Father, Son and Spirit – and we imitate going into the ground in death and burial. We mark out places of worship with the symbol of a suffering Savior. Jesus and His work is the center of EVERYTHING in my new life!

•    Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.

•    Jesus painted no pictures; yet, some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.

•    Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him.

•    Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection in the hymns and symphonies they composed in His praise.

•    Jesus was most remembered in art, history and music for the moment of His most intense suffering. What the world counted as loss was the moment of His greatest triumph. His pain embodied His power. His blood made no stain, but rather removed the ones that I made with my sin-sick life.

The Cross has been the marker for all who know God in this room! "Pittsburgh’s airport is one of the biggest and best-equipped in the nation. Two seconds in flying time from the airport and in direct line with one of its busiest runways is the steeple of Union Church. “Ever since the terminal opened,” said the pastor, “planes have buzzed the belfry like bees after honey. It got so bad that low-flying jets turned our Sunday evening services into sudden prayer meetings.” Reluctant to have their steeple carried away by some careless and unwary pilot, the church topped it with an eight-foot neon-lighted cross. The church is on the highest point near the airport and the lighted cross can be seen at night by planes all the way from the Ohio border. One of the pilots made this interesting comment regarding the lighted cross: “Most of us are using it as a guide to the field.” (from Pastor Steve Shepherd, Sermon Central illustrations).

6.    You saw the life impact you have on others. Your life stopped being your own. You became a conscious tool in the hand of God to bless other people. “Bless them that bless thee”: Acknowledge the nature of His plan. God uses us to reach into the lives of others – our failures have broader consequences! (12:3).

Abram was told that He would be the instrument of blessing to a world God wanted to reach.

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Jesus told His followers the same thing:

John 15: 16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

It is obvious to anyone who knows God today that God is working through those who follow Him to bless those around them – even those who do not know Him. That is why believers who can live with an unsaved spouse should stay there – to bring blessing, and hopefully even the message of salvation, into their lives…

1 Corinthians 7:13 “And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”

Don’t forget! Because our witness can have an impact – so can a BAD WITNESS. Our failures as believers will play out in the lives of those around us as well!

7.    You followed because you understood there was no other way to truly become what you were meant to be. Obedience was the best water mark of identity. “As the Lord spoke”: Wear the mark of obedience. It is not brains, nor trust that are the mark of blessing – it is obedience! (12:4-5).

Genesis 12:4 So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

How do you really know if a person is a believer in the Lord? It isn’t by how much they are at church – that might mean they are a professional janitor. It isn’t by how big their Bible is – that might mean they cannot see well. It isn’t by how long they have been coming to church – that might mean they took longer than others to find a date! You can tell by their OBEDIENCE to the principles of the written Word, and their PASSION for the Risen Lord!

8.    Your life is reflected in worship. Gratitude fills your heart for the Lord’s kind attention. It isn’t about entitlement – what you deserve is the last thing you want to think about!  “Lord appeared – built an altar”: Recognize the One who gives victory and blessing (12:6-8). Note that God was blessed when Abraham gave Him worship in the form of giving back to God his own things!

Genesis 12:6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.

 

Photo from Dyersburg State Gazette

According to the Dyersburg State Gazette, on December 3, 2007 in Dyersburg, TN. 92-year-old Pauline Jacobi had just placed groceries into the driver’s side back seat of her tan-colored Toyota Corolla, which was parked in one of the disabled spots near the grocery side entrance of the Wal-Mart Super Center. "It was later than I usually like to get out," she said. "I’d had a pretty busy day and I was kind of skittish. It was getting dark. But I’d finished my shopping and got into the car. There were people walking to and from, passing back and forth in front of me, so I didn’t start my engine so I wouldn’t scare them." After a few minutes waiting for the right time to move, the front passenger door opened "and a tall man, raggedy looking, sat in right next to me." "He was bundled up with a heavy jacket and cap," Jacobi said. "And he said ’Give me your money.’ I said, ’No, you’re not getting my money.’ I didn’t have anything more than a $10 bill, I think, but I didn’t want him to get my medications." "Then the good Lord took over," Jacobi said. "I said, ’If you kill me, I’m going straight to heaven. If you kill me, they will find you and kill you – but without Jesus - you’re going to hell. You look like you’ve had an awful time in this world, and as bad as that is, it’s nothing compared to hell. Hell is much worse than anything here ..." "Jesus is sitting in the car with me," she told him, as he glanced in the back seat. "He’ll protect me if you kill me. I’ll go to heaven, and they’ll find you." "I asked him his name," she said. "He said it was Ricky, and he was from Halls." "Ricky, you drink, don’t you?" asked Jacobi. "He said he was hungry. I said if you didn’t spend your money on drink you’d have money for a meal." "Then I asked him, ’Ricky, would you like to go to heaven?’" "’Yes, I sure would,’" he said. "’But I’m afraid the Lord won’t take me."’ "Yes he will. He will take you if you surrender to Him and believe. You have to trust Him and accept Him as your savior." "I reached into my purse and opened the clutch bag and pulled out what I think was the $10 bill. I said ’Ricky, I’m going to give you money. Don’t spend it on liquor. Get something to eat. I want you to have it. You weren’t going to take it from me, but I’ll give it to you. "He started to cry. Then he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek." The shaken man then opened the door and walked into the night. The police report notes from video surveillance of the parking lot that the man was in Jacobi's car for almost 12 minutes before he exited. The recording also shows several dozen shoppers walked by the car during the time Jacobi was ministering to the man. A member of the First Baptist Church for more than 70 years, Jacobi said she frequently prays asking for ways to people to the Lord. "I do think maybe this was it," she said. (adapted from YouTube.com and Dyersburg State Gazette).

Pauline knows how to look at life. She sees the tapestry from God’s side. God’s story will become clearer is your life if you look at things from His side of the tapestry.

The photos on header was taken from a source that showed no copyright, however  a search revealed that the website www.allposters.com does have the picture available.

Life in the Plan B Zone: “No Way Out” - Zechariah 11

Scott and Ellen were in Port-au-Prince awaiting the arrival of a mission team from the US and Canada. They arrived a few days ahead to set up some of the arrangements. Scott was from Southern California, and with the first sign of the tremors of the earthquake, he was instinctively aware of his surroundings… The weight of the building swayed as the foundation shuttered from the earthquake. Within a split second, cracks began to form. Scott lunged at the kitchen table, fully aware that there was no time to do anything else. Ellen was shocked and couldn’t move. Scott grabbed her feet and pulled hard. She collapsed under the table just as the west wall dropped away. In another moment the floor opened up and the whole apartment tilted and then sunk swiftly. If felt like an elevator that moved far too fast. A thump, a bump and then crashing debris – a deafening sound. Electricity popped, and sparks flew. The whole room was concrete dust. The heavy table was stable, its steel legs unyielding despite the obvious crushing weight on top of them. They held like a fortress platform above Ellen and Scott. They could see nothing. They couldn’t see each other. They could only see white dust and choked to breath some air into their lungs. They could chew the air. Scott felt for Ellen’s legs. “Are you ok?” He asked. She coughed. “What was that? Where are we?” ….”We are trapped.” Scott said. “Don’t worry. If you are ok, it will be a matter of time” – but Scott knew there was no real way to predict these things. Six hours later, he cried as he called his family in the States on his cell phone. It was the first time he could get a connection. He told them where he was, but he told them he knew there was no way to get out. It was only then that Ellen realized that they were trapped. There really was no way out….

What was true for Scott, Ellen and literally thousands upon thousands in this terrible incident may be true for you as well. I don’t mean that you are physically trapped beneath a pile of debris. I mean that you feel trapped in a perilous state spiritually, and you don’t see any way that you can get out. Guess what? You are right. You have no way out on your own. Without help from the outside, you are finished. Not only that, but the Bible says that you will not be rescued, unless you are willing to do something you have never been able to do before…SURRENDER TO His will and His way of doing things... Salvation is not a simple prayer – it is a change of life perspective that begins with a prayer.

The Bible says that God is gracious. To many people, grace means they can live as they please. Grace means there are no expectations and only personal benefits. God's Word offers six truths about God's grace that we must understand - because they mark the line between judgment and salvation!

Key Principle: God  pardons real repentance but makes no deal on rejection. Rejection is a sin that will not be forgiven. The penalty is real, and the choice is ours.

Today I am charged with the privilege of sharing God’s Word in a hard place. This is the story of a beloved people and their rejection of a Savior. They are a beloved people, and they are enduring for a time the cold reality of a walk away from the Lord of Hosts – the One who made them for a purpose and will renew that work in that last days to draw them to Himself. On our way to the redemption of Israel, we have to recognize the rejection they have chosen.

I am particularly sensitive to the way I say this, because there have been so many justifications of Antisemitism based inappropriately on the idea of Israel’s rejection of Messiah, that I want to be careful here. Yet, the text of Scripture cites the rejection as the reason for God’s turning away from Israel in judgment. He will redeem them – He has promised. At the same time, generations of their people have been ravaged because of the temporary but powerful judgment that God placed judicially on the nation. In this study it is worth remembering that God has used His people to teach all people – and the warnings of judgment are not only national, but individual as well.

Six Truths About God’s Grace and Judgment

1: God’s Grace Can be found in His Warnings: God’s Word cries out as a warning!

Nationally speaking, Hebrew prophets often offer the EFFECT before the cause. In this section, Zechariah is reminding the people that when their freedoms have been taken, their capital destroyed (something the Romans will fulfill a generation after Jesus), and they are scattered – there was a reason God didn’t show up and save them. They were slaughtered from the sewers of Jerusalem by vicious soldiers looking for spoil.

In personal application – this is the story of both the penalty of rejection – and the warnings God offers to draw you back to Him. God doesn’t desire to PUNISH people. He is fanatical about explaining BEFORE judgment what He will do if people REJECT His provisions. People want unlimited warnings, unending second chances. Penalties, no matter how ridiculously obvious the fault – are seen as harsh. Look at what God does to warn us:

11:1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, That a fire may feed on your cedars. 2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, Because the glorious trees have been destroyed; Wail, O oaks of Bashan, For the impenetrable forest has come down.

God may break the back of your economic strength to get your attention. The trees were precious for building – the cedar, cypress and live oak. These were not redwoods, but it was what was available for the Biblical period builder. So rare were great trees that Solomon had them shipped from Lebanon’s forest. The builders knew the quality and properties of the trees – and they valued them commercially. Look at what the text says – it reveals they will be CONSUMED. Burned up – the future of all of our things not used for God's purposes. Don't get too attached -none of this lasts!

3 There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail, For their glory is ruined;

God may take away your power or your leadership to get your attention. For the people of Israel and the surrounding nations, they were going to face the rise of Greece, but that wouldn't remove Jewish sovereignty until the land was stripped away by the Romans. The  coming judgment was going to supplant any ruler from within and send them into an 1850 year exile before they could return home, not to mention the antisemitism, the pogroms, and the Holocaust. The shepherds would be broken and their glory would become ashes.

What about the personal application? God may need to chop you down to size to get you to hear Him on the issue of repentance. People at the top are often hard of hearing. They are better at saying, “You're Fired!” than “I am sorry!” Could God be bringing into your life a demotion in life to get you to see the truth? Maybe your health is fading. Maybe the new kid in the next cubicle is fast becoming a competitor in the boss' eyes for your corner office. Power doesn't last. Control fades. If you have been self sufficient, I am here to tell you that God can move you down a few pegs, and it will be simply to get your attention.

11:3b…There is a sound of the young lions’ roar, For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

God may step on your personal pride to get your attention. In the ancient world the Jordan Valley had the Ghor (or rift), then low Qattarah Hills (little mesa like hills), and then the zhor – the scrub that grew about 50 feet on either side of the bank of the Jordan River. The lions lived beside the water in the thicket, and only the best of the hunters could “bag” a lion. It was dangerous work, and the lions were considered a symbol of the regal and proud. Surely the coming captivity would break any pride.

What about us? Can God HUMBLE us through a series of circumstances to get us to pay attention? I have a friend who was humbled by a stupid mistake that cost him a great paying job. He didn't mean to make the mistake, but it was his responsibility and God got to him through it.

2: God’s Grace Can be heard in your Believing Friends: Those who know God are pleading with you, knowing your future!

11:4 Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 “Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 “For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will strike the land, and I will not deliver them from their power.” 7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock.

Those who love and care for you will watch in horror as you make choices that take you from great promise to cold rejection and punishment. If they know God, they know it isn't true that He will give unlimited chances. A good place to see this very clearly is verses 4-7.

For judgment Messiah came into this world (John 9:39), for judgment of Israel which was at the time of His coming wretchedly corrupted and degenerated by the worldliness and hypocrisy of their rulers. He would have healed them, but they would not be healed. They were therefore for a time left desolate, and abandoned to ruin (but next week we will see that God will not leave them there).

God had a conversation with what appears to be His prophet – but a closer look reveals that the prophet was speaking a dialogue for another. The prophet was speaking in the place of Messiah. God told Messiah to go and be Israel's shepherd, but she would not listen and be gathered by Him (11:4). She would certainly head for the slaughter.

God told the Messiah that those who He went to shepherd would be led by other desperately wicked shepherds that did not care for the flock. They would be used by their evil foreign leaders, who would abuse them and rape the land (11:5). God would not rescue them – His pity was exhausted (11:6). Rabbi Johanan said, "Now I know that the destruction of the temple is at hand, according to the prophecy of Zechariah."

The prophet played the role and did work with the people, as the Good Shepherd did years later. God continued to offer shepherds through both Zechariah and later Jesus. Yet, the land did not respond. Zechariah symbolically brought both a rod and staff – calling one NOAM (beauty or pleasantness, root of Naomi) and the other KHEBEL (rope or cord, figuratively a bond).  He carried off the beauty in one hand, the bonds of the people in another, and obeyed the Lord.

If you aren't following God, but you know believers up close and personally, they can see something you don't. They know that your blessings, your opportunities, your very beauty and the cords of your family and friends were given to you by God to use for purposes He has set for your life. He will not force you. He will draw you near to Him if you will come. If you do not, know this – for a time you will enjoy the illusion of control and even believe that you have more time to consider the claims of God on your life. You will believe He will always be patient. You will come to believe that you are so important in your world that God surely didn't make all those privileges for one that He wasn't going to give a free pass to. Look at these verse and remember, God LOVES Israel. He will not be second, however. He will not always just let it ride... He will act. It is the ploy of the enemy that God will not act:

The NIV of 2 Peter 3 says: “3:1 Dear friends... 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men..”

#3: God’s Grace is placed in This Limited Time: God will painfully hand over those who reject him, in spite of His love, for judgment!

Zech 11:8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

The love and graceful tolerance of the Lord will eventually lift from one who insists on rejecting His right to rule over them, and that one will equally be tired of conviction – the struggle will tragically end.

The world of Israel in rejection became a world of “DOG EAT DOG”. It was terrible. The rulers and the nobles were rebuked in the days following Zechariah for exacting usury and being oppressive (Nehemiah 5:7, 15).The revolt against Rome starved the people by the thousands. They couldn't trust their own ruler and all the infighting, let alone those who were of the nations that had no regard for them at all.

That is what happens when you won't walk with God. He replaces one ruler after another and you suffer. It seems like He walks away from you, and there is no one to care for you. You feel abandoned, because you insisted on abandoning HIM! You don't have what you need. You call on Him, and He doesn't seem to answer. He wants to see you kneel before Him, but you insist He bow to YOUR wishes. He simply doesn't. He is Lord and you are not. I have been this stubborn – it is a lonely and cold existence.

Phil Yancey wrote it well: A young girl grows up on a cherry orchard just above Traverse City, Michigan. Her parents, a bit old-fashioned, tend to overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, and the length of her skirts. They ground her a few times, and she seethes inside. "I hate you" she screams at her father when he knocks on the door of her room after an argument, and that night she acts on a plan she has mentally rehearsed scores of times. She runs away. She has visited Detroit only once before, on a bus trip with her church youth group to watch the Tigers play. Because newspapers in Traverse City report in lurid detail the gangs, drugs, and violence in downtown Detroit, she concludes that is probably the last place her parents will look for her. California, maybe, or Florida, but not Detroit. Her second day there she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. He offers her a ride, buys her lunch, arranges a place for her to stay. He gives her some pills that make her feel better than she’s ever felt before. She was right all along, she decides: her parents were keeping her from all the fun. The good life continues for a month, two months, a year. The man with the big car--she calls him "Boss"--teaches her a few things that men like. Since she’s underage, men pay a premium for her. She lives in a penthouse and orders room service whenever she wants. Occasionally she thinks about the folks back home, but their lives now seem so boring and provincial that she can hardly believe she grew up there. She has a brief scare when she sees her picture printed on the back of a milk carton with the headline, "Have you seen this child?" But by now she has blond hair, and with all the makeup and body-piercing jewelry she wears, nobody would mistake her for a child. Besides, most of her friends are runaways, and nobody squeals in Detroit. After a year, the first sallow signs of illness appear, and it amazes her how fast the boss turns mean. "These days, we can’t mess around," he growls, and before she knows it she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, but they don’t pay much, and all the money goes to support her habit. When winter blows in she finds herself sleeping on metal grates outside the big department stores. "Sleeping" is the wrong word--a teenage girl at night in downtown Detroit can never relax her guard. Dark bands circle her eyes. Her cough worsens. One night, as she lies awake listening for footsteps, all of a sudden everything about her life looks different. She no longer feels like a woman of the world. She feels like a little girl, lost in a cold and frightening city. She begins to whimper. Her pockets are empty and she’s hungry. She needs a fix. She pulls her legs tight underneath her and shivers under the newspapers she’s piled atop her coat. Something jolts a synapse of memory and a single image fills her mind: of May in Traverse City, when a million cherry trees bloom at once, with her golden retriever dashing through the rows and rows of blossomy trees in chase of a tennis ball. God, why did I leave, she says to herself, and pain stabs at her heart. My dog back home eats better than I do now. She’s sobbing, and she knows in a flash that more than anything else in the world she wants to go home. Three straight phone calls, three straight connections with the answering machine. She hangs up without leaving a message the first two times, but the third time she says, "Dad, Mom, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, well, I guess I’ll just stay on the bus until it hits Canada." It takes about seven hours for a bus to make all the stops between Detroit and Traverse City, and during that time she realizes the flaws in her plan. What if her parents are out of town and miss the message? Shouldn’t she have waited another day or so until she could talk to them? Even if they are home, they probably wrote her off as dead long ago. She should have given them some time to overcome the shock. Her thoughts bounce back and forth between those worries and the speech she is preparing for her father. "Dad, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. It’s not your fault, it’s all mine. Dad, can you forgive me?" She says the words over and over, her throat tightening even as she rehearses them. She hasn’t apologized to anyone in years. The bus has been driving with lights on since Bay City. Tiny snowflakes hit the road, and the asphalt steams. She’s forgotten how dark it gets at night out here. A deer darts across the road and the bus swerves. Every so often, a billboard, a sign posting the mileage to Traverse City. Oh, God. When the bus finally rolls into the station, its air brakes hissing in protest, the driver announces in a crackly voice over the microphone, "Fifteen minutes, folks. That’s all we have here." Fifteen minutes to decide her life. She checks herself in a compact mirror, smooths her hair, and licks the lipstick off her teeth. She looks at the tobacco stains on her fingertips, and wonders if her parents will notice - if they’re there. She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect, and not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepare her for what she sees. There, in the concrete-walls-and-plastic-chairs bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of 40 brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and great-grandmother to boot. They are all wearing ridiculous-looking party hats and blowing noisemakers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads "Welcome home" Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She looks through tears and begins the memorized speech, "Dad, I’m sorry. I know . . . " He interrupts her. "Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. You’ll be late for the party. A banquet’s waiting for you at home." 1 The story I just read is a modern parable of the Prodigal Son. Christianity Today 10/6/97 Prodigal Son by Philip Yancey in his book "What’s So Amazing About Grace?" (found at SermonCentral). She was home safe and sound – but not until she decided to repent and surrender. Before that there was cold, loneliness and distance.

#4: God’s Grace can be spotted by His people in Plain View: Gods people can see Him remove His hand when people reject Him!

11:10 I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.

When the break becomes permanent, those who know God may comprehend the reality of that moment. God revealed the truth to those who would learn to trust Him and believe what He said. When God said that for a time Israel would suffer a distance from Him, it was a temporary but very real condition. Those who knew His Word and believed – they saw it all. Beauty became ashes. Covenant became a broken marriage.

If you look very closely at the verses, the broken covenant was with the NATIONS – not just with Israel. God had a covenant of protection over His people that He took off of them. Nations would ravage her, and God stepped back and allowed it to happen. The people had presumed on God, and He drew a line in the sand and said, “No more!” Those who didn't believe were just as lost as the day before – but sadness fell on those who DID know.

Believers carry pain for you if they have watched you kick against God. Those of us that have raised children that refuse to follow God have cried a river of tears. We keep praying and hoping - long after anyone else knows we are broken... We know the pain that they endure is their own doing. God will not force you to follow if you choose not to! Sadly, those who know God know He isn't kidding about judgment...

#5: God’s Grace is used to show His Purpose: To tell His story to the World!

11:12 I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

God’s expectation is that we will respond to His love and value what He has done for us. He is a faithful marriage partner that stands stunned in the kitchen at the brazen acknowledgment of infidelity. He loved and has an expectation of returned love. Don't mistake Him as One who is weak – that isn't what I am saying. He is One who knows the value of Jesus' blood, sent for His people. Rejection of His greatest gift is not overlooked.  If we call Jesus worthless, and try to get away with the toss to Him of a pittance from our lives, God will not forget. We declare God is our slave, for our purpose – not that we are His people for His purpose!

The amount of thirty pieces of silver was a profound insult – as men not only refused Him His due, but added insult by giving for Him the price of a gored bond-servant (Ex 21:32; Mt 26:15). Interestingly enough, God used this prophetic moment to tell a story of an event yet to unfold...

Mt. 27:1 “Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” 7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers.”

#6: God’s Grace can be Dismissed: When we reject, the grace evaporates.

11:14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 The LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. 17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind.”

When we reject God, we walk out of the tent of His deliberate protections, and He “gives us over” to a devouring enemy. It is our choice – and God honors that choice – but it causes great and painful consequences.

In Israel's case, the cords that bound together Israel and Judah were severed. Countless Jews of the northern kingdom (by then long since captive) were cut loose into the nations at that time. In some sense, we can feel the sobering pains of Jesus when He looked over Jerusalem in Luke 19 and cried, “Jerusalem, how long I have tried to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not come!”

What has God done to get your attention and draw you into intimacy with Him? Are you resisting Him? Can you afford to do that? Have you rejected Him. You have a chance today, right where you are to surrender. Don't wait. Don't forget - There is a sin that cannot and will not be forgiven – rejection of God’s provision of salvation. Don't wait until there is NO WAY OUT.

Photo in front: The concrete building collapsed during classes on Friday. Rescuers used floodlights overnight to search for victims and survivors. (Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)

Reading the Map: “I Gotta Be ME!” - Genesis 10:1-11:9

How do you measure the significance of a man or woman? Is it wrong to desire to leave a mark in my job, in my family, and in my community? The struggle for significance is one that many of us face. We want to do something enduring. We want to be remembered. We don't have to be FAMOUS - but we want some part of the planet to miss us when we are gone. That desire can be used by God for good, but more often leaves us open to a legion of sins.

Joe Stowell, in his book Perilous Pursuits, tells of a college Sophomore named Barbara, who kept finding herself in one sexually compromised relationship after another. Even in the church she attended, men would ask her out, and invariably ask her for some sensual gratification. Struggling with a deep sense of disappointment and confusion, she felt her worth had been trampled. She wondered why so many men were so willing to abuse her, and see her only as an object of their personal gratification. It wasn’t until the next semester in college that she got an answer to her quest. It began the process of liberation in her… Barbara realized thatn she was being driven by an intense desire to find a sense of worth and affirmation in having the attention of men. If men were attracted to and interested in her, she sensed her own worth. She felt like she counted for something. She discovered the lie that was pulling her to unhealthy people and sinful patterns.

Finally she exposed the truth: Significance is secured, not through our efforts, but it had already been established by the work of Jesus on Calvary – making her position in God the basis of a new life on earth.

In Ephesians 6 terms, Barbara put the cleats on her shoes and stopped sliding around in the slippery mud of earth. Remember, Ephesians 6 offers six pieces of spiritual armor: Belt of truthfulness, breast plate of right choices, cleats on the sandals of the Gospel that keep us anchored and significant. Then, as the occasion demands, the team locks together in the “blocking shield of faith”, wearing the helmet of salvation and grasping the dagger of the Word. All this is done, praying always, and keeping the intimate relationship out front. Barbara found her cleats and quit sliding around.

Key Principle: Only when I find my significance in my relationship with Jesus and live for His glory and fame, I will make a true mark for eternity!

God offered the table of the Nations in Genesis 10 to set up the story of how the nations came to be scattered and divided by Him in Genesis 11. We would tell the story in reverse of that – but a typical Hebrew way of telling the story is in “flashback mode” offering the EFFECT before the CAUSE.

If you look closely at the text, you will see the division of the people was FOUR WAYS: land, language, family and nation. The proper progression based on the next chapter is nuclear and extended families that were given varying languages separated into different “nations” (ethnicities) that inhabited differing lands:

Genesis 10:1 Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

• EUROPE AND WESTERN ASIA: 10:2 The sons of Japheth were ... 5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
• AFRICA: 10:6 The sons of Ham were ... 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
• NEAR EAST TO FAR EAST: 10:21 Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem were ... 31 These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

How did the division of the earth come to be? Glad you asked! That is the story of Babel in 11:1-9. The story shows how God deliberately divided the people in many directions. Why would He do that? Were the people trying to “build a tower to reach God” as the Sunday School teacher I had years ago taught?

No, look more carefully and you will see the problem... The people wanted to build something significant, but they wanted THEIR STORY at the center of it all.

11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Shared experiences conveyed shared values:

The people came from the experience of the ark, and as they bore children over a few generations, they found on the plain where they were living all they needed to build a society. Don’t skip past too fast – We need to notice several important truths hinted at in verses one and two:

The knowledge of a HOLY GOD was never more effectively communicated than when fathers taught children from the experience of facing God, and knowing that He was both a Savior and a Judge. Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives KNEW that God wasn’t kidding about judgment. Why didn’t their children’s children’s children? Because with time they removed themselves from an intimate knowledge of the Holy One. They slowly communicated through their lives that other things were more important than knowing, serving and loving God.

There is a big difference between the knowledge of the Bible, and having a heart for God. Princeton, Harvard and Yale all began as Christian learning centers. Harvard used to require daily Bible reading! What happened to turn them from vital places to hollow shells of the faith? Some of our country’s greatest seminaries now teach a cold theology, devoid of a passionate walk with God. How does this happen?

Year ago, AW Tozer wrote: ““So often we are like the man that has gone out into the field. He collects rocks and puts them together and builds an altar. He then goes out and cuts a log into wood for the fire of the altar. He kills the ox, flays the meat and lays it out upon the altar. He then walks around the altar and cleans the rocks, rearranges them. He sings hymns about the wood. He takes up an offering to keep the rocks clean and neat, and then we leave, knowing something is wrong. The FIRE of God on the altar is not there. We forget the point of it all, and we celebrate “altar worship”.

It has happened many times in the Bible, and it is something we have studied many times in the text, but we dare not EVER gloss over it! There are three generations of a message – sometimes called the teaching of the “three chairs”:

• In the first chair  is a vibrant believer that has encounterd God. Take, for example, Joshua, son of Nun, disciple of Moses. His faith was sold out. He saw God do great things – Jericho’s walls fell, the Jordan’s river was stopped. He was characterized by radical COMMITMENT of a God he had personally experienced.

• In the second chair was the generation of Joshua – the people that lived at the time Joshua was encountering God, but they were living life and observing God’s work. They knew ABOUT God (they were saved) and they knew ABOUT His works, but they were not walking in intimacy with God and did not experience God’s daily power. Their walk was a SOMETIMES power – a COMPROMISE of long stretches of SELF salted lightly with occasional “highs” with God.

• Into the world they brought the generation of the “third chair”, named in Judges 2 as the “generation after Joshua”. That group was describes as faithless. They did not know the mighty works of God personally (Judges 2:7 and 10) and did not walk with Him at all. Their values didn’t mesh with God’s purposes, and they DIDN’T FEAR GOD, so they lived in CONFLICT.

The story plays over and over in Scripture. Abraham was moved by God and his intimacy with Him. Wherever he went he built up altars – even before digging the wells that would make survival on this earth possible. He ALWAYS built first the  ALTAR – God first, no matter how many sheep died! Isaac was a step away from this passionate walk. He did not openly compromise, but was not consistent. It was not always altar before well. Sometimes he built an altar, but he could usually be found “meeting the needs of the flock” before that – and it seemed reasonable. By the third generation there came Jacob -  the man who cynically cheated his own father for selfish gain. He tried to cheat his mother, he cheated his brother, and later tried to cheat his wife.

The fact is the story after the ark isn’t that unique. The problem wasn’t the first generation. The problem wasn’t the ungodly generation. The REAL PROBLEM is always the one in the middle – the COMPROMISED and HALF BELIEVING generation. Remember: “When you grow up in a world in which values are spoken one way, yet lived another way, you will have tragedy on your hands!”

Whole churches are doing this! One generation starts a work for God on some corner, praying and struggling and believing God for every need they have. They have a living walk that is characterized by excitement. They don’t have the right room sizes or right programs. It is often a messy thing. Their needs are met by prayer and sacrifice one to another. They are stirred in powerful moments of worship and study of the Word.

Time passes in that church and it becomes more established. The more organizational oriented and program focused people take over. The needs are met by a capable staff that has far too little time to pray. The place is clean and the music is excellent. Prayer meeting shrinks because there is just too much “program” to keep the thing going. Workers get tired and go home tired – not reflecting the hot heart of a walk with God – but reflecting a cooled programmatic approach. Children observe and grow up in the mix. They see it all. The fights that happen when people are not praying and are working too many hours -- the idolatry of ministry before God. In a sobering way, they profess NO walk with God, and don’t seem to really care. “That’s your gig, mom!” they say.

We must deliberately work to tear down that false sense of “spiritual” or we will blind the eyes of the generation coming behind us. Only if we have a HOT HEART and intimacy in our walk will our kids have any chance of seeing the truth.

In addition to the COOLED COMMUNICATION, 11:1-2 TEACH US SOME OTHER THINGS.

•    THE NUCLEAR and EXTENDED FAMILY was the core of the society. It was designed that way, and no culture has been effectively able to thrive over the long haul while ignoring this basic unit established by God.

•    LANGUAGE and COMMUNICATION was at the heart of what built the unity and society. The settling and civility worked because they could effectively communicate with one another. We cannot underestimate the power of shared communication. What is essential in communication? Shared beliefs and core values communicated through strong family units. The homogenous culture was the beginning point. It wasn’t the color of their skin, it was the ability to share common values and common experiences. If the common values were allowed to be reversed or eroded too rapidly or dramatically, the cohesiveness of the society becomes suspect.

The implication is clear – diversity of views is not always a strength. I am not speaking of race, I am speaking of core values. When a society can no longer share a common “right” or “wrong” it imperils the whole society from growing together. It becomes a litany of causes and a scary collection of special interests. What pulls it together? A singular standard of right and wrong! For our founding fathers it was Biblical truth, assumed to be both TRUE and GOOD.

If half of the University is teaching that absolutes exist – as in math and some science departments – and the other half of the university is teaching that “there are no absolutes” and “all truth is relative” – the house of education will not hold together. I want to be clear: I don’t want to live in a home built by an architect’s plan that did not believe in absolute and consistent physical principles. I don’t even want to sit in a chair made by someone who doesn’t believe in consistent physical principles. Weight loads need to be absolute, unbending and consistent. How the architect feels about it isn’t relevant to me. Let’s move on…

11:3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

Shared values led to shared accomplishments:

The people saw the need to produce something. That wasn’t a bad thing – quite the opposite. They shared the advance of technology to the benefit of the community. Again, we are tempted to miss the richness of the verse. Look closer:

•    Communication led to community, and community led to advancement. We must understand that for a society to move forward, there must be a desire to do something that helps others get ahead, and not just myself. I am not against the growing welfare society because they take money from ME – I am against it because it demeans THEM. I believe in productivity. God started man off in the garden with duties. We need to DO something – not just get benefits from those who have done something. People of every race, color and creed need to accomplish something – it is inherent in our nature. Too much given too easily produces unhappy, yes, ANGRY children. Work is GOOD. Work is GODLY. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 reminds us that three things characterize a godly man or woman – sexual purity, a real work ethic, and a distinct view of life and death that shows the time outside of this body as the more “real” experience.

•    The verse says not only that they wanted to accomplish something, but that they wanted to benefit each other. Companies in our modern society must see more than profits. They have to be able to see that there is a benefit to giving help back to the society upon whom their profits were built. Employees need to be thankful to have jobs, and companies need to be deliberate in helping their workers have good lives – not just using them as machines for the profits of the investors. We have to SEE each other, and be deliberate about a society. When we cheat to get over on the man, we take from our brothers, our sisters, our communities, our nation. We are America, and we cannot afford to cheat our neighbor without cheating our own children.

11:4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Shared accomplishments exposed a shared need:

The people all wanted to accomplish something that would show how significant they were. They wanted to mark their time on this earth with a symbol of power. They wanted THEIR STORY to be the story of history. Herein is the problem: the people were desperate for SIGNIFICANCE. They became obsessed with it.

Joe Stowell said it right: “We were built for significance. Our problem is not that we search for it, but that we search for it in all the wrong places." We think it is what WE DO. What we LEAVE BEHIND. It isn’t… it is in what we allow God to do IN and THROUGH us. It is in how we walk with Him in the quiet places, after the lights are off… after no one is watching and the accolades are all given out.

11:5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”  8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

A Shared need led to God’s Answer:

God wasn’t going to be second in the story – because He is the highest and He is always truthful. Any other god is a false hope. Any other pursuit is a DEAD END. So He confounded them, broke up their union and sent them packing… It was the best thing He could do to stop them from all perishing together on the FOOL’S ERRAND OF SELF SIGNIFICANCE that gripped them.

Wait a minute, doc! What happens when I live so wrapped in HIS significance? How will my needs be met? If I surrender myself to Him, how will I feel what I long to feel. You will see… Mature believers have learned something about their own needs – they are only really satisfied fully when they live life focused on serving Jesus by serving others. Things done for SELF are short lived. Only when I find my significance in my relationship with Jesus and live for His glory and fame, I will make a true mark for eternity!

"What The Bible is all About” - The Letter of God

As my truck winded its way toward home from the church this afternoon, I heard a story on “This American Life” – an NPR radio program – about a Ph.D. researcher who got a brain infection while working in India. The infection was serious enough that he was flown back home to Ohio, where he stabilized with medication, but suffered catastrophic memory failure. His mind was wiped clean of personal memories. He was intelligent and could talk. He could add and subtract. He could get along in daily life, but every personal aspect of his life was wiped out of his mind. He shared the fear of entering rooms of people who shared life with you with no knowledge or recollection of them at all. In the years ahead, he regained his memory, but the struggle was heart breaking and yet fascinating to listen to.

In some ways, our whole society is going through a catastrophic memory failure. We have forgotten the story that led us to life. It was God’s story – and it was designed to give us all that we needed to traverse this world and make it joyfully to the next. It was the story that contained the keys to our ORIGIN, our PURPOSE, and our DESTINY. As our culture has sponged every part of the story out of public life, we have embarked on a bold and failing adventure to remake a morality without God, without an agreement on our purpose, and without any sense of where the future will lead us. In the process, we have forgotten the substance of much of the book of God – the Bible.

• The Bible was written over a 1,600 year span in the hands of men from some 40 generations.

• It was written down by more than 40 authors, from every walk of life-including kings, peasants.

• philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc. Yet it claims a single author – the Spirit of the Creator God. It is called the “God breathed” word.

• It was written on three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe

• It was recorded in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

• Containing 1,189 chapters in 66 books, there is one unfolding story: “God’s love and redemption of man.”

The story began in poetry. The oldest writing we have comes from a wealthy man named Job, who went from a mere follower to an intimately personal lover of God from the ashes and pain of his broken life. The Bible began, not with the story of man, but with the story of God’s creation of another world – an angelic one. That world was made some time before man’s world. He created a chorus of angels – thousands and thousands of them – which he called “the morning stars”. One of the cherubim, the highest order of the angelic world, decided to rebel and take with him those who would follow. God decided to respond by creating a physical universe in which He would tell His story – the explanation of WHO HE IS.

He started by creating our physical world (Genesis 1-3), and then he placed man in it as His personal agent. Man was to care for the world within the rules God laid down for him. Very soon after his creation, man rebelled against God and allied with the enemy of God. Man’s rebellion caused the long, slow decline of the whole planet. Sin abounded and demonic hoards of the enemy worked to destroy God’s physical world. As man spread out, they used the unfamiliarity of the expanse to impregnate and pollute the genetic lines of man (Genesis 6 and 6). Nearly facing the collapse of His earthly work, God stepped in, found a man with clean blood and protected his family as He opened up the depths of the fountains of the earth within and poured down upon the earth from above, effectively eliminating the entire mongrelized population. A single family and a gathering of protected animals survived the deluge, and man was replanted on the earth for a second start, this time with men and women who were fallen, but not of impure demonic blood (Genesis 6-9). That returns us to our poem.

Job’s life was attacked by the enemy of God, and Job remained ever faithful to God –albeit completely discouraged at various times. God saw his faithfulness and restored him to greatness, keeping a record of his story for all our generations.

The population of the earth grew, as did the influence of the evil one on every aspect of life. Man was scattered about the earth (Genesis 10-11), as God selected from the peoples of the earth a single family to center His program upon as a light to rest of the world (Genesis 12-50). Abraham, a city dweller of the family of Terah heard the voice of God and followed Him in faith. God made a covenant to work through his family to proclaim His story to all the world.  Genesis ends with the sons of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob in captivity in Egypt, where they have a promise of God, but are away from home.

When the people of God were held in bondage for ten generations, God raised up a deliverer name Moses (Exodus 1-7) who challenged the Pharaoh of Egypt by showing God’s mighty power in a series of 10 plagues (Exodus 7-12) and eventually led them through the wilderness to a mountain to meet God in the wilderness desert (Exodus 12-19). At the mountain God gave to Moses a Legal Code that included the plans for a moveable sanctuary (Exodus 25-40). He also gave him the Laws regarding the Priests that would serve in it (Leviticus 1-9).

The arduous journey to freedom lasted nearly 39 years (Exodus 12-18; Numbers 1-36) and a generation was lost in wilderness in the death that followed stubborn unbelief. Before the death of Moses, he trained and appointed Joshua as his successor to lead the people, and compiled the last of the Constitutional Laws of Deuteronomy – a combination of ethical codes and technical instructions that was meant to define a nation from a rabble, and preserve them in the land they were entering – the long promised land bequeathed to Abraham their forefather and all his sons in perpetuity.

Joshua entered the Land (Joshua 1-4) with the obvious hand of the Lord upon him, conquered the land in accord with the Lord’s promises and instructions (Joshua 5-12) and then distributed the land (Joshua 13-24) to the tribal clans of Israel – a nick name they took from their father Jacob a generation before.

The tribes didn’t get along well, and didn’t maintain the ethical standards of the Law (Judges, Ruth) but rather found themselves forgetting God and making up their own way. Without moral clarity and barring any kind of larger unity, the tribes moved from disobedience, to defeat and disillusionment. Famines struck the land (Ruth) and disruptions and instability was a constant threatening reality.

Tribes about them periodically attacked, and the clans of Israel realized the need to unify under a king. The judges that took the words given to Moses and transmitted them to the people were becoming untrustworthy and the system was breaking down (1 Samuel 1-7). As a result, a king was selected from the tribes and anointed by the last judge. Saul became the chosen one (1 Samuel 8-15). Fear, jealousy and stubbornness made Saul an incorrigible king, and God replaced him with another – a shepherd of Bethlehem names David (1 Samuel 16 – 2 Samuel 24). 

David was an accomplished musician, a creative writer of songs (Psalms) and a wise ruler. Yet, for all of his exceptional talent and times of deep personal intimacy of worship to God, he strayed into adulterous lust, plots of intrigue and murder. He lived a long life, and was eventually succeeded by Solomon – a man endued with the greatest human wisdom the planet had ever encountered (Proverbs). He wrote over 1000 songs (Song of Solomon) and kept a royal diary of his quest to find and follow God (Ecclesiastes). He built the Great First Temple of Jerusalem to the God of Israel (1 Kings 1-8) and he reigned with wisdom and world envy for a time (1 Kings 9-11). Good at many things, Solomon showed the fatal flaw of thinking he would live too long, as he failed to properly train his successor son. Rehoboam lost the support of the northern ten tribes that sheered off from Judah in the south and came under the control of an insurrection leader named Jeroboam. The two kingdoms became rivals for a little over 200 years (1 Kings 12- 2 Kings 17).

Nineteen kings sat on the throne of the northern kingdom during its 206 years of separation, all of them in rebellion to God’s work through His declared Temple in Jerusalem. God raised up prominent speaking prophets to Israel like Elijah (1 Kings 16-20) the Tishbite who called on God to hold back the rain for seasons. Elisha, a follower of Elijah was also endowed with miraculous powers to show that God was working through him (2 Kings 1-7). 

Yet, not all the prophetic words of the God of the earth were given specifically to the people of Israel. God kept His promise to use them to reach into and bless nations. Obadiah may have been first, sent from God to tell Edom that God saw their treachery against Israel during a raid of Philistines and Arabs during the time of King Jehoram. The prophet warned them that trust in their defenses, allies and experts would not stave off destruction in light of their treacherous spirit.

Joel was probably next, written in the 800’s BCE in the wake of a national disaster. The prophet warned Judah that the vast destruction they had just come through was a portent of things to come in a time called the “Day of the Lord”.

A few years later, rising out of the edge of the Wilderness of Judah was a fig pincher named Amos, who in about 790 BCE  offered words from God on the judgment of six nations that bordered God’s people, before he bore down in focus on Israel and Judah.

About that time, the rising power of the east was the Neo-Assyrian Kingdom, with its mighty capitol at Nineveh was experiencing a renaissance of power. Because of their cruelty and hard heartedness, God sent a message to them through a reluctant and rebellious prophet named Jonah. The short hand memoirs of the journey of Jonah, first running from God and then following him record the days of Jeroboam II in about 780 BCE.

The Northern Kingdom would not return to God’s ethical standards, and each generation seemed to distance itself from Him and even from monotheism. As a result, the Assyrian Empire was used of God to take the northern kingdom’s wayward people into captivity. It was prophesied by Isaiah, Micah and Hosea – each offering significant details of God’s work and ending each with a promise of return, renewal, restoration and repentance.

The next 136 years were a time of oppression and transition for the people of Judah, the southland of the place of promise. Their northern cousins now lost to them in the distant Assyrian Kingdom, and Judah stripped of its wealth and prosperity, Jerusalem hung on and tried to recover (2 Kings 18-25). Nearly fifty years later at the time of the revivals of King Josiah in Judah, the prophet Habakkuk’s complaints were brought against God – that He wasn’t listening the cries of those who were unjustly treated by Judah’s elite. God promised to bring in the Chaldeans to fix the problem, and Habakkuk retreated to a position of seeking mercy for his people.

Zephaniah was also from the time of Josiah (620’s BCE), as he passed on messages from God against the peoples of five surrounding nations that affected Judah, and especially called on Judah to stop ignoring God’s serious warnings about their sin and unbelief. God was concerned with His people, but at the same time was sending Nahum the prophet to warn the Assyrians of the coming destruction of Nineveh for their failure to repent, an event that finally occurred a few years later in 612 BCE.

God’s people didn’t listen to His warnings. The kings of Judah were a mixed review, but the people were fairly consistent about rebellion. God sent Jeremiah to warn them that they were about to experience a shock – the destruction of God’s Temple. Beginning his prophetic ministry under King Josiah and contemporary with Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Nahum – Jeremiah’s writings detail the pain and anguish of a prophet’s diary as he sought to reflect God’s love and holiness to people. For an entire generation he warned, until he sat on the Mount of Olives and lamented the fall of his beloved city in 586 BCE (Lamentations).

Three waves of Jerusalemites were carted away by the Babylonians, the new world power that replaced the Assyrians. In the earliest wave (606 BCE), a young man named Daniel was swept into Babylon. In the second wave Ezekiel was swept into the foreign capital (597 BCE). Both of these men were given special opportunities by God to be a specific encouragement to the people of God in Exile, far from home. Daniel even rose to the status of Prime Minister!

Nearly seventy years passed from the first wave of captivity, when Daniel prayed asking God to send the people home as He promised (Daniel 9) and he was offered the clearest prophecy of the timing of the coming Messiah that would bring a final lasting peace to God’s people, Israel. With the rise of the Median king Cyrus and his subsequent takeover of the vast city of Babylon, God arranged the return of the people under Sheshbazaar and his nephew, Zerrubabel – men of the household of Jehoiachin – a late king of Judah from David’s line.

 

Ezra 1-6 records the story of the first return, along with the records of the prophet Haggai from 18 years later – sent to re-ignite the people’s desire to finish the rebuilding of the Second Temple.  A few years behind him was Zechariah, who offered a message that included great details of the prophetic coming importance of Jerusalem. 

Meanwhile, back in the Persia throne room King Ahaseures (also called Xerxes) plotted a return to Greece after early defeats were an embarrassment to his predecessor Darius I. He called all his army commanders and planned an assault, complete with an ill conceived pre-fight celebration which turned into a drunken brawl. Dismissing his beautiful queen named Vashti, God raised up Esther to the post and used her and her uncle Mordecai to foil a plot to destroy the Jewish people throughout the world in 483 BCE, just before Ahaseures sent the army that stood before Leonidas’ 300 betrayed Spartans, only to be humiliated as they lost again to Greece in the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE).

A generation later, God wanted the city of Jerusalem rebuilt. The Temple functioned, but He heard the cries of his returned but impoverished people. He raised up Nehemiah, a cupbearer servant to King Artaxerxes I, who followed the late husband of Queen Esther. By 444 BCE, Nehemiah led his first caravan to Jerusalem, where the walls were restored in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15ff). The people were back in the land. The Temple was alive, and the city of Jerusalem was reasonably secure. A few years passed and God sent His final prophet to Judah before the coming of Messiah – Malachi. The prophet reminded the people of the ethical laws that they were to follow, and chastised priests for not caring for God’s work with integrity. The prophecy finished with the promise that an announcer was coming, and behind him  would come the CHOSEN ONE who would draw the people into a right relationship with God.

On the world stage  God raised up Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedon, and in the  breakup of his kingdom after his untimely death, God eventually supplanted all his former western lands under the hands first of the champions of the Senate of Rome – like Pompey Magnus (the Great), and then under the Emperors Julius and Caesar Augustus.

Into this world was born Jesus, the Messiah. God fulfilled His promise of the long awaited Messiah with the announcement of the Forerunner named John (The Gospels). At the same time as John’s mother was pregnant, an angel of God named Gabriel was dispatched form Heaven to share the news of the coming of the Promised One to Mary, a young virgin girl espoused to an older man who was a builder by the name of Joseph.

Messiah came, taught healed and trained a small corps of men – the Disciples. It began with just five followers of John the Baptizer, but in three years had swelled to crowds of thousands, with 12 close chosen disciples.

On the Thursday night of Passover week in about the year 33 CE, Jesus was arrested while privately praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Bounced between Annas and Caiaphas of the Hannan family and eventually remanded into Roman custody for insurrection – Jesus was brutally Crucified between two thieves just outside Jerusalem’s walls. His disciples in hiding, His body was placed into a tomb of a rich man who loved Him. Early that Sunday morning, God raised up His Son, and renewed Him to a new ministry of preparation. 

Appearing twelve times over the next month, Jesus left from the Mount of Olives before a small crowd of His followers – ascending into Heaven. The followers were instructed to wait for the coming of the Spirit of God at Jerusalem – an event that Dr. Luke recorded in the Book of Acts - that happened less than a month after the Ascension at the time of Shavuot, or Pentecost.

The newly empowered church launched out, overcoming financial setbacks and internal disputes. The message that began in Jerusalem spread to many places in Judea, northward into Samaria, and even as far away as Africa – at the hands of government officials that encountered early evangelists of the church. The rising numbers put undue pressure on Jewish leadership in Jerusalem and caused a stir among the people.

A delegation was sent to Damascus, led by a young student of Tarsus named Saul, to cut down the fledgling movement called “The Way” by every means available. On the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus was struck down with a vision of the Risen Jesus that left him blind. Taken to a prophet of the early church named Ananias, he became a transformed follower and left the city in a basket under death threats of his former friends. Saul had changed sides in the effort to kill the new message. He slipped into the desert for a few years, gaining training from Jesus in private, and eventually made his way back to Tarsus.

The Jerusalem church was heavy hearted under persecution. The church continued to grow, and the believers were multiplying to the north in Antioch on the Orontes River, where the Gospel of Jesus – the message of His Resurrection and promised return was transforming many lives. Because of the growth, Joses of Cyprus (called Barnabas) was sent to Antioch where he encouraged the people and then went to seek Saul, who was called in the Gentile world by his other name – Paul.

Saul and Barnabas went to Antioch together, where in a prayer meeting, God called on the church to send the two of them out in a series of mission journeys. Initially they headed for Cyprus and then into cities now located in central Turkey. After disputes over the entry of so many uncircumcised Gentiles into the churches of Asia Minor. A delegation was sent from Antioch to Jerusalem for a Council on the Gentile question. Was a Gentile to become a Jew to become a follower of Messiah? A letter was written explaining the finding of the council, and Paul went out with Silas  to a second journey, while Barnabas and John Mark made their way to Cyprus.

During Paul’s second journey he began the writing career that God used to offer a corpus of epistles to the church for all the ages. His known thirteen Epistles became the foundation of both the ethical and institutional frame of the early church. Most of the epistles were written to churches, with the exception of a few that went to Pastors and even house church leaders.

Paul was not the only one to write such God breathed Epistles. Simon Peter of Galilee wrote a number of letters as he made a march toward Rome to lead the church there. Jude wrote a short one to warn people of the nature of the truth they were preaching. John the son of Zebedee, the youngest of the disciples also wrote a series of letter to warn churches about traveling teachers that were not authorized to teach the congregations.

Under the rule of Domitian (81-96 CE), John was exiled to the Aegean island Patmos – a penal colony on a small promontory with no internal source for water beside cisterns of rain water. While there, Jesus gave John a vision of the end of the world. 

Paul had already written about the temporary nature of the church before the return of God’s attention back to Israel. He said that on a day the church did not know, they would be instantly called out of the earth to stand before Jesus and be judged for the work He gave them to accomplish.

John was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ, where he saw the earth picture of the same period. With the coming snatching away of God’s church would move His Divine attention back to Israel. Surrounded by enemies and hated by the nations, God would not interfere as the enemy empowered a world leader that would offer a peace treaty to Israel. Desperate for peace and desiring to be loved of the nations, Israel was keen to accept. 

With the church suddenly gone and the world destabilized, a time of transition and peace eventually gave way to a reversal of fortune for the tiny nation Israel. Three pummeling rounds of judgment were directed to fall on the earth. By the last judgments, all the salt water of the earth is fouled, the fresh water sources are destroyed, the people of the earth are desperate, and one final attempt is made to destroy Israel, viewed as the source of the problems of all the earth.

As the nations rise to destroy Israel, Messiah breaks through the clouds and comes with a mighty power and protection for His people. Behind him are His followers through the ages of the church period. In majesty He comes to reign, and establishes the Kingdom promised long ago to King David, on the throne of Zion.

All the nations bow to Israel’s king. All the nations see Him as their king!

The demonic hoards are judged and tossed away. The enemy of the ages is humiliated, defeated and disposed of forever.

God writes His Holy Name – I AM –one the forehead of all those He saved. The signature of His grace becomes His eternal statement that is the message of the whole Bible – I AM the Lord – There is no other. 

One claims to be my equal, but he is the father of lies. Others claim to offer fortune, fame, power and pleasure, but all are fleeting. There is no other. You need look no more! My message brings freedom from sin, and power over the enemy. My words soothe the anguish of a mother whose arms are now empty and a man who has enemy guns perched against him. 

He signed His story, "I am the Alpha and Omega. I began all things, and I shall finish them."

 

Seven Truths About Mistakes We Make - Genesis 9:20-29

Noah was a generally good guy. He built three things in his life that were recorded in Scripture and all were directly because of his walk with God. He built an ARK, an ALTAR and an ARBOR. The ark story is famous, the altar less so. Sadly, what many people recall of his life was the time he planted a vineyard, drank wine and got naked. Dumb! Yet, God included the story for significant reasons.

While it is true that many Christians use the story to show the sin of drunkeness, it is not the purpose of the story. First, the prohibition on drunkeness was not given until later in Scripture. What is clearly sin for me in the twenty-first century because of Ephesians 5:18 and the principles of many Scriptures was not necessarily sin to Noah. You cannot violate a law that isn't on the books yet. God did not chastise Noah beyond the natural after effects of his stupidity. Let me be clear, I am not licensing this behavior for us, I am saying we cannot ask Abraham to keep Kosher when he lived long before the Law, and you cannot hold Noah responsible for what was not yet revealed.

Besides, many believers today are quick to condemn the Biblical usage of wine, but take an aspirin when their head hurts or a pain killer when they have a tooth ache. The Biblical writer had no such luxury, and used alcohol in ways that were not ungodly. The wine was a necessary part of their diet, albeit a different product than we can buy at the local ABC store today. If a believer wants to abstain from the use of alcohol, that makes good sense. If the Spirit so leads, He should be obeyed. Yet, that isn't the point of this story at all.

If the issue isn't really drunkeness per se, than what is the story recorded for? Because there are seven truths that God wanted us to know about the errors we will all make. Knowing these seven truths will be helpful to anyone who wants to follow God.

1. Mistakes can come up when we are otherwise obedient (9:20). "Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard." Noah didn't appear to set out to get drunk, and he certainly didn't set out to get naked in the open tent. He did something stupid. He allowed his mind to be surrendered and his decision making center to be highjacked. We are ALWAYS responsible for what we think and what we do. Wandering minds produce sinful actions. Obedience is a moment by moment set of choices. We must be vigilant even when we are doing right in most areas.

A newspaper in Kansas, trying to correct a mistake that had occurred in a previous issue, carried the following item: “We wish to apologize for an error in the wedding story in last week’s paper. Due to a typesetter’s mistake we said, ‘THE ROSES WERE PUNK.’ What we intended to say, ‘THE NOSES WERE PINK.’” They tried to correct an error and only made it worse!

2. Mistakes can bring shame on us (9:21). Genesis 9:21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. We must keep in mind that failure to be vigilant leads to shameful and guilt producing idiocy. Guilt and shame were mechanisms first seen after the Fall in the garden and are a result of knowing we have not conducted ourselves as the Lord would have us. Conviction should lead us to change that moves us toward the Lord. Guilt does no such thing, and is a tool of the enemy to defeat us. As a believer I should love conviction, and allow God to remove guilt.

3. Mistakes bring out the hidden nature of those around us (9:22). When we do something dumb, it gives those around us to show what is under the surface. For some it is an opportunity to condemn and demean (9:22): "Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. " Without the love that covered the honor of his father, Ham showed his true colors of disrespect and contempt. Yet, for the other sons, the mistake was an opportunity to show grace (9:23): "But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. They were able to show respect, honor and grace. The mistake of the father set up the tests for the sons. Here is an essential principle: When people around us make mistakes, we are set to the test. How will we respond?

4. Mistakes lay a foundation (Genesis 9:24-27): For those who use the occasion to embarrass or demean, it lays a foundation for bitter feelings and broken relationships in humiliation (9:24-25): "When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.” For others who responded well, in grace and honor, it gave rise to praise and blessing (9:26-27): "He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. 27 “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”

5. Mistakes aren’t the end of our story if we know God (9:28): "Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood." It is good to read that God kept working in Noah and his family. The earth didn't swallow him up, and the lightning didn't strike him. God is incredibly patient! That should not instill in a believer a sense of entitlement to do wrong, but it should help us to be encouraged when we are alone with Him and embarrassed at a whole string of stupid choices that are totally our own fault. God isn't done with you yet - that is the message of His grace!

6. Mistakes overcome become our experience (9:29): "So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died". That seems like a sad sentence, until you examine it more closely. Noah lived longer than most anyone in the history of the planet. He lived a good LONG life. That means that he wasn't DONE when he was EMBARRASSED. He moved on from that dark night. Denis Waitley, American motivational Speaker and Author of self-help books was quoted as saying: "Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.” This is similar to what  Winston Churchill said:“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.”

7. Mistakes make us models for others (9:20-29)."So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died". [Yet he is remembered here!] God included the lesson of Noah's mistake so that we could be warned not to do the same thing. We cannot be lax in our lives, we must stay vigilant. We all let our guards down, and the enemy knows we do. Expect him to try to use that!

The comedian gone to Washington, Al Franken said: "Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." :-)

The Majesty of the Messiah - Micah the Prophet

Sharon was in a hurry. Her boss would never understand if she was late again. When her alarm didn’t go off, she awoke so late that she could barely get her makeup on and hair ready. Because of the snow and ice, she ran out to the car in her bathrobe and turned the car on, so that it might warm up a bit before she had to go to work. It was then she noticed the windshield was completely frozen over. She knew she was in trouble, because her scraper had broken and she wasn’t sure she could get the ice off the window. Back in the house, she hoped in vain that the warming of the engine would help to clear the ice a bit. By the time she got in the car to leave for work only a small portal was clear, barely enough to see, but she had so little time…

A few blocks away, Tommy was leaving the front stoop dressed in winter gear and very proud to be walking with the big boys. His mittens were on tight, and the snowsuit he was wearing barely gave him the ability to bend either arms or legs. He was warm, but barely able to walk. He looked like a child swallowed by a blueberry. His momma was gave him a hug, and watched in the doorway in spite of the rush of wind that almost burned as it hit her face and her legs. Snow was still swirling in the air as she waved goodbye to her little big man and lost sight of him…

Sharon had no idea how close to the curb she was riding. The street hadn’t been plowed in hours, and her viewing area of the windshield allowed her a very limited view of the world. She did not see little Tommy and his friends. She did not know how important this little guy was to a woman who was cleaning up breakfast in the house by the corner. She knew she was late, and she knew what she could see – and that wasn’t much. The power and weight of the car was unequally matched to the protection of the little blue snow suit. Tommy tripped while walking along the curb, and moments later Sharon and Tommy’s lives tragically crossed…

The truth is that we are a lot like Sharon. We don’t see the truth about life. Our windshield is quite small and our attention is on our immediate problems. We are focused only on PART of what is out there. We don’t see things as they are, and the consequences can be TRAGIC.

Let me explain: The created universe is all about drawing our eyes into the wonder of the glory of God. When we exchange God's glory for lesser things, the disorder yields greater depravity and distance from God. Sensing the Lord's direction for us at Grace, we will be breaking from our series today simply to look at the incredible promises of the Messiah that were given to Judah through the prophecies of the Book of Micah. If you haven't explored this prophet before, you are in for a treat!

Key Principle: When people see the majesty of the Messiah, all self strength will flee away. In His presence we will know that we have faced God! Doubt and trouble will flee, and we will be immersed in a view of HIM.

Take a moment to consider the message of an ancient prophet named Micah. His book, called by his name includes four oracles (messages) of judgment, each ending with a snapshot of Messiah and His future Kingdom. Look quickly at the bitter messages of judgment as each funnels into a beautiful picture of Messiah :

1:1-2:11 Round One of Judgment – ending with a Messianic snapshot in 2:12-13. The message was to the Kings of God’s people located both in Jerusalem and in Samaria. The sins of the north did not stop at the border… they spread into the city of God’s Temple. Micah outlined those sins as:

•    Idolatry (1:7) which was an outward manifestation of inner rebellion (1:5)
•    Greed (2:1) that showed itself in ill gotten gain (2:2).
•    Compromised lifestyles (2:5) that wish the standards to be silenced (2:6).

To these God offered an answer – Messiah’s Kingdom will stand in contrast to the compromised world and human perception.

Micah 2:12 “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with men. 13 “The breaker goes up before them; They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, And the LORD at their head.”

UNITY: God will gather His people together against all historical odds and hide them in a fold of the fields when the clamor of the world presses in (2:12). His Spirit will unify in a world that divides. His power will renew in a world that is decaying. Israel will live again, because Messiah says so. The same is true of the Spiritual Kingdom today – we are reborn, renewed and united. Many ideas may be different, our paths may not come from the same woods, but we are one church still. When the shade of darkness falls on the land, God will show the candles in the window that burn for Him – make no mistake. He gathers and protects His people and His plan. No enemy will break down the wall that He builds to protect us.

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The message to Israel was unmistakable – God would re-gather and renew the nation – all of them – north and south, to the land of their fathers and no one will stop Him. The message to us is also a spiritual truth – God knows how to draw together people in His love and grace and hold them amidst the clamor of the world about them.

POWER: The flock would be re-gathered and held in the Father’s fold amid a clamoring field of men’s evil devices. Eventually, in a time of God’s own choosing, the flock would break out of the fold and follow the shepherd with the Good News of freedom (2:13). A breach would be “punched” in the wall of the fold, and the sheep would push through, widening the way as they went. God was going to offer power to spread the message of the Kingdom and the way would widen as His sheep went through the breach!

Jesus used this passage to craft a response to questions about who John the Baptizer was. He said in Matthew 11:7 “As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! 9 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ 11 “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 14 “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Did you catch it? Jesus used the “remez” or hint technique, citing a passage from Micah about breaking out of a sheepfold. He said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John…” The terms “suffer violence” are hard to relate, but the problem is linguistic. Micah used a Hebrew idiom of a “breacher” or “poretz” in Hebrew. This common image didn’t translate well into Greek, but Jesus was explaining that the words of the prophets were “holed up” and John was breaking them out with the message the King had arrived. 

It was five of John’s followers that started following Jesus first. The message began with a handful of men – and has reached into 2 billion lives. That’s effective. That’s power. That’s movement. Never underestimate the power of God to save people. Never look at someone and think, they are beyond saving. If they are breathing, there is a chance.

Kindness is the eloquence that the hardest of hearts can feel, and the dullest of ears can hear. Philip Jenkins has noted: “Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and persecuted while it atrophies among the rich and secure.” It isn’t money the church in America lacks to reach neighbors – it is a heart that cares about what God cares about.

Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision said this: “Let my Heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God…” The power is there, and the resources have never been greater to reach people. The third characteristic is the one that is lacking…

SUBMISSION: Look at the end of Micah 2:13. The phrase is poetic, but powerful. “So their king goes on before them, And the LORD at their head!” The kingdom is led by a Great King – even the LORD.

Herein lies a problem. The message to Israel is that God will lead them with the King on the throne of Zion that He promised. It will happen. The people will be re-gathered, and Messiah will lead the nations after the Great Tribulation. Revelation 20 tells of the Kingdom that follows Revelation 6-19 and three sets of judgment of the Tribulation. That isn’t the problem. The spiritual principle to the spiritual kingdom is the problem. The verse clearly suggests that the kingdom of God is lead by Him. It says that His mastery over His people is the great character trait that marks them out.

The problem gets worse. Micah 3:1-4:8 offers another round of judgment – ending in a Messianic snapshot in 4:1-8. For time sake, I cannot look at the judgment, but we dare not miss the snapshot of the Messiah, for it amplifies His Majesty and Lordship over His people. Look at the passage in Micah 4 that finished round two of judgment:

4:1 “And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. 4 Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. 5 Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever. 6 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will assemble the lame And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. 7 “I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever. 8 “As for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come— Even the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

God promised the Jewish people that:

•    The UN will relocate to Zion and the world would look to the place of conflict for the answers to peace when the Prince of Peace resides there.

•    Nations will see in the God of Israel, the God of the Universe.

•    War will become a thing of the past because disputes will be settled in truth, not politics and power plays.

•    The beleaguered and scattered Jews will be gathered into their homeland and go from OUTCAST to STRONG NATION.

Why? Because of submission to their King. A kingdom with a strong submission and Righteous King empowered by God is unstoppable.

Why is that a problem? Well, in the physical future of Israel it isn’t – but in the spiritual application of the modern church it most definitely IS a problem.

We are punching cultural holes in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many so called “churches” are proclaiming that God’s plan is to bring Heaven to you, and to do it in the here and now.

Does God expect more than a belief that makes me strong, healthy and happy from me? Does He ask for more than a few Sunday hours from my schedule and the avoidance of the “big sins”?

What if the call of Christ is for His mastery over our whole lives – every thought, every decision?

Richard Steans asked: “What if belief is not enough, Sunday worship times not enough, personal morality not enough, Christian community not enough”… what if God was searching for the person He spoke of in 2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…."

The gospel wasn’t meant to give us concrete edifices and stain glass cathedrals. It was to CHANGE LIVES. Pastor John MacArthur’s prophetic words ring in here: “The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.”

If the Kingdom’s character is about FULL SUBMISSION to the King, let me ask this pointed question: ARE YOU READY TO SURRENDER TO GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE? Again to Richard Stearns words: “When we say we want to be His disciple yet we attach a list of conditions, Jesus refuses to accept our terms. His terms are unconditional surrender.”

For time sake, let me share that there are two more judgment oracles in the book, each capped off with a picture of Messiah. The THIRD round of judgment is found in 4:9-5:5a. The FOURTH is found in 5:5b-7:20 (the end of the prophecy). The last two oracles paint a majestic picture of Messiah.

If you are to submit to Him, don’t focus on the meager things this world offers, or you will make the mistake of Eve in the Garden. You will miss all the beauty and lushness and focus only on that which separates you from full use by you Father. If you are to submit to Him, see Him as He is revealed in Scripture. Stand in the warmth of His Presence. Take in a view of His Majesty.

We are starved for a true understanding of the Lord, and because of it many are half yielded, and half following. We dare not license this new Gospel of self fulfillment. It is selfishness clothed in misused Bible verses – nothing more. It promised to feed Eve’s desire to be like God – but it was a sham –and still it.

Gaze at the Messiah in the description of Micah in the THIRD Messianic snapshot:

Messiah is the product to TWO WORLDS: Heave and earth were joined when in Micah 5:2 the prophet proclaimed:  “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Messiah was from the children of David – a man. Yet Messiah was from eternity – God’s eternal Son.

Messiah came with a PLAN: Micah said in 5:3 “Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel.” It looks like He has forsaken Israel. They aren’t following Him today, and though the re-gathering has clearly begun, the Holocaust scars their hearts. That was because of the attack of the enemy, but it was also because of US. God’s plan was to “give them up” for a time, and then return to them. He has not cast off His people, Israel. He has allowed a time of bitterness that the world may hear of the Gospel. The verse ends with God’s return to Israel’s welfare. It is what Paul said:

Romans 11:25 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” 27 “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

Messiah comes to bring PEACE: Micah promised: 5:4 “And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God.  And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. 5 This One will be our peace….”

Yet, you must recall that peace comes through acknowledging His rightful mastery of the world. Israel will see it. The day will come, as the Book of Revelation shares that the world will not be in peace, but in terrible turmoil:

Revelation 16:1-18:19 tells of a set of future devastating judgments that are shockingly powerful and furiously crushing  - called the bowl or vial judgments. In them putrid boils form on all the followers of the beast – an anti-god Satanically empowered system. ALL the sea and its creatures are destroyed, the stench of which is unmistakable. The fresh water sources around the globe are fouled and fresh water marine life dies en masse. A horrible scorching sun causes the people of the earth to curse the God that made them until God answers them with a plague of darkness. The fouled Euphrates River is dried up, and the Near East gathers for one great and final war to crush the people that claim to be God’s personal possession – Israel.

With the sudden destruction that left their religious system in shambles (Rev. 17) and their markets and economy destroyed (Rev. 18), the people of the earth are convinced that Israel is somehow to blame and the nations turn to annihilate her. In desperation, Israel cries out to the God of the Ages, and He comes to them with a myriad of thousands in the sky. Dropping to their knees, the people acknowledge the Prince of Peace! (Rev. 19:11-20:10).

His rule brings peace, and Israel gets the long awaited Kingdom. As Micah says in the FOURTH Messianic Snapshot of Micah 7: 14 says: “Shepherd Your people with Your scepter, The flock of Your possession Which dwells by itself in the woodland, In the midst of a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old.”

The deliverance is striking and miraculous, as Micah goes on to say in 7:15 “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.”

The world’s mouths will drop open and they will see His Majesty, most for the very first time. They will know He is Lord and there is no other. Micah says: 7:16 “Nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, their ears will be deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a serpent, Like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; To the LORD our God they will come in dread And they will be afraid before You.

His people will see it, they will understand it. They will know that He is not one that shares the stage with any other important figure. He alone is the Lord of the Earth, the Creator of the Universe, the King above all Kings. But they will know HIS FORGIVENESS, HIS COMPASSION and HIS FAITHFULNESS.

The people will say: Micah 7:18 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. 20 You will give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.

The very appearance of the Savior is stunning. The realization that I am standing in His presence will remove all strength from ME and leave only a view of HIM.

Daniel went through it: Daniel 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult. 7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

The Disciples went through it: Matthew 17:1 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

John the Apostle went through it: Rev. 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last…

When we see the majesty of Jesus, the Promised Messiah, all self strength flees away. In His presence we know we have faced God! All fear recedes, and life takes shape in truth.

CS Lewis said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sin has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Reading the Map: “The Instruction Booklet to Your Brave New World” - Genesis 9:1-19

Noah never saw Paradise, but he had six hundred years to get to know his neighborhood and his neighbors. Now they were gone and a new life was beginning! God met Noah at the beginning of his new adventure. He meets us there too. He is the one holding the directions! 

Key Principle: Your new life comes complete with instructions – but they must be taken seriously!  

Noah needed five of them to get things going. I believe God recorded them because every new life, every new creation of God that has come out of an old life and is trying to grapple with their new one will find themselves faced with five new areas to grapple with:  

God’s Five Big Change Instructions  

Change One: New Responsibilities: When God renewed the world and Noah got off the boat, it was time to face some new responsibilities. Noah need God to spell it out. Get busy. Work the land. Have children and fill the place back up.   Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. God said it again in more elaborate terms in Genesis 9:7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”  

Though it seems simple, consider Noah’s perspective. He saw a full earth before, and it wasn’t good. The sinful practices of others could easily have made him GUN SHY. People in Port Au Prince are reporting they are struggling to sleep indoors after the earthquake. Some people say they don’t even want to go inside and WON’T live in a low rise building anymore. I think we can all understand that.   Noah lived in a time of darkness that would make anyone afraid to have kids. The Biblical description of his day was in Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” We have all seen those neighborhoods. The places where you feel sorry for small children and old people. The bad side of the tracks. Wouldn’t it be easy for Noah to conclude that there was no need for people to work at filling the place again?   Six hundred years of life was probably wearing him out. Watching all that you knew be destroyed was likely harder than anyone could understand. Being a preacher of righteousness to a doomed generation was no picnic, either. Losing everyone you ever knew beside the few on the ark with you had to come with nightmares. I cannot say for sure, but I do think we gloss over this restart too fast.   God helped Noah focus on the FUTURE and NEW LIFE, not on the past and the old one. That is a good word for those of you that have recently come to Jesus. Your new life has a new set of responsibilities – and they include gaining the strength to share what you have with others.   Back in May 2002 the Lilly Endowment sponsored a survey that involved interviews with 300,000 worshippers in 2,200 churches, representing 8 denominations. And they found that that ¾’s of churchgoers reported they came to church the 1st time because someone invited them. Yet 54 percent of those surveyed said they had not invited anyone to church in the past year. (Pentecostal Evangel, June 23, 2002, pg 11). Apparently, a lot of Christians just don’t invite people to come to Jesus. The “be fruitful and multiply” thing isn’t a popular message to the modern believer.  

Let me ask you something. Was Francois Fenelon right to ask this question: “To just read the Bible, attend church and avoid the “big sins” - is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?”   I truly believe what one writer said: “It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism that in our day and in our land is likely to quench the light of the Gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church going, hollow-hearted prosperity.”  

Men and women, less than 3 percent of the non-Christian people in the world ever just walk into a church. One man commented on that statistic by saying: Based on that information (only 3%) “…we will NEVER fulfill the Great Commission by building great buildings or by relying on flashy programs. If great cathedrals would win the world, Europe would have won it long ago.   The modern Christian – in so many cases – can best be pictured by the Lukewarm water of Laodicea in Revelation. I appreciated how Francis Chan offered some ideas about lukewarm believes (adapted):  

• Lukewarm people attend church regularly, because they do the expected thing. They give to charity and they act nice to people. The problem is they usually do the popular thing over the right thing.
• They hear about radical commitment to God, but they don't yield. They think it happens to SOMEONE, but not to THEM. They just cannot see it happening in their heart – breaking free from comfort, pleasure, FLESH – which barring one letter is nothing more than SELF spelled backwards.
• Lukewarm people make Jesus a part of their lives instead of giving their WHOLE LIVES to Him, because they trust Him for salvation, just not for their inner longing to be affirmed and significant.
• Lukewarm people love others, just not as much as they love themselves. They will give until it is inconvenient, love until it is a scheduling issue, sacrifice until it is unnoticed. They do enough to assuage guilt but not enough to break through to real intimacy.
• Lukewarm people play it safe, as slaves of the god of control. They won't forgive boundlessly, they won't love with abandon. Enough for salvation, but not enough for conversion. Their churches don't walk by real faith – but by a program, a statement of faith in place of a broken spirit and contrite heart.
• Lukewarm people measure Jesus by what they would give up, not by the size of His Majesty, the elegance of His Creation, the depths of His loving sacrifice to reach them. They are salt without taste – a bland and forgettable lot – a carefully cultivated tree without fruit.

I wonder if the reason we don’t invite our lost friends is that it would add to our responsibilities – and we just don’t want to do that. We like a new life that saved us from a devastating flood but doesn’t require any inspection – any expectation from someone else. 

Change Two: New Relationships: The animals were Noah’s friends. In a lot of ways they were great companions. They got care from Noah, and he was comfortable with them. God was about to change all that – He was going to make the relationship that used to feel natural seem everything BUT natural.   Genesis 9:2 “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.   The same thing will happen to you when you begin your new life. Your long time friends will sound different to you. They will not have the same desires as you do, and you will want to do things they cannot understand. If 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Means anything – it means a change of relationships comes into our lives.  

Look at an example from Paul’s life in the Book of Acts. Acts 9:10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. 23 When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.  

It is worth noting that when you make a commitment to Christ, it takes time for your old reputation to die. It also takes time for believers to learn to trust you. You may have been an important person in your old life, but when you come to Christ you start new. You may have been a great teacher, but only a foolish church would hand you a class too soon. We want to see God use your talents, but we know something a new believer does not – God is more interested in your character than your productivity. Young men and women are being inducted into pro sports because of talent, but without the development of character –the talent will not get them where they need to be.  

Change Three: New Diet: Noah was going to add meat to the grocery list. They knew that meat existed, but the altar barbeque was, up to this time, for God alone. Now God was adding to the menu. That may have seemed an easy switch to us in this day, but at first it probably looked as strange as our introduction of fried locusts to our menu.   Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.   Biblically speaking, our DIET is all that we take inside ourselves. When God calls us to Himself, He carefully warns us to regulate the intake valves of the world’s goods. Their diet is not our diet. The world comes into a believer’s life through sense that are allowed freedoms – we must choose wisely.   Remember, sin is an appetite that intensifies when we feed it. If you lust and watch lustful things, your desire to lust will grow. If you gossip – the more you do, the more you will desire to gossip. It is because the WORLD system is bent that way:  

1. The world system has developed an opposing sense of wisdom to God’s truth and misunderstands and often hates those who trust God. Col 2:8 - Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 1Jo 3:13 - Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

 

2. Our salvation was (in part) to pull us out of the world system and empower us to walk pleasing to our Heavenly Father. Galatians 1:4 [Jesus] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 2 Peter 1:4 - Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

 

3. It is possible for a believer to show greater allegiance for this fallen world then for the things of God by their walk. 2 Tim. 4:10 - For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

 

4. Believers can please God while in this world, but only if we walk according to the teachings of His Holy Word. Jas 1:27 – Pure [godly practice] religion [that is] and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 1John 5:4-5 - For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

5. Believers do not have the option of straddling the fence of both the fallen system of influence and pleasing God. Jas 4:4 - Ye adulterers and adulteresses, 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.  1John 2:15-16 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

6. God offered a Solution: transformation of your MIND will stop you from being pressed into the mold of the world system. The specific agent of our transformed mind is the truth of the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God. Rom. 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 1 Cor. 2:12 - Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Let me tell you the modern fable of a rat that decided to chew through a steel cable. You know a rat can’t chew through steel, but he thought he could. So he began to chew away on this steel cable. Of course, his little mouth hurt to start with, but before long, he couldn’t even feel anything. His mouth became deadened. That’s the way sin is. But then he chewed and chewed, and before long he saw blood on the steel cable. Thinking in his little rat brain, “I’m hurting this steel cable, it’s bleeding.” not knowing it was his own blood. In this little modern fable, the rat chewed and chewed away until it chewed itself to death. That is exactly the picture of a person who gets into sin. Oh, it bothers you to start with, but then you get used to it. And then you say, hey, “This is all right.” Before you know it, death. The Bible promises sin always leads to death. The Bible says where lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. That is the word of God.  

Change Four: New Values: To a follower of God, something has value because God says it does. His Word is the mark of truth, and we follow a value system He has set. God told Noah that life was incredibly precious. I suspect that Noah felt that way after the flood. All that death had to affect him deeply – good people or not.  

“He played the French Horn at age 12. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally with some of the top jazz musicians of the day. He became the first black musician to break the Hollywood color barrier as a composer. He’s best known as the composer of the score for The Color Purple. But it hasn’t come easy. Quincy Jones has been married three times, survived two brain surgeries, and endured a complete emotional breakdown. Many years ago he faced surgery for an aneurysm that threatened to kill him. The doctors told him that his chances of recovery were 100 to 1. Miraculously, he survived. Jones was asked, "What did you start doing differently after your operation?" Jones said, "The first thing I started doing was hugging a lot. When you get to be 50, you start dealing with the countdown, and you can deal with it in a positive or a negative way. I [see] this little life to be this great gift. You know that old cliché about your life passing in front of you? Well, it really does." —Ray Pritchard    

What Quincy Jones discovered is that life is short and that affected his values. When you look at Scripture, what you see is that PEOPLE have value because God put a stamp of Himself in them:  Genesis 9:4 “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man  

It is not the quality of life of the man – it is his Creator.  

Change Five: New Promises: God told Noah that he could COUNT on the fact that condemnation like that would not come again. God provided a sign that people could see and periodically recall for themselves. Noah could walk through life with a covenant promise from God:  

Genesis 9:8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11 “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” 18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.  

Seven times God used the word COVENANT. The term BERITH is a Hebrew term for CUTTING. God literally “cuts” a covenant. He SACRIFICES something to offer a covenant to men – it is the way a covenant works. God sacrificed His absolute right to completely destroy men at the time of their sinning. He sacrificed a right that Peter showed later would cause people to say the flood never happened and there is no God to bring judgment on sinful man.   God then promised them a symbol that would explain His patience with men – not to judge them before the end. It was a symbol of great colors and creativity. It was refracted light – bent light – ways of looking at something.   God told Noah he had a new life – but it was to FOLLOW HIM!   The preacher of a large church in MO went to see an advertising executive. He said his church had marketing dollars to spend and wondered which medium would be most cost effective for them. Television? Radio? Newspaper? The executive paused, then said, “I recommend that you construct a single billboard.” The answer was surprising to the preacher to the point of being comical, but he listened patiently. The executive said, “Build that billboard on your church property and face the message inward, toward your parking lot.” Huh? The confused preacher suspected his question had been misunderstood. The executive went on to explain, “You don’t need advertising. In your church members you have what amounts to the largest sales force in town. Use the billboard to encourage your people to do what God has called them to do.” 

(From Francis Chan's book: Crazy Love) “Brooke Bronkowski was fourteen years old when she wrote these deep and touching words in an article in her journal called “Since I Have My Life Before Me”. She wrote: I'll live my life to the fullest. I'll be happy. I'll brighten up. I will live more joyfully than I ever have been. I will be kind to others. I will loosen up. I will teach others about Christ. I will go on adventures and change the world. I will be bold and not change who I really am. I will have no troubles but instead help others with their troubles.   You see, I will be one of those people who live to be history makers at a young age. Oh,  I'll have moments, good and bad, but I will wipe away the bad and only remember the good. In fact, that's all I remember, just good moments, nothing in between, just living my life to its fullest. I'll be one of those people who go somewhere with a mission, an awesome plan, a world-changing plan, and nothing will hold me back. I'll set an example for others, I will pray for direction.   I have my life before me. I will give others the joy that I have, and God will give me more joy. I will do everything God tells me to do. I will follow the footsteps of God. I will do my best!!!   “During her freshman year in High School, Brooke was killed in a car accident while driving to the movies. Her life on earth ended when she was just fourteen, but her impact didn't. Nearly 1500 people attended Brooke's memorial service. People from her public high school read the poems that she had written about her love for God. Everyone spoke of her example and her joy.   I shared the Gospel and invited those who wanted to know Jesus to come up and give their lives to Him. There must have been at least two hundred students. On their knees at the front of the church praying for salvation, ushers gave a Bible to each of them. They were Bibles that Brooke had kept in her garage, hoping to give them to all of her unsaved friends. In one day, Brooke led more people to the Lord than most ever will.   In her brief fourteen years on earth, Brooke was faithful to Christ. Her short life was not wasted. The words from her essay seemed prophetic: “You see, I will be one of those people who live to be history makers at a young age.”  

Your new life comes complete with instructions – but they must be taken seriously!

Life in the Plan B Zone: “Dead End” - Zechariah 10

By now you have all heard that we are again experiencing a "sink hole" problem in Central Florida. Our main road north is closed because it dropped into the earth. As I was making my way north, I found that I needed to provide an alternative route by taking roads in unfamiliar territory. With each turn, I felt anxious, because I wasn't sure the turn I was making wasn't a dead end. When you aren't sure of the road ahead, there is a real fear you will face - but you needn't face it without confidence.

Key Principle: There is no need to fear your future when God is your Lord. He makes a plan and gets it done every time to tell His story to the universe.

The story in Zechariah 10 is another prophetic story of God’s plan for Israel. A few years had passed since they completed the second Temple in Jerusalem, One generation had seen it operate, and the modest size and the vassal relationship with Babylon wore a rut in the hearts of God’s people. They weren’t feeling the successes that earlier generations of Israelites felt. Their northern kingdom brothers and cousins seemed lost in the sands of time. The great days of David and Solomon were long ago. The prophets arose to bring them hope, but laced within the words were salty, pointed epithets that offered conviction. They were INFORMED, but often they were not feeling INSPIRED.

They were like the WWII pilots that flew missions over the Nazi territory – feeling the seriousness of the hour and the weight of the duty – but without the poet’s sense of awe at the heavens they flew through. There was one man who saw it differently:

From “Great Aviation Quotes” comes this inspiring memorial: “During the desperate days of the Battle of Britain, hundreds of Americans crossed the border into Canada to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Knowingly breaking the law, but with the tacit approval of the then still officially neutral United States Government, they volunteered to fight the Nazis. John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was one such American. Born in Shanghai, China, in 1922 to an English mother and a Scotch-Irish-American father, Magee was 18 years old when he entered flight training. Within the year, he was sent to England and posted to the newly formed No 412 Fighter Squadron, RCAF, which was activated at Digby, England, on 30 June 1941. He was qualified on and flew the Supermarine Spitfire. Flying fighter sweeps over France and air defense over England against the German Luftwaffe, he rose to the rank of Pilot Officer. On 3 September 1941, Magee flew a high altitude (30,000 feet) test flight in a newer model of the Spitfire V. As he orbited and climbed upward, he was struck with the inspiration of a poem — "To touch the face of God." Once back on the ground, he wrote a letter to his parents. In it he commented, "I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." On the back of the letter, he jotted down his poem, 'High Flight.' Just three months later, on 11 December 1941 (and only three days after the US entered the war), Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was killed. The Spitfire V he was flying, VZ-H, collided with an Oxford Trainer from Cranwell Airfield flown by one Ernest Aubrey. …At the enquiry a farmer testified that he saw the Spitfire pilot struggle to push back the canopy. The pilot, he said, finally stood up to jump from the plane. John, however, was too close to the ground for his parachute to open. He died instantly. He was 19 years old.” Listen to what he wrote at 30,000 feet:

“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

John Gillespie Magee got it right. A 19 year old saw the beauty and poetry in doing his work. He noticed the world, but he saw it as the work of his Creator. He was INSPIRED, not just INFORMED.

Israel was in need of serious realignment with the Majesty of God. They needed the GRAND CANYON view of God. No one goes to overlook the vastness of the Grand Canyon to gain SELF ESTEEM. They were starved for a vision of the Glory of God – not a vision of self! They were nearing a Dead End. God told them that He was going to work in them as He promised.

Let’s take a minute and look at what God promised to Israel in Zechariah 10, and then we will look at seven instructions that every believer can use to avoid the Dead Ends of life – all by applying the principles found in the text.

We need to be careful not to be so anxious to apply God’s Word that we torque it out of the context of what God was saying and to whom He was speaking. This passage is to Israel and about Israel. Look at the breakdown of the text:

God told the people to call out to Him, now that the time of the Spring Rain (the time of the grain harvest) was ready. The prophets used the term “latter rain” for the end times. God wanted the Jewish people that were demoralized to go ahead and ask Him to bring out the latter times He promised them (10:1). They needed to put away any false sources of information, because they were only going to be judged for their false words (10:2-3). The God unloaded His promises again:

• A Messiah will come from you! (5).

• A fighting force will be raised up that will drive others more equipped away as they are restored to their former land (6).
• They will dance in the streets over the return (7).
• I will then continually pull them home in waves to the land, and they will be huge again (8).
• Though they are sown into the nations, they will remain distinct and they will return unique (9).
• They will come from many lands until they are stuffed into the small land! (10).
• Even after those days, a Great Tribulation will come upon them, and I will deliver them from their enemies (11).
• Finally I will renew them and they will walk in MESSIAH’S name (12).

Incidentally, Egypt and Assyria were both mentioned as places the people will return from. Interestingly enough, both had Jewish communities that were significant. We did not know until excavations in the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth centuries about the Jewish band at Elephantine, near Aswan today. The excavations of papyri showed a Babylonian Jewish brigade that built a Temple in Elephantine and were corresponding with the Temple at Jerusalem. It was eventually restored, but modern excavations have revealed the connection that Zechariah was referring to. The Elephantine papyri offer some of the best information about how the ancient Temple functioned, and the oldest marriage documents in the Jewish world. The Temple was destroyed by Egyptian priests that did not like the idea of a Jewish Temple on their soil. The Temple was apparently to the Lord God of Israel, but also included other various deities.

The point is that God promised Israel’s restoration, and He intended to keep His word. They were small and it was hard to believe, but God wanted them to ask Him to bring on the end times, because He wanted to encourage them with His faithful character!

This prophetic story has rich application for the believer beyond just telling a story of dead men long ago. The principles found in this portion offer:

Seven Instructions to God’s People to Help them Avoid a “Dead End”:

God’s people should seek Him confidently concerning their future! (10:1). God has the power and God has the plan, but He has made it so that His people can participate. We lose all strength when we try to bring about the future without Him. We lose all joy when we try to avoid the future through worry.

• He alone Has the might of the Heavens (not Baal – or the gods made up by the world).
• He alone will bring the planned end (the latter rains and the grain harvest -  used prophetically as “end times”).

Zechariah 10:1 Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain—The LORD who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man.

God’s people should avoid the traps of false information! (10:2). The enemy also has a plan – to disrupt the walk of the believer and get them caught up in lies. He is the “father of lies” and he wants to boost fear by confounding the trust the believer has in God’s unfaltering word. He plants false beliefs and false speakers that destroy and demoralize the work and confuse the followers.

• They are found in superstition.
• They are found in spokesman that tell lies– offering a false view of the future and bringing comfort from lies.
• They leave people nowhere, with no true direction and no true leader.

10:2 For the teraphim speak iniquity, And the diviners see lying visions; And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep, They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

God’s people should not follow self appointed sources! (10:3a). The enemy plants lies and liars (above), but for an added measure of confusion, some appoint themselves to help as the confusion grows. They may WANT to help, but they have neither the call nor the true makeup to be a shepherd – for they are goats! The way to tell is to see if they possess the character of the shepherd and if they possess a knowledge of the owner’s desires as well as a history of following that desire.

• God will chasten those who claim to lead -- but don’t.
• God will chastise those He did not appoint – but insist on taking control.

10:3 “My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats;

God’s people should watch His unfolding plan closely! (10:3b-5). God is doing now what He said He would do in the past. Know His promises, and walk with confidence! He will make wild asses into majestic horses. He will use them to bring plant in the lives of people the Messiah. He will fight His enemy with His faithful ones. He will use them to uproot larger and better equipped armies!

• The Lord’s prior revelation should give them confidence.
• He has set to make them something honorable! (majestic horse -3b).
• He will take from among them the key support that will hold all together. (cornerstone - 4a).
• He will raise up the One on whom all valuables can be trusted (tent peg – 4b).
• He will use them to defeat enemies (bow, all together – 4b-5).
• He will bring victory though the enemies have better implements to fight with (riders put to shame – 5b).

10:3b: “For the LORD of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah, And will make them like His majestic horse in battle. 4 “From them will come the cornerstone, From them the tent peg, From them the bow of battle, From them every ruler, all of them together. 5 “They will be as mighty men, Treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; And they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; And the riders on horses will be put to shame.

God’s people should trust His Word more than what they see in their present world (10:6-7). If the people of God look at the situation they are in with fleshly eyes, they will fail. They must see the God of the impossible. They must trust that He will deliver them and restore them to an intimacy and blessing they have only heard of. The day is coming when the rejoicing will be all there is!

• The scenario God offers may not look overwhelmingly clear or even possible at times – but He will do it! (6).
• He will do the impossible for the sake of His chosen plan and people (6b).
• He knows how to “give back what the locusts have eaten” (6b, cp. Joel).
• He puts His name on the line with His Word. (6b).
• Though sorrow may be our lot today, we have the promise of joy tomorrow (7).

10:6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them; And they will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God and I will answer them. 7 “Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will be glad as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be glad, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD.

God’s people should move at His command, having been set free from the captor. (10:8-10). God has redeemed a people for Himself, and they must move at His call. They must leave the places they are FROM and become what He is shaping – an army of the redeemed.

• When God calls – the people are drawn together.
• Their size will be considerable. Separate they are weak, together they will be strong.
• In small pockets the Kingdom grew, but it will be pulled together to bring strength!

10:8 “I will whistle for them to gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as numerous as they were before. 9 “When I scatter them among the peoples, They will remember Me in far countries, And they with their children will live and come back. 10 “I will bring them back from the land of Egypt and gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, Until no room can be found for them.

God’s people need to recognize that they are not exempt from troubles, but He will lead them through! (10:11-12). God’s plan for His people is not to avoid the pain of the wilderness. The way to the Promised Land is through the wilderness of distress. He led His people there before, and He will do so again.

10:11 “And they will pass through the sea of distress, And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down, And the scepter of Egypt will depart. 12 “And I will strengthen them in the LORD, And in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.

Before we leave the passage, don't forget that the application is not more important than the literal promise God made to a real people. It is not just an example - it is happening in our lifetimes! Don't forget:

• Israel is the only nation of the world with a land deed signed by the Almighty Himself (Gen. 15:18-21).
• God's land was deeded to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob in perpetuity, with a conditional access of the land based on obedience (Dt. 28:15,36,41,63). Possession was conditional, ownership was not. Talk about the time Israel was out of the land if you want, but the Bible says the argument is invalid because God titled it to their children forever.
• The modern return of the Jewish people IS a prophetic event. Since the prophets proclaimed that God would restore the nation, many still teach that was completed when the people came back into the land after the exile. That cannot be the case - Jesus said that it would happen in the future (Lk. 21), and the only events that have followed His words are the dispersion by the Romans and the regathering in the C20th. Beside, the prophets saw Israel go into exile as two nations – Israel and Judah, but repeatedly declared that BOTH the nation's Jews would return (Jer. 3:18; Hosea 1:11; Ezekiel 37), something that cannot truly be said of any earlier time before our own.
• Some say the prophecies of Israel are unimportant. They reveal a lack of understanding. Remember, God declared Jerusalem as the “center of the nations” (Exekiel 5:5) and the Jewish people as “the apple of His eye” (even when they were walking in disobedience – Zechariah 2:8).
• Their troubles make sense, for Jerusalem was promised to “Have no rest until she becomes the praise of all the earth!” (Isaiah 62).
• There is no other city but Jerusalem that has a specific injunction to pray for her (Psalm 122:6).
• There is no other people who have received a Divine promise that God would “Bless those that bless them” (Gen 12:3).
• There is no other people to whom God declared “Salvation is of” (John 4).
• There is no other people of whom God declare “all shall be saved” (Romans 11).
• The nations that surround Israel are also slated to bless the world (Isaiah 19), so  Arab believers both within the borders of Israel and around the world deserve our love, support and care – provided they will not support her destruction.

God is moving the Jewish people back to the land. The UN hates it. The world court is against it. Islam has pledged its destruction because it is a denial of the Koran and an affirmation of the literal nature of Bible prophecy... Make no mistake, we are on a collision course with the prophetic Word of the living God. He shall not forsake them. He shall not forget. He will save as He promised. No army will stop Him, no court will block Him, no assembly will forbid Him, no king will usurp Him. God delivers what He promises.

Take comfort in that truth – not only for Israel but for your life as well. He began a work in you. He saved you, and He is speaking to you, Stop fearing the future and follow Him with your whole heart – no reservations, no exclusions, no hesitation. Drop your guard from you God and get on board. He will deliver you complete to the glory stop He has always had in mind for His children. He knows what He is doing, and there is no need to fear.

Seven Charges to the Shepherd - 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Paul charged Timothy to do seven things as a faithful minister in 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Periodically, every Pastor needs to remind themselves with this short list.   2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (NASB)  

At the core, Shepherding the flock of God is about communication, correction and care:  

PERSUADE: "preach the word": Paul’s first admonition was to "Preach the word of God." Kerudzon is to persuade. We must be prepared to be persuasive. The goal is transformation by the Spirit, not information by the Seminary professor. Don’t just "give a little talk" – demand life change – first in yourself, then in others. Preach the Word not about the word.  

POSITION: Paul’s second admonition was “be instant” which means to "stand upon, be always at hand." You must be ever growing in knowing the Word and standing on the Word. Whether the truth is received (in season) or rejected (out of season) hold fast the truth as lead by the Holy Spirit. Preach the truth at anytime whether it’s popular or not.  

PERFORM: Paul charged a third admonition: “Patiently and Instructively Reprove, Rebuke and Exhort”  

• The word reprove is Elengchó which is to “expose” or “Convict”. Preach the convicting truth and expose the darkness first in yourself, then in others.
• The word rebuke is epitimaó which means “to mete out due measure, sternly telling”. It is to Correct. We need to measure our words but tell the truth even when it is hard to do. You don’t bring your own message, so you must be careful to stick to God’s Word.
• The word exhort is from parakaleó – the word for encourager. Call them near to comfort them, even after the reproving and rebuking.

PERSIST: A fourth admonition is inferred in the statment: “The time will come…” Do not measure your worth by their acceptance of the truth – but by the reaction of your Savior to what you are doing. The hunger for affirmation will kill your ministry. Paul says that some will no longer endure sound doctrine, but turn away from it. Stay the course. Don’t keep dumbing it down and shortening it up. Don’t keep making Christianity easier. Let God set the yoke and He will make it light.  

PEER: Fifth, be sober (nephe: alert and attentive): Paul says stay alert, watching for Satan and his attacks, erring believers, coming waves of temptation.  

PERSEVERE: Sixth, endure hardship (kakopatheó: suffer or endure through evil or affliction).  Learn to role with the attacks and allow God the victory. There will be hardships, attacks on you, your wife, your home all things will come under attack. . But you must persevere in all and keep on serving God.  

PROCLAIM: Seventh, do the work of an evangelist: keep on proclaiming the good news. In all these things, you will "make full proof of your ministry."

Life in the Plan B Zone: “The Other End of the Seesaw” - Zechariah 9

 

I think it happened in Kindergarten, but I can’t honestly remember. I remember we were at my dad’s company picnic, a big event put on by Mobil Oil for their employees and families. A kid I knew from school asked me if I wanted to get on the seesaw with him. I looked at him, and he was, shall we say, a bit chunky. I was a skinny little bean pole of a boy and I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. I thought to myself, “Ok, but I don’t think you’ll be getting off the ground!” What I didn’t know was that he had no intention of getting off the ground. What he wanted to do was to get me stuck up there in the air and then threaten to drop me hard whenever he wanted. He was a kindergarten power thug. I learned early that the seesaw requires a certain amount of trust. If the person on the other end is heavier, they control the times when you are in the air. Because they can stay down and leave you hanging in the sky, they also have ample opportunity to jump off and cause you to plummet to the ground. Putting your trust in others based on their temporary ability to look powerful will lead to pain.  

The seesaw power play is an important lesson for life. We must share our life with the One that we can trust – and I don’t mean your mate, your boos or your Congressman. To put your fate in any other is a dangerous game. God has a good word on this subject tucked into an old prophecy. Look carefully at the very first verse of Zechariah 9:1 “The burden of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach, with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD),”  

The author says he will share a story of God’s promises concerning the Aramean Kingdom (now Syria) – the land of Hadrach (the regional name) ruled by the throne found in Damascus. Yet, tucked in the end of this announcement is a secret. It is the great lesson of the passage. It is the song of every person who is in despair and awaits justice. It is the call of the woman in the abusive marriage, the child in the home of the angry alcoholic – it is the call of all who await right to wash away wrong, and promise to wash away pain. It is the vision of HOPE placed in trustworthy hands.  

Key Principle: The believer must keep his focus on the Lord, where the enduring promises will all be upheld. The world will make promises it has no power to keep.  

I want to show you the principle clearly, but we have a difficult passage to tackle to show it. Our task in this lesson is to understand and then yield our hearts to the truth of this passage. Yet, there are a few things we must say about the passage before we start exploration that will help us to understand where the author is going.  

• First, the passage is prophetic in character – so its primary purpose was to carry a message of hope to God’s people concerning those who had gotten away with crimes – and to help them be patient with God’s promised judgment on the perpetrators. Prophecy is God’s perspective on events – and in this case the events are FUTURE to the people of 480 BCE when the prophecy was given, but are HISTORY to those of us who read the passage today. The events it foretold took place one hundred and fifty or so years after the message was given.

 

• Second, if you look even quickly at the passage, you will note that it ADDRESSES issues that are for people who were not believers. The encouragement is written to the believers about the judgment, but the judgment is an indictment to people who would neither read it, nor believe it. Zechariah 9:2 And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. 3 For Tyre built herself a fortress, And piled up silver like dust, And gold like the mire of the streets.

 

• Third, the passage has a purpose on our lives beyond telling prophecy and history – it is meant for our transformation to godliness. That means we must understand the MESSAGE of the text to the Arameans and Israelites of long ago, but we dare not stop there. We also need to carefully examine the process and principles of the events to reveal God’s character and works which are unchanging. 

To do that, I want to look over the passage with two different sets of eyes. The first set will be what the passage said to the people who heard the promises as physical realities. I want to know what God promised to do to Syria and why. I want to know what consolation this offered God’s children and how. But that is not all I want to know. I want to know how the message can be applied to living in the twenty-first century and following Jesus Christ.  

To begin with, look at the five pronouncement that were made to historic peoples:  

1. The passage made a pronouncement to a world power – Syria in 9:1-4.

To WORLD POWERS, God has a special warning we do well to heed even today. God warns them not to trust the things world powers are always inclined to trust:   9:2b…” though they are very wise. 3 For Tyre built herself a fortress, And piled up silver like dust, And gold like the mire of the streets.   Can you see the three traps to world powers? Note the words: WISE, FORTRESS and SILVER/GOLD. World powers become depositories of education and expertise. They grow strong in their defense industries. They become wealthy. Yet without the choice to follow God, they will eventually be disappointed because they put their trust in KNOWLEDGE, STRENGTH and WEALTH. None of these last in any of us, and they won’t last in society. A fool says he doesn’t need God because he is smart, strong or successful. A foolish country bans God from its public square to appease every godless person who may be offended.   God shares the end of such misplaced hope and trust. Zechariah 9:4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And cast her wealth into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire. The Bible says that she will simply have her wealth wash to other places and “go down in flames”. Psalm 144:15 says “How blessed are the people who are so situated; How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!” 

2. The passage made a second pronouncement to smaller allies of that power – Philistine cities in 9:5-7).

To ALLIES of the powerful that have followed their ways, God offered the warning: Zechariah 9:5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited. 6 And a mongrel race will dwell in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.   Because they have lapped up the garbage lifestyle and sought vigorously to follow the immoralities of their WORLD POWERS, look at the results. The words of God are these:   You will live in fear as you watch them fall. You will suffer deep pains when their system fails you. You will be angry and disappointed when their assurances fail you. Your rulers who were “in bed” with world powers will find themselves deposed. Your cities will be flooded with foreign voices and your proud heritage will be seen only in monuments on streets filled with foreigners that care nothing for them.   God’s specific word to the ALLIES was that He would: Zechariah 9:7 “I will remove their blood from their mouth, and their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron like a Jebusite.” God promised to cut out of their lives the false and abhorrent practices of religion they boasted in – the pig offerings they were so fond of. God promised that they would fade as a distinct people and be no more.  

3. The passage made a pronouncement to Jerusalem - concerning God’s protection for His Temple in Jerusalem in 9:8.  

TO JERUSALEM that was still slowly recovering from the captivity, but now a vibrant city with an operating Temple, God said: Zechariah 9:8 “But I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.” From 150 years before the coming of Alexander the Great and later Antiochus IV who attempted to desecrate the Temple and subdue it entirely came a prophecy that God wanted more from His Temple and was about to guard the waves that would attempt to destroy the word He wanted to accomplish in His people.  

4. The passage made to believers - a pronouncement of the Coming King (Messiah) to Judah – 9:9-12.

TO BELIEVERS God offered words that Messiah was going to come. He would ride into the city on the back of a servant vehicle – a donkey, and not simply a white horse. Jesus knew this and called the disciples to get a donkey for that very reason in Luke 19. Look at the passage in Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Deliverance of Judah and Ephraim.” Right after the promise that some would attempt to attack the Temple and God would rescue it, came a promise of PEACE through the Messiah.  

The believer of long ago wanted to follow God, but he got TIRED of constantly battling a hostile world. Can you feel what he was going through. Jews for centuries knew what it was like to be Brit Hume the day after you said Tiger Woods could find redemption in Jesus. People wanted his head for suggesting that Buddhism that Tiger espouses, that would make HIM a god, was probably not a good strategy for winning back his family and finding forgiveness – for gods don’t need forgiveness and obviously Tiger is in need of something. Brit simply made an observation that Jesus Saves people that are broken, and got flayed for it on broadcasts across the country. News flash: Christians believe sinners can be set free; Buddhists don’t believe in sin. Some Americans think that his behaviors seem like sin to them, and denying it and acting godlike isn’t going to keep his family together. I pray that Brit will call him, and that he will take the call. There really can be help there.  

God continued to His people in Zech 9:11 “As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 12 Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.” He reminded them of FULFILLED PROMISES as He unfolded NEW PROMISES.  

5. The passage made a pronouncement to an unknown but rising start - Greece - of the battle with Alexander the Great and His Generals (the Diadoche) who would attempt to subdue the Jewish people, and the Maccabee fights that would come to the people – 9:13-17. The fifth one is especially significant, because Greece was not yet a dominating power in much of the Mediterranean region. It was 150 year before the time of Alexander the Great!

TO THE RISING STAR God warned that they would be used by His hand to accomplish His purposes. in Zechariah 9: 13 “For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.   Interesting that God was not going to be surprised when Alexander swept the known world, He was designing what was coming. He knew and He worked behind the scenes making the nations into swords. He is unfolding His story through His people to His world. God ended by warning Greece that He would defeat there overt efforts to dominate His people – something the Macabbees experienced as they fought against the Greek generals following Alexander’s death. We get the Chanukkah story from this time, but the prophecy was 300 years before that time!   14 Then the LORD will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And will march in the storm winds of the south. 15 The LORD of hosts will defend them. And they will devour and trample on the sling stones; And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, Drenched like the corners of the altar. 16 And the LORD their God will save them in that day As the flock of His people; For they are as the stones of a crown, Sparkling in His land. 17 For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish (grain harvest – the time of engagements), and new wine the virgins (Early winter – the time of weddings).  

OK, you have patiently waded through the historical detail. Now what does that have to do with us. Well, the simply fact is that PLAN B life is a START OVER of life when we come to Christ. The passage says there are FOUR STAGES of entering a PLAN B life:  

Stage One: In your darkened life (9:1-7) you followed the course of this world. You trusted wealth, wisdom and strength. You thought in your lost-ness that people that were wealthy had it made… that people that were knowledgeable were going places … that people that were built were all the rage. The fact is that wisdom has its place – but also its limitations. Smart people lost their money in this Great Recession, not just dumb ones. Great bodies become great has been bodies. French models become senior citizens too. Plastic can only do so much. Some watched those you believed in fall and became afraid, were dislodged from your comfortable place and couldn’t stop moving because of restlessness. You look back on your DARK LIFE and realize you did STUPID things – things that you know God hated and you feel dumb even today thinking back.  

Stage Two: God moved in (9:8-12) and you experienced the touch of God. Jesus came in and camped in your heart, You don’t have to fight all your battles alone, for you know the Master. The One who came as a servant has been enthroned in your heart. You fight with God is over, and your fight FOR God is just beginning. You know He brought peace to your heart, now you hope for that peace to come to your neighbors and your world. He saved you from the pit for a purpose – and you want to fulfill it.  

Stage Three: The battle was joined (9:13-15) and though I have peace with God, the enemy is raging in my home town to keep my Master’s name from the ears of people. The powerful world system stands opposed to the truth of Jesus, and I have His empowering to stand amidst the fight. I can use the armor He provides and the powers He supplies!   The battle we fight against the enemy of darkness is not imagined – it is quite real.

Stage Four: The promises are realized (9:16-17) and I can fight through this life with confidence! I am NOT ALONE in this fight – for the BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD. When Zechariah 9:16 proclaims that “God will save them in that day as the flock of His people”, I am aware that I do not possess in myself the resources to win, but I have them in Him!  

The believer must keep his focus on the Lord, where the enduring promises will all be upheld. The enemy can promise, but he cannot deliver. The world can promise but they cannot deliver.

Reading the Map: “Welcome to Your Brave New World” - Genesis 8

When Mark met Joanie he had no idea what his life was going to be like. She was a beautiful, vibrant woman. Her brown hair was short, and it matched her active lifestyle. A short time into their dating experience, Mark knew she was “the one”. In a short time they were married and happy when Joanie got pregnant. As an athlete, she was never happier then when she worked out, and the conditioning seemed to really pay off in her pregnancy. She had a healthy baby forming, and the doctors offered no specific cautions. All signs pointed to a great event! No one could foresee the terrible events of the day she delivered her baby, but as they unfolded a tiny baby was welcomed into a whole new brave world. The baby was breach, but the doctor was not so worried – they took their time to move the baby into position. When Joanie passed out completely, the doctor seemed mystified. Drawing a curtain around his new wife, Mark stood powerlessly on the outside as the doctors began to stir. Ushered into the hallway, Mark sat in horror watching a team of people respond to a sound of alerts. In minutes, Joanie’s doctor stepped out into the hall and sat down with Mark. “Mark”, he said, “Joanie has torn part of her aorta and is bleeding internally. We have had to sedate her and begin to try to repair the damage, but I must prepare you – the chances are very poor. She has lost a lot of blood and there was little we could do until we took the baby. We have delivered a baby girl, and she will be prepped for emergency surgery. Your baby will be in with the nurse.” “Can I see Joanie?” “No Mark, she is already going out the back elevator and heading for the surgical wing. There just isn’t time, and she is sedated.” “How about the baby?” Mark asked. “Sure, when you are ready, let the nurse know and we will get another room for you to be with the baby.”… That was the last time he saw Joanie alive. They talked just that morning about the baby, the unfinished paint in the nursery of their apartment, of feed the cat before they left home. As Mark sat with his little baby girl, his eyes wouldn’t stop crying. “Welcome to the brave, new world, little one. Mommy left us here, so it is you and me, kid. We’ll be all right… We’ll take it one day at a time.” Mark held this little bundle and couldn’t believe the changes in the world that happened right before his eyes that day.

There was a man long ago that saw God change the world in front of him. He felt the loss of his whole world – neighbors, friends, stores, houses, farms. Genesis 7 tells the story of Noah, his family, and the animals in the great redemption story from a demonic and mongrelized world within, filled with destructive violence without. The story in Genesis 8 begins about 150 days after the ark door closed – a time when the haranguing of his sin-sick neighbors was nothing but a distant memory. The years as a "preacher of righteousness" were gone, as was the crowd to preach the message to. There was no banging on the ark, no cries for mercy to ignore, no sounds of life beyond that which was on board and the sea life beneath. The story of Genesis 8 is the entrance to a brave, new world. It is a picture of something that any follower of the Lord today can understand.  

Let me explain: When we were first confronted with our sinfulness in the Gospel message, we knew it was true. The Spirit of God did a work in our heart and we bowed our face to the ground and asked for the redeeming work of Jesus to make us new and clean before our Heavenly Father. What seemed like an instant transfer from death to life actually began a chain of events that has systematically changed us from the inside out. Genesis 8 demonstrates in the physical something that still happens in the physical. When you consider carefully the progression of the story, you can pick out six steps to entry into the brave new world.  

Key Principle: Though salvation seems to happen in a moment, stepping into a new life in Christ is a process. It begins with God acting in care and giving us a new heart. After a time of testing we learn to hear His voice, follow His commands, know His majesty, and eventually rest in His promises.  

“Six Steps into the Brave New World of Walking with God”

 Step One - God’s Care: (8:1a) God “remembered” Noah (‘izkhor is from zawkar – to recall, invoke, and when applied to God in Scripture is sometimes “to act in loving care because of a covenant”). God recalled His commitment to Noah and the inhabitants of the ark.(8:1a). Our walk with God begins when God judicially recognizes the blood sacrifice of Jesus that saves us from sin. Our belief in God’s Word results in God’s recognition that Jesus satisfied the terms of our salvation. There is nothing else to be paid, and God draws the covering over us as one of His own.  

Step Two - God’s Reshaping: (8:1b-5) God caused a “wind (8:1b) to pass over the waters (as He did in the making of the earth in Genesis 1:2) and the remaking of the earth was underway. The “ruach” or wind is also the word translated “Spirit” on the waters. It is a causative term for how God worked to remake the ground. Genesis 8:2-5 then explained that God flushed the waters downward into the fountains of the deep and cut off the rains from above (8:2) as the waters receded (8:3). The ark landed on solid ground (8:4) and the water gradually fled away around them, with the heights showing first (8:5). This is a great description of the process of cleansing that took place, since God cleaned off the landscape. Noah was not hired on to bury all the bodies of his neighbors – they were gone. His new world didn’t seem at all like the old one. He was landing on new ground, and the past was nothing but memory now. Yet, the new world was still flawed and sin marred. It wasn’t showing all that in the days of new life – but it would come up soon after.  

After we came to Christ, God began a reshaping of the landscape of our lives. By His Spirit he planted a new heart within us – a heart that sees the world differently than we saw it before. God moves the furniture of our lives. For some He pulls them physically to a new location. For most, He sprinkles throughout their lives a whole new set of believing friends. Everything from our favorite song to our favorite pastime begins to change. We aren’t always even conscious of it as it happens. The jokes we hear that once made us laugh, now sound degrading. The foul mouthed friend that we spent time with becomes a person who shows up in our prayer life as someone we desperately seek God for. A time around a circle with two hurting believers becomes a deep touch point never before experienced. God reshapes our world as our brave new world begins, and we don’t always even know He is doing it!  

Step Three - Testing the New World: (8:6-14) Noah was not sure how to follow God next. The Lord told him when to build the ark and what the deadline was for it. He went on to tell him when to get all on board. God even shut the door behind them. For 150 days it was simple, float without a rudder and trust that God will do what He said. There was no CONTROL, there was only TRUST. Yet, trusting that God could save you wasn’t the same as knowing when to move out of the ark. God wasn’t speaking and Noah wasn’t sure. He needed to test the circumstances and learn to understand how to respond to his new world surroundings.  

First, he opened up the window that God told him to put in the ark (6:16). He took what God had him prepare in the ark and used it to launch his first test – a raven (8:7) in hopes of some “news” in lieu of overt direction from God. Without any clarity from the raven, it appears he took a dove and got back the exhausted bird with no sign that it would be possible to get off the ark yet (8:8-9). Noah waited a week, and then launched another dove (8:10) and got the dove back with a leaf of an olive tree (a tree associated with elevations more common to him) and he recognized the sign’s meaning (8:11). Another week on the ark went by, and he tried the dove test again, this time losing the bird for good (8:12) so Noah knew it was time to remove the upper covering from the ark, which allowed the bird population release (8:13-14).  

We read of the testing that Noah did, but we do not read of his prayer or seeking God. It may have been that God told Noah how to know when the flood was over – we simply cannot know. It may be that God was allowing Noah to pass through this time of testing with no direct word for other reasons of personal growth. What we DO know is that Noah went through a time when the direction of God was largely found through SIGNS. Noah was relying on the signs to tell him what to do next – and that is something most believers can relate to.  

Early in our life in Christ, we don’t know much. We watch other believers (and sometimes this is terribly confusing). We try religious things. Sometimes we seek God in miracles and signs, and in many cases God meets us there – because He recognizes our need to meet Him, and our lack of “grown up tools” to find His holy direction. Paul refers to the sign gifts in that context: 1 Corinthians 13: 8 “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  

In other words, step three is all about testing some things when we really trust God, but we aren’t sure how to follow Him. We are unsure of His next move because this is a NEW WORLD to us – this whole spiritual experience. Most of us grow past this early stage, and with discipleship it can be a fairly painless experience. Sadly, a great many Christians are still flocking to “deliverance” meetings, hoping that they can find the direction of God in instant deliverance from bad habits and poor disciplines. Eventually, Paul said, we have to grow up. It isn’t the miracle I need today as much as a careful ear and yielded heart.   I do not deny that God does miracles – I am a Christian, and that makes miracles a thing more ordinary! Yet, I will not haplessly live my life eating badly and going to healing meetings to shed the unwanted pounds. I will walk in disciplines and leave the miraculous to the times when God wants that special breakthrough in my life or someone else’s nearby. When I was first married, I wanted much more a constant display of affection to assure me that my beautiful bride hadn’t decided she made a mistake with me. Now I love her affections, but do not need the same moment by moment reminders. Security grows when love deepens. Spiritually, direction is simpler as I learn my Father’s ways. He needn’t do anything quite so overt – I trust Him already.  

Step Four - Following God’s Word: (8:15-19) Genesis 8 moves past the testing stage when God’s voice breaks into Noah’s life again. God’s commands were direct – “Go out” (8:16) – “Bring out” (8:17). God told him to get out of the ark, and then get the animals moved out. It is not clear if  the “be fruitful” was related to the animals or the people, but it was likely to BOTH. Noah and his children had to be shaken by what they saw God do. Should they bring children into the world? Was this the time to move back to a new normal?   For every believer there is a time of testing. They aren’t sure. But after that they should grow, if normally developed, to be able to pick out God’s Word and hear His commands. They will learn to be blessed in obedience (8:18-19). They will do what He has commanded them, and they will rejoice in how that will deepen them in their walk with each other, their love for Him, and their security in life. The Word of God was given to be a lamp; only foolish people walk around the house in the dark. Amen from anyone who has stubbed a toe on a chair that someone moved a few inches from its normal place!  

Step Five - Growing in Worship: (8:20) Noah stood on new ground, surrounded by his closest loved ones. He stared at a new landscape and stood in a strange place. He understood how he got there – God took him there. He wasn’t claiming his ability as a cruise ship captain as he exited a rudderless vessel! He knew that all that he had came from the Lord of Heaven and earth. He had no other response than to build an altar and worship. It was made of stones that were all provided by the maker of all. He offered animals the Lord preserved for the year long ordeal. He bowed because it was the right thing – the ONLY THING – that he could do.  Every believer gets to that place. In the beginning salvation is all about us. It is OUR sin and OUR eternal life we enter the Kingdom thinking about. Then we realize that it is really about HIM. It is about HIS WORK, HIS HONOR, HIS WORTH. We bow in wonder. We bow in awe. We bow because it is all we can think to do to one who loves us enough to give what He gave.  

Step Six - Finding Rest in His Promises: (8:21-22) Moses related in the writing of Genesis what God’s reaction was to Noah’s offering. Only God knew, but He decided to share it with all of us. God opened a glimpse into His heart with these two verses. They simply record that Noah’s sacrifice was a “soothing aroma” (ha-nee-kho'-akh: a quieting or tranquilizing effect) that opened a covenant promise of God. Note that 8:21 doesn’t say that God somehow overlooked that man was still fallen. Sin was still a part of the whole earthly situation. The enemy had just suffered a major setback to his strategy, and for a few moments, at least, a more peaceful earth appeared. The prince of the power of the air stayed back off the scene while God reset the pattern of seasons (8:22) and made a promise not to disrupt them again in that way.   Noah could rest in the promise that tomorrow there would not be another vast flood. He could encourage his children to give him grandchildren. Standing beside the pile of ashes left from the sacrifice of those animals the message was unmistakable – from all this death there was a brave, new world. He could walk with confidence – there was no need to live in fear anymore. God fixed the problem, and God saved him. Now he had to walk well in the world God made for him. And that was… shall we say…not as easy as it looked! But that is a story for the next chapter...   Though salvation seems to happen in a moment, stepping into a new life in Christ is a process. It begins with God acting in care and giving us a new heart. After a time of testing we learn to hear His voice, follow His commands, know His majesty, and eventually rest in His promises.

Body Building: Seven Positive Words for those who want to Care for God's People (Jude 1:20-23)

Body building isn't just for the physical body - it is the call of all who minister to other believers to be involved in building up the Body of Christ. Nearing the end of the tiny Epistle of Jude, he offered seven positive words concerning what we must be prepared to do for people to whom we minister:

 

We need GOD GLASSES: Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith… We must adopt a Biblical world view and build stronger in that view. We must see the world through the Biblical eyes of God. That view is a view of faith. It is not spooky, but studied. It is consistent and can be measured against the book!

 

We need a PLUG:  Jude 1:20…praying in the Holy Spirit… We must apply the power of the Spirit in constant prayer about the issues of our life – ever yielding and sensitive to His leading.Without plugging in, there is no flow if power!

 

We need STRONG HANDS: Jude 1:21 …keep yourselves in the love of God, We must walk in our lives in a way that acts deliberately to meet the needs of those around us, calling on God to supply for that need. We must not dilute ourselves into being the source of giving, but steward and be a vessel for what God chooses to do. We need to keep our hearts open, our eyes focused and our hands strong and ready!

 

We need a FOREIGN FOCUS: Jude 1:21…waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. We must not strive to build permanent comforts here, but seek the good work of God that lasts forever! Instead, I must view my life as pleasing my Father - not my flesh.

 

We need a SOFT SIDE: Jude 1:22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; Though unbending to those who desire to take the work away from the Spirit’s work, we must also that some walk in error but will follow truth. To the weak we must be gentle and firm, patient and true.

 

We need a FIREMAN'S HAT: Jude 1:23 …save others, snatching them out of the fire; We cannot leave behind the work of an evangelist! The fireman has a unique way of looking at fire - with training it becomes an opportunity to save people, not just a destructive force.

 

We need a HEALTH INSPECTOR'S EYE: Jude 1:23…and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Uncompromised reverence for God and walking in truth without a shady motive must characterize our life! How many are too many bugs in the restaurant kitchen? ONE! Clean is the absence of dirt. It can't be "kind of" clean. It is, or it isn't. This final word reminds me that I cannot deal with the hearts of others and IGNORE the inner maintenance of my own heart.

It is a tough job, but it is a GOOD ONE for which those who walk with God are equipped if we follow carefully our Father's Word and provision.

Life in the Plan B Zone: “Ten Truths to Turn Weeping to Joy” - Zechariah 7:1- 8:23

He sat in the jail cell, with his head down, his face was planted in his two worn, massive hands. “How could I have done those things?” he wept. “I was not an angry man. I was not a bad man. Yet, when they showed the tape in court, I sat in disbelief. I saw myself – but I could not believe that I was there. I don’t remember any of it – not a moment! How could I..?” His voice tailed off. The counselor replied, “You were high for a long time. You weren’t yourself, and now you are. You will get through. You will… it will take time. The tears are good, think of them like washing away the deep stains.” “Will I ever be myself again?” He asked. “No, you won’t. For the first time in your life, you’ll be what God made you to be. You begin by being right with Him, and they we will get you on your feet and right with others.”

Prison walls have heard these words many times before. Incarcerated people have few friends and are not loved by a society that has been wounded by them. Yet, month after month the counseling team comes to meet with the inmates, particularly the new ones, and share Jesus Christ with them. They know there no real chance at change if they don’t meet their Creator and understand their purpose. That is what brings them from their weeping into real joy.

Key Principle: God’s process of challenging us to face our sinful lives with honesty (and often tears) and allowing God to pull us close changes our view of ourselves and the world we live in. It is essential to restart life.

The Problem: Zech. 7:2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD, 3 speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

The problem came down to this, “We did wrong and God brought us into discipline. We weep in remembrance of each of the disciplines of God - the time of the breach of the walls of Jerusalem (the fourth month fast), we weep again at the remembrance of burning of God’s Temple (the fifth month fast), we weep at the remembrance of God’s removal of our leaders (Gedaliah’s assassination is the seventh month fast), we weep at the memory of the beginning of the end of our capital city (Nebuccadnezzar’s siege began in the tenth month). Now we are on the road back. Should we keep recalling our discipline with weeping, or should we put it behind us? Should we keep the sorrow to show the seriousness of the sin, or can we celebrate the path back to renewal?

God’s answer came to the men of Bethel in ten truths that would carefully lift the burden of the discipline and replace it with the rejoicing of a soul set free. Why is that so important? Because for many people the forgiveness of God is less difficult to accept than to forgive myself. I was wrong and everyone knows I was wrong. I was probably selfish when I committed the wrongs – so think of how natural it is for me to turn pity to myself and maintain my selfishness.

Truth One: We can have a real walk with God if we will be honest and give up pretense and any religious show!

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? 6 ‘When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? 7 ‘Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”

Shows won’t do what God wants done. Recently, I saw a letter written by a relatively new Christian to the person whose life had influenced hers so greatly in a book called Being a Contagious Christian. Listen to some of what she wrote: You know when we met; I began to discover a new vulnerability, a warmth, and a lack of pretense that impressed me. I saw in you a thriving spirit - no signs of internal stagnation anywhere. I could tell you were a growing person and I liked that. I saw you had strong self-esteem, not based on the fluff of self-help books, but on something a whole lot deeper. I saw that you lived by convictions and priorities and not just by convenience, selfish pleasure, and financial gain. And I had never met anyone like that before. I felt a depth of love and concern as you listened to me and didn’t judge me. You tried to understand me, you sympathized and you celebrated with me, you demonstrated kindness and generosity - and not just to me, but to other people, as well. And you stood for something. You were willing to go against the grain of society and follow what you believed to be true, no matter what people said, and no matter how much it cost you. And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me. From Becoming A Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg

Religion is about externals. Jesus is about real change that will eventually show on the outside. We needed SAVING from the inside out – nothing religious could do the work! I agree with the man who wrote: "If our greatest need was for information, God would have sent an educator." "If our greatest need was for technology, God would have sent a scientist." "If our greatest need was for pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer." "If our greatest need was for money God would have sent an economist." BUT SINCE OUR GREATEST NEED IS FOR FORGIVENESS, GOD SENT A SAVIOR. (Dynamic Preaching Disk, Winter 1992 "A"--What Do We Need For Christmas? Rev. Eric Ritz)

Truth Two: We must come to grips with the pain of our past distance from God – and accept the responsibility for our choices!

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, 9 “Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. 12 “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. 13 “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts; 14 “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

The world would make you believe that freedom and responsibility are opposing values. It is not true. One writer said it well, but you must listen closely to follow the point: So what should we do about people who won’t take responsibility for their own actions? I believe the answer is simple: Set them free. Give them the freedom to make their own decisions, to face the consequences of their own acts, to see for themselves what their actions do to others and how others respond to them. Only free people have an incentive to be virtuous. Only people who bear the consequences of their own acts will care about those consequences and try to learn from their mistakes. A free society rewards virtue and punishes irresponsibility. Government does just the opposite – subsidizing irresponsibility while taxing work and responsibility. What do we do about people who might not plan for their own retirement? Set them free. Let each person know that his future depends largely on his own actions. If younger people see older people who haven’t planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence people see is a demand for more government. What do we do about people who are insensitive to other people? Set them free. Let other people shun them or respect them for what they do. Let each person bear the results of being civil or uncivil. It’s often said that freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin – that if you want freedom, you must first accept the responsibility that goes with it. The truth is simpler. Freedom and responsibility aren’t interconnected things. They are the same thing. Freedom is responsibility. Responsibility is experiencing the consequences of your own acts – not the consequences of others’ acts or making others pay for what you do. And that’s what freedom is. Without government to force others to pay for your pleasures or mistakes, and without forcing you to pay for what others do, you are a free, responsible human being. Freedom and responsibility are inseparably linked – not because they should be, but because they are. Responsibility accompanies freedom, whether or not you want it to. So the only way to induce people to be more responsible is to set them free…” (SOURCE: How to make people more responsible Posted: February 21, 2002 By Harry Browne, © 2008 WorldNetDaily.com)

I must face the fact that what made the distance between God and I was my choice. I must change my choice to close that gap. It is not God’s to do, and I must own all my own daily choices. Blame means nothing but continued irresponsibility – and that means more distance and pain.

Truth Three: We must trust God that His promises are true – and we can rejoice NOW for what we have not YET SEEN!

8:1 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3 “Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5 ‘And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’

It is time for believers to LOOK UP! God causes me to exchange what I see now for what He promises. What was true for Abraham and Moses is still true – the great FAITH EXCHANGE” is still in effect.

In spiritual terms. God says our sin was cared for. God says that if you accepted Jesus by faith, HE was satisfied. If you reject Jesus, HE is not going to forgive. Let me illustrate: About the year 1830, a man named George Wilson killed a government employee who caught him in the act of robbing the mails. He was tried and sentenced to be hanged. However, President Andrew Jackson sent him a pardon. But Wilson did a strange thing. He refused to accept the pardon, and no one knew what to do. So the case was carried to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marshall, perhaps one of the greatest justices ever, wrote the court's opinion. In it he said, "A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged." And so he was. Similarly, the value of Christ's offer of forgiveness of all sin, of eternity in heaven and of the presence of the Holy Spirit to live in you depends upon whether you humble yourself and accept that. If we believe, we have life, Heaven and a future – because GOD WHO CREATED ALL THINGS SAID SO. If we reject His gift – we have NOTHING. Rejoice if you have Him – for your full redemption draws near!

Truth Four: We must learn to trust God’s heart! God shares the pain of our lives!

6 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of hosts. 7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’

God is not immune to our pain and loss. He wants better for us. He wants a pliability that only seems to come when our world is falling apart. "The intensive care waiting room is a different world. No one is a stranger. They help one another. They grieve with one another and shed tears of joy together. There is no distinction of race or class. Vanity and pretense vanish. Everything focuses on the next doctor’s report or the next telephone call. Here in this anxious stillness it becomes clear that loving someone else is what life is all about. Why does it take the intensive care waiting room to teach us to forget our irritations and love one another?" (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 71). There is NEVER a time we hurt that God does not hurt beside us.

Truth Five: We must grasp the truth of our identity. We will only truly understand our worth when we see that we have it because of God’s value stamped upon His people.

9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. 10 ‘For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another.

We have value because God made us and says we have it. His is the only eternal opinion! He sees promise and a future where the world sees nothing but a mess! Let me illustrate this by something I read recently: “Technically speaking, David Ring was born dead. Quick acting medical personnel were able to get him breathing, but oxygen deprivation left him with cerebral palsy. He suffered from a speech impediment, hands that don’t cooperate, and a limp. As if that wasn’t enough adversity for one person, both his parents died by the time he was fourteen years old, and his hemophiliac brothers subsequently dies of AIDS. David’s remaining family members feared that David would never have a normal life, because they assumed he would never marry, have children, drive a car, earn a living or take care of himself. As a young teenager, David came surrender his life to God and came to see his disability as a gift. Once he began to see his circumstances as being chosen for him by God, he began moving forward. Today he is married, had four beautiful children, drives a car, and speaks to more than 250 audiences a year. At his speaking engagements he sells T-shirts bearing the slogan “Don’t Whine…SHINE!” David ring has taken responsibility for his life—the bad, the difficult and the wonderful. And he continues to celebrate the difference he is able to make in the lives of others. When people wrestle with difficult life experiences, the why question often gets in the way. One of David Rings Axioms is “Don’t ask God why. Ask What. What do you want me to do with this?” SOURCE: Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop, Seven Keys to Spiritual Renewal (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1989), pp. 85-86.

Truth Six: When God’s people live their identity, we see His promises lived out in God’s rich blessing that we are given to SHARE!

11 ‘But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 12 ‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13 ‘It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’

Dick Staub wrote this in his fascinating book on sharing Christ: “Many years ago I attended a birthday party for my gay friend and co-worker, Julian. Sixty gay men and four straight women had gathered to celebrate in a high-rise penthouse with a dramatic sweeping view of San Francisco Bay. Greeting me warmly, Julian exuberantly kissed me on both cheeks (something that never happened at the office, I assure you). I took a deep breath and ventured into a scene that was well outside my comfort zone. I chuckled quietly, asking myself a familiar question: "What in the world am I doing here?" Actually, I knew why I was there. I had prayed with some friends about this occasion just a few hours earlier. I’ve always thought of events like Julian’s party as "wedding feast of Cana" situations. As so often happens when I follow Jesus into the world, opportunities appeared. Because I listened as the partygoers told me about their journeys, by 2:00 AM five of them were gathered with me in a corner talking about spiritual things. Dick Staub, "Please Pass the Salt: What We Can Learn From Jesus About Engaging Our World" from Discipleship Journal (Issue 122 Mar/Apr 2001), 47.

When we grow up in Christ, we start to realize that the original message – that Christ came to set us free – is just the beginning. We begin to realize that we were blessed to become a blessing! We were rescued and now have the status of an ambassador for Christ. Paul wrote of himself: Ephesians 6:18 …”With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Truth Seven: When we recall our former distance from God, we celebrate that it is now replaced by a deliberate intimacy!

14 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, 15 so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!

I did wrong and I suffered distance from God. NO LONGER! I can walk in the newness of life: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Truth Eight: When God reaches a person - their behavior changes! It is characterized by truth, the desire to maintain peace, and contentment.

16 ‘These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 ‘Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.”

We must leave behind the old shell of bad behavior. "From time to time, lobsters have to leave their shells in order to grow. They need the shell to protect them from being torn apart, yet when they grow, the old shell must be abandoned. If they did not abandon it, the old shell would soon become their prison--and finally their casket. The tricky part for the lobster is the brief period of time between when the old shell is discarded and the new one is formed. During that terribly vulnerable period, the transition must be scary to the lobster. Currents gleefully cartwheel them from coral to kelp. Hungry schools of fish are ready to make them a part of their food chain. For a while at least, that old shell must look pretty good. We are not so different from lobsters. To change and grow, we must sometimes shed our shells--a structure, a framework--we’ve depended on. Discipleship means being so committed to Christ that when he bids us to follow, we will change, risk, grow, and leave our "shells" behind." (sermon central illustrations)

Truth Nine: When the Lord is enthroned by His people - the defeats of the past will become the joy of the present!

18 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’

I won’t forget how hard life was without Jesus. I needn’t ignore the years of pain and loneliness. I have a new life now, and I also needn’t live like I did before. I can rejoice. I can face life and death with confidence! I can do all that because Jesus experienced and took my pain: “John Stott wrote, “I could never believe in God, if it were not for the cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering.”

Truth Ten: God’s change in us will raise a testimony that will show that He is in their midst!

20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 ‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.” 22 ‘So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’ 23 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

God’s process of challenging us to face our sinful lives with honesty (and often tears) and allowing God to pull us close changes our view of ourselves and the world we live in. It is essential to restart life.

Satan’s worldwide convention: "Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his devils, he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship with Jesus. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So, let them go to their churches, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can’t gain that relationship with Jesus. This is what I want you to do. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!” “How shall we do this?” shouted the devils. “Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds. Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 to 7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work! Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, DVD, PC, Game Boy, and their XBoxes going constantly in their home. See to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam minds and break that union with Christ. Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, catalogs, sweepstakes and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so their husbands will believe that external beauty is what’s important and they’ll become dissatisfied with their wives. That will fragment those families quickly! Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation, exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Bombard them, day and night, with unbiblical values expressed in every direction. Rob their peace. Press them and they will slowly shrink away from freedom back into the lifestyle they were bought out of. They will be free, but they will live like the enslaved."

God’s process of challenging us to face our sinful lives with honesty (and often tears) and allowing God to pull us close changes our view of ourselves and the world we live in. It is essential to restart life.

Reading the Map: “Terms of Redemption” - Genesis 7

The first time I heard the term “redemption” wasn’t in church. In fact, it was on the back of a “S & H Green stamp book”. ‘Green Stamps' were trading stamps popular in the United States from the 1930s until the 1980s. Wikipedia recalls: “They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry and Hutchinson company (S&H), founded during 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelly Hutchinson. During the 1960s, the rewards catalog printed by the company was the largest publication in the United States and the company issued three times as many stamps as the U.S. Postal Service. Customers would receive stamps at the checkout counter of supermarkets, department stores, and gasoline stations among other retailers, which could be redeemed for products in the catalog.

The retail organizations that distributed the stamps (primarily supermarkets, gasoline filling stations, and shops) bought the stamps from S&H and gave them as bonuses to shoppers based on the dollar amount of a purchase. The stamps—-issued in denominations of one, ten, and fifty "points"—-were perforated with a gummed reverse, and as shoppers accumulated the stamps they moistened the reverse and mounted them in collectors books, which were provided free by S&H. Shoppers could then exchange filled books for premiums, including house wares and other items, from the local Green Stamps store or catalog. Each premium was assigned a value expressed by the number of filled stamp books required to obtain that item.”

As quaint as it sounds and old as it makes me feel when I talk about it, I recall as a child looking through the “redemption catalog". To redeem simply means to “recover ownership by full payment to the holding party.” Redemption requires satisfaction of a loan or mortgage, and brings a transfer of ownership. The word was also used much during the time, before the Civil War in the US, for the slave trade. To redeem a slave was to satisfy the purchase price allowing the transfer of ownership to a new party, or to allow the purchasing party to set the slave free with fully satisfied papers. In essence, that is the Christian message - that God redeemed man with the payment made by the death of Jesus!

Today, I want to look at the story of the flood in Genesis. It is essential that when we tell this story, we recall that the story DOES include the massive death of thousands upon thousands. Yet, the story is primarily about redemption, not destruction. “Forty days and nights” is generally associated with separation, extreme discomfort and redemption in Scripture, (Dt. 9:11 and Mt. 4) but the end of each story is one of redemption.

Key Principle: God has redeemed man! Yet, it is essential that we understand the exact terms of redemption, that we make no mistakes on this critical issue!

Genesis seven offers “Six Principles of Redemption” that are well worth our study together!

The story opens with the phrase: (Genesis 7:1) “Then the LORD said to Noah…”

Principle One: God is personally involved in the redemption of man. The name LORD is the covenant name of God, associated with redemption – His personal name – as opposed to GOD, which is the general title. He is no great watchmaker, Who has made the earth and lets it spin on its own. He is personally aware, personally vested in the behavior, the plan and the workings of the people of the earth. I want deliberately to challenge the LIE that God is not involved in your life – that He is too busy, too aloof, too important to be interested. His Word teaches that is not the case. Jesus said that: Mt. 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. No details escape the Creator, for God has a PLAN and is working that plan on earth.

God saves us, God makes the promise of eternal life. God grants His dear children the truth that only this temporary body dies. We cannot afford to be so consumed with this body and its problems that we don’t see the truth – life slips by quickly and eternity is not an option. You will face death. You will face judgment. But you can face it with confidence! Dr. W. A Criswell, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas Texas, said on one occasion on an airplane flight he found himself seated beside a well-known theologian. He desperately wanted to start a conversation and they did get to talk. The man told Dr. Criswell about how he had recently lost his little boy through death. Dr. Criswell listened as he told his story: He said he had come home from school with a fever and we thought it was just one of those childhood things, but it was a very virulent form of meningitis. The doctor said we cannot save your little boy. He'll die. And so this seminary professor, loving his son as he did, sat by the bedside to watch this death vigil. It was the middle of the day, and the little boy whose strength was going from him and whose vision and brain was getting clouded said, "Daddy, it's getting dark isn't it?" The professor said to his son, "Yes son it is getting dark, very dark." Of course it was very dark for him. He said, "Daddy, I guess it's time for me to go to sleep isn't it?" He said, "Yes, son, it's time for you to go to sleep." The professor said the little fellow had a way of fixing his pillow just so, and putting his head on his hands when he slept and he fixed his pillow like that and laid his head on his hands and said, "Good night Daddy. I will see you in the morning." He then closed his eyes in death and stepped over into heaven. Dr. Criswell said the professor didn't say anymore after that. He just looked out the window of that airplane for a long time. Then he turned back and he looked at Dr. Criswell with the scalding tears coming down his cheeks and he said, "Dr. Criswell, I can hardly wait till the morning." You see the morning is coming. And we will see our loved ones. That's what Jesus is saying, "The gates of hell, the gates of DEATH, shall not prevail against the church!" (sermon central illustrations).

The first verse continues (Genesis 7:1)…“Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.

Principle Two: God set the terms of redemption of man. There is no discussion that can be raised against the Creator that has outlined human history. There is no BIG MAN in the story of the Bible. There is a vast and incomprehensible God that has desired to have a personal interest and relationship with man. As a result, man is afforded redemption though undeserving of any of it. Because of this view, the Bible makes clear that redemption is not by creating work, but by responding to the Word of God in obedience. In Noah’s family that obedience was to enter a wooden ark that their hands made – a wood crate constructed by appointed builders - that would carry them through God’s judgment. In our case it was to kneel beneath another wooden device made by sinful but appointed men – a Cross on which the Savior died. I want deliberately to challenge the LIE that one can earn a place at the Father’s table through any other means than the one outlined by God’s Word:

•    Not by an earned place in Heaven – but a masterpiece of God’s handiwork: Ephesians 2:1 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

•    Not a path like many paths to God – but an exclusive and singular work chosen and revealed by the God of Creation: Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 10:43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." 1 Timothy 2:3 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”

•    Not by an occasional nod to the Lord – but by a real, discernible handing over of my life to His daily control. Romans 10:8 “But what does [the Scripture] say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Note that there are two responses listed in the verses above, BELIEVE is something that results in RIGHT CHOICES, and confession results in rescue. The issue is that one cannot receive rescue without reaching out the hand to allow the rescuer to grasp onto you. At the same time, the rescued one will then cling to the lifeguard and choose to cling to them. Fighting with the rescuer is not supposed to be part of the salvation. Deciding to involve yourself in another pursuit of life and only occasionally recall the rescue is foolish. Our walk with God cannot be a half hearted and occasional hobby. Jesus isn’t a HOBBY, He is Lord of All. Luke 12:8 Jesus said: “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God… Phil. 2:8 “[Jesus] Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

As we continue in Genesis 7:2ff: “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth."

Principle Three: Redemption is not just about ME, it is designed to be a shared experience! What a JOY it was to Noah to know that all life was not over, but that God was going to save some, in spite of all that he had seen. His children would be saved, his wife would be saved, and God had a plan to expand the whole family to a new and exciting future family! Noah witnessed the massive violence that overtook the world. Noah needed no primer on the brutality and vicious nature of man. He was aware and responded to it.

2 Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly… 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Note carefully the two unrighteous acts that God pointed out – rebellion to His outlined authority in your life and the pandering to this world’s delights in a way that blocked Him from celebrating life with you. God wants relationship based on our surrender to the truth that He is our Creator and Ruler – and not we ourselves. God wants our lives to celebrate walking with Him – not indulging ourselves in a way to deny His time with us in our daily choices.

In the end, God’s desire to have relationship drives His other choices. He didn’t just save Noah, he offered him a message that would save others as well. In the end, no one was persuaded by the righteousness that Noah preached – because of the spiritual ownership and genetic corruption of the race – but Noah preached the truth, hoping that someone would listen. He brought into the ark those God said he should bring in, and learned to be content with God’s plan. He shared the truth, even when few seemed interested, and had confidence that God knew exactly what He was doing. . I want deliberately to challenge the LIE that God is somehow happy with a believer that refuses to share His faith with those who need rescue. Lovingly I must insist that God is more concerned with your obedience than your popularity at the office.

A fourth principle is evident from 7:4 “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” 5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him."

Principle Four: Redemption is not only about mercy, but about justice. The tool of God’s redemption would become a despised symbol by those who reject God’s rule in their life. The very symbol of life is remembered as a symbol of anger and hatred by a world system bent on blaming God for being Himself. God condemned the creation run amok and the creation shook its fist back to God claiming some right to shape its own purpose for existence – when it has none beyond that which is ascribed by its Creator.

Noah worked in reverence to God. The writer of Hebrews reminds us: Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

People don’t fear and revere because they don’t truly believe. If they believed that a personal and Holy God created them, they would not assume that He wanted nothing from a relationship with them. If they believed that He was TRULY going to judge them, they would not walk fearless of the end of choices in a life apart from Him: 2 Peter 3:3 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” .

I want deliberately to challenge the LIE that God is not preparing a specific and absolutely certain judgment for those who reject Him – He has revealed otherwise! In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is recorded saying about a people during a late period in man’s history: Mt. 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. …41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; … 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Though the people Jesus was referring to in these verses above are condemned for their transgression during the period of the Great Tribulation, nevertheless the principle of eternal judgment is clearly taught in many places in Scripture in the same way. (Daniel 12:2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” And John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.")

A fifth principle can also be observed in 7:6 "Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. 7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. 8 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. 12 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights."

Principle Five: Redemption delivers from devastating judgment that was largely unknown and unseen at the time of the announcement. No one knew the ground had vast reservoirs of water within ready to burst forth on cue. There is no evidence that Noah knew of the deluge of rain from above apart from God’s Words to him. Noah may have never seen rain before that day, if the dew of a canopy of the earth enveloped the planet as some have surmised. In any case – judgment came in ways unexpected to anyone who did not believe God’s Word – and deliverance was only fully appreciated when the deluge occurred.

In some ways that will be true of followers of Jesus as well. We know that we have been saved, but we shall not truly understand the extent of the meaning of salvation until we stand on the eternal threshold. We will be aghast at the Lake of Fire. We will be amazed at Heaven’s splendor! We will be awestruck by God’s presence! I want deliberately to challenge the lie that the eternal judgment of lost ones will not be as bad as we think, or that God will somehow offer an additional opportunity to those who refuse redemption. The urgency of our message will be blunted by such thoughts!

That is the negative side of the equation. I have more I want to say on this subject. I want to deliberately challenge the sadness that fills us when we forget that we have been delivered from the devastating news that we are lost forever. I want to proclaim loudly that Jesus lives, and so shall I. So shall I see all those who have gone before me into glory. Set free, set free, set free – this is good news. Listen to this testimony recorded by Lee Stroebel: “The Resurrection of Debbie” (from The Case For Christ – Strobel, Pg.325) Habermas rubbed his graying beard. The quick fire cadence and debater’s edge to his voice were gone. No more quoting of scholars, no more citing of Scripture, no more building a case. I had asked about the importance of the Resurrection, and Habermas decided to take a risk by harkening back to 1995, when his wife, Debbie, slowly died of stomach cancer. Caught off guard by the tenderness of the moment, all I could do was listen. “I sat on our porch,” he began, looking off to the side at nothing in particular. He sighed deeply, then went on. “My wife was upstairs dying. Except for a few weeks, she was home through it all. It was an awful time. This was the worst thing that could possibly happen.” He turned and looked straight at me. “But do you know what was amazing? My students would call me—not just one but several of them—and say, ‘At a time like this, aren’t you glad about the Resurrection?’ As sober as those circumstances were, I had to smile for two reasons. First, my students were trying to cheer me up with my own teaching. And second, it worked.” “As I would sit there, I’d picture Job, who went through all that terrible stuff and asked questions of God, but then God turned the tables and asked him a few questions. “I knew if God were to come to me, I’d ask only one question: ‘Lord, why is Debbie up ‘there in bed?’ And I think God would respond by asking gently, ‘Gary, did I raise my Son from the dead?’ “I’d say, ‘Come on, Lord, I’ve written seven books on that topic! Of course he was raised from the dead. But I want to know about Debbie!’ “I think he’d keep coming back to the same question—’Did I raise my Son from the dead?’ ‘Did I raise my Son from the dead?’—until I got his point: the Resurrection says that if Jesus was raised two thousand years ago, there’s an answer to Debbie’s death in 1995. And do you know what? It worked for me while I was sitting on the porch, and it still works today.” “It was a horribly emotional time for me, but I couldn’t get around the fact that the Resurrection is the answer for suffering. I still worried; I still wondered what I’d do raising four kids alone. But there wasn’t a time when that truth didn’t comfort me.” “Losing my wife was the most painful experience I’ve r had to face, but if the Resurrection could get me through that, it can get me through anything. It was good for 30 A.D., it’s good for 1995, it’s good for 1998, and it’s good beyond that.” Habermas locked eyes with mine. “That’s not some sermon,” he said quietly. “I believe that with all my heart. If there’s a resurrection, there’s a heaven. If Jesus was raised, Debbie was raised. And I will be someday, too.” “Then I’ll see them both.”

One final note can also be found in Genesis 7:13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, 14 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. 15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. 16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. 17 Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. 20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. 24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Principle Six: Redemption is available until God closes the door. Your time is in His hands, and there is no one on this earth that can lengthen your days. You will not cheat death. You will not slip past judgment. You will face God. Yet, there is some incredible GOOD NEWS in this!

Doctors of old times tested the sanity of a mental patients with the following test: The patient was placed in a room with a sink. The faucet was turned on and a stopper was put in the drain until the sink overflowed. The patient was then handed a mop and the door was closed. If the patient had enough sense to shut off the water, pull the plug, and then mop up the water, he was considered capable of going home. But on the other hand, if the patient mopped like crazy and never bothered to shut off the water and/or pull the plug, he was considered still insane and needed to be detained a little longer in the mental institution. There are people in this world that are mopping like crazy...and they’re not in mental institutions. They’re people who we’d consider quite sane (pause). BUT they are plagued by their own personal demons, and they haven’t figured out how to stop the flooding in their lives. They know there’s a problem they just haven’t figured out where to go to solve it. They’re like people who came and found the demoniac clothed and in his right mind. They see what Jesus can do in a person’s life - but then they send Him away. (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, "Dealing With Personal Demons" 02/01).

Yes, God has redeemed man! We can TAKE JESUS and not send Him away. Redemption is now available! Yet, it is essential that we understand the exact terms of redemption, that we make no mistakes on this critical issue!

Seven Ways for a Believer to Deal with Suffering

 

1. Call on an utilize the IMPARTED GRACE of God. Remember Paul’s example: 2 Cor. 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul faced a problem he could not overcome. After prayer, still the problem. In the end, he settled on trusting that God's approval for the introduction of the problem and God's refusal to rid him of the problem meant that God wanted him to live with it and hang on closely to the Savior for daily strength. In the end, he didn't get rid of the issue, but he did grow in his walk with his Lord!

 

2. Keep your focus on trusting God – but thank Him for the opportunity to share the time with HIM!  Job 13: 15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. 16 “This also will be my salvation, For a godless man may not come before His presence. Job didn't just trust and suffer quietly, he argued his point. The rest of Job 13 is enlightening on that point. God is big enough to handle my tears, and my arguments. In the end, I must recognize that He is God and I am not. It really is that simple - though painful - to grasp.

 

3. Ask God why! James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James told early suffering Messianic followers that when they were in the midst of trials, they could ask God. As with Job above, so a believer much later was offered the opportunity to converse with God about the troubles. God offered to these first century believers the revelation that He would answer. He isn't hiding. C.S.Lewis' insight is ever true: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

4. Move past the argument (when you can) and thank God for the suffering. 1 Thess. 5: 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit…Mid-way through a list of short imperatives is the command to give thanks in everything. When I thank God, He builds on the platform of my thankful heart a podium to show His glory!

 

5. Look Long! Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. I won't always be in this circumstance, or in this body for that matter!

 

6. Spend time in the Word: Psalm 119: 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. 68 You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes…71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.” Troubles teach us. Like surgery, if I need it, the whole thing can be unbelievably beneficial! At the same time, I would not have chosen the whole problem!

 

7. Look for ways to turn the suffering inside out – to glorify the Lord! The context of Peter’s words are persecution, but there is no specific reason to limit the application – 1 Peter 4:15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. If the enemy is using the suffering to push you toward impatience with God - he'll likely back off it is turning out to praise. If God is using it to teach you, He will be glorified in you acknowledging HIM!

Reading the Map: “A Time to Kill” - Genesis 6:9 - 7:5

One of the strongest objections people have to belief in God is the problem of death and suffering. The notion that there is a God is not fought against in modern society, provided He is a tailor made god of our choosing. He must love and support our decisions, rescue us from our failings, and generally do our bidding - in exchange for having us believe in Him. He must not bring death or discomfort, or we will vote Him out of Heaven. Any god that desires to control our morality, beyond a few principles that any but the most savage man would agree to (like perhaps not molesting children or not beating up the elderly in nursing homes) cannot be the god of our modern world. In any case, the idea of a personal God that created man and the universe has been relegated to a superstitious “accept by faith”  - which is consistently trumped by the “facts of science”.

Make no mistake, the violent intolerance of the world toward a personal God that declares something RIGHT and WRONG can be seen any day one looks in the New York Times editorial section. Read the comments – you’ll get the idea. Many in our nation believe that “In the beginning man created God to soothe his loneliness and make him feel he had a purpose beyond the shortness of his years and to give him hope when tragedy strikes his family with untimely death.

In American, God is often a "fashion statement". On September 12, 2000, the Congress didn’t shrink from saying that they believed in God in America, because they were hurt, and the ACLU said nothing. Why? Because they waited. Within a few years we would apologize to the world for our “anti-Islam” bias and ask them to love us in spite of our misunderstanding nature that was likely inherited from Founding Fathers that were obviously overtaken by the mistaken superstition of Christianity.

Our academic world leads the way in this pursuit of the “man made God”. Consider this story by Philip Johnson in Reason in the Balance:

“Philip Bishop teaches classes in exercise Physiology in the College of Education at the University of Alabama. Like many other college teacher, he likes to tell his students something about himself and what he values. In his case, this personal disclosure involved saying that he believes that “God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ and He has something to tell us about life which is crucial to success and happiness.”… He presented this view as his own “bias” and told students, “ If that is not your bias, that is fine.” He urged his students to keep in mind that whatever he said might reflect his Christian bias and asked them to tell him if his behavior fell short of his Christian ideals….The Court that later reviewed his conduct agreed that Bishop was otherwise very restrained. He never engaged in prayer, read passages from the Bible, handed out religious tracts or lectured on any religious topic during class. On the other hand, Bishop made no secret of his skepticism about the orthodox doctrine that the human body evolved by purely naturalistic and material processes such as random mutation and natural selection. He did not discourse on this in class, but he did invite students and others to a voluntary, after hours meeting at which he lectured on “evidences of God in human physiology”. [After a complaint by another Dean of the faculty on behalf of students that were un-named and never produced in court, Gibson was forbidden to open his mouth concerning his views that there was a God and that he designed man. The University lawyers argued that since this was state school, the mentioning of God was tantamount to the violation of establishing a religion. No mention was made of the hundreds of courses available in public education on subjects ranging from the occult to spiritism, Islam or Buddhism – all of which can be taken for credit and are taught often by adherents of these sects. Judge Gibson of the district court stated as part of the finding that Bishop’s viewpoint was “likely to cause apprehension”] : “Dr. Bishop has tried to make much of the fact that the University has no policy for the limiting of speech of its professors only to their subject areas… [He] has filed numerous affidavits by other instructors at the University describing extracurricular speech in the classroom as efforts to reach out to students. Such attempts at professor-student affinity are laudable. But plainly some topics understandably produce more apprehension than comfort to students. Just as women would find no comfort in an openly sexist instructor, an Islamic or Jewish student will not likely savor the Christian bias that Dr. Bishop professes… There is no suggestion that any other professor has produced student complaints or struck constitutional chords.” [Note that this was remarked without a single first hand testimony from any student against this professor on record.]

It is time for God’s people to see the truth. We cannot straddle the fence of tolerance – for there is little place at the table left for us. We need not be obnoxious in the public square, but we also need to stop accommodating all of this, particularly in our own hearts and minds. The world view as seen from the Bible has a very different view of the Creator, and His character and purposes are drawn out in the Bible in direct opposition to the trends of our time. Remember, only the right map leads you to the proper destination.

Key Principle: The believer must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.

Our reading in this lesson (Genesis 6:9 to 7:5) is part of the third section or “scroll” of the Book (found in Genesis 6:9-7:5). The prologue was from Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 and established through the seven day account that:

1)    God was the first cause of everything.
2)    God created all that exists.
3)    God set time in the physical world.
4)    God owns all that is – there is no competing equal.
5)    When God created all was GOOD. Though God may be indicted for creating beings with choice – sin and its terrible consequences were not God’s judicial responsibility.

Then we studied the first scroll (2:4-4:26) a bit together in previous studies and discovered that:

1)    God provided all for man and gave him a purpose (to work at maintaining the garden).
2)    God set the limitations for man and made him guardian over the whole garden.
3)    Man took responsibility for the creatures by naming them.
4)    God created a helper for man, and he named her – woman – and took responsibility for her.
5)    Man’s failure to cover his wife left her open to temptation and eventual failure.
6)    God judged man and woman as He revealed He would, expelling them.
7)    Expelled man increased in number and in sin – including murder and lies – showing the power of the enemy’s work in and through them.
8)    Two groups formed – illustrated in the arrogance of Lamech’s song and the submission of Seth and Enosh in worship of the Lord.

In the second scroll (5:1-6:8) we saw how God revealed a promise to save the race.

1)    In chapter five we saw in the genealogy the story of salvation to come.
2)    In 6:1-8 we saw the battle of the Titans – a battle of spiritual forces played out in the physical world.

This time we look at the third scroll of Genesis. The third scroll plays out the actual battle between the demonic infestation of the world and the remnant of pure blood still left for man’s eventual salvation. Five principles are apparent in the opening part of the third scroll concerning God’s work in His follower:

Principle #1: God is SOVEREIGN over the universe - God chooses the believer for purposes that He alone truly understands (6:9-10):

6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

There was likely no way for Noah to recognize why God chose his family. He couldn’t see his genetics. All he knew was that he chose to follow God. That is as it should be. We don’t have to understand why God does what God does. We have to trust and obey – follow based on His person and place in our lives – nothing more or less!

Principle #2: Real VISION sees two worlds - God sees both the spiritual causes and the physical effects (6:11-12).

6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

We are most like our Heavenly Father when we see the real world’s impact on the temporal world. The physical world is more often the EFFECT of a disturbance in the spiritual world. We wrestle far less against the physical world, than the spiritual realities behind it.

Principle #3: God lets us in - God opens collaboration with the believer to fulfill His purposes (6:13-14).

6:13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

From the moment God gave man the job of working the Garden, God established the relationship with man as a manager on earth of God’s property. God could have created a world to care for itself – and truly in many systems it does. Yet, God wanted man to work, because MAN needed to work. In addition, it created a PURPOSE for the relationship that would continue through the ages. When God calls on a believer to accomplish something, it is not because God cannot do it another way – it is because He is offering us the privilege of collaboration. That is God’s choice for accomplishment. He builds a team and enjoys empowering others to collaborate individually and collectively.

That is why he created a Levitical priesthood and spread them to every village. That is why he made worship both an individual experience and a CORPORATE one. That is why He refers to the church as the BODY and links us together to serve Him.

Principle #4: God specifies the terms - The collaboration opens the way to fulfillment through obedience (6:15-16)

6:15 “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

God does not seek man to validate Him. He does not need man’s affirmation to become certain of His plan for human history. He knows what He will do, and He knows why. He specified the size because Noah couldn’t have known how large to build it. He specified the layout because Noah could know what was needed. He specified a window because it would later be important to the story. He specified the door because God would be the One who closed the door on the world later in the account.

Principle #5: God reveals truth to those who listen - Obedience opened revelation (not consultation) that helped to offer reason in the midst of trials (6:17-7:4). The revelation helped in seven ways.

6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”

Look closely at what God said. He explained the purpose of the ark, promised His covenant to Noah and his family and then instructed him on the subject of filling the ark with animals and provisions. In other words, God uncovered truths about what to do that Noah needed – a process believers call “revelation” – God uncovering truth that is necessary for us to please Him. “Special revelation” refers to directly revealed truths through prophetic utterance. Why does He do this? Because it HELPS us! Look again:

Seven Ways Special Revelation Aids a Believer

Help #1: Opened the believer’s eyes to the seriousness of the plan of God (6:17).

6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Noah didn’t wake up one morning and know that God was about to wipe out the world. He had to be told, and the news no doubt gripped his soul. It overwhelmed him so much that he became a “preacher of righteousness”  according to 2 Peter 2:5.  His testimony was recalled in the “Hall of fame of faith” in Hebrews 11:7. He didn’t go to seminary and prepare for a life of preaching. There was no precedent for this kind of prophetic ministry! He simply was overwhelmed by the seriousness of the impending doom.

This is a quality that many believers are today lacking. We don’t really see the coming destruction of our neighbors. We intellectually believe that God will perform the things written in His Word, but we don’t get very excited about it. We don’t live as though a warning is necessary!

Help #2: Offered consolation to the follower of God on those dearest to Him (6:18).

6:18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

What a relief to Noah that God wasn’t simply offering the BAD NEWS that man was ready for destruction, but the GOOD NEWS that God wanted to save the race He started. Further, Noah would lose MANY that were dear to him, but his own family would be spared. In other words, Noah would lose some he loved, but others he loved would be with Him in the salvation story. How like us that is!

Help #3: Offered a unique view of God’s plans and provisions (6:19-21).

6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”

The old adage is true: “Where God guides, God provides.” Noah couldn’t get all the animals, so God BROUGHT them to him. God told Noah that everything would work but that he would have to work hard to get it that way. The collaboration was real,but so was the provision. Nothing got on the ark that God didn’t deliberately cause to grow!

Help #4: Showed the restrictions and limits to the believer (that they may walk in a way pleasing to the Lord) – (7:1).

7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous (tsaddik) before Me in this time.

Noah needed to be encouraged to follow specific regulations of God. Believers don’t make the rules, but they are free to please God by following what God instructs in His Word. God is not offering suggestions, but commands. It is not for His ultimate benefit – it is for OURS!

Help #5: Showed the progressive nature of God’s revelation (how He works) – (7:2-3).

7:2 “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

God stated that two animals would be necessary. Later He explained more thoroughly the idea behind what He wanted Noah to do. As the Word unfolded, Noah understood MORE, though he was called on to obey from the beginning. We don’t always understand all that God is instructing, but with time His desires and reasons do become more apparent as He progressively reveals truth.

Help #6: Gave some advanced warning about the timing of God’s judgment (7:4).

7:4 “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”

God didn’t leave Noah hanging that the event of judgment would come to some future generation. Noah needed to give up every other pursuit of life to follow, and he needed to know that God was about to act in the lives of people around him. Because God gave to Noah specific time restraints, Noah could act responsibly with the time he had. Look at your life. Will this body go on forever? No, of course not. There is life eternal and a new body later – but this life is given in a finite way for a finite period. How much of it am I free to waste on self oriented luxury that does nothing for my King or His Kingdom?

Help #7: Revealed specific and measurable ways for the believer to KNOW they have followed well (6:22 and 7:5).

6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. [LATER]
7:5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.

Noah needed to DO what God told Him, but when he did he enjoyed the knowledge that God WAS pleased. God laid out what obedience looked like, and then patiently walked him through each step. That is how God works. He is not the boss that cannot be satisfied, the fickle friend that turns on us when they don’t feel good, or the prison warden that simply wants to control us. He wants relationship, and establishes what obedience looks like.

Before we leave this passage, consider some other thoughts about God and His work through Noah:

Note that God waited until there was but one family from which to redeem humanity! God is not worried about majority opinion, popularity, nor is He concerned that time will get away from Him. When He acts, He fully cares for the problem completely. When He warns – He follows through! When all is said and done, people in our modern world read the account and blame Him for an injustice in the very act of saving the race!

The bottom line is that God offers the believer an opportunity to be fulfilled in his or her life. To do so, we must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.

The Lessons of Christmas: The Powerful Bond - Mt. 1-2; Lk. 2

It is no secret that mothers form a bond of love with their children. On the first Christmas, the delight and agony of each woman in the Christmas story was tied to the destiny of their respective children. For Elizabeth, she had a short celebration of the work of John. For the women of Bethlehem, the longing to bear Messiah became a wail of sorrow and loss. For Mary, the bond of love for her Son became a heart rending drama of bowing at His cross. For the aged Anna, the whole scene was the fulfillment of Israel's redemption.

For generations the women of Israel had expectations of the coming King. People thought Messiah would come and destroy wrong and bring peace. He did, but not in the way they thought He would! They needed their expectations adjusted. It all began with the women of Christmas…

Key Principle: Adjusting our expectations to put them in line with God’s plan is a vital part of maturity.

Lesson One. Elizabeth:

My expectations set up disappointment and impatience with God’s Will. Yet God may hold back saying YES to grow YOU past your expectations and prepare to use you in a way far more important than you imagine. How did Elizabeth let God adjust her expectations:

She stood on a platform to be used by God:

•    She was from a Levitical family (Lk. 1:5) – the family background gave her balance and positive experiences of maturity to draw from.
•    She was personally walking uprightly before God (Lk. 1:6) – her choice to live the values she was trained in, and follow the Lord from within offered her the strength of a deep personal faith to draw from.
•    She was barren and beyond the point of expecting a child (Lk. 1:7); Her barren womb was interpreted as a personal disgrace by her (Lk. 1:25) – her troubles and prolonged personal pain gave her a depth of relationship with God to draw from.

One of the ancient kings of Persia loved to mingle with his people in disguise. Once, dressed as a poor man, he descended the long flight of stairs, dark and damp to the tiny cellar where the fireman, seated on ashes, was tending the furnace. The king sat down beside him and began to talk. At meal time the fireman produced some coarse black bread and a jug of water and they ate and drank. The king went away but returned again and again for his heart was filled with sympathy for the lonely man. They became very good friends as time passed. At last the king thought, “I’ll tell him who I am, and see what gift he will ask.” So he did, but the fireman didn’t ask for a thing. The king was astonished and said, “Don’t you realize that I can give you anything—a city, a throne?” The man gently replied, “I understand your Majesty. You have already given the greatest gift a man could receive. You left your palace to sit with me here in this dark and lonely place. You could give nothing more precious. You have given yourself and that is far more than I could ever deserve.”

She functioned even when her heart was wounded:

•    She prepared with her husband for his temple service, as required by Law (Lk. 1:6 note: blameless (am'-emp-tos) in respect to the Law) – this helped prepare HIM to do right.
•    She received her husband home and believed the angel’s message (Lk. 1:59-60)– this helped her to understand GOD’S purpose.
•    She secluded herself for five months of her pregnancy and rejoiced in God’s work in her (Lk. 1:25) – this helped her prepare for the coming ministry God was about to do through her.

God waits in order to display His glory, to dispense His grace and to grow our character. I like how one author puts it.

•    When we pray a prayer that is not right, God will say, “NO.”
•    When we pray a prayer and we are not right, God will say, “GROW.”
•    When we pray a prayer and the timing is not right, God will say, “SLOW.”
•    But, when we pray a prayer and all is right, God will say, “GO.” - Pastor Brian Bill, Illinois

She took the lessons she learned and shared them: Here was Elizabeth’s finest hour. She was used of God to explain the nature of the “unexpected God”. Mary came for reassurance, and she got it from a lady who forged a deep relationship through painful times with her Lord over a long experience of delays to her prayer.

•    When Mary came to visit her six months into her pregnancy, she was yielded to the Lord and empowered (eplēsthē: furnished), to offer rejoicing (Lk. 1:41). Letting the Spirit dominate took preparation and choice.
•    She grasped what the Lord was doing in Mary and aided the younger woman in coming to grips with what God was doing (Lk. 1:42-45). Learning from God’s lesson took insight and depth of relationship.

"You are familiar with Albrecht Durer’s famous painting "The Praying Hands," but do you know the story behind it? The painting was inspired by the sacrificial, loving acts of a friend. Durer and an older friend were struggling to make a go as artists. Recognizing Durer’s talent, the older man took a job to provide for both of them until Durer could complete his art studies. The work was labor, but he did it gladly for his friend. Finally, Durer made a sale. The money was enough to care for both of them for several months. Now his older friend could resume his painting, but the older man’s hands had become so stiff from the hard labor that he was unable to paint. One day when Durer returned home, he found his friend in prayer, his work-worn hands folded reverently. Durer painted a picture of these hands, capturing them for ages to come as a memorial to the love and sacrifice of his older friend." (Frank Morgan, Jr. Keys To Unlock Yourself. Nashville : Braodman Press, 1985, pp. 75-76).

She stood up for truth, even when she lacked support around her:

•    She remained obedient to the words of the angel on behalf of her husband’s inability to speak, even when others around her disagreed (Lk. 1:61-62). When the covering was weak, her choices were firm!

She became part of the wave of testimony of God’s new work!

•    She shared the blessing and rejoiced with all who knew her (Lk. 1:57).
•    She testified of God’s gracious work (Yohanon is short form of Yeho -chanan “God is gracious”). in the child in a memorable way to all who would hear (Lk. 1:66).

“Roland Allen tells about a veteran missionary who came up to him one day after he had delivered his sermon. The missionary introduced himself & said, "I was a medical missionary for many years in India. And I served in a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they matured." “But this missionary had developed a process which would [stop the] progressive blindness. So people came to him & he performed his operation, & they would leave realizing that they would have become blind, but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives. “He said that they never said, "Thank you," because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name." Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it….”– Melvin Newland

Lesson Two. The Mothers of Bethlehem: 

My expectations set me up to dictate to God what should come in to my life – placing my will ahead of His. God may not hold back the tragedy of the enemy’s wickedness. We must shed any expectation beyond bringing Him pleasure in our own responses to the unexpected.

Matthew 1:16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

•    Herod’s lie was uncovered by God both to Joseph and the Magi, but that did not spare the children of Bethlehem or their mothers from tragedy. God did not reveal the truth of the coming danger to the other families.

•    Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant to Israel was brought in on the pain and suffering of the people who hardened themselves against God’s direction (Jeremiah 31).


Lesson Three. Mary, Mother of Jesus:

My expectations must be ever fluid as I follow the path – not of my dreams – but of God’s direction!

•    Reality and expectations often don’t match:

Luke 2:7: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn…"

Your expectation may be to have a fairytale time, but you must do the best you can with what you have! You can’t give them everything you want to give them – but provide what they most need. In the earliest event between Jesus and His mother, she is meeting His basic provisional needs of clothing and warmth. She sought the best place she could (she settled for what she could provide). Be careful – when you lead with your heart you can also try to give them more than they should have. There is always a balance.

•    Parenting is a process of ever adjusting expectations:

Luke 2:17-19 “When they (the shepherds) had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Later that same night, the shepherds told her of a great future for her child. She delighted and dreamed of a future for her child! Dream for your child. Delight in every step of learning and cheer them into being what God intended them to be! Mothering is not an act of biology, it is a dynamic relationship. It is forged in DREAMS. Yet, we must be careful. Our dreams must be fluid for we can build our own expectations and resentments by placing our dreams ahead of God’s direction. 

•    Even the main things I define my life by are NOT MINE, but God’s!

“My children” are not “my children”. Eight days after His birth, Mary and Joseph were offering a sacrifice for the child and naming the baby in accordance to the angelic command at the time of the conception. Israel redeemed their first born child as the Law stated (Lev. 12:6). We all need reminders they aren’t “our” doing, and they don’t truly belong to us!

•    Luke 2:21-24: “And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD"),  24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."

•    Luke 2:34-35: “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."

We live and die a thousand times in the excitement and pain of our children as they live – we face the heart break of every disappointment or trouble they will suffer in their future. The truth is that hard times will come for our child, and we must prepare the child, but we must also prepare ourselves! Happy is the woman who has built a great relationship with an unfailing God in the good years.

Lesson Four. Anna:

God may call upon you to reset your personal expectations in a “Plan B”. In some ways Anna had something in common with Elizabeth.

Luke 2:36 “And there was a prophetess, Anna (shortened: Channah, or “Grace”) the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Anna understood by a long life of faithfulness the words Jeremiah spoke to Israel long before: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” — Jeremiah 29:11-12

•    Anna learned CURBED EXPECTATIONS!

Anna was very old by the time we are introduced to her in the Word. She was widowed after a marriage that lasted only a brief seven years. Now eighty-four years old, Anna learned patience and dependence upon God. She fasted and prayed day and night, never leaving the Temple.

2:36a “And there was a prophetess, Anna (shortened: Channah, or “Grace”) the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

Anna was not like most women of her time. She chose a different path. Instead of finding her identity in a second marriage and raising children – she heard God’s direction and went a different way then people expected. She chose to serve the Lord. Her expectations, probably the same as other women of her day, were dramatically altered by God’s superintending in her life.

She learned to move through the terrible pain of losing her husband, relying on God to financially and emotionally meet the needs of her life.

2:36b-7 “She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fasting and prayers.”

•    When she curbed her expectations to total reliance on God – she stuck with it!

The people who have encouraged me the most were the people who over the long haul of life have learned to drink from the well of satisfaction from the Lord even when their life circumstances were not ideal. Sixty-five years of waiting is incredible patience to wait for anything – much less a baby to mark the redemption. God is in no hurry! We will not experience instant depth, instant passion, instant deep praise. Genuine change of heart takes time. Genuine weaning of self satisfaction to God’s purposes requires time and a painful transition as I leave the throne of my heart and He takes it.

•    When she curbed her expectations – she sought the Lord and did what He instructed!

What if Anna decided not to come in on Tuesdays because she was feeling lazy? What if she accommodated her feelings of disobedience and thought: I don’t feel like looking for the Messiah this morning – I will go in latert? The blessings of being obedient far outweigh the temporary satisfaction of placating my wants and desires.

Luke 2:38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

•    She learned reliance of God meant real strength and real provision!

Others are defined by their roles – Anna’s role was stripped from her and THEN God defined her real purpose. God used her in spite of being the definition of poor and hopeless. She was not forsaken, she was being set up to accomplish her life’s purpose!

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.” — Psalm 138:7-9

“My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.” – Psalm 17:5-6

Adjusting our expectations to put them in line with God’s plan is a vital part of maturity.

Satan’s Tactics: Unhooking the Weapon of Guilt - Zechariah 3

The enemies of God’s plan for His people are the world, the flesh and the Devil. All are very real and all take a toll on our lives. We must become aware of each, walk in obedience of heart, and accept the aid of God in battling what is beyond our ability. In our previous study on the whole passage of Zechariah 1:7-6:15, we breezed through the whole of a vision of Zechariah, but we need more time in Zechariah 3. Any warrior knows the tactics of the enemy are not to be glossed over.

Just to remind our readers, the story is Zechariah 3 can be summarized as follows:

I saw Joshua the High Priest standing in filthy garments in front of the angel of the LORD with Satan buffeting him with accusations. The Lord rebuked Satan and told the angels to change his dirty clothing for clean. The Lord instructed Joshua to walk in His ways and gain His empowering strength. The Lord revealed that Joshua and his friends were symbolic of a coming Branch. God engraved a seven eyed stone and covenanted to remove the sin of the land in one day before He brought peace to His people.

Warren Wiersbe wrote in his little book, The Strategy of Satan : “Four persons in the Old Testament had a direct confrontation with Satan. From their experiences we will learn the targets Satan aims at in your life; the weapons he uses to attack you; the purposes he wants to achieve; and the defenses God has provided for you.” I paraphrased below the four persons who faced Satan later in this article, but you should get this little book if you can - it is worth the read!

Key Principle: The enemy is the great accuser who uses a weapon of guilt to hook the hearts of many believers and hold them back from doing his work. The ploy is exposed by God, that we may use His resources to remove the guilt hook from our heart.

A couple of background thoughts for this warfare lesson.

•    First, the truth that we are at war is meant for those who desire to walk with and work for God. It is not for the AWOL soldier or sunshine patriot. This is a serious subject that cannot be engaged in a fluffy way.

•    Second, the enemy is powerful, and that must be admitted. Yet, he is not equal to our Master. “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4).

•    Third, we do not belong to the battle ranks of the enemy and must not serve his purposes in the practices of our daily life. “13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14).

•    Fourth, the enemy is working against certain defeat. Jesus said: “31 “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:31-32). Revelation forecasts: "7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. 12 “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” (Revelation 12:7-12).

The four people that encountered Satan in the Hebrew Scriptures are listed below. Look at each person and what the enemy did to work against them. Don’t skip through – take a close look:

•    Eve: (Genesis 3:1-7) Satan the DECEIVER targeted her MIND with the weapon of LIES to make her IGNORANT of God’s will. Her DEFENSE was her COVERING and God’s WORD.

•    Job: (Job 1) Satan the DESTROYER targeted his BODY with the weapon of SUFFERING to make him IMPATIENT with God’s will. His DEFENSE was the imparted GRACE of God.

•    David: (1 Chron. 21:1) Satan the RULER targeted his WILL with the weapon of PRIDE to make him INDEPENDENT of God’s will. His weapon was the dominance of the Spirit of God.

•    Joshua the High Priest: (Zechariah 3) Satan the ACCUSER targeted his heart and conscience with the weapon of ACCUSATION to bring an INDICTMENT of actions against God’s will. His defense was the INTERCESSION and CLEANSING WORK of God.

Satan wants a believer to dwell in IGNORANCE of God’s will. When I get lazy and don’t want to accurately, carefully and wholly study the Word – I set myself up for believing lies and contorted words about my Father, even when those words are taken from the Bible itself. My ignorance of the context of God’s Word, caused by my misshapen priorities of things in this world leads me toward the siren song of the father of lies. In a day when many voices claim to know God’s truth, can I afford to listen without careful study?

Satan wants a believer to walk in IMPATIENCE with God’s will. When I get angry, frustrated and impatient with God’s handling of things, I give a foothold to the devil because I enthrone my own heart, believing I know when things should happen, and projecting that God is not doing the job that should be done. In arrogance I think I know, and shake my fist like Habakkuk against the Sovereign One of the universe. In a time when we stay up too late, sleep too little and put too much into our day, can I trust my sense of timing so much?

Satan wants a believer to walk in INDEPENDENCE from God’s will. When my pride wells up inside me and I begin to believe that God is fortunate to have me on His team, the enemy fans the flames of my fallen soul. It is worth noting that Satan’s own fall from the throne room of God was a matter of INDEPENDENCE. Five times Satan says “I will” in Isaiah 14:13-14: 13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Selfish arrogance and stubborn pride are at the heart of rebellion. Rebellion is, at its heart, an independence from God’s will. In a world that feed “Have it YOUR way” can I afford to be an “independent Christian”?

I believe as a body of believers in the darkening days that we live in, we should become intimately familiar with each of these lives I have just mentioned – Eve, Job, David and Joshua – and especially their encounters with the enemy. The stratagem of the enemy is unfolded for us in their lives and exchanges. God had provided both a clear record of the enemy’s work, and His enabling power to live victoriously in the face of a strong enemy. Yet, the limit of this study is Joshua and the indictment to conscience used by the enemy against a guilty but repentant believer.

If I KNOW what God wants, and I am willing to surrender daily to the TIMING of what God wants, and I walk in daily and whole DEPENDENCE to what God wants – I become a mighty warrior in the battle against God’s foe. Yet, there is another strategy that I need to be aware of if I want to be victorious in my walk – it is found in the uncovering of the work of the great ACCUSER.

Let’s look more closely at Zechariah 3 and the encounter of the guilty believer, facing the accusations that could easily keep him confined to the prison of defeat.

Again to Wiersbe (p. 74-75): “The setting is that of a courtroom. God is the Judge, Joshua the high priest is the defendant, and Satan is the prosecutor trying to prove Joshua guilty. Satan appears to have a case, because Joshua is wearing filthy garments and the high priest was always to wear clean clothes. The prophet Zechariah has this vision at a time when the nation of Israel had sinned against the Lord. The people returned…and there was hope that the nation would obey God and serve Him…When you read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and Malachi, you discover that the Jewish men were divorcing their wives and marrying heathen women; that Jewish merchants were charging their brethren exorbitant interest rates; and that even priests were robbing God and keeping the best sacrifices for themselves…”

Joshua presided over a guilty people and managed a guilty priesthood. He stood accused of poor leadership at least, and overt sinfulness at most. He was standing in filth with no hope of escape from the charges.

UNCOVERING SEVEN TRUTHS OF THE
ACCUSER’S TACTICAL USE OF GUILT

Look at the role the Accuser has. He promises BEFORE we sin that we WILL GET AWAY with the sin, and then stands as our accuser to say YOU WILL NEVER get away with this!

Truth One: CONFRONTATION - The enemy is nearby to remind the believer of his guilt. Though he accuses in the immaterial world, the guilt seeps into the heart of the conscience (3:1).

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Because the two world have portals between, and because the world of the immaterial is the first and final world, the accusations don’t begin where we think they do. Satan isn’t the guy next door, he is a spiritual being with spiritual minions that work in a spiritual dimension. Yet, he has a great impact on every aspect of what goes on in this world. Indeed, he is named, “The prince of the power of the air..” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Listen to the words: “2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

His characteristic position is in Heaven, and his work is accusation: “Rev. 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

Satan wants you to feel GUILTY but not to REPENT of your sin. Repentance includes surrender of the heart to the Lord, and change of the actions that lead to the sin. Repentance makes me OWN my choices. Guilt makes me wallow further in self pity and immaturity, eventually finding a way to accommodate my guilt and move on. Satan’s accusations show up in feeling of despair in the life of a believer. Hopelessness is his finger print.

Truth Two: COVER - The believer has nothing in himself to raise a defense with, but the Lord will be the defense of those who are broken over their sin (3:2a).

Zechariah 3:2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!

The Scripture provides the only appropriate remedy for sins of the believer. Jesus is our sacrifice, our lawyer, our priest and our punishment bearer! Note these words from John the Apostle:

1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation (hil-as-mos': complete judicial satisfaction) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

Note that I offer you NOTHING to answer the accuser based on your goodness. Your past performance is NOT AT ISSUE. Your many GOOD CHOICES do not answer the guilt stain – as you cannot argue with the officer that pulls you over in the car “that you have been driving for many years inside the speed limit and today is an exception.” Your many right choices won’t assuage your guilt for the wrong one.

In Joshua’s case, he was also dependent wholly upon God for his defense. Though his salvation was not through the message of Jesus’ work (because he lived before that work) he still began his walk with God “by grace, through faith” and trusted the promises of God. He had an advocate as well – just as a believer today.

Truth Three: CLOCK - When the Lord is about to use you for His purposes, this may become the impetus for the enemy’s attack (3:2b).

Zechariah 3:2b…” Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

When Joshua was plucked from the fire, he was a branding iron prepared to leave a mark. He must be used soon, or the heat of the fire would fade from him. He was ready to do something significant, and that is what raised the resistance of the enemy.

Truth Four: CLEMENCY - The issue is not your GUILT, but the Lord’s undeserved forgiveness (3:3).

Zechariah 3:3 "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel."

Not only have we all sinned  (Romans 3:23), but we all KNOW that we have sinned. We have the platform erected on which Satan can build the scaffolding of guilt should he choose to do so. Only God’s grace can answer such an accuser and dismantle such a contraption erected in our hearts.

Truth Five: CONFIDENCE - Only God can forgive sin and make you judicially clean before Him. He delights to do so, but we must TRUST His word! (3:4-5).

Zechariah 3:4 "He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” 5 Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by. "

God said that HE would remove sin. If we choose to believe He is speaking the truth, we will walk in forgiveness. John reminds us:

1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Obviously the Scripture teaches that we cannot confess to innocence on our own. We can only admit to cleansing by God. Guilt in this context is a form of UNBELIEF in the ability and performance of God, who cannot lie. I must confess, but I must have confidence, not in the quality of my confession, but in the absolute authority and integrity of my Heavenly Father. To doubt my forgiveness is to doubt His Word, His character and His power. The enemy whispers into our ear that OUR sin is too great to be forgiven… or that God is not willing. Both are lies from the father of lies.

Truth Six: CONDITION - God’s delight in cleansing comes with an admonition to STOP the sinful behaviors the enemy is using in the accusations so that He may move us to further positions of effectiveness (3:6-7).

Zechariah 3:6 "And the angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here."

I need to be careful here. I do not want to license sin. At the same time I must protest the idea that forgiveness here has to do with your performance. God doesn’t say that “If you never do this again then I will forgive you!” He says, “If you walk with me, now that I HAVE forgiven you, you will go on to experience greater ministry for Me. We don’t EARN God’s love – we don’t need to. We have it. Yet obedience is the path of bringing a smile to my Father, and what greater purpose is there?

Truth Seven: CAUTION - God is working a bigger plan with your life than it may appear in the physical world – that should both comfort us and concern us! (3:8-10).

Zechariah 3:8 ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch. 9 ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’”

Obviously the redemption of mankind may not hang in the balance for every decision we make to be faithful, but how do you know the redemption of ONE LIFE isn’t connected to your decision to walk with God today? Are you sure that no one will be affected if you defect to the enemy camp for a few hours today? What could go wrong if you decided to drink too much and drive a short distance? What could happen if you privately looked at some indecent material, spread a little piece of gossip, told a small lie, took a few dollars from someone or just refused to open your mouth when prompted by God? How much could it hurt? Frankly, we have no idea. Zerubbabel and Joshua didn’t see a huge picture in what they were doing. They were just a couple of exiles trying to rebuild a stone building that was destroyed before they were born… or was there more to it? You bet there was – and with God that isn’t unusual!

Remember, the enemy is the great accuser who uses a weapon of guilt to hook the hearts of many believers and hold them back from doing his work. The ploy is exposed by God, that we may use His resources to remove the guilt hook from our heart.

We must:

• Recognize the source of the CONFRONTATION,
• Claim no COVER but God’s mercy and grace,
• Grasp the truth that the CLOCK used to schedule the attack may indicate God is about to break open to us a new level of ministry,
• Humbly seek the CLEMENCY based on the work of Jesus alone,
  
• Assert absolute CONFIDENCE in God’s promise to wholly forgive confessed sin of the believer,
• Understand the CONDITION that holds me from greater accomplishments for the kingdom is my stubborn rebellious behavior,
• And make decisions with CAUTION – for much more can depend on them than I recognize!

The enemy is the great accuser who uses a weapon of guilt to hook the hearts of many believers and hold them back from doing his work. The ploy is exposed by God, that we may use His resources to remove the guilt hook from our heart.