Judgment and Grace in Babylon

The book of “Daniel” in the Bible divides neatly into two parts. The first six chapters give us narrative accounts of the adventures of Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as they interact with the kings in Babylon. Then the last six chapters give us prophetic visions of the future, a future that covers the time of Daniel till the end of time. In the narrative section, two of the kings we encounter are King Nebuchadnezzar and King Belshazzar. It is these two kings that I want to consider, particularly exploring their relationship with the Most High God of the Hebrews (whom we know elsewhere as Yahweh, the LORD).

BACKGROUND

The best way, of course, to gain a grasp of the background of these two men and to understand the context of their stories in the Bible is to read the accounts of their lives in the respective sections of Scripture. So then, be sure that you have read “Daniel” chapters 1-4 about Nebuchadnezzar and “Daniel” chapter 5 about Belshazzar in preparation for this article.

Several things are obvious from the pages of Scripture. The most significant feature of both these men is that they are pagans. The word is not to be understood as judgmental, but as factual, because the word “pagan” just means “a worshiper of any god or gods other than the God of the Bible.” These men lived far away from Israel and Jerusalem and were completely ignorant of the God of the Hebrews. So, they did not know or acknowledge “the Most High God” or “the God of heaven.” This ignorance of the LORD and of His Law means that the Babylonian culture had no moral standards, and so Babylon was marked by the immorality and the idolatry that inevitably follow such a worldview.

Since this article is exploring their individual relationships with the Most High God, it is necessary to describe how the Most High God, the LORD, viewed these pagan kings. As is true for all those who violate His holy Law and who live immoral and defiant lives, so it was true for Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, that their transgressions and their sins brought them under the judgment and wrath of God (Romans 1:18). As we have already mentioned, when they are first introduced to us in the book of “Daniel,” it is obvious that they both kings know nothing about this “Most High God.” Nevertheless, from the LORD’s perspective, they have each violated His holiness and broken His holy laws and are thus both subject to His wrath and judgment. This means that, according to the clear teaching of the Bible, unless something changes in their lives, both these men deserve eternal punishment and will spend eternity in what the Bible calls “hell.”

JUDGMENT FOR BELSHAZZAR

We will first look at King Belshazzar. It becomes clear from Daniel 5 that Belshazzar is not only completely ignorant of the God of the Hebrews, the Most High God, but he is also defiant in his attitude toward this God, in essence treating Him as just another petty pagan deity of a defeated people. In the midst of his drunken party (Daniel 5:1-4), he calls for the vessels from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, to be brought out so that he and all his pagan partiers may drink wine from them and use those vessels to praise the pagan gods of Babylon, “but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored (5:23).” This is clearly dangerous business, and, in the end, this final act of rebellion seals the doom of Belshazzar and his Chaldean kingdom, as the LORD brings judgment. Thus, Belshazzar dies and perishes (5:30).

Before we move on to an examination of Nebuchadnezzar, it would be good to digest what happened to Belshazzar. Tragically, he perished; that is, he remained under the judgment of God until the day of his death, and therefore, he will be punished forever in what the Bible calls “hell.” I mentioned above that something needed to change in Belshazzar’s life, or he would be judged and condemned. Well, nothing changed. Belshazzar continued in his rebellion against the Most High God and did not repent or worship the God of heaven. He, therefore, received his deserved judgment.

GRACE FOR NEBUCHADNEZZAR

There is a grand mystery in how the Lord, the Most High God, deals with the children of Adam. The Bible makes clear that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” The Bible also makes clear that “the wages of sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23),” thus making plain that every single one of us deserves God’s terrifying judgment. But the Bible also makes plain that not all receive God’s judgment. God will certainly punish all sin, but not all people will be punished: this is the mystery. Indeed, Job asks the question, “But how can a man be in the right before God? (Job 9:2)” In Job’s way of thinking, if a person sinned, there must be punishment. Sin meant a person was no longer “in the right before God.” So, how could they be reconciled? This is the mystery.

The solution to this mystery has now been revealed in the Scripture, and it is summed up in one word: grace. Grace has been described as God’s “unmerited favor,” favor that He freely chooses to bestow on certain undeserving sinners, with the result that those so chosen are delivered from His wrath and judgment and are instead forgiven of their sins and are adopted by God as His very own children and are guaranteed an eternity in heaven with Him. God’s grace and mercy and love were supremely demonstrated in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cruel cross.

I bring up the subject of grace now because here in Daniel chapters 1-4 we see a demonstration of God’s grace through the spiritual journey of King Nebuchadnezzar. We have already seen how Belshazzar received his deserved judgment. But by contrast, as we read of King Nebuchadnezzar, we see that he receives amazing patience and grace from the God of heaven. Make no mistake about it: Nebuchadnezzar starts out fully as ignorant of the Most High God as any other Chaldean would be. The king has serious anger issues, demonstrated in his flying into a tirade because his magicians cannot tell him his dream (Ch. 2) and then in getting furious when the Hebrew men will not bow down to his golden image (Ch. 3). Finally, in chapter 4 we see Nebuchadnezzar’s immense pride as he congratulates himself for all that he has accomplished in Babylon. Ignorance and malevolence and arrogance make a pretty nasty brew, but such is the Chaldean king.

But in the midst of all these theatrics, we must not miss what God is doing by His providence. Instead of bringing judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar for his many and great sins, He graciously uses a series of providences to draw the king to Himself, so that, in the end, he not only knows about the LORD, but he also praises Him as his God. Notice the progression:

  • In Chapter 1, since Nebuchadnezzar is so far from Jerusalem and is so distant from the knowledge of the LORD and of His Word, the LORD providentially arranges to have four “ambassadors” (Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael) sent from Jerusalem to Babylon to begin to live in the very court of the king himself. Now, through the means of a conquest and an exile, there are four messengers of the LORD in close proximity to the pagan king.
  • In Chapter 2, the LORD gives Nebuchadnezzar a dream about a multi-metallic statue. The dream cannot be told by the Chaldean magicians and so, providentially, Daniel comes into the presence of the king to tell the dream and its interpretation. In the course of telling the dream, Daniel introduces Nebuchadnezzar to the “God of heaven.” In Daniel 2:46-47, Nebuchadnezzar declares to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries.” At this point, then, Nebuchadnezzar knows about the “God of heaven” and is impressed with His power, although certainly the king is not a worshiper yet.
  • Chapter 3 is the well-known story of the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. When confronted with certain death as the price of their obedience, the Hebrew men politely defy the king and tell him that their God can deliver them from his furnace. Nebuchadnezzar is astounded by what the “God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” does in “sending His angel and delivering His servants who trusted in Him (Daniel 3:28).” Now Nebuchadnezzar not only knows about the existence of the Most High God, the God of the Hebrews, but he also knows that this God is able to save from the fire. This God is more powerful than a blazing fiery furnace and this God will act to deliver His servants from the flames. This God is a saving God. Do you see how the LORD is slowly, graciously drawing Nebuchadnezzar to Himself?
  • Chapter 4 is the culmination of the grace of the LORD toward Nebuchadnezzar, as we see him both at the beginning of the chapter and at the end giving praise to the Most High God, the King of heaven (4:2, 34, 37, etc.). In fact, Chapter 4 could well be considered Nebuchadnezzar’s personal testimony, for in this chapter the king talks about “the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me (4:2).” He describes how, through the means of another dream interpreted by Daniel, he went from being  a proud king to a man humbled to the level of a beast, to then being restored to his kingdom, but with a new perspective on the King of heaven, whom he praises, extols, and honors. Through God’s providence and grace, the Most High God has become HIS GOD.

As the Bible so often does, here in Daniel chapters 1-5 the Scripture illustrates for us theological principles through these narrative stories. Here we see the grace of God that patiently leads King Nebuchadnezzar to become a worshiper of the Most High God. And we also see the justice of God demonstrated in King Belshazzar that subjects to judgment those who do not repent and who do not bow the knee to worship the LORD.

REFLECTIONS

The story of the justice of God and the grace of God continues to this day and will continue until the Lord Jesus returns. This is a story that touches every single human being, for it should be clear that, as both these kings deserved God’s judgment because of their sin, so every one of us deserves God’s judgment because of our sin. But the grace of God has provided a substitute for those chosen by God who will take our punishment in our place. Jesus Christ is our substitute and the greatest picture of God’s grace.

For those who are already followers of Jesus, another point of reflection is to try to grasp the grace of God that has been given to you, for it is crystal clear that your salvation was entirely undeserved. The only thing that we are able to merit is condemnation and judgment. Yet God, for reasons known only to Him, has decided to lavish His grace on you and to reckon you as righteous because of the work of Christ. He would have remained perfectly righteous and just to have cast you headlong into an eternal hell, but He chose instead to give you His grace, His unmerited favor. His grace included His patience and His providence as He carefully crafted the steps of your journey to faith in Him. Like His grace toward Nebuchadnezzar, He guided you every step of the way so that you would arrive at repentance and faith and would become His adopted child.

SDG                 rmb                 7/17/2020

The Pot and the Potter (Isaiah 45:9)

            The picture in the Scripture is intentionally a little bit absurd, that is, the picture of a clay pot arguing with the potter who created the pot. Yes, the picture is intentionally absurd because no pot would ever argue with the potter who made it. The pot is the created and the potter is the creator, and it is absurd to think that such a pot, which was brought into existence from a formless lump by the predetermined plan of the potter, would argue with the one who conceived of the pot and then fashioned the pot into something useful. This picture is presented in the Bible to show the absurdity of people rebelling against and disobeying the Lord, their Creator.

            In Isaiah 45:6, the prophet tells us ab out just such an argument:

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker – An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?”

            In addition to the futility of this argument, there will also be woe (calamity, disaster) to the one who quarrels with his Maker. How absurd it is then – a clay pot saying to the potter, “What are you doing?” and bringing upon itself unnecessary woe and disaster!

            But as absurd as it is for a clay pot to make demands upon and to defy the potter, it is much more outrageous for man the creature to disobey and despise the Lord, his Creator, and bring upon himself woe and disaster! Yet this is what is done by many people in our world as they willfully and intentionally satisfy the desires of their own flesh and do what their conscience tells them they should not do (Romans 2:14-16).

There are many examples of ways that we rebel against the Lord, somehow believing that we have the right to rant against and to defy our gracious God and that He will bear with our rebellion forever without consequence.

            But this is not the case. The Bible is clear from Genesis to Revelation that there is coming a day of judgment “when God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus (Romans 2:16).” Yes, the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness (Psalm 103:8). Yes, the Lord desires for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy2:4). Yes, the LORD takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23, 32), but the Lord also declares that the only way for you to escape the terrifying day of judgment is to repent of your sins and to place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, I will judge you, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed! Why will you die? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the LORD. “Therefore, repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30-32)”

            The living God sees all our rebellion, and the consequences for created clay pots who persist in rebelling against the Potter will be disastrous, indeed. My advice is for you to bow the knee to Jesus today, and enjoy the blessings of the Lord, your Creator.

SDG                 rmb                 7/15/2020

Giant Enemies or Giant Grapes? (Number 13-14)

            Our world today is a place that bombards us with reasons to fear. I do not think there are many who would dispute that statement. Our own country, which used to be fairly insulated from the general worldwide chaos and disintegration, is no longer a safe haven, and we who have spent many years enjoying America’s restful bubble are now adjusting to a country where most of what we have always held dear is being discarded or demolished. Stability and security are fading memories and the future is anything but bright. As a result, the fuel for fear is bearing down upon us and we fight for joy.

            Despite this situation, for followers of Jesus, the mission has not changed. We are still charged to “Fear not” (Isaiah 41:10; 43:1; etc.) and to “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16; Phil. 4:4) and to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Since that is the case, the question becomes, “How do I do that?” How do we continue to see the world through the eyes of faith and not succumb to the pressures of fear?

            This study will look at the narrative from Numbers 13-14 to draw out answers to these questions. In this story, the children of Israel have made their exodus from Egypt, have crossed the Red Sea, and have traveled to Kadesh Barnea at the southern end of the land of Canaan. From there, Moses sends twelve spies into the land of Canaan to give him a report of the nature of the land. When the spies come back, there is a sharp disagreement about the nature of the land. Some of the spies have faith and some do not and that makes all the difference in how they respond to the call to invade the land. This, then, is a study in contrasts. It is a study of FEAR and of FAITH. At the conclusion, we will try to learn some lessons from their challenges that we can apply to our own increasingly shaky environment.

SETTING THE STAGE

            Before we begin to look at the spies, it is important to notice that the LORD had decided to give the children of Israel the land before the spies went in. In Numbers 13:2, the LORD commands that the men be sent to spy out Canaan, “which I am giving to the sons of Israel.” Since the LORD has given the land already, the only correct response was to go in, for victory was assured. To add to this case, when Moses sent the twelve spies into the land, he did not ask them to decide whether the rest of the people should go in. He gave them ZERO executive authority. Moses wanted a report and some fruit (13:17-20). That was the extent of their assignment. So, again, they had no authority to persuade the rest to refuse to go in and to decide to head back to Egypt.

            When the spies go into the land of Canaan, they go up and down the whole length of the land from north to south. They also see the people of the land and the fruit of the land. Two verses are key, 13:22 and 13:23. In Numbers 13:22, the Bible tells us that “the spies came to Hebron, where the descendants of Anak were.” The Anakim were giants, men of great height and strength. (It is likely that Goliath (1 Samuel 17) was a descendant of Anak.) Even from spying distance, it was obvious to all twelve spies that these giant men would make scary enemies. Numbers 13:22 is all about fear. Then in Number 13:23, we read about the fruit of the land of Canaan. There in the valley of Eshcol, the spies find a single cluster of grapes that is so large that it must be carried on a pole between two of the men. This giant cluster of grapes is a testimony to the goodness and provision of the LORD, that He is giving them a very fruitful land. Numbers 13:23 is all about faith. Thus, the twelve spies return to the camp of Israel in Kadesh.

THE TWO REPORTS

(For simplicity, I am going to refer to the ten unfaithful spies as either TEN or as FEAR. I will refer to the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, as TWO or as FAITH.)

            The TEN spies give their report first. After a brief mention of the land and its fruit (13:27), they go on to say, “Nevertheless (which is a word that effectively negates what was said before), the people who live in the land are strong (13:28).” Their report quickly descends into a terrified account of people who are all enormous and of cities that are large and fortified and of a land that “devours its inhabitants.” Basically, they describe a death trap and imply that all the people are doomed.

            Caleb interrupts the TEN with his own account of their reconnaissance of the land, saying, “Let us go up at once and occupy the land, for we will surely overcome it (13:30).” How can two reports be so vastly far apart?

            Despite Caleb’s FAITH, the TEN hold sway and succeed in striking FEAR into the heart of the entire congregation. The people lament their leadership, they blame the LORD for their imagined desperate situation, and they want to find a new leader to take them back to Egypt (14:1-4). This is all specific rebellion and wicked disobedience.

            The TWO once again gain the floor and try to speak sense and FAITH into the people. The land is “an exceedingly good land (14:7; contrary to the brief mention of 13:27).” The LORD will bring us into this land that “flows with milk and honey.” “Do not rebel against the LORD and do not FEAR the people of the land. The LORD is with us, so do not FEAR them (14:9).”

            Finally, the LORD Himself brings down the verdict. “How long will this people despise Me and how long will they not believe in Me, in spite of all the signs I have done among them (14:11)?”

OBSERVATIONS OF FEAR AND FAITH

  • The LORD was giving the land to the sons of Israel (13:2). FAITH accepts the LORD’s gift and prepares to go into the land. FEAR is all doubt and uncertainty and keeps retreat as the preferred option.
  • FEAR fixes our gaze upon the threat (13:22) or the enemy and dreads the coming disaster, but FAITH fixes our gaze upon the LORD (14:9) and anticipates His power being displayed. (Hebrews 12:2)
  • FEAR magnifies and multiplies the adversaries (13:28-29, 31-33), but FAITH trusts the LORD to vanquish my adversaries (14:9).
  • A spark of FEAR can quickly grow into an inferno (13:31-33), so snuff it out quickly.
  • FEAR causes a person to project evil upon the LORD (14:3), a grievous sin, when the LORD is always and only good.
  • To act out of FEAR is “to rebel against the LORD (14:9).” This is no minor offense but is calling into question the very trustworthiness of the LORD. The LORD has declared and demonstrated that He is trustworthy. Therefore, we must not FEAR.
  • FAITH exhorts people with the words, “do not FEAR (14:9).” FEAR discourages the people to have no FAITH (14:1-4).
  • FEAR is a word of the devil and of the world and of the once-born. FAITH is word of the LORD and of the fellowship of believers and of the born-again.
  • To not trust the LORD is to “despise” the LORD (14:11). Again, we may imagine that not trusting the LORD is just a small chink in my discipleship armor, but the LORD views this lack of trust as “despising” Him.
  • To not trust the LORD is the same thing as not believing in the LORD (14:11). This is sobering, indeed, for if we do not believe in the LORD by the LORD’s own assessment, are we not ‘unbelievers?’ To not trust the LORD is a serious thing.
  • FAITH commits to the course and, thus, eliminates options of retreat.
  • When Joshua and Caleb went to spy out the land, they were inspecting their new home. By contrast, the TEN were visiting a strange land to see if it was safe.
  • Joshua and Caleb spied out the land as conquerors. On the other hand, the TEN spies went in as tourists.
  • Joshua and Caleb spied out the land with the LORD at their side (14:9). The TEN went into the land under their own strength (13:31-33).

APPLICATIONS AND LESSONS

            Going through this list of observations about faith and fear (above) can be instructional as we evaluate our own attitudes toward threats. It is certain that our natural response to threats and instability is fear. This is a result of the sin of Adam in the Garden and the Fall that followed. Therefore, the natural man always responds to threats with fear. But it is also true that the “old man” and the “flesh” within the follower of Jesus still draws us toward fear. Because that is the case, the disciple of Jesus must intentionally learn to resist and to reject fear and instead to respond to threats with faith, regardless of the nature of the threat.  In this light, I have several thoughts about ways we can move away from fear and move toward faith.

  • Always consciously CHOOSE to trust the LORD. This is the habit that Caleb had developed. He certainly saw the same Anakim (giants) that the other spies saw, but he CHOSE to let his thoughts dwell on the LORD and His power. Just so, when we are confronted with something that threatens us (job loss, COVID-19, widespread violence and anarchy, serious illness, relationship turmoil, persecution, personal loss, etc.), our first act must be to CHOOSE to turn to the Lord and trust the Lord and seek the Lord.
  • Ask the question, “What would be the OBEDIENT thing to do?” In the face of threat, the person of faith strives to continue to obey the Lord. Ideally, all actions are obedient actions.
  • Ask the question, “How would the Lord want me to act in this situation?” Consider examples of heroes from Scripture. How would they respond? Or what would be a response that would be pleasing to the Lord? Go, and do likewise.
  • Develop strong habits of prayer, especially during seasons of relative calm, so that the weapon of prayer will be available when the battle is joined. Therefore, pray:
    • To remind myself of the Lord’s faithfulness in the past. (Psalm 42:4, 6 “remember”)
    • So that I remember His love for me and His delight in me (Psalm 147:9-10; 149:4; Romans 8:31)
    • That the Lord would clarify the task in front of me so that I know the right path (Psalm 119:105)
    • That the Lord would give me the resolve to take action, when He has made known to me the path
    • To request the Lord’s help and to ask for His power
  • Be aware of my thinking and recognize when I am allowing my mind to dwell on fear or to drift into areas of spiritual unpreparedness.
  • When fear begins to well up, arrest those thoughts and turn my mind to obedient thoughts, like 1 Thess. 5:16-18; Psalm 131; 46; 56:3; 27:14; 34:4-6
  • Maintain the attitude of a soldier and be on the alert and be battle-ready (2 Timothy 2:3-4; Nehemiah 4:17; Ephesians 6:10ff; 1 Peter 5:8)

Caleb and Joshua saw all the same obstacles and threats in the land of Canaan that the other ten spies saw, but because they were men of faith, they chose to fix their eyes on the Lord and to act in faithful obedience to the Lord. Like these two heroes, we, too, see that same obstacles and threats that the rest of our world sees. Yes, there is no argument that the sources of potential fear and discouragement are many, but because we are people of faith, we can choose to trust our great God and we can continue to joyfully live out the mission that our risen King has given us. SDG                 rmb                 7/9/2020

You Knew My Path (Psalm 142:3)

            There is a scene from the original “Star Wars” movie (1977) that sticks in my mind. All the living heroes of the movie (Luke, Leah, Han Solo, and Chewbacca) have temporarily escaped from the battle with the storm troopers by ducking into a convenient trash bin. Their relief from escaping the battle is short-lived, however, because the trash bin becomes a trash compactor and threatens to doom them to a nasty death by crushing.

            While this may not be a perfect analogy, there are times in life when we all feel like we are in this situation. Part of the human experience is the feeling that we are small and weak and that the threats against us are big and gnarly. We have exhausted all our cleverness in escaping our adversaries, only to end up in a sloppy, scummy trash bin just as the maintenance crew decides to activate the compactor. In that moment we realize that we have been outmatched by the challenges that life has presented to us. And the question is, “What do you do then?” To whom do you cry out when life has overwhelmed you and your carefully laid plans have collapsed, when your friends have failed you, and there seems to be no escape for you? Where can you find hope and confidence? In Psalm 142, David is in that place, and we will find, in this psalm, patterns and strategies for how to respond from the midst of the intergalactic trash compactor.

            This study of Psalm 142 will focus only on the first half of verse 3:

“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path.” (NAS Bible)

            Since we have dropped into the middle of the psalm, it would be good to get a little context. Although the nature of David’s trouble is not clear, it is obvious that the shepherd-king is in distress and may have been in distress for a while. Here in Psalm 142:3, David says that “his spirit is overwhelmed within him.” I read this as meaning both his soul and his body are exhausted. He has tried to maintain his courage, but the setbacks keep on coming. Like a surfer caught in the midst of a series of big waves, he is losing the fight to catch his breath. As soon as he fights his way to the surface, another wave of water crashes down. Fear and fatigue are towering over him, and he is overpowered. He is outmatched. “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me . . .” What is David’s source of hope?

            The last four words of Psalm 142:3a are “You knew my path.” These four words are critically important to the child of God who is feeling overwhelmed by the incessant challenges of life.

“You, O LORD, knew my path.”

            David expresses the confidence that every believer can have, that the LORD is personally aware of and concerned with our every trial and overwhelming circumstance. The LORD knows my path, and He knows your path. The NAS Bible renders the Hebrew verb in the past tense, “knew.” In this case, the past tense is much stronger than the present tense. The LORD KNEW my path in eternity past, before the creation of the world, and then He brought my “path” into existence according to His perfect plan. He personally ordained it to be. “You knew my path” means that the LORD has led me into this situation, the LORD is personally with me in the midst of it, and the LORD already knows every detail of the outcome. “You knew my path” means that the LORD has His personal fingerprints on every detail of every circumstance of my life, making sure that exactly this circumstance unfolds exactly this way so that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28) and so that I am conformed more into the image of Christ (8:29).

REFLECTION

            In the book of “Job,” we read that “man is born for trouble as the sparks fly upward (5:7).” Our Lord Jesus Himself said that “each day has enough trouble of its own (Matt. 6:34)” and “in this world you will have tribulation (John 16:33).” The Bible speaks truth about life on earth after sin enters the world, and it is a life of effort and setback and difficulty. Of course, it is not ALL trial and difficulty, but we must have a sober expectation that overwhelming times will come so that we are not defeated when we meet the first opposing waves.

            In light, then, of the inevitability of trials, what can we, as followers of Jesus, do that will make a difference in our lives? First, when we are feeling overwhelmed by the trials of life, we can have confidence that the Lord who guided us into the trial is with us in the storm and will guide us out to our safe haven (Psalm 107:30). Remember, “the LORD knew my path.” Each trial thus becomes an opportunity to increase our trust in the Lord and to anticipate His faithfulness.

            Second, it is in trials that the Lord proves His power to deliver us. God has already accomplished the most powerful act of deliverance imaginable when He delivered us from our sin and condemnation and raised us up in salvation through our faith in the Lord Jesus and His completed work on the cross. Having already demonstrated His power in giving us eternal deliverance, He is more than able to come to our help for temporal deliverance. What I mean is this: The Lord will deliver those who cry out to Him. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32:17). Your trial may be overwhelming to you, but to the One who called the universe into existence ex nihilo and who raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20), the trial is completely under His feet. In fact, if my thinking is correct on this, the Lord brings trials into our lives SO THAT He can rescue us when we cry to Him. “The LORD knew my path,” so He knew how He was going to deliver me.

Soli Deo gloria                 rmb                  7/3/2020

Will you surrender, or not? (Jeremiah 38)

            There comes a time when surrender is the only wise choice. If all your resources are exhausted and you have no effective plan for escape, and the enemy is just outside the gate awaiting your starvation or your destruction, and that same enemy suddenly offers the option of unconditional surrender to avoid certain disaster, I would suggest that the wise choice is to unconditionally surrender.

            In Jeremiah 38, we encounter just such a scenario. The time is around 589 BC and the geography is the land of Israel. The army of the Chaldeans under King Nebuchadnezzar has again come from Babylon to Jerusalem to besiege the city, and the nation of Judah with their puppet king Zedekiah is beginning to collapse under the strain of the siege. It is apparent that Zedekiah is king of a city doomed to destruction, and Jeremiah the prophet has already told the king this on several occasions. The Chaldeans are visible just beyond the gates of the city and there is the threat of a clear and present danger.

THE PROPHET OFFERS THE KING DELIVERANCE

            We will pick up the story in Jeremiah 38, verse 14. King Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah the prophet and asks him a question about the future of the city. Jeremiah, who has just been rescued from the bottom of a cistern, is understandably cautious to talk to Zedekiah or to trust him and replies with his own question. “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel you will not listen to me (Jeremiah 38:15).”

            Listen carefully to the king’s reply: “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life (38:16).” Notice that Zedekiah promises to protect Jeremiah from his enemies (for what that is worth), but he makes no promise at all about listening to the prophet’s instructions or advice. How can you help someone who refuses to listen to words of rescue?

            Jeremiah speaks to Zedekiah in the name of “the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life will be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live (38:17). But if you will NOT surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand (38:18).”

            When Zedekiah responds to Jeremiah’s offer of salvation with a silly excuse, the prophet graciously repeats his instructions: “Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it will be well with you, and your life will be spared (38:20). But if you refuse to surrender (38:21), all your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire (38:23).”

            Here, Zedekiah had heard a clear message of rescue from Jeremiah that he understood completely. There was nothing that Jeremiah told him that was vague or mysterious or difficult, and it was entirely within the king’s ability to do what was required for his life to be spared. Jeremiah twice presented the king with a simple choice between peace and disaster, between life and death. The only way for Zedekiah to be spared was for him to unconditionally surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, the conquering king. If he surrendered, he would be spared, and if he did not, he would suffer judgment and destruction. What will the king do? What would you do?

            In 38:19, we read that Zedekiah is more concerned about a few Judean deserters than he is about the entire Chaldean army. In the end, he refuses Jeremiah’s urgent plea to surrender. Thus, we read in the next chapter, in 39:6-10, of the disaster that comes upon Zedekiah and Jerusalem at the hands of the Chaldeans.

APPLICATION OF THE LESSON

            This story is a fascinating study in human behavior, but there is much more going on in this interchange between Jeremiah and Zedekiah than a dialog about Chaldeans. This passage is a clear portrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the names changed and the circumstances slightly altered. It is not an exact portrayal, but it is a clear portrayal, nonetheless.

            What do I mean by that? Let me try to explain. In the story that we just studied Zedekiah is facing certain doom. Nebuchadnezzar has come to Jerusalem to be an instrument of God’s judgment on the king and on the city, and there is no avenue of escape. Then, just when things are looking blackest, the LORD’s prophet, Jeremiah, tells Zedekiah of a way of escape, of a way of salvation that is available to him, if he will only take it. If Zedekiah will SURRENDER TO THE CONQUERING KING, then he will be spared from the coming destruction.

            What does the gospel say, and why has God made the gospel available to us? “The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16),” but what does it declare to us? In the gospel, we discover that all people are sinners and are under the judgment of God for their sin. All people are, therefore, facing eternal condemnation. In a very real sense, we are all facing certain doom. We are all like Zedekiah, in that we are facing God’s judgment and there appears to be no avenue of escape. By ourselves, there is nothing that we can do to remove the guilt of our sins, and so we justly DESERVE GOD’S JUDGMENT. We have all sinned, and the Bible declares that “the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20),” and “The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).” Things appear hopeless.

            But just when things are looking blackest, the LORD Himself provides a way of salvation, for the gospel declares that, if ANY SINNER WILL REPENT OF THEIR SINS and TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR, they will be saved. As Jeremiah came to doomed Zedekiah and explained to him that the only way of salvation was to SURRENDER TO THE CONQUERING KING, so a Christian witness brings good news to doomed sinners and tells them that God’s ONLY WAY OF SALVATION IS TO SURRENDER TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. If Zedekiah had listened to Jeremiah and just obeyed what the prophet told him to do, he would have been spared, but if he refused to listen and to obey, he would surely be destroyed. In the same way, if ANY SINNER will listen to the good news of the gospel and will SURRENDER TO JESUS, they will certainly be saved from God’s judgment; but if they refuse to obey and if they reject the only way of salvation and forgiveness, they will certainly perish in the Judgment.

            When Jeremiah told him about the simple way of escape, Zedekiah hesitated and made excuses and ignored the pleas of the prophet. As a result, he met with disaster and his city was burned with fire. You have heard the good news about God’s only appointed means of salvation – surrendering to the Lord Jesus Christ. What will you do?

SDG                 rmb                 7/2/2020

How will you spend your life? Matthew 16:24-27

It may come upon us in a sudden flash or it may slowly build over time, but there comes a moment for all of us when we realize this fact:

Life is brief, life is fragile, and life is fleeting, and there is an end to my life that is hurtling towards me.

This is as sobering a thought as we can encounter, but we ignore it and brush it away to our own peril. It is an essential part of the human condition, brought on by Adam’s sin in the Garden so long ago. Death – lurking, looming, certainly arriving, but on an unknown timetable, rushes towards us on a collision course, and that rendezvous demands from us an answer to the question, “So, what are you doing with your life?”

I believe we have all been created with a God-given something inside us that yearns for a purpose that is somehow significant. “This is my one and only life, and it is so immensely precious, and yet it seems to be leaking through my fingers like so much oil. Why am I here? What am I to do? Who can show me the way?”

I have long thought about these questions, but recently they posed themselves to me in a new light, perhaps because I have more time to think right now (I am at a crossroads, and in this transition there are large blocks of time for reflection). But for whatever reason, it occurred to me that MY LIFE WILL BE SPENT DOING SOMETHING. The key word there is “spent.” My life will be spent. And so will yours. My life had a beginning and it will certainly have an end, and over that I have no control. But how I spend the time in between, over that I have a great deal of control. Thus, the grand question becomes, “How will I spend my life?”

As He does in so many places in the gospels, in Matthew 16 Jesus Christ speaks to this question and gives us foundational answers on which we can build a life of purpose and usefulness. Immediately following His acknowledgement of Peter’s confession of Him as the Messiah and the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus predicts His own upcoming death and resurrection in Jerusalem. Then He tells His would-be disciples what it means to follow Him:

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done.” Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27

Notice that Jesus warns about two wrong paths. First, He speaks of those who try to save their life. This might describe people who live their life in fear, afraid to take risks because it may turn out badly. They try to live very safely in an effort to live as long as they can. Jesus says that this effort is futile, because living a long and safe, fruitless life is exactly the same as living a short and reckless, fruitless life. Life is not measured by its length, but by what is done during the time that it lasts. In contrast to the safe group, Jesus says that whoever lives his life for Jesus’ sake “will find it,” which means that the person will find rich purpose and usefulness in this life and will receive the reward of eternal life in the life to come. The goal of this person is to find that place or situation where they are useful to Jesus and continue to live in that place with reckless abandon, trusting that the Lord will give them exactly the right number of days.

The second wrong path is that of trying to “gain the whole world” while losing your own soul. On this path, the goal is to accumulate as much stuff as you can, under the mistaken belief that this world is all there is, and my pleasure and happiness are the highest values. Jesus warns these people that all the “stuff” in the world will not give you a single penny to spend in the life to come. Those who focus on gaining the world in this life will certainly forfeit their own soul. A life spent gaining the world is a life wasted and, once life ends and the soul is forfeited, there is no longer any opportunity to get it back. But if you spend your life in service to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord will meet all your needs in this life (Matthew 6:33) and you will receive a crown of righteousness in the life to come (2 Timothy 4:8).

So, what is the goal for this question about how to spend our lives or what is the right purpose? Here is the goal that I would propose:

The GOAL is to be able to say with confidence, “I am doing with my life what I have been created and called to do so that I am fulfilling my God-given purpose.”

I am convinced that only Jesus Christ can give this GOAL and this feeling of purpose to us, because only Jesus, as God the Son, has the authority and power to guide and ordain our lives. It is only as a follower of Jesus that I can be fulfilling my God-given purpose. So, the necessary first step to finding fulfillment and fruitfulness in life is to become a follower of Jesus. Then, as I follow Jesus and read His word, the Bible, He slowly begins to rearrange and clean out the closets and the attics of my life, and discards the excess baggage and clears the brush off the new paths. I pray about and think about circumstances and opportunities and the Lord continues to refine my life’s activities until they are in alignment with what the Bible has called me to do. There is amazing peace when the pursuits and the activities of life bring with them a deep feeling of satisfaction, because we know that we are pleasing the Lord in these roles and activities and pursuits. Jesus Christ offers this to all who follow Him.

But, before we leave this passage, it would be wise for us to re-read the last verse. Jesus declares that, as the glorious Son of Man, He is “going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father” to judge the earth. As He prophesied His death and resurrection, so He also prophesies His future return when He will come in wrath and judgment. Here in 16:24-26, Jesus is urging men and women to come after Him and to follow Him so that they will experience Him as merciful Savior and not as terrifying Judge. While there is still time, we should all heed this warning.

SDG                 rmb                 6/11/2020

Personal Salvation Testimony of Roy Britton

            I was one of four boys born to Eugene and Jill Britton. When I was a child, we attended a Presbyterian church, but I did not hear anything of Christ or of the gospel. My parents would have said at the time that they were Christians, but that was not the case. There was no evidence in their lives of an encounter with Jesus Christ. My father left our family when I was twelve for another woman, and my teenage years were marked by painful loneliness and self-doubt with alcohol and marijuana adding to the confusion. By the time I headed off to college, I was far from any idea of God. I figured He didn’t care about me and I didn’t care about Him, and it was best to leave it that way.

            It turned out that I was a good student and did well academically at college. As a result, I started my business career at IBM, which in the early 80’s was an auspicious beginning. The focus of my attention was not on my career, however. Nor was my focus on getting married and starting a family, the kind of normal things that most people do. My focus was on rock climbing. In high school I had begun rock climbing and enjoyed the risk involved and the skill required. I continued climbing through college and made numerous trips to Colorado or to Yosemite in California to try to check climbs off my list. Climbing effectively became my religion, as I devoted my time and resources to that pursuit and my identity was tied up in that activity. All religions are useless, but climbing is an especially useless religion, as it demands much and gives little. So, my twenties passed.

            But the Lord was at work in my life, although I was unaware of it. I dated several women in my twenties who influenced my direction. One was a professing Christian, and through her I was exposed to a couple of churches and became more aware of the things of God. Another was a practicing Mormon, and her influence showed me that there are some really strange things out there that are passed off as religion. Finally, there was a woman who told me about her faith in Christ and invited me to her church. Still, my heart was dark.

            In September of 1990, I took another trip to Yosemite Valley to attempt some big climbing projects. My climbing partner Danny and I made an aborted attempt to climb El Capitan, and then changed our sights to Half Dome. It was high up on the northwest face of Half Dome that I had a cathartic experience.

            Starting early in the morning, Danny and I had made slow progress up the cliff. Our skills were not up to completing the route and so, about a third of the way up the granite face, we decided to abandon the project and take what Danny described as “an escape route.” We veered off to the left and climbed throughout the afternoon, constantly trying to discern the right direction. As early evening came and the sun began to set behind El Capitan way down the valley, I was hanging from my harness 100 feet above Danny as I waited for some other climbers to clear the way. Then I was alone. I was looking out over the panorama when something like a voice (or was it just a thought?) said, “You are going to die.” I was startled and began looking around to see where the danger lay. The sky was a peaceful blue. My anchors into the crack of the cliff were bombproof. The knots in my rope were secure. I could discern no threat at all. But I was poised about 1,200 feet above the base of the cliff and there was a high probability that a fall from that height would be bad. And now what had been a voice in my ear had become a certainty in my head. I was going to die. Soon. Very soon. I did not know what was going to happen, but my life was over.

            This realization caused me to quickly look back over my life and to evaluate it. Wasted. My life had been squandered and now it was over. That caused me to do the only thing I knew to do at that time: talk to God. “God, I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want a second chance. I want to change. I don’t want to die.” That was it. Not profound, but within a few minutes the feeling that I was going to die was gone. I got back into climbing mode and belayed Danny up to my stance. We climbed a little higher as dusk deepened and found ourselves on a boulder- covered ledge. That was our perch for the night. I did not sleep, but watched the moon move slowly across the night sky and thought, and thought, and thought, The next morning we managed to finish our escape and get off the cliff and back down into the valley. From there it was back to Atlanta, where job and normal life awaited.

            But I was different. A month after that experience a friend invited me to join her for church and I surprised her by saying yes. It was a Baptist church and the pastor was faithful to preach the gospel and to tell of the Lord Jesus. After church I went to Sunday school and saw that these Christians were not a lot different than me. I did not miss a Sunday morning service or Sunday school for more than a year. During that time, I came to understand the gospel, that I was dead in my sins, but that Jesus Christ had died on the cross to pay for sins and that, if I repented of my sins and placed my faith in Him, then I would be forgiven of my sins and would be saved from God’s wrath and judgment. I repented and believed and then was baptized in May 1991. “Buried unto death in Christ; rise again to walk in newness of life.”

            Since my salvation at the age of thirty-one, the Lord has gradually led me in the path of sanctification as I have grown in practical holiness. He has given me a love for His Word, the Bible, and has given me the joy of being able to teach it. He has made me useful to other believers as I help them and encourage them in their own walks with the Lord. The Lord has led us to a great church where we serve the Body and worship our great God under the faithful teaching of the Word.

            In my journey, the Lord took me to Russia where I spent three years as a missionary when I was in my late thirties. In my mid-forties, the Lord answered my prayers for a wife by giving me Lisa, a beautiful widow with three children. So, this forty-six-year-old bachelor became an instant family man and was given the privilege of being a husband and father. Shortly after marrying Lisa, we decided to move from Alpharetta, GA to Charlotte, NC so that I could finish seminary by going full-time. The Lord has used these amazing events to grow my faith and to shape me more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. May Jesus Christ be praised! (June 2020)

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21

Understanding God’s will – Part 1 – Revealed will

            The subject of God’s will is often one that creates a lot of confusion among believers. The reason for the confusion and frustration is that all followers of Jesus Christ would say that they want to find God’s will and obey it, but the details of God’s will seem so elusive and so vaguely defined in the Scripture. We say, “Just tell me what to do and I will do it! If God wants me to do His will, why is He so reluctant to show me what it is?”

            I am still journeying along the path and am still learning more about the whole realm of “God’s will,” but I have learned some things already and maybe these reflections will be helpful to you, as well.

            In Ephesians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, after giving us commands to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything to give thanks, Paul tells us, “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” In these two verses, Paul references God’s will and clearly expects us to know what it is. In fact, he commands us to understand the will of the Lord (Eph. 5:17), and the Biblecannot expect us to obey something that is impossible. We can conclude from this that this will of the Lord is knowable.

            To untangle this knot, we first need to realize that there are two aspects to the will of the Lord. There is the moral, revealed will of God, which is the doctrines and the principles, and the commands contained in the revealed word of God, and there is also the secret, decretive will of God, which consists of all the details that God has planned and ordained and decreed by His sovereign power so that His perfect ends for time and eternity will certainly be achieved. We will address each of these aspects in turn in these next two blog posts.

            When the Scripture commands us to find or understand or obey the will of God, the Bible is referring to the revealed will of God.  That is, we are accountable to God not for making every “right decision” (whatever that means) when we are confronted with a fork in the road or for making the ideal choice among several acceptable and legitimate and “good” options, but we are accountable to God to know and obey His revealed Word. When Paul calls us to “understand what the will of the Lord is,” he is effectively calling believers to devote time and energy to knowing God’s Word and then to be diligent to obey what you know. What this means is that, if we have been believers for any period of time, we have no excuse for not knowing the will of God, because God has given us His Bible to make His will available to us.

            The moral, revealed will of God, then, is about obedience. It is about walking in holiness. It is about bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. It is about displaying a transformed life to the watching world. It is about pleasing God by your radically obedient behavior. It is about heeding all the imperatives in the Bible and striving to obey them in greater and greater degrees. It is about being Christ-like in your words and actions.

            So, finding the will of God is as far away as your Bible and obeying the will of God has been empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. And, also (listen CAREFULLY), this is the aspect of the will of God that God requires of us. The Lord commands us to understand and obey this will, because He has carefully revealed it in His holy and inerrant Word.

Consider Deuteronomy 29:29 regarding this subject of the will of God:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things the are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do (obey) all the words of this Law.

            Here in this one verse we see the two aspects of the will of God, and we see that it is the revealed will that we are to obey.

REFLECTIONS

            As I reflect on this revealed will of God, it occurs to me that this aspect of God’s will requires little prayer and requires great energy and diligence. I say that this requires little prayer because this will of God is based on what He has specifically revealed to us in order that we can know what we need to obey. What the Bible commands I am to obey, and I do not need to pray about that. It is pretty black and white. “In God’s will” and “outside God’s will” are clear because they based on God’s Word.

            On the other hand, obedience to this revealed will of God requires diligence and great energy. Our flesh will always resist obedience to God’s commands, because the flesh hates to be restrained from evil. The “old man,” which consists of our old habits and ways of thinking and defaults positions, also aids and abets the flesh to tug us toward disobedience. As believers recently arriving in the light from the darkness, we must strive to learn and embrace the holy commandments of Scripture so that we know what to obey. Finally, the devil and his world systems, which he has structured to foster wickedness, will also militate against our hunger for righteousness. All these forces can be resisted and defeated if we strive against sin with all diligence in the power of the Holy Spirit.

            Finally, it is ironic that the revealed will of God gets a lot less attention than the secret, decretive will of God. This is ironic because we cannot know the secret, decretive will of God and so are not held responsible for “obeying” this will of God, and yet, for many of us, this is what causes us immense concern. My recommendation would be that we focus our energy on being obedient to what the Lord has already revealed as His will and trust Him for the secret things that He alone knows and ordains. But we will talk more about the secret, decretive will of God next time.

SDG                 rmb                 6/1/2020

To live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21ff)

            This blog will be a study of the remarkable passage in Philippians 1:21-26 in which Paul makes his astonishing statement of his commitment to Christ. Read these verses as preparation for this study.

INTRODUCTION

            It is one thing to make a claim of commitment to an ideal or an objective, but it is another thing to evidence that commitment in word and deed, especially as time goes on and as the initial excitement that sparked the commitment fades and tarnishes. Sadly, many marriages that began with a vow of lifelong commitment languish or even die when the initial excitement gradually morphs into monotonous work and those vows of commitment prove hollow.

REFLECTIONS

            In light of this human tendency, what do we see in Paul regarding his commitment to Jesus Christ? For as he writes the epistle to the Philippians, Paul is now twenty or twenty-five years older than he was as a fire-breathing Pharisee suddenly struck down in the dust of the Damascus road. What has become of his initial zeal for Christ and his powerful boldness? Have the years quenched the fire? Has the effort required dulled the edge of the commitment? It is evident that more than two decades after meeting the risen Lord Jesus Christ, Paul’s commitment to his Savior has only intensified and his focus on the goal has radically sharpened. In the years since the scales fell from his eyes and he professed his faith by baptism, Paul has gradually pared away the excess baggage and the hindrances to service (Hebrews 12:1) to the point where he can state his case: “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

            Paul, however, does not merely voice these astonishing words, but he manifests the reality of his declaration in his every action and word and deed. Having been forgiven of his sins and having been guaranteed an eternity with the Lord Jesus, he can give himself with focused abandon to his service to Christ. Until the Lord releases him from this life, Paul will pour himself out in fruitful labor (1:22). So then, for the Apostle, existence was fairly simple: Spend all of your earthly energies and resources in joyful proclamation of the gospel and in service to Christ’s church, awaiting the moment when joyful service ends and glorious eternity with Christ begins.

            This is the ideal for all disciples of Christ: a life of faithful obedience and fruitful labor poured out in service of Christ, and then an eternity in heaven with our King.

            And the next verses of this passage (Philippians 1:22-26) confirm the reality of Paul’s manifesto. The significance of his continued physical life is that physical life gives him more time for “fruitful labor (1:22).” While many people want more time “in the flesh” to indulge in their earthly pleasures, and others long to live because they are terrified to die, Paul equates more heartbeats with more fruitful labor. As long as the Lord gives him breath, he will labor for the Kingdom. In other words, “to live is Christ.”

            Verses 1:22b-1:23a allude to a choice that Paul needs to make, but it is not clear from the passage what that specific choice is. What is clear is that one option could result in his death and the other option would result in his ongoing life, and Paul is “hard pressed” by the difficulty of this choice. Why is Paul hard pressed? The choice is difficult because personally, Paul would prefer to die and thus to be with Christ, rather than to continue living and laboring and striving against sin and suffering persecution. Paul prefers his reward (2 Timothy 4:8) to the demands of his assigned mission (2 Cor. 11:23-29). He desires to be home with Christ. (“. . . to die is gain.”) Despite his personal desire, Paul is convinced that he will remain and continue with (the Philippians) for their progress and joy in the faith (1:25).” We see, then, that Paul makes life decisions based on which choice has the greatest impact for the gospel, and not based on his personal preference or benefit. Or, again, “to live is Christ.”

APPLICATIONS

            There are several applications of this powerful text. First, there is the need for the disciple of Jesus Christ to clearly and irrevocably make a commitment to Him as unrivaled Lord. The Scriptures are crystal clear that anything less than an absolute bowing of the knee to the Lord is useless. The Third Commandment states, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (Deut. 5:11).” Make sure that your surrender to the Lord is complete.

            Second, we as disciples need to get a vise grip on the truth that “to die is gain.” It has been well-said that a person is only able to fully live when they are ready to die. The gospel gives us the promise that we are guaranteed heaven because of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and through our faith in Him. Christ has risen victorious and death has lost its sting. Therefore, the believer can live without fear of the grave (1 Corinthians 15:55). No one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:27-30).

            Third, we should strive to live such that our commitment to Jesus Christ is evident. For the apostle Paul, “to live is Christ,” and his entire existence was submitted to his passion for the Lord. As we grow in sanctification and in maturity in Christ, our passion for Jesus should steadily grow as well, and that passion should more and more manifest itself in our lives. John the Baptist said about Jesus, “He must increase, and I must decrease (John 3:30).” This should also be true of us.

SDG                 rmb                 5/26/2020

Sharing Abundantly in Christ’s Sufferings? (2 Cor. 1:5)

In 2 Corinthians 1:5 we read, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort, too.” Paul writes this verse about the suffering of believers as simply a matter of fact, making it clear that the expectation for the disciple of Jesus is to “share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings.” (See also Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24)

            Now, we must pause to consider this. Paul, a chosen apostle, says we are to “share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings.” It is a normal part of being a follower of Jesus. Given this clear statement and given the prominence of suffering and affliction by Jesus’ followers throughout the New Testament as an imitation of Christ (“following in His steps” – 1 Peter 2:21), it is amazing to me that the absence of suffering for the cause of Christ in our American Christian experience does not cause us great alarm. Indeed, American Christians (and I am among them) are not only unfamiliar with suffering for Christ, but we have a strong aversion to this sort of thing as though, if we suffer affliction, “something strange is happening to us (1 Peter 4:12).”

            This absence and avoidance of affliction is deeply troubling to me, for almost every book in the New Testament either documents suffering of believers or foretells afflictions that will come to people solely because they are followers of Jesus. The four gospel records give detailed accounts of our Lord Jesus’ conflict and affliction at the hands of His opponents and they carefully document His sufferings on the cross. The book of Acts pictures the spread of the gospel in the face of fierce opposition, and disciples of Jesus suffer and some die. In his epistles (like 2 Corinthians), Paul speaks of suffering and affliction as simply part of his calling as a follower of Christ. The main theme of Peter’s first epistle is suffering for Christ, where enduring unjust suffering for the name of Christ places a stamp of authenticity on your profession of faith. The book of Hebrews is written to persecuted Christians. James tells us to consider it all joy when we encounter trials, and the book of Revelation includes the voices of those who have been beheaded for the cause of Christ and those who are in or who have come out of tribulation. But in America, where is the abundant suffering?

            Since there is a vast chasm between the experience of the gospel community in the New Testament and our own experience as professing followers of Jesus, I think that we need to ask some questions. We need to examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5). Why do we not suffer more for the cause of the gospel? Have we sacrificed boldness and Christ-honoring directness at the altar of winsomeness and civility? (Ephesians 6:19-20; Acts 4:24-31; 5:29-33, 40-42) Would we prefer to be thought erudite and clever, or would we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 1:18-2:6, esp. 2:2)?

            If the world is not threatening us and is not seeking to silence us, is it because the world is unconcerned about our message? Herod did not put John the Baptist in prison and eventually behead him because John was not winsome enough, but because he delivered a direct message to Herod that called his sin, sin. Would I have been so bold?

            Jesus said He was sending us out “as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16)” and that we “will be hated by all for My name’s sake (10:22).” Do we speak and proclaim boldly enough to get the wolves’ attention and to draw the world’s hatred?            

Again, I think it is time to consider our ways (Haggai 1:5, 7) when the Lord’s apostle assumes as completely normal and expected a church context of affliction and suffering, and we have a church context absent of these. Our brothers and sisters in China and Nigeria and Iraq have a normal, expected New Testament church context that includes affliction. What are they doing that we are not?              

SDG                 rmb                 5/21/2020