“Yeah, sometimes you just have to take the long view.”

Chris and I were talking about a recent spiritual conversation of mine with a man from Iran. Chris had been at the gathering where this conversation had taken place and he knew the Iranian man, as well. In fact, Chris had also had spiritual conversations with the man, so he understood my comments. Though Iranian, the man, who we will call Ahmet, confessed that he was not a Muslim. He described himself as “spiritual, but not religious.” In the course of our conversation he had explained that direct contradictions in the Koran are not actually contradictions, because you have to understand the “mystical meaning behind the words.” He also said with all sincerity that someone who pursues Jesus Christ and another person who worships Allah can be on the exact same path, it’s just that “the paths have different labels.” I was describing the difficulty of the dialogue, because Ahmet’s  position was always changing and he would not accept anything as objective. All was subjective. The choice of religions was “whatever works for you,” and Ahmet made the analogy with buying a car. “You buy a car that fits your needs and that car is right for you; but I choose a different car because that is the right car for me and my needs. Religions are like that. You pick the one that is right for you.” Ahmet did acknowledge that, as with selecting an automobile, it would be good to “test drive” a number of religions to be sure that you had the right one, so the person who had “test driven” the most religions would have the best chance of selecting the one that was right for him.

And so it went. “Chris, it was like trying to push against jello. He didn’t believe in any objective truth at all and yet made spectacular claims about things that required immense leaps of faith based on no evidence at all. And he was not bothered by his inconsistencies or his illogic.”

Chris replied, “I know what you mean. It is difficult having discussions with people like that, who are really much more post-modern in their thinking than they are Muslim. You just have to take the long view.”

So what is this “long view?” What did Chris mean by his statement? Here’s what I think he meant. First, when engaged in the evangelistic enterprise, realize that it often requires a lot of seed to be scattered on many fields before there is a harvest. “Taking the long view” means that I will be faithful in sowing the seed over the long haul even if there appears to be no result, confident that the Lord will reap the harvest that He intends to harvest through my efforts.

Second, “taking the long view” means that, when engaged in difficult gospel conversations that seem to be going nowhere, you should try to relax and enjoy the conversation. Relax knowing that you do not have to win the argument or make profound points. “Taking the long view” means making sure that, if the gospel message is clear and true to the Scriptures and if you have not compromised the gospel to make it more “successful,” then you can trust that the Lord will use your offering of the gospel exactly as He chooses. What do I lose if my offering of the gospel is rejected or ridiculed or ignored? Nothing. I have wasted nothing in this effort and I have offered a perishing soul salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, I think that “taking the long view” means trusting that the Lord is in charge of the day of salvation and that the cynic and the one with circular,  illogical reasoning today may tomorrow see a vision of Jesus and beg you to tell him how he can be saved. So “take the long view” in your evangelism.

One parting thought on this is that “taking the long view” must not morph into complacency and into a gospel with no zeal and no appeal and no urgency. There is a balance required in evangelism that allows you to “take the long view” so that you can avoid excessive disappointment in your evangelism and continue to press on, but that also keeps you alert for a gospel spark in your hearers and keeps you fiery in your appeal and your persuasion. “Taking the long view” can never lapse into passivity and coolness when the eternal destinies of men and women hang in the balance. So, “take the long view” and continue with unashamed vigor to call men and women to faith in the only Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ.

SDG       rmb       6/17/2019

Psalm 61 is a prayer of David, a prayer in which the shepherd-king seeks the presence and the protection of God. David longs to find refuge in God’s tent forever (61:4) and he pours out his vows before the LORD (61:5). The psalm concludes with verse 8:

So, I will ever sing praises to Your name,

As I perform my vows day after day.

As I meditated on this psalm, I began to see verse 8 as a model plea for every believer. David speaks of the privilege of “ever singing praises” to God and then he tells of our daily duty to “perform our vows.” Herein lie the twin disciplines of the Christian life: the discipline of praise and the discipline of obedience. Surely two of the distinguishing marks of the transformed life of the believer is the ongoing praise to God that is lifted up from joyful lips and the walk of holy obedience to the commandments of God.

First, then, the life of the Christian should be marked by praise. This praise should flow from the Christian regardless of circumstances and irrespective of mood. Praise is commanded by the Scriptures and is modeled by all the godly ones. The Lord has rescued us from our just condemnation and has now raised us up with Christ and has seated us with Him at His table in heaven. Our sins have been separated from us as far as the east is from the west and we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit we have been filled with joy and therefore, we bear the fruit of joy. Our praise for our great God should be loud and long, and it need not be based on what the Lord has done for us, for simply praising the Lord for who He is would last a lifetime. The greatness of His creation and of His holiness and the magnificence of His grace and mercy and power and wisdom and knowledge are worthy of unending praise. So, the life of the believer should be marked by evident praise to the King of kings. “O LORD, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your praise (Psalm 51:15).” “So, I will ever sing praises to Your name.”

But second, the life of the Christian is distinct because of evident obedience. Here David speaks of “vows,” but the vows of the believer are to obey Christ in all that we say and do. When we came to Christ, we vowed to follow Him forever, and so we made an eternal commitment to obedience. Our obedience flows out of a Spirit-wrought hunger and thirst for righteousness. Our greatest desire is to be pleasing to the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9) and we know that the obedience of those who were once rebels and slaves of sin is a fragrant aroma, well-pleasing to the One who has set us free. And so, our day by day obedience and our faithful pursuit of holiness should shine like a bright light in a dark place so that God would be glorified. Our goal is that our hatred of sin and our love of righteousness would result in rapid rejection of temptation and in steadfastly setting our mind on truth. We “buffet our body and make it our slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27) so that our obedience would be complete (2 Corinthians 10:6). So the believer willfully disciplines himself or herself in order to keep our vow of holiness. “As I perform my vows day after day.”

Therefore, let us, with the psalmist, pursue these twin disciplines of praise and obedience so that we may glorify our great God and Savior.

SDG       rmb       6/15/2019

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a very significant passage, because of Paul’s detailed teaching about “the coming of the Lord.” As has been mentioned before, this “coming” is the Greek word “parousia,” and refers to the event of the physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory. The next blog post (I think) will be a verse-by-verse commentary on the full passage, but, as I read and meditated on 4:13, I felt the desire to write on that verse alone.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

So, let’s begin with some basic understanding. “Those who are asleep” certainly refers to believers who have physically died. This is primarily a Pauline expression (although Jesus does initially describe Lazarus’ death as him “falling asleep” – John 11) and its meaning is obvious: Paul is describing the death of those in Christ as merely being asleep. Now they are still and quiet, but there will come a day when the Lord Jesus will wake them up in glorious resurrection, never to sleep again!

Also, notice that Paul is giving the information he is about to share so that these believers will not grieve. He is informing them, in other words, in order to comfort them. He is going to remind them of the truths of the return of Jesus, that whether by resurrection or rapture, all believers will be glorified and will always be with the Lord.

Paul mentions that believers are not to “grieve as others do who have no hope.” (I will be reading this as meaning “believers grieve differently than do unbelievers, because believers have hope,” but the verse could also be read as meaning, “because believers have hope, we do not grieve at all.” I believe this latter understanding is incorrect because both our Lord Jesus Christ (John 11:35; etc.) and Paul (Phil. 2:27; etc.) expressed sorrow and grief. Therefore, grieving is allowed for the believer.) Let’s consider this.

Grieving is a very human thing to do, for, when confronting death, all humans are reminded of our powerlessness to resist or conquer death and we are again struck by the finality of death. Death separates us from those we love, and so grief is normal. But for those in Christ, the separation of death is only temporary, because Jesus Christ has conquered death and has rendered death powerless. So, while it is appropriate for Christians to grieve, it is not appropriate for Christians to grieve long. If we grieve too loud and too long for one who has merely fallen asleep, we begin to call into question the reality of Christ’s resurrection and the promises guaranteed by that resurrection. Yes, we are sad to be separated from our loved one, but the greater realities of the promises contained in Christ’s resurrection overwhelm the sadness. “If I live, you shall live also (John 14:19).” “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).” So, we do not grieve as others who have no hope.

Now, for those outside of Christ, it is entirely fitting to wail loud and long at the death of their loved one. Their doom is now sealed, their eternal condemnation now awaits the judgment seat of God, and all hope for any goodness or peace is forever lost. For those outside of Christ, each death reminds them that their own death is hurtling ever closer and that there is a terrifying, black, empty void just on the other side of the last heartbeat. And so, yes, those outside of Christ should grieve in anguish and horror when they confront death. They have no one to save them from death’s terrors and no one to deliver them from the fury of the wrath of God.

But those in Christ grieve as those who have a sure hope that is an anchor for our souls, an anchor both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19). While we will “fall asleep” if Jesus tarries long, we will also certainly be resurrected when Jesus returns.

SDG       rmb       6/5/2019

I recently finished reading through 1 Thessalonians and found yet again that the Scriptures can never be exhausted, that their riches know no bounds. With this series of blogs, I wanted to share what the Lord shared with me in this tour through the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. This post covers notes from Chapter 2.

In Chapter 2, Paul gives an account of their visit to Thessalonica and explains how they did ministry so as to honor the Lord Jesus. One note on the Greek here: “Our coming” is not the same “coming” that will later be used for the coming of the Lord Jesus. The latter is a technical word, “Parousia,” while Paul refers to their coming with an ordinary word, “eisodos.” Paul uses a number of word pictures to describe their ministry among the Thessalonians. After they had SUFFERED. Suffering and affliction are major elements of the letters to the Thessalonians and thus should not be unexpected among other communities of believers throughout the church age. Their ministry had no intentional error or impurity, and it was not a pretext for greed.

“Like a nursing mother taking care of her own children . . .”

“Like a father with his own children they exhorted and encouraged and charged”

“Affectionately desirous to share the gospel and our own lives”

The word “gospel” appears four times in this second chapter, indicating that Paul’s primary focus in his ministry to the Thessalonians was to share the gospel. To sum up, the ministry of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to these new believers was one of utmost integrity and purity.

One final note on Chapter 2: Like Chapter 1, Chapter 2 ends with a reference to “the coming of the Lord Jesus. Again, this “coming” is “parousia,” a technical word for the return of Christ at the end of the age.

SDG       rmb       6/3/2019

I recently finished reading through 1 Thessalonians and found yet again that the Scriptures can never be exhausted, that their riches know no bounds. With this series of blogs, I wanted to share what the Lord shared with me in this tour through the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians.

Chapter 1

In verse 1:3 we find the defining mark of many of Paul’s writings: faith, hope and love. “Your work of faith and your labor of love and steadfastness of hope . . .” Paul uses this combination of faith, love and hope in several of his epistles.

1:4 – In writing to the believers at Thessalonica, Paul uses several adjectives to define what a believer is. First, notice that Paul refers to these believers as “brothers.” It goes without saying that the Greek word “adelphoi” (translated “brothers”) applies to both men and women. Because believers have the same Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then all believers can correctly be called “brothers” (and “sisters”). Also, we have a Brother in common, the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:11).

Second, all believers are “loved by God” (“beloved by God” NASB). While all people are created by God, only believers are described as “loved by God.” In fact, we find out in other Pauline writing that before we came to faith in Christ, we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10) and we were children of God’s wrath, just like everyone else (Ephesians 2:3). But now In Christ and because of Christ, we are loved by God with a love that can never be removed.

Third, we see that God has chosen the Thessalonians, just as He has chosen all believers. It is remarkable that in this letter to a fledgling church of suffering believers, Paul speaks without apology or explanation about the doctrine of election. While the ESV translates this phrase “He (God) has chosen you,” a more literal translation could be rendered, “You know, brothers beloved by God, the election of you” or even “His/God’s election/choosing of you.” The doctrine that Paul is teaching here is that God is the one who chooses us or elects us to salvation, and who is elect has been determined since eternity past in the secret counsels of God (see Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 9:6-26). Again, it seems amazing, especially to doctrinally weak believers today, that Paul does not shrink back from declaring to these new believers in Thessalonica what we might consider doctrinal meat (“solid food” – Hebrews 5:12-14). The believer must embrace what the Bible makes clear, just as these Thessalonians did.

1:5 – What is it that could bring about these sudden and dramatic changes in these people? It is the Gospel that comes “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Elsewhere “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). It is the gospel and the gospel alone that changes a man’s or a woman’s heart. This is what occurred among the Thessalonians and occurred with a power that even amazed Paul.

1:6 – As is often the case and as was promised by the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, those who come to believe in Christ will be persecuted (Matthew 5:10-12; etc.). Certainly, this was the experience of the Thessalonians. They “received the word (of the gospel) in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” From both epistles to them, it is evident that the Thessalonians were under great pressure from their fellows because of their faith in Christ, but there is no indication that they shrunk back at all. As believers we are to accept this as the expected response from a world that hates Christ (1 Thess. 3:3-4) and not be surprised by this fiery ordeal (1 Peter 4:12), but the Thessalonians appeared to have withstood the heat without flinching, even though they were very young in their faith. Would we with many more years as believers do as well? Do we in America really expect to be persecuted for our faith? We must note that all believers are to expect persecution (2 Timothy 3:12) and are to bear up under it “with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” Not only did the Thessalonians endure, but they did so with joy because they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

1:9 – These new believers “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” This is a clear indication that these were “GBB’s” – Gentile background believers. I will only mention this briefly now and will address this idea in much more detail in a later part of this epistle, but you will notice that, while these believers apparently used to be pagan, Gentile idol-worshipers, they are no longer “Gentiles.” Now that they are believers and are disciples of the Lord Jesus, they have crossed from death to life and are no longer “Gentiles.” This is because, in the New Testament, “Gentile” describes a non-Jewish unbeliever. A non-Jewish believer is a brother or a disciple or a believer, but he/she is no longer a Gentile. (This also applies to the “Jew.” “Jew” describes a descendant of (Abraham or) Jacob/Israel who is an unbeliever. If that person comes to faith, they cease to be a “Jew” and become a brother or a disciple or a believer.) The gospel comes with the power to turn a person away from idols that they and their ancestors have worshiped as a matter of enslaved tradition for years and maybe for centuries. The gospel comes with power and the idols are destroyed or they are burned in the fire and the one who was enslaved to that idolatry is set free (John 8:36). The believer rejects the idols that are enslaving them and turns “to serve the living and true God.”

1:10 – Now that the believer has turned to God from idols to serve God, what does he/she do? One thing that Paul mentions to these Thessalonian brothers is that they are to “wait for His Son from heaven.” The two letters to the Thessalonians are marked by much teaching about the return of Christ. In theology, this is a part of “eschatology,” which is the study of “last things.” From this verse, we can learn several things about the return of Christ. First, it is unmistakably obvious that CHRIST WILL RETURN. Don’t miss that point! It makes no sense for the Thessalonians “to wait for God’s Son from heaven” if Jesus Christ is not coming back. So, Jesus is coming back.

Also, it is apparent that waiting for Jesus to return is an active form of waiting. We are to be active in obediently doing what the Lord has called us to do as we wait for Him to return (See Matthew 24:36-25:13). And since Jesus is coming “from heaven,” it is obvious that He is divine. That’s where He went when He ascended (Acts 1:9-11), and that’s where He will come from when He returns.

Jesus is also the same one who was raised from the dead by God the Father. (“whom He raised from the dead”) This means that Jesus was more than a vision or an apparition. He was of flesh and blood and He was capable of suffering and of dying, because no person can be raised from the dead unless he has already died. Jesus is the crucified and risen-from-the-dead Son of God.

Finally, Jesus is the One who will deliver all believers from the coming wrath of God. In these simple words, this verse touches on huge theological doctrines. These ideas are unpacked in other parts of the Bible, but Paul presents them here in just a few words almost in passing, presumably because he does not have to explain these again to the Thessalonians. He taught them these things while he was among them and so does not need to review.

Two main ideas that are contained here are:

• Jesus is the Savior able to save His people from God’s judgment/wrath;
• God will bring His wrath on some portion of mankind. In other words, God is holy, and His wrath is against sinners;

In subsequent blogs we will look at the other chapters in 1 Thessalonians and see what other things the apostle Paul will teach us.

SDG        rmb        6/1/2019

SUMMARY: The idea of this article has to do with “natural” personality profiles and descriptions of people that are not helpful and that can quickly lead to sinful behavior and to discouraging thoughts.

I was talking on the phone with my brother as we do each week on our Thursday commute. My brother was commenting that he has a generally pessimistic bent toward things, “but I am trying not to focus so much on changing that part of my personality, but instead to focus on being more obedient to what the Scripture calls me to do.” This statement struck a deep chord with me and we explored that idea throughout the rest of our morning commute.

Optimist or pessimist: Which is better? Which is more godly? Extrovert of introvert? Leader or follower? Melancholy? Phlegmatic? Choleric? Which of these does the Scripture advocate?

The answer to this riddle is that we know very little about the personalities or the psychology of even the best-known biblical characters. The fact is that these modern psychological labels are unknown in the Scripture. This is because personality is not something that is under our control; it is given to us by some unknowable combination of nature and nurture that is superintended and ordained by God Himself when He knits us together in our mother’s womb. I can no more change my fundamental personality than I can change my skin color or the color of my eyes or my height.

Now, this simple statement has far-reaching implications. First, personality is spiritually neutral. No personality is inherently godly or ungodly. The Bible does not advocate or prefer any personality over any other personality, but bases judgment on entirely different criteria.

The world creates “personality profiles” that exalt some characteristics and demean others. The world exalts optimism (There is an Optimists’ Club in many places, but there are no Pessimists’ Club, as far as I know.) and pretends that this is superior to pessimism, but the Bible makes no judgment on that basis. Extroverts are supposedly better than introverts (The Myers-Briggs measures “degrees of Extroversion.”), but again you will find nothing anywhere in the Scripture to support that. The Bible is “personality neutral.” All personalities and all personality traits in the unsaved person will be engines for sin and will result in sinful behaviors. By contrast, in the person who \has been born again through faith in Christ Jesus, their personality and their personality traits are being sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit so that the person is being conformed more and more to Christ, not in personality, but in godliness and righteousness and faithfulness and obedience.

So then, spending time in understanding my personality is time misspent first because I cannot change my personality, but second, because I do not need to change my personality, but third and most importantly, spending time on my personality is time not spent on obedience and repentance and prayer and meditation on the Scriptures, things which will purge sin from my life and will grow me in holiness and Christ-likeness.

Personality tests lead necessarily to comparison, which produces either baseless pride (“My personality is better than yours”) or disappointment and shame (“I hate my personality profile”), both of which are absurd. If God is the One who has planned your personality according to His perfect wisdom, would it not be sinful to boast about it, as if I made some contribution to it, and would it not be sinful to dislike or detest it, since God Himself is the One who gave it to me?

Phlegmatic? Choleric? Sanguine? Melancholy? (By the way, would anyone willingly admit that they were “melancholy” as their personality type?) These are irrelevant. The question is, “Are you growing in Christ-likeness?” All personalities are given to fallen sinners and a person with any personality can be redeemed through faith in Christ Jesus. The most wicked sinner and the holiest saint can share the exact same personality profile. In fact, the same person who lived in wickedness and disobedience with their personality can live in Christ in sanctification and obedience with the exact same personality.

Are you a Myers-Briggs ISTJ or maybe an ENFP? Or are you somewhere in between these two types? The task for all those in  Christ is the same, regardless of personality or psychology: Pursue Christ, pursue holiness, proclaim Christ, hate sin, love righteousness, love the Lord and love your neighbor as yourself. And for every personality this task requires effort, discipline and prayer. Regardless of personality profile, the path to holiness is steep and requires perseverance. All personalities are possessed by people who must fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, so no personality has an advantage and none is handicapped.

The point, then, is this: stop concerning yourself with psychological or personality studies because those studies will drqaw you into wasted time trying to change an unchangeable personality that was given to you by God and is, therefore, perfectly acceptable to Him.

Rather than this, spend time in the Scriptures seeking out every command so that you can obey it. Spend your energy taking every thought captive and fixing your eyes on Jesus. Enjoy your personality as you grow in godly self-control. Let all be done to the glory of God.

SDG      rmb      5/25/2019

            Why is that many people will spend a lot of money to be warned about a potential danger, but will spend no time or money considering how they need to respond when the warning really comes? More puzzling still is the situation where there is a clear warning of imminent danger that is ignored or denied. The following story describes such a scenario.

            It had been advertised as the best fire alarm system that money could buy, and the price of the system had caused Zac and Noella to hesitate. But they had done their homework and had checked the reviews. They had even visited one of the local fire stations and gotten the advice of the fire crew chief: “I have never seen anyone who owned that fire alarm system get lost in a blaze. That system will definitely give you a clear warning that there is a fire! Of course, when you get the warning, you better escape as fast as you can. But when that alarm goes off, you better believe that the building is on fire.”

            And so Zac and Noella had plunked down some serious coin for the system and had the system professionally installed and had felt safe and secure. And the years had passed and they had added three children and they had gradually stopped thinking about the danger of a fire. Despite the occasional news story about a tragic house fire that claimed victims, Zac and Noella’s awareness of danger ebbed low. And besides, they still had the best fire alarm system that money could buy.

            Then one night, Zac and Noella were rudely awakened out of a sound sleep by the shrill, piercing blare of an alarm. “The best fire alarm system money could buy” had been triggered into action and the message was loud enough to wake the dead. The crew chief’s words had certainly proven true: “That system will definitely give you a clear warning.” Zac stumbled out of bed, then cursed under his breath when he tripped over a stray pillow in the middle of the bedroom floor.

            “Zac!” Noella’s voice had an obvious edge of fear as she wrestled to suppress a rising panic. “Zac, we need to go get the kids and get out of here . . . NOW!”

            Zac’s reply, however, took Noella by surprise. “No, honey, we do not need to get the kids and get out of here.” His voice betrayed irritation and annoyance.

            “What do you mean, Zac?”

            “I mean that this is a false alarm. There is no danger and there is no fire. I mean that the so-called ‘best fire alarm system’ has awakened us for nothing. All this warning and shrill alarm is just the result of a short circuit or a malfunction in the system.” By now Zac had found the step ladder and was climbing up with screwdriver in hand. “Man, this thing is loud!” After a couple of minutes work with the screwdriver, Zac had detached the first siren which had been mounted on the ceiling outside their bedroom. Even though detach, however, the alarm continued to blare in Zac’s hands. Finally, after several more deafening minutes, Zac was able to locate his hammer and smash the offending siren on the concrete floor of the garage. The first alarm had succumbed to Zac’s hammer.

            Meanwhile, across the street, Roger and Phyllis had been wakened up by Zac and Noella’s fire alarm system and had gone out onto their front lawn. They were worried as they heard their neighbor’s fire alarm continue to wail and as they watched the yellow and orange flames begin to leap into the night sky from their neighbor’s attic. Roger muttered to his wife, “Where are they? Surely they hear the alarm! Why aren’t they coming out?” Then they heard what seemed to be hammer blows and then the volume of the alarm noticeably decreased. “What in the world is going on? And why don’t they get out?”

            Zac was encouraged by his victory over the first alarm unit and, with stepladder in hand, he charged up the stairs to dispatch the two remaining units.

            Noella called up the stairs after him, “Zac, are you sure this is a false alarm? I think that I smell smoke and the temperature seems to be rising.”

            “Trust me, sweetheart, there is no danger. Our house is not going to burn. The alarm is not functioning well, but I will fix this problem.”

            All three children were by now in the hall, their sleep having been shattered by the urgent blasts coming from the two fire alarms on the second floor of the house. The oldest child, a boy almost five year’s old, cautiously questioned his crazed father. “Daddy, I think that I smell smoke, too. Maybe there really is a fire in the house. Maybe the building really is on fire.”

            “Nonsense. Impossible,” said Zac as the third alarm unit came off the ceiling and into his hands. “We’ll stop this once and for all,” he said, as he ran toward the garage with the two live sirens blaring out at an unmeasurable number of decibels. A series of sharp cracks followed as plastic and metal and battery collapsed under the assault of superior firepower. An eerie silence ensued, but the silence was broken by the sound of flaming wooden trusses and insulation and shingles crashing through the ceiling into the second floor of Zac and Noella’s home.

            “Five Perish in House Fire” were the headlines in the brief article in the news. “A family of five died in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Zac and Noella Baker and their three young children were apparently trapped in their home and did not escape the blaze. A neighbor was an eyewitness to the fire and was quoted as saying, ‘It’s tragic, really. Really sad. Their alarm woke us up across the street. We kept watching and waiting for them to come out, but they never did. They seemed to have plenty of warning, they just never got out. Really sad.’

            The fire trucks arrived too late to save the home or the Baker family. After getting the flames under control so that they did not spread to other houses, the fire crew chief shook his head and said, ‘Not sure what happened, exactly. Three neighbors were wakened by the Baker’s alarm and they all called 911. Can’t understand why they didn’t take the warning and escape. Really strange . . . and sad.’

            The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

APPLICATION: As you were reading this story, you may have been saying to yourself, “This is silly. Everyone who receives a warning about a life-threatening danger will heed the warning and will run for the escape. No one would ever despise or ignore such a dire and critically important warning.”

            But here is the truth: Virtually every book of the Bible warns the sinner about the coming judgment of God, when the unrighteous will be finally and forever condemned to eternal punishment in hell and the lake of fire, and the righteous will be rewarded with an eternity in heaven. So, even though the Bible gives crystal clear warnings of the coming disaster of the holy judgment of God, the vast majority of men and women never pay the slightest attention to these warnings. Instead, they despise and ignore.

            But not only does the Bible warn of the eternal danger confronting every unrighteous man and woman, but every Sunday from pulpits and platforms and podiums in churches all over the globe, every faithful preacher proclaims the same warning to every listening sinner, declaring to them the certainty of God’s terrifying judgment and urging sinners to escape the Judgment by fleeing to Christ for refuge. And still the hearers sit in stoic, bored indifference, unmoved by the alarms blaring in their ears. The building is on fire and they refuse to smell the smoke. The frustrating reality is that most people who hear the gospel are irritated by the noise and, figuratively speaking, seek to smash the sirens on the concrete floor of the garage.

            What, then, are we to do as those whose message is often ignored? The answer to this question is unambiguously clear from the Scripture. We are to continue to scatter the seed of the gospel (Matthew 13:3). We are to continue to fish for men (Matthew 4:19). We are to continue to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Cor. 11:26). Knowing the fear of the Lord, we are to continue to persuade men (2 Cor. 5:11). On behalf of Christ, we are to continue to beg men and women to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20). We are to make disciples until the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). We are to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Our task is plain from the pages of the New Testament: We are the messengers of the gospel, chosen by God and called by God to be witnesses for Christ, “in season and out of season.” “We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” as we commit ourselves to the gospel work. Our task is to proclaim the gospel “in His name to all nations (Luke 24:47; also Mark 16:15),” and then to trust that the Lord “will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).” We proclaim so that God will receive all the glory by saving some.

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SUMMARY: The first lens that we used to examine and study Genesis 24 focused on the story itself and how that story, when seen through that specific lens, was a foreshadowing of all of New Testament redemptive history. It was a picture of the church bringing in a virgin bride for the Son. (See my post of April 25 to get more detail.) Now we put on a narrowed lens and focus our attention on Abraham’s servant. What can we learn from him?

APPLICATION – THE MODEL SERVANT

Looking carefully at Genesis 24 again, we see that the hero of our tale is none other than the faithful, nameless servant who completes the mission and brings back the bride. In examining him, we see a lot of qualities that we as believers and as witnesses for the Lord Jesus would do well to emulate. In fact, we are the servant who has been called by the Father to bring in the bride for the Son in real life (see above), and we want to be likewise faithful to that calling.

In no particular order, then, let’s look at this remarkable servant and see how his character fits him for his mission and ours.

• He is nameless, as we have already mentioned. Why is this significant? This characteristic speaks of his humility. He never mentions his name to Rebekah’s family and they never ask him. This is because his name is not important. He speaks about the father’s wealth and greatness and about the son of the father. These receive all the attention. Just so, we are to tell of the greatness of our heavenly Father and of the glory of the Son and to realize that Christ must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30).
• The servant is not free to do whatever he wants. Rather, he called to be on a mission, sent out by his master the father, and his duty constrains him to complete his mission. He is bound by his own oath to carry out the mission and to carry it out as the father has related it to him. He is not even free to make up his own speech but is to communicate with the people in the far land exactly what the father has given him to say. In the same way, we as believers are bound by our oath to Christ and are thus compelled to preach the gospel “once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).” Our lives are not our own, for we have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Our message and our mission are not our own but have been given to us by the Father. Thus, we are called to be stewards of the gospel and are obligated to communicate the message about the Son exactly according to the Father’s wishes.
• The servant is under obligation and is not free of his oath until he has brought back the bride. Likewise, we are under obligation (Romans 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:14ff) to preach the gospel.
• The servant will not be delayed, deterred or distracted from his mission. He is not willing to sleep or even eat until he has determined the success of his venture (24:33). It would have been culturally proper for him to delay and to enjoy the hospitality of his hosts, but he is on a mission and he cannot afford the luxury of pleasant distraction. In the same way, we disciples must regard with caution undue ease and distraction. There will be much time to rest in eternity, but now we are to make the most of the time (Ephesians 5:15-16). We are to endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3) and we are to avoid being entangled in the world’s web (2 Tim. 2:4) so that our gifts and talents are not squandered on trivial things and so that the clarion call of the gospel is not choked out by our own love of pleasure. For Abraham’s servant, mission trumped even bodily needs, and the disciple of Jesus would be wise to see their commission as likewise of paramount importance.
• Abraham’s servant saw himself as “on mission,” and his mission thus dominated and defined his life. To bring back a bride for his master was not just the most important of many tasks he had to do, but it was the only task on his radar screen. All of life was prioritized under that great heading. He identified himself as a “bride-finder.” This is the kind of commitment that the disciple of Jesus has as he/she presses toward the goal for the prize. It is a “one thing I do” kind of focus (Philippians 3:13). The disciple has fixed their eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and has given themselves to the gospel task.
• Along the same lines as other points above, the servant was single-minded in his devotion to his task. Our world is much more complex than the world of Abraham’s servant and there are many more “moving parts,” but this makes it incumbent upon us to discipline ourselves to stay focused on the task and restrain ourselves severely (1 Cor. 9:26-27) so that we win the prize.
• Abraham’s servant is dependent upon the Lord to guide him to the place of success and it is God’s remarkable providence that makes the entire story come together. The servant is aware of his dependence on God and he pauses at several critical points to allow the Lord to direct his steps and to confirm his choices. (Isaiah 30:21; Psalm 119:105; 32:8) How much more is it true that the disciple of Jesus is dependent upon the Lord for the success of his/her mission and even their very survival. We must actively seek the Lord’s guidance in prayer if we are to accomplish the mission.

We are the servants of the Lord, those who have been called by the Lord to gather in the elect and to present a pure and chaste bride to the Son. The servant of Abraham serves as a model for us, showing us how to humbly and faithfully carry out a mission and how to maintain undistracted devotion to Christ despite many potential obstacles and side roads.

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SUMMARY: The overview of the story in Genesis 24 is simple and yet profound. Abraham, the man with the promises, “the father of many nations,” calls his servant and gives him the mission of bringing back a bride from the far country for his only son (Genesis 22:2), Isaac, the child of promise. What we will see is that this narrative is much more than a tale about getting a wife for an old man’s son. It in fact is a picture of the entire history of redemption as God the Father sends out His servants to bring back a holy bride for the Son.

APPLICATION: After we look at the whole story itself, we will take a closer look at the servant and see that the servant in this story is a model servant and one whom we, as disciples of Jesus, should emulate.

GENESIS 24 – THE STORY

As the story opens, we see that Abraham is very old and he realizes that he needs to accomplish at least one more thing before he dies; he needs to find a wife for his son Isaac. With this in mind Abraham calls his servant and binds him under oath to accomplish the mission of bringing a wife for Isaac from his people. The details of the narrative are carefully chosen by the author because they foreshadow events far in the future, and so we need to pay attention to these details.

The servant is bound by a solemn oath to accomplish his mission. The mission is spelled out very clearly by the father; the servant is to bring back a bride for the son.

The mission given to the servant is “Plan A,” and there is no “Plan B.” The servant is entrusted by the father with the mission, and if the servant does not complete the mission, then the son will not have a bride.

The servant was not free to do whatever he wanted to do, nor was he free to say whatever he wanted to say. Rather, he was bound by his oath to his master to say what the father commanded him to say and to go where the father had sent him to go.

Notice that the servant is nameless. Everyone else in this story has a name, but this one sent out on the mission does not. The identity of the servant is not significant, but his mission is of paramount significance.

Rebekah is specifically said to be a virgin, so she is pure and chaste, having no spot or wrinkle of any such thing (Ephesians 5:26-27).

Rebekah agrees to be the son’s bride without ever seeing the son (1 Peter 1:8). She goes only based on the words and the testimony of the servant about the son.

The servant declares that the father has given the son all that he has (Genesis 24:35-36; John 17:10).

This marriage is the only explicitly arranged marriage in the Bible. Here the father goes to great lengths to find exactly the right bride for the son. Of all the wives in the Bible, Isaac’s wife is the only one who is carefully chosen by the father. This is because Abraham wanted a very specific bride for Isaac.

THE MEANING REVEALED

Hopefully by now I have painted the picture in “gospel colors” and you can see that the story of Abraham, the father, sending out his servant on a mission to bring back a bride for his son is the story of the entire New Testament era. God the Father has commissioned His servant, the church, and has sent them out into the world with the mission to win and bring back a holy and chaste bride for His Son (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). The Lord Jesus now awaits the day when His bride, the whole church, is brought to Him to dwell with Him forever in heaven.

This story has a hero, and the hero is the nameless servant. He is the one who faithfully carries out his assignment despite obstacles and potential distractions. The next post will be about this model servant and how we need to emulate him.

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The request was so unusual and unorthodox, so audacious and inappropriate that it amused the colonel. Later he also admitted that he must have been in a benevolent mood for whatever reason, or he would have dismissed the petulant recruit out of hand.

It was the middle of July of a particularly warm summer at the Marine Corps training base in Parris Island. The nation was at war and the recruiting classes had been churning through boot camp at a torrid pace to get men out onto the battle lines. A new group of recruits had tumbled off the bus three weeks ago and that group seemed to be progressing with their boot camp training fairly well. There were the usual complaints about rashes and ticks and mosquitos and blisters, and the somewhat more troubling although common reports of heat exhaustion and broken bones, but there was nothing that the colonel had not seen many times before.

Until now. Until “the request.” The colonel still couldn’t quite believe it, but there it was on his desk. One of the recruits who had been in the Marine Corps a grand total of 19 days had sent a letter to the colonel, the commanding officer of the base, requesting a meeting with him to share some thoughts that “Private First Class whoever” had as he was going through boot camp. In the 26 years that the colonel had been running the boot camp, no recruit had ever done that before. The colonel was especially surprised that this request would come from a raw recruit while the nation was at war, but there it was. So in ten minutes this would-be Marine was gong to come into his office.

“Good afternoon, Colonel,” PFC Whoever said as he saluted at attention.

“Well, at least he seems to have that part down,” mused the colonel to himself. “At ease, soldier. I have agreed to meet with you, which is highly unusual. What is the reason for this meeting?” The colonel gestured toward a chair and the soldier sat down.

“Thank you, sir, for agreeing to meet with me. You won’t regret this. Let me get right to the point. As you know, I am going through boot camp here and I have been making some observations over the last 19 days. So, I have two main things I want to share with you.

“First, I wanted to give you some thoughts for how to improve the boot camp experience for the recruits. You may not be aware of this, but a lot of the guys in the barracks are griping about their drill instructor and about the long hours that they go through drills and training each day. Some days we start at 4:30 in the morning and go all the way till after dark and that just seems excessive to me. And the drill instructor is rude and angry with your recruits. So, just a couple of small things would make this better for everyone. Have the DI be a little kinder and gentler with the recruits and then move the earliest start time back to, say, 6AM instead of 4:30, and I think you would see a leap in morale.”

The colonel’s anger was rising rapidly and he moved to speak to the recruit, but PFC Whoever raised his hand and said, “Just a second and you can let me know all your thoughts. But I have one more thing to suggest.

“At the end of this boot camp I know that you will need to send me to my next assignment, and I am sure at some point there will be a chance for me to take some aptitude testing and do some interviewing, but I wanted to help you out a little bit and share with you where I feel my strengths lie and where I could be used best.

“Now, I know there is a war going on and that a lot of men are needed up near the front to fire rifles and machine guns and throw hand grenades and that kind of thing, but that’s just not where I feel gifted. Some of the guys in the platoon are dead aims with their rifles and they can throw a grenade thirty yards and drop it right on the target, but that’s not me. My gifts lie more in administration and leadership. After boot camp, I would like to consider a lieutenant’s role at a place well back away from the front where I can plan strategy. That’s where I can excel, because I am a “big-picture” kind of guy. What do you think?”

The colonel barely contained his rage at the impudence of this so-called soldier.

“Soldier, let me help you understand something. When you enlisted in this group, you gave up your rights. We will decide how you are trained, because we know what it takes to turn weak, flabby boys into hard and disciplined men. Your job is to obey your Drill Instructor and to do exactly what he tells you to do as soon as he tells you to do it. We own you and we will deploy you where we see fit.

“We are at war, and we do not need soldiers comfortably distanced from the front, but we need soldiers who are able to engage the enemy and to use their weapons to destroy his strongholds and his fortresses. And so your next assignment is not up to you. You do not get a voice or a vote. We will decide your next assignment based on what is most needed by the king to gain us the victory. Is that clear?”

2 Timothy 2:4 – “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” – The apostle Paul

Matthew 8:9 ‘ – [The centurion said to Jesus,] “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Then Jesus commended the centurion for his great faith (8:10).

APPLICATIONS: The believer has joined himself by faith to the King of kings as a soldier who is at the disposal of the King for whatever assignment the King has in mind. The church of Jesus Christ is at war with the world, the flesh and the devil and is engaged in pressing back the kingdom of darkness until the Lord Jesus returns. A soldier is to know how to use his weapons with skill to advance his kingdom and to inflict damage on the enemy. A soldier is not given the option of retreat or surrender. We do not choose our assignments, but rather these are given to us by the king. We may like or dislike our assignment, but that has no bearing on our duty as a soldier to perform it. We accept our assignment and accomplish the task we have been given. It may be difficult and dangerous, or it may be comfortable and enjoyable, but we strive to fulfill our duty because we love the one who has given us the assignment. Typically, the king gives his most difficult assignments to those who have already proven themselves faithful. As a soldier, I desire to be selected for the difficult assignments and to please my King in accomplishing the goal.

Brothers and sisters, as good soldiers of Christ, let us accept the assignments the King has given us and let us strive to be faithful to accomplish the missions He has appointed to us. Remember that, in His perfect wisdom, He is the one who has given us our assignments. They have come from His loving hand and are to be accomplished for His glory. Be faithful! Never shrink back! Never say ‘no’ to any of the King’s assignments, but rather strive with all your might for their accomplishment.

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