Courage to Despise the Shame

"Not it requires courage to despise the shame which the Christian must expect to meet withal for his singularity. Shame is that which proud nature most disdains, to avoid which many durst not 'confess Christ openly,’ John 7:13.  Many lose heaven because they are ashamed to go in a fool's coat thither.  Again, as some will mock, so others will persecute to death, merely for this nonconformity in the Christian's principles and practices to them.  This was the trap laid for the three children; they must dance before Nebuchadnezzar's pipe, or burn.  This was the plot laid to ensnare Daniel, who walked so unblameably, that his very enemies gave him this testimony, that he had no fault but his singularity in his religion, Dan. 6:5.  It is a great honour to a Christian, yea, to religion itself, when all their enemies can say is, They are precise, and will not do as we do.  Now in such a case as this, when the Christian must turn or burn, leave praying, or become a prey to the cruel teeth of bloody men; how many politic retreats and self-preserving distinctions would a cowardly unresolved heart invent?  The Christian that hath so great opposition had need be well locked into the saddle of his profession, or else he will soon be dismounted."

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour

The Lord is my Helper

Psalms 120-134 are a collection of Psalms titled,  "Songs of degrees." which means songs for going up. They were traveling songs and most likely a collection the saints sang as they made their way up to Jerusalem. The faithful left their homes and traveled to God's appointed place of worship. Depending on where you lived, it could take anywhere up to five days for some to make it (Luke 2:41). If everyone was going up to the feast, the road would be full of travelers. Families would travel together and communities linked up and a caravan of the godly making their way to the worship of God As they traveled to worship, the sang the songs of Zion.

And when they left the house, it probably didn't seem like too bad a trip. Just a couple days. But after walking all day in the hot sun, and sleeping on the ground in the cool moonlight, knowing you are going to have to do it the next day, and the day after, and the day after, and then you STILL have to come back home, it could get discouraging. Psalm 121 is a hopeful song.  The underlying theme of the song is that the journey is tough. But the main theme is God will see us through.

As we make our pilgrimage to our Heavenly home, it's often a hard road. There are problems, trials, temptations and setbacks we all face on our pilgrimage. But God's people can go through life hopeful that the Lord will see us through. Psalm 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. The Psalmist must  lift up his eyes because he was still in the valley. He hadn't yet made it to his destination. His eyes were downcast, but with faith, he lifted them and looked to where his help comes. His help comes from the Lord. By faith, he's making his way to the worship of the Lord walking in the will of God and doing what God has commanded him to do.

He lifts his eyes up to the hills, but there are hills yet to climb. God's people don't get to skate through life with no problems. Abraham lost Sarah. Isaac lost his sight. He also lost his boys in their fighting and hatred. Jacob experienced one trial after the next. He lost his beloved Rachel as she gave birth. He lost his son Joseph, convinced he died. Joseph's brother hated him and sold into slavery. Then, falsely accused and thrown in prison.  The children of Israel were slaves of the Egyptians. Naomi lost home to famine. Lost her husband and both her sons to death. Hannah couldn't have children and  her husband's other wife mocked her for it. You can't read the Bible and say the people of God will live without trouble. But God's people have hope because we have  a helper who is able to save.

Not Condemned

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," John 3:18.

The soul that trusts in Jesus Christ shall be saved, shall not perish nor be condemned. This verse is about your legal standing before God, not your good works. If I condemn someone, what am I doing? I'm passing judgment on them and I've declared them guilty. If I find myself in court, and I hear, "Doug Newell, the court finds you guilty on all charges and sentences you to hang by the neck until dead," I'm a condemned man. Some people might cheer, some might cry, but I'm condemned. The trial is over and my fate is sealed. Jesus said, if you do not believe in him, you are condemned already.  Right now. Guilty. A condemned man.

But Jesus gives life and pardon. Jesus did not come to condemn because we were already condemned. Jesus came to save sinners who needed saving. He came to give life to those who didn't have it. He came to give pardon to those who were due to perish. To see or enter in to the kingdom of God, a man must be born again. The natural man needs spiritual life that can only come by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God. Whosoever has faith in the Son of God, shall not perish. But why would he perish? Because he is a sinner and has broken the law. The natural man is dead in trespasses and in sins, born under a curse. We willingly break God's law and are unwilling to do right and the condemnation for law breakers is death. The wages of sin is death, and unless we are born again, we will not only die in the flesh but die the second death in the fires of Hell.

"But he who believes is not condemned," is present tense. That means those who believe have life, and  the promise and hope of eternal life, but also have be justified. We have been found innocent. How can guilty sinners be found innocent? The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to our account by faith. Freed from the condemnation of sin that we deserved and  declared innocent of all charges. We face judgment in the future because our sins have already been dealt with. The Father judged our sins in Christ Jesus, who was made sin for us.  Jesus was declared guilty on my behalf, because he bore my sins and was punished on the cross in my stead. The Father was satisfied with the punishment and the debt of sin was paid. I was pardoned, forgiven. I also, by faith, received Jesus' righteousness. By faith in Christ, by God's grace, I'm righteousness. I'm innocent because I've been pardoned, forgiven, cleansed and then given the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Proverbs for Today

 One of my favorite episodes of Andy Griffith show is "The Sermon for Today." I'm sure you are surprised, nay shocked! that a preachers favorite episode was about the preacher. But, to be fair, it was my favorite before I started preaching. It's the one where the visiting preacher from New York City passes through and preaches a message to the good people of Mayberry. It wasn't a very good message; he didn't take his Bible into the pulpit for one and he said the meaning of life can be found by relaxing and enjoying the simple pleasures of life, which is malpractice for a parson. I could go on, but I'll refrain from breaking down the faults of a fictional preacher scene by scene. But the theme of his message is my theme today. Slow down – specifically, slow down when your read the proverbs.

Joe Wilson said Proverbs are, "Counsel from Above for Conduct Below." Sidlow Baxter, perhaps after being locked in a room with a thesaurus, said the Proverbs are, 'Pointed Precepts for Practical Prudence." The Proverbs teach men how to walk in the fear of the Lord and how to walk in the Spirit. They are short, pithy sayings that force you to stop and think them through. They are one –liners that require a little bit of work to get the full meaning.

Maybe it would help to think of the Proverbs as episodes. Each line of these proverbs are self-contained. They are artfully crafted pieces of truth designed to help you remember them. But since they are designed to be short, they also must generalize to make the point. In order to understand the proverb, you have to slow down and work them out in your mind. But once you have the picture, it's easy to remember them, thus easier to apply them. Proverbs 20:1, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." If a young man is tempted to drink, it's going to be easier for him in the moment to remember this picture in the moment and apply it.  But, first, you have to think about that Proverb to get it in your mind. Wine is portrayed as a mocker. She's laughing at you and making fun of you. Why? Because she's controlling you and making you do her will. Wine can make fun of you because she can make you do things you would have NEVER done. And, it's usually going to be embarrassing at best, ruinous to your soul at worst. Then, you can picture Mr. Whiskey. He's in a rage. Hang out with him, and you'll be fighting HIS battles and running your mouth. And if you aren't careful, they'll both trick you into thinking you can handle it, and most people can handle their drink and change, but you can. But if you think that, you're deceived and not wise.  Making wine and whiskey into characters is memorable.

And, to paraphrase Barney as he left the church building, "That's one subject you just can write enough about – sin."

Psalms 19:7  ...the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

You should read your Bible everyday because it's sure. It's firm and established. "The science is settled!" Until it's not, or until they change their mind or find evidence to the contrary. That's the thing about science, its based on observation. Settled science can change based on new information. I read an article last week on theories of why airplanes stay in the air. We can fly all over the world and can design airplanes, but we aren't 100% sure of the reason why they stay in the air.  

God's word is firm. It's settled in Heaven. God's testimony isn't going to change. I change. My body changes. My feelings change. My circumstances change. The world around me changes. But God's word, God's promises, God's testimony are sure. He's not going to change. He's not going be proven wrong. He's not going to go back on his word. Read something sure.

Read something that can give you wisdom. The sure testimonies of God can make a simple one, void of understanding wise. I've read some books where I feel like they made me dummer for having finished them. I've tossed some books in the trash because I KNEW if I kept reading I would be worse off for it, and if I contributed nothing else to society, at least someone wouldn't read that copy. The Bible is good for your soul. It will give you wisdom. Read it. 

Converting the Soul

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.

You should read the Bible because of it's power to covert the soul. Conversion isn't limited to the moment when the Lord saves you. Conversion means to turn to the Lord (Psalm 22:27), to restore the soul (Psalm 23:3), to rescue the soul (Psalm 35:17). It's to be brought back to right fellowship (James 5:19; Luke 22:32). The born again believer can be converted when we are out of fellowship with the Lord Jesus, or when we have fallen in sin, error,  or when we have grown cold in our soul. Those who wander away from the Lord first wander away from the Word or receiving the benefit of the Word.

Read your Bible with faith. It's more important to receive truth and hear the Lord when you read than to check off the daily reading. There is no law that says you must read the Bible in 365 days, so if you come to a passage where you need to stop and pray and repent and meditate, do that. Feed your soul with the perfect word that can convert the soul.

Crown of Glory...IF

Proverbs 16:31  The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.

Matthew Henry, commenting on this verse said, “It ought to be the great care of old people to be found in the way of righteousness, the way of religion and serious godliness. Both God and man will look for them in that way; it will be expected that those that are old should be good, that the multitude of their years should teach them the best wisdom; let them therefore be found in that way. Death will come; the Judge is coming; the Lord is at hand. That they may be found of him in peace, let them be found in the way of righteousness (2Pe_3:14), found so doing, Mat_24:46. Let old people be old disciples; let them persevere to the end in the way of righteousness, which they long since set out in, that they may then be found in it.

If old people be found in the way of righteousness, their age will be their honour. Old age, as such, is honourable, and commands respect (Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, Lev_19:32); but, if it be found in the way of wickedness, its honour is forfeited, its crown profaned and laid in the dust, Isa_65:20. Old people therefore, if they would preserve their honour, must still hold fast their integrity, and then their gray hairs are indeed a crown to them; they are worthy of double honour. Grace is the glory of old age."

Poetry?

A few years ago, I told one of my boys he would be taking an introductory poetry course in school. I was not too shocked when he despaired with great lamentations, sackcloth and ashes. He didn't want to read poetry because poems were, according to his mind, about "prissy girls picking flowers in the fields and having tea parties." Poetry was feminine and he wanted none of it. Flashback one week before, I found him in my study with a copy of Beowulf. He devoured it and couldn't stop talking about its awesomeness – heroes, monsters, swords, treasure! After I explained Beowulf was a poem he had a world changing paradigm shift that took him a couple days to process. That couldn’t be poetry, because, well, Beowulf was about battle and fighting. I think that many Americans have similar view of poetry. It has to be dainty and you can only read it while wearing a top hat and monocle  simultaneously stroking a honey colored beard and sighing deep, contemplative sighs. 

That’s a fair misunderstanding, and the fault of modern poets. But I hope you don’t think all poetry is like that. Did you know the Bible is full of poetry? The book of Psalms is a collection of poetry. The Song of Solomon, Lamentations, and Job are all extended poems. There are poems in the prophets and Paul quotes a poet in Titus. Most of it was written by David, hardly an effete milksop. David grew up “on the farm” a shepherd of his father’s sheep. He was a mighty warrior, and then a king. As a young man, other’s wrote songs about his life. “Saul killed his thousands, David his tens of thousands.” He was the warrior poet who wrote this memorable line, “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD (Psalm 58:6),” and that stanza, like the man,  was anything but dainty. 

Another legitimate issue some have with poetry is the time factor. You can’t read poetry quickly and get anything from it. The very nature of the art requires you to read it several times, and think about the words. Poetry uses language to express a meaning. It requires time, slow reading, and meditation to get the meaning. When poetry became an elitist exercise, purposefully written over the heads of the average person who doesn’t read Latin or ancient Greek to be the domain of the literature department, a lot of people quit reading it. But, God gave us poetry. God wanted you to read it and God wants you to love his poetry. And God’s poetry can be understood and enjoyed by all His people. The poetry in the Bible is beautiful. And it’s true. So you can spend time, reading and reading again the word pictures painted through the inspiration of God, and think deeply and repeatedly about the words and about the images and know you’ll profit from them. 

Heavy Wrath

On a farm located on a church estate in southern Iceland, sits a rock. I think I’m going to need to back up a little. A couple hundred years ago, as legend has it, Pastor Björnsson was the pastor of both a church and sheep. He built a sheep pen of stone, and used a flat, 401 lb. stone for the gate. By and by, the stone became famous, and not for being much heavier than any door needs to be, but as a competition for feats of strength. For a couple centuries, men have tested their strength by trying to lift the rock and move it. Last year,  a 6’8”, 420lb giant of a man, broke the world record the world record carrying the stone 322 feet. His name is also Björnsson. Now, believe it or not, people travel from all over the world to Iceland, drive out to this farm, and make their way to the sheep gate where there’s a rock laying on the ground. They try to pick the thing up, and if they can lift it, they carry it as far as they can. Men like to test their strength. Another popular competition is the sandbag throw. Contestants take sandbags ranging from 50-100 lbs and throw them backwards, over their heads, to cross a beam 15 ft in the air.  Sand and stone are routinely used as implements in Strongmen competitions and have been for hundreds of years because they are heavy. Even the strongest men in the world can only bear the weight of heavy sand and stone for a short time before they succumb.

Proverbs 27:3, “A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.” Solomon uses these heavy implements to describe the heaviness of the wrath of a foolish person. The weight of the fool’s wrath is intolerable for most to bear (Exodus 5:5-10). The fools wrath is heavy because it is without righteousness. God told the nation of Israel they were to judge, an eye for an eye. That’s a law of equal justice and righteousness, not revenge. God curbs the wrath of the fool who wants an eye for a fingernail (Matthew 18:21-35). Their anger and fury isn’t controlled by justice. Once they become ignited in their hatred and passions, there is no end to their fury.

The fools wrath is heavy with folly. Wrath untethered from the wisdom of God is dedicated toward defending our personal glory and honor. And so it’s heavy because the stroke is made without just cause. I knew a person who hated their neighbor with unbridled passion. I asked him why and what started it, and they couldn’t really explain. He looked at me incredulously like it was self evident why they hated this person, and doubted my sound judgment that I had to ask why. The fools wrath starts quickly (Proverbs 14:29) and never ends. While our God is long suffering, the fool has a quick fuse and long memory. This makes the fools wrath both cruel (Proverbs 27:4) and dangerous (Proverbs 17:12).

Works For Amens Too

Amen?

The Word is Perfect

Psalms 19:7-11  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul

We’ve entered into a new month. Time to flip the calendar and notice February is different this year than last year, we have an extra day.  The days are getting a little longer. The winter is dragging on here in West Virginia.  One thing that hasn’t, doesn’t, and never will change is God’s Word. I hope you are still reading your Bible every day. You should because it's perfect.

The Bible is perfect. Perfection means God’s Word can’t get any truer or better than it already is, otherwise, it wouldn’t be perfect. And, it also means it can’t get any worse. I listened to a podcast this week about War and Peace, one of the best novels ever written. But, it’s not perfect, by any stretch. It was written by a man with limited understanding. It was written by a man who had a sin nature and saw the world through fallen eyes. Though it could be one of the pinnacles of man’s work, it isn’t perfect.

God’s Word is true, in every aspect. No other book will give you unadulterated truth. You can trust the perfection of God’s Word. It will never lie to you. It will never lead you astray. It will never give you wrong information. It will never be disproven by science. It will never be proven false by archaeologist.

Read your Bible and believe it’s perfect. Beware of men who constantly are telling you what’s wrong with your Bible. Read your Bible and believe what it says. Study to make sure you understand what it says, but don’t come to the perfect law of the Lord with the idea you need to correct what God says. Read your Bible and trust what it says.