Tag: Israel

MY NAME IS IN HIM

God is not so concerned about the escalating partisan hatefulness of America’s political and social dialogue; the once unthinkable level of bloodshed through mass murder and abortions; the insatiable appetite for new and sensual entertainments to a level of “idolatry”; the ever-expanding lgbtq-xyz acronym; the greed causing a growing scarcity of livable and affordable habitation for the less prosperous; the disturbing epidemic of substance addictions, pornography, and suicides; the declining respect for authority and family and human life in general…as He is about something else:

His Holy NAME.

Obviously, that is not to say that the heart of God is not broken over the terrible toll sin has taken on our nation and on the world, with all of its violence, poverty, and disease; that has always been the case. That is why Christ came! But God is more concerned about what has become of the “light” and the “salt” that His Son’s bride, the Church, was intended to be. Those aforementioned “effects” of sin in all societies are only symptoms.

Exodus 23:20-21 nasb “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you [Israel] to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My NAME is in him.”

I Corinthians 10:3-7 nasb “…They [Israel] were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”

The same “Rock” who preceded, guarded, and followed Israel is the exact same Rock who guides, protects, and nurtures true believers today. Our Rock is the eternal Source of spiritual light (life) and salt (preservative) meant to show hurting people the way to God! What is the world to think of a “church” that is daily rocked by reports of child sexual abuse, immorality, corruption, scandal, and an ever-growing compromise of God’s Word? In what circumstances does God refuse to “pardon” sin? Is it the degree or the category of sin. No! The answer is simple. Sin is not forgiven when it is not acknowledged and repented of. Israel crossed a “threshold” of committing bloodshed during the time of King Manasseh. Manasseh himself was punished by God but was later redeemed when he repented, but the people would go on to experience terrible judgments “for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not forgive” (II Kings 24:4 nasb).Their leader turned from his own sin, but his subjects refused!

On two occasions many years ago I tried to reach out to a man who was married and had several children. This man had an often volatile temper and was a spouse abuser. Both times I visited him I found him alone and sitting in a dark room, fighting depression. The problem was, his family had been faithful members of a megachurch which specialized in “praise”, “prosperity” teaching, and claiming God’s “blessings”, but had never addressed or dealt with the sin problem in his life. Upon my invitation, this man attended two consecutive services at our church. At the end of the second service he went to the altar and confessed, “There is no fear of God in my church.” The man went back to his megachurch and we never saw him again. The last report I had of him was that he had abandoned his family, committed theft and assault, and sounded like a man “demon-possessed”, although he exuded a form of religion and spoke often and passionately of spiritual matters.

2 Corinthians 6:17 kjv “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

When the Church becomes all about entertainment, self-indulgence, and soothing the social conscience of mankind, we have completely lost sight of our standard:

The Cross of Jesus Christ!

A worthy quote:

“Regardless…of the conditions or difficulties you face in life, see in each one ‘a chance to die.’ For die, to yourself, you must if you would live unto God. Your wishes have been crossed? your likes and dislikes disregarded, your wisdom discredited, your sensibilities provoked, your opinions ridiculed? You have been falsely accused and your name has been cast out as evil? Take any or all of these up, as your cross, and see, in each of them, a chance to die to your vainglory and pride. You will learn little by little to be led as a lamb to the slaughter. Self-will and self-justification and self-defense are indeed your greatest foes. Someone says, ‘Welcome anything that calls you to your only true position, crucified with Christ.’ You will then experience the glorious truth, ‘Christ liveth in me’…The life that He imparts is a crucified life. It is a life centered upon God, fixed upon God, a life lived in the will of God. This Christ-life, mark you, is the life of Him who, on the eve of His passion and death, spoke for the first time in His earthly career of ‘My peace, My joy’; and in prayer for His own: ‘that my joy might be fulfilled in them.’ Christ’s joy in life’s darkest hour was in the will of His Father.” ~ L.E. Maxwell, Born Crucified.

Is Christ’s joy being fulfilled in you?

A Slippery Slope

A retired pastor, veterinarian, and good friend of mine was often quoted as saying (paraphrased):

~ “Some Christians treat Jesus like a man who marries a wife at the altar, kisses his new bride, and then leaves! But before he walks out of the church he turns around and says to her, ‘Oh, by the way, I’ll meet you back here next Sunday morning at 10:45!’”

~ “Put the blinders on after you get married, not before!”

~ [My friend quoting another medical professional friend; a prominent psychiatrist]: “If preachers would go back to preaching against sin, you could probably empty out half of the mental health institutions.”

~ “Your heart can become like a callous that gradually builds up on your hand after repeatedly using a shovel. Eventually it becomes so thick and hard you can stick a pin through it and feel nothing.”

Each time Israel tested God with their murmuring and complaining in the wilderness, their faith waned a little and their hearts – just like that of the Pharaoh who had enslaved them – became a little more hardened. It did not happen all at once. The same thing happened to King Saul. Over time, his initial humility and zeal for God turned to pride, self-will, and finally, outright rebellion…to the point that he could order the slaughter of scores of Levites and not even feel a pang of conscience!

The crossing of the Red Sea was an Old Covenant “type” of salvation and baptism for our generation under the New Covenant. But that first generation of Israelites (save two over the age of twenty) who came out of Egypt were destined (not predestined) to die in a parched, desolate wasteland. After their tenth documented rebellion and God’s declaration through Moses that the nation would not enter into Canaan for thirty-eighty more years, they finally “got it!” By then it was too late, and when a number of them presumptuously rose up the next morning and strapped on their swords to “take” the land of promise, they were soundly defeated and humiliated by their enemy. God had rejected that generation from crossing the Jordan river. Again, a type; this time of entering into a promised place of spiritual rest, blessing, and empowerment through Jesus Christ.

Oh, those poor, stubborn Jews! It’s a good thing I’m living under grace in my generation. That could never happen to me under the New Covenant. I could never possibly become God’s adversary, much less an enemy of the Cross!

1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

Consider a newly-married Christian couple…”Until death do us part.” Their relationship starts out on a solid footing. Their respective walks with Christ are also, at first, characterized by a degree of intimacy. But over time, they become more concerned with their own needs and interests than those of their spouse, not to mention those of Jesus. That small, quiet voice of conviction repeatedly says: “I know I really shouldn’t say that to my spouse”, but the words “slip” out of their mouth anyway, and there is a subtle, but prideful sense of gratification and empowerment in it. Little by little, day after day, month after month, there is a gradual, reciprocal escalation of selfishness and anger until, inevitably, the word “divorce” pops up in the conversation. From that point, it may be only a matter of time until bitterness has resulted in another broken marriage and family, and the name of Christ is once again dishonored.

Like it our not, my marriage is probably the best barometer of my relationship with Christ…OUCH!

Hebrews 4: 1-3 NASB “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,’ although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Remember, as the writer James took great pains to explain and clarify in his epistle, true faith, or believing, is inextricably and invariably linked to a conscious “action” response on our part whenever God’s Word is spoken or revealed to us. That response can only be ONE of two things; either (1) obedience OR, (2) disobedience.

A child can understand this basic principle, just like when Dad orders you to take out the trash (or when your boss tells you to stay late to meet a deadline).

The choice is OURS, just as it was with Israel!

That choice we make can, over time, become either a positive or a negative pattern of behavior, a good or a bad heart habit that can have not only temporal, but eternal consequences. Beware of teaching that tries to convince you that a Christian’s conscious, deliberate choice of obedience to a direct command from God (or from God’s Word) is equivalent to – or translates to – “works”, i.e., the same thing as charitable, or good “deeds” or “effort” (gr., ergon) and that therefore, as we all know, our “works” of obedience (by that out-of-context definition) “can have no bearing whatsoever on our salvation, as per Ephesians 2:8-9.” This is a very unscriptural leap of flawed logic and interpretation.

Hebrews 4:11-16 NASB “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Romans 15:13 NASB “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The following is a Youtube link to the sermon that finally broke through my thick, pharisaical skull and opened my blinded eyes back in 1993; it became the catalyst for my own personal “Gethsemane” and my salvation experience. WARNING: It is not an “easy” message to listen to, but it was exactly what I desperately needed to hear from God. It may be what someone else (a serious seeker perhaps or someone who is spiritually “stuck in the breach”) needs in order to get a “breakthrough”…

🙂 Bryan