Our Little Window of Time

Every last one of us has an appointment with death, just as we had an appointment with birth. Every day we live is one that was ordained for us, a day God fashioned for us and that He always intended for us to live. You are alive today because God always intended it so. “…And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Ps 139:16).

Thinking about his life and God’s intimate involvement with all of it, the psalmist was certain that his life was no accident of some mindless Fate. He was sure that his tiny existence that began in his mother’s womb was part of Yahweh’s great plan for His seemingly infinite creation. Although small as a particle of dust and seemingly as insignificant, his life mattered to God.

Before any of them actually arrive in time, “the days fashioned” for us existed in God’s mind. All of our days from birth to death were ordained, intended for us. Beyond anything we can imagine or control Almighty God’s plan is at work, unfolding through what we call history. We are living tomorrow’s history today; what we do (and leave undone) becomes part of the story. The story is being written and we who know God and His love must do all the good we can—however little it may seem in our eyes.

Time will come when time will be done—until then, there is a window of opportunity during which we may work the works of God. We work His works by believing—by grace believing in “Him whom God has sent” (Jn 6:28). Believing and seeking to please Jesus, we find joy in doing His will and substantial measures of misery in everything else. Our doing flows from our believing. If we live despising what is and grieving over what is not, we squander “the days fashioned” for us and give them one at a time to the devil’s sly servant, Demon Despair. Every day thus given away is time unredeemed (Eph 5:15) and life lost.

The works of God cry out to be done; where are workers who will live out their faith? Cups of cool water must yet be given and received; thirsty people are fainting. Kind deeds must still surprise an unkind world in which sin has soured so many poor souls. Relationships must yet be valued and nurtured, for loneliness kills men and women deader than bullets and bombs. True words must still be spoken in love so that our brothers will be strengthened for another day’s service to the King. Gospel words must yet be lifted up so that hopeless and condemned souls may find, as we once found, eternal life and peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. –TSA

The Weber City Auction

The first auction I remember attending was when I was a little boy. It was in Weber City, Virginia and the building is still there almost fifty years later; in fact, I drove by there earlier today. When I go toward Gate City I almost always take mental note of the old auction house, but I never notice it on the way back.

The auctioneer blaring his voice into a microphone that he seemed to have swallowed, there were escalating bids here, there and everywhere for whatever it was he was selling. Going once, going twice…Sold! Then it all would start over again with the next item. Quite the entertainment to a small boy who lived by the river on a rural road; attending the Weber City auction was better than going to town on Saturday morning.

The only rule dad imposed on me was to not scratch my nose or ear or anything else while inside the auction house. He didn’t want to have to pay for whatever I might have bid on by scratching something. He and Mom bought a piece or two of furniture during one of our few visits there, but mostly we went to have something to do.

The best day was when Dad bought for me a medium sized cardboard box full of cast off toys, including a mechanical robot man with gears and gears and gears of different colors behind a clear plastic exterior. That was a great day. But it only lasted a little while, that best day.

The worst day was about a week later when I didn’t stop playing with the noisy mechanical robot toy after Dad’s third or fourth warning and in a quick moment he picked up the amazing robot man thing and threw it with some force into the cardboard box and busted it. It landed with a ringing clatter and never worked again. Right away he was sorry; but he could never apologize for anything so he let me feel like it was me that broke it—my fault. Of course, I should have stopped playing with it when he told me to stop. But I was a kid with a new toy, after all.

Anytime I remember the Weber City auction, I recall that mechanical robot toy and dad breaking it in the cardboard box as I sat on the floor in the doorway of the hall closet.

If there is a lesson here it might be this: all dads need to remember that their kids may very well remember things long after they’re gone. If dads mess up and in an angry fit break their kid’s amazing mechanical robot toy that came in a cardboard box of junk, they should apologize for losing control and doing something they really shouldn’t have—a little like the excited, engrossed kid who wouldn’t stop playing with the mechanical robotic toy thing when he should have.

Dads are sometimes overgrown, misbehaving boys. Take a breath and think. Your kids are watching all the time. And sometimes the woman who gave them birth is watching, too; it never hurts to impress her any time you can. –TSA

Right Verse, Wrong Chapter

Long ago in a county not far away a Baptist church sprang up. Anyone could tell it was a growing concern from all the cigarette butts on the ground near the back door. Between Sunday School and the worship service, a cloud of white smoke would rise as the saints lit-up all at once.

One family of five attended and seemed very happy to be part of the church. Of the three children, the youngest was a boy about ten. He was constantly misbehaving, often sticking his face in the midst of various women’s chests and hugging them, and the parents routinely did nothing to teach him better. After many incidents of such totally unacceptable behavior, his parents were taken aside by the pastor and one of the leading men and asked to do their duty as parents and regain control of their son. The parents reacted badly, at least as badly as their son.

The boy’s father was startled that anyone would be so bold as to point out the elephant in the room, but the wife was enraged out of her mind. Her claws shot out and she gave the men a good cussing and told them that her precious little son’s behavior was none of their **** business. The men insisted that the boy’s behavior must be reined in and corrected if the family intended to continue attending the services. It was their duty to discipline their son and their duty to seek the good of the church. She told the men to go somewhere besides heaven and that her family would come to church as they pleased and that nobody had better say a word to their son. Ah, yes; life among the saints!

Right away the church acted to apply basic church discipline to this situation. Mama changed everybody’s mind and they never attended again. The man did like many men do. He stood with his hands in his pockets and every now and then said, “That’s right” and “You tell ‘em, Honey,” as his wife ran her filthy mouth. They did send the church a silly letter threatening legal action and made a few unfriendly phone calls to the pastor and a few others. Needless to say, the man and woman refused to submit to any sort of church discipline; and that was that.

As part of the church’s attempt to deal with the matter biblically, Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:15-20 were followed to the best of the church’s ability. This Scripture reference was recorded in the Minutes of the congregational meeting. But it was recorded incorrectly; an innocent mistake. The right verse was referenced but from the wrong chapter. So instead of Matthew 18 the church record referred to Matthew 17:15-ff, which begins, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic…” Everyone had to suppress themselves. Some of us ‘lost it.’

It might not have been the spiritual thing to do, finding humor in such a mistake, but it was hard not to at least smile.

As fitting as that Scripture might have been, it was not actually used to justify the church discipline. After all, it was not the boy’s fault that he had ungodly parents that refused to obey the truth and to teach him well. Almost needless to say, that whole family reaped the fruit of rebellion against God’s truth. No one was happy to see things happen as they did, yet no one was terribly surprised when all three of their children soon rebelled beyond all control. Another family ruined through pure folly. –TSA

Deception Hurts Worse

They say the truth hurts; sometimes it hurts a lot. Ah, but deceptions hurt so much worse. Falsehood impersonates truth and some heart is misled and carries on with confidence in something untrue or, at least, not to be depended on.

Surely, we do ourselves a great favor to remember often that this is indeed a fallen world. Adam’s Fall in Eden (and our Fall with him) followed closely upon the serpentine utterance of deceptive words and lying promises. And ever since, “the wicked…go astray from birth, speaking lies” (Psalm 58:3). Truth has become a casualty in this world, suffering daily a thousand wounds at the hands of smiling ‘friends.’

“Remove far from me falsehood and lying” (Proverbs 30:8a ESV). These words are from the only prayer recorded in the Book of Proverbs. This is the first of two things asked for; the second request is for material adequacy in life, as he asks God to sufficiently supply enough of life’s good things, but not too much—and there is such a thing as too much (see Proverbs 30:8b-9).

The first desire of that wise man was that God would not permit him to traffic in falsehood (outright untruth or truth set forth in untrue colors) or lying (willing deception by false words or unfaithful dealing). He would not become a liar by any definition. Having prayed for virtue, he also asks for Heaven’s protection from those who might victimize him by deception or lying. And this request was put ahead of his asking for food, clothing, housing, health, riches or any other earthly prosperity. First and above all he wishes to be preserved from deception and lies, even from their near vicinity—he wants those things to be far away from him and no part of his life.

Almost always after deception, sooner or later, the truth becomes evident; the deceived person cannot help feeling that he played the fool or was played for one. Sometimes the fault is ours for being foolishly unsuspecting; we rightly blame ourselves for being insufficiently wary in this fallen world.

Then we may misjudge people at times, believing them trustworthy when they are not. Often we trust too quickly, too much, too unreservedly. Some twice-burned children still play with fire. As hurtful as ‘getting burned’ can be, it seems too cynical and hopeless a way to live to never trust anyone for anything. But it truly is a fallen world and it is a long way down from the high-wire on which we stand when we trust. It is a high-wire act of sorts, how to navigate whether and just how much we may safely trust even the people we should be able to trust implicitly. Beneath the high-wire, is there a net? I don’t see one. The more we trust, the higher the wire and the farther we may fall. Broken trust, broken bones, broken hopes, broken hearts.

Unkindness and Deception are partners. Unkindness gives aid to Deception, as a strong breeze lifts the sails and drives a ship forward. Deception declares that Unkindness is never unkind. Unkindness says Deception is very often misquoted and more often misunderstood. These two always travel together with Unkindness leading the way.

For citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, love for truth in word and deed is the Shibboleth—and we can pronounce it correctly. There is no place for Unkindness and Deception in our tents or in our streets; let them be slaughtered at the fords of the Jordan. If we let these enemies live, then no one will be safe, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13 ESV).

“Speaking the truth in love” is and always will be the hallmark of a citizen of Zion. Surely deceptions and lies burn like acid on a true saint’s tongue. In this way let us live, “…having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25 ESV). “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). And so we pray with him who prayed before us, “Keep deception and lies far from me” (Proverbs 30:8a NASB). –TSA

Squandered Potential

Several years ago word worked its way around to me that a man I much admired and appreciated remarked that I needed to quit messing around and finish Bible College and then go on to Seminary, that I was wasting my potential. I wanted to do that, actually; but providence surely ordered otherwise, as other responsibilities made that not an option.

Reflecting on the last three decades, I suppose in terms of a religious career the man was right. (I do indeed wish that I had acquired the biblical languages and others wish I had acquired a few advanced classes in ‘tact.’) No doubt, some potential was squandered while I messed around attempting to shepherd a small assembly and seeking to become a competent Bible expositor.

Over the years, it could be that the critic wasted more potential than I. Career-wise, no. He earned a handsome living, raised a handsome family, and no doubt has a handsome annuity laid up for many years. But as far as I know he never reformed a single church; never left even one congregation with a solid biblical theology upon which to build their future. Instead of becoming a theologian-shepherd-mentor-evangelist, over time he became just another company man, loyal to denomination and traditional, tasteless, middle-of-the-road-ness. It seems that he now mostly labors to keep deep-thinking, theologically-minded preaching men out of the pastorates of churches within his circle of influence. That helps guarantee that those churches will remain as weak as ever, overly-traditional, and stuck in the same mud they have been stuck in for years—and painfully ineffective for Christ. As for potential squandered, God knows and the last day will reveal.

As for any remaining potential we might have to pour into the service of Jesus Christ, let us not waste another micron of it. Don’t waste your potential. But understand this if you miss everything else: faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and faithfulness to the truth of His Word is success. So be kind and be faithful. That will be our potential realized. –TSA

Jonah's Gourd & My Maple Tree

Neither Jonah nor I had anything to do with our respective botanical delights; he took pleasure in his gourd and I take pleasure in my Maple. Jonah's gourd was raised up quickly and it met a wormy demise. When it withered, he despaired of life because his comfort (derived from the shade-giving plant) was taken away. I mostly just really like our tree. I seldom sit in its shade, but I really love to look at it.

Two years ago, April 7, 2007, our part of the sunny South was hard-hit by a killer-freeze. Within two days our large Japanese Maple's leaves rattled like dry rustlers in a strong wind. It looked like the thing had died. In July it began to fight its way back, but with several very dead limbs. It was pitiful looking. It made me want to cry, but I didn't.

Last year the tree fought through. Springtime arrived and the 50-year-old tree leafed out, still showing much evidence of the previous year's trouble. In later March I had the opportunity of preaching to a Kingsport congregation whose pastor was away for the day. The weather forecast was an ominous one: a hard freeze within a day or two. Two years in a row, it would be. I distinctly remember asking that congregation on Sunday evening, if they had no pressing concerns of their own, to "pray for my tree." The hard freeze didn't happen and the tree seemed to flourish a little through the year. That was an answer to prayer.

Today is April 8, 2009. Sometime toward the end of last week the forecast for our area concerning last night was for another hard freeze, down in the lower twenties. Once more our Maple tree was in full leaf, tender and fragile. When I saw that forecast I began to pray for our tree, asking God to please surprise the meterological prognosticators and be merciful to us in this matter and let the freeze that was predicted pass us by.

Immediately I thought of Jonah and his gourd. I braced myself a little, but continued to pray about my tree. It is God's tree, after all. But I do like it. And then I thought about our ailing economy and the many people in our region whose livlihoods depend on the survival of their trees and vines and the many tender blooms already showing on them. So I began to include these factors in my praying, which had been rather one-tree-oriented for a while.

Last evening around 7:00 PM I checked the weather forecast. My eyes welled up and my heart breathed a smile and a sigh. The feared freeze just might not happen, it said. I just knew that my Lord had heard the prayer of my heart. I was deeply grateful this morning to look out the door when I let the dog out; everything is still green and unburnt by the threatened hard freeze that did not happen.

God is so kind to hear and answer a prayer about something as unnecessary as a Maple tree. I have no doubt that many people (believers and maybe even some unbelievers) were praying about their crops and orchards and gardens. This divine relenting concerning the hard freeze that seemed a sure thing only a couple days ago may seem like a simple coincidence to some. But it was an answer to my prayer! The living God heard my heart and He has encouraged me. It may sound like arrogance, to think that God sees and cares about the likes of me and my feelings about a fragile tree, but He does. I am so thankful this morning.

Every day God is good to us, even on days when our trees and crops freeze and die. But how happy we should be, how full of praise from our hearts, when His tender love for us is put on display by thriving crops and living blossoms that will soon bear fruit, Lord willing.

Had my tree frozen solid and had God not been willing to lift the freeze, would my heart have despaired? I don't know. Maybe for a few minutes I would have reminded myself of distressed Jonah. But I want a hopeful faith like that of Habbakuk:

"Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls — Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills" (3:17-19 NKJV).

You Won't Meet God at "The Shack"

A Casual Critique of a Potentially Hazardous Cultural Phenomenon
By Timothy Adkins (March 30, 2009)

Some months ago while wandering through the mall in our hometown, waiting on my daughter (seems I do that quite a lot—I’m sure I’ll miss it one day in the not too distant future), I was browsing the “Inspirational” aisle of a bookstore. I wasn’t looking for anything specific, just passing the time (as there usually isn’t much of value in that section of most bookstores, just so much superficial nonsense). An eager employee seized the opportunity to recommend “The Shack,” a recent title by William Paul Young that has taken some people and even some churches by storm. (As usual, I’m about a year behind the rest of the world.)

The bookstore guy sounded breathless from discovery. “It’s so good!” he said. He then half-apologized for disturbing my meandering and then informed me that anyone he found in that part of the store looking as if they might be open to a recommendation, he told them about “The Shack.” The intonations of his voice were those of a devotee; having been deeply moved, he wanted others to experience what he had.

I had heard about the book before. After that day several people, one and then another, asked if I had read it. I was told that churches were buying cases to give out. Startled to see a copy on a relative’s end-table, I noticed one of the blurbs from the front cover: a reviewer suggesting that “The Shack” could do for our generation what “The Pilgrim’s Progress” did for Bunyan’s. Appreciating the value of allegory to communicate spiritual truths, I thought, “Hmm.” But then I dismissed the matter again for another couple of weeks.

Friends mentioned it again, saying (although neither had read it, nor did they intend to) the book was dangerous and harmful to souls according to some voices they highly regarded. The very next day I dropped in at our town’s Library when someone from the circulation desk was putting out a copy of “The Shack.” I thought I would look at it. I decided to read it with as much openness as possible, determined to give the writer every benefit of the doubt. So I began; within a few days I finished. Along the way I scribbled notes and page numbers, hoping the content would improve and my concerns would be resolved as the book resolved some of the issues it raised. It only grew worse.

Having now read “The Shack,” I feel sure that its charm will fizzle, but not until many more books are sold, a movie is made, and a bunch of money along with it. Some will talk about it from now on, as if it dropped out of the sky on angel-wings. It didn’t. One thing is clear—those who applaud “The Shack” either do not understand the gospel or do not believe it. The book takes about eighty pages to introduce “God” and then proceeds to define Deity in terms completely at variance with the message of the Bible. There is some attempt to explain God, the Trinity. The result is a mangled mess, with some truths intermingled with much error.

The book is written as a sort of ‘true fiction’ (fiction as a vehicle for a true message). It is written in a mostly accessible style. The content unfolds along an emotional storyline, so readers become concerned about the characters involved in an unfolding tragedy that is the canvas for the book’s God-encounter. Certainly, allegory may be used to communicate good, even great things, as in Bunyan’s classic work about a sinner’s journey from utter lostness and condemnation to his ultimate entrance into the very presence of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But such is not the case with “The Shack.”

Regardless of its popularity, readable style, and captivating plot, “The Shack” simply lacks theological soundness. If only it were about fishing for lake trout or some other harmless thing. The sort of biblical integrity necessary to make it an enduring work is absent. Having read it for myself, I am saddened that many people will swallow, whole, the unsound message of “The Shack.” Instead of helping people find God, “The Shack” will ultimately promote idolatry. Instead of coming to know the true and living God as He declares Himself in Christ, Shack readers will re-imagine God as they wish Him/Her to be—outright idolatry.

“The Shack” is a collection of monumental doctrinal problems (if the Bible is our standard for true doctrine). Shack’s God is a Papa, is a Mama, is a big, lovable, snuggly Softie, as warm as marshmallow roasted over glowing campfire; the divine “It” morphs into whatever He/She needs to become so as to accommodate the person being dealt with—after all, Shack’s God is all about us. Absolute holiness and other divine attributes are studiously downplayed and the Bible doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone is entirely absent. Shack’s Jesus is a greasy-fingered, likable fellow who had to live by faith during His days on earth, a grievous perversion of the Kenosis (See Philippians 2:7)! Shack’s Holy Spirit is an ethereal, delicate, semi-humanized vapor of a personality with a Far-Eastern (Hindu), feminine flavor.

Shack’s Trinity is not biblically recognizable, with the eternal Persons of Deity subsisting without any authority within the Divine Self (See 1 Corinthians 11:3). An original circle of relationship, without need or purpose for authority, defines Shack’s God. Further, the Bible’s doctrine of election is caricatured as God choosing which of His children He will send to hell.

A glaring heresy staining “The Shack,” making it more fit for the fireplace than the bookshelf, is its unbiblical teaching of universal reconciliation. Shack’s Jesus scoffs at the idea that people need to become Christians in order to enter a right relationship with God. All people are already reconciled to Shack’s God through Shack’s Jesus, whatever their religious ideas might be—so true faith in the actual Son of God proclaimed in the biblical gospel is completely unnecessary. While not all have yet found the way to “relationship,” the implication is that, since all are already reconciled, all will eventually come to “relationship” because they are already, in fact, God’s children. In “The Shack,” God the Creator morphs into God the Father/God the Mother/God the Whatever, without any necessity for sinners to exercise faith in God the Son through the regenerating power of God the Spirit.

Shack’s God is always pleased with people because, being omniscient and knowing the fallibilities of mankind, He/She has no expectations of people and places no demands on their lives—the law of God (say, the Ten Commandments) amounts to rules designed by people to control other people. As to sovereignty, Shack’s God does not purpose the bad things that happen, but makes the best use of whatever does happen.

To preserve the notion of infinite Goodness, infinite knowledge and infinite power are removed from consideration. Shack’s God is Self-limiting, which is necessary to preserve the writer’s concept of human free will; he realizes that if God were infinitely infinite and unlimitedly so, His ultimate will would fully comprehend all things, good and bad, as part of His eternal decree. And we simply can’t have that, can we?

Is it any wonder that celebrities and cultural icons would love “The Shack?” It is New-Agey-Religion with God, Jesus, and the Spirit—without the seeming narrowness often associated with biblical Christianity. Narrowness like: “…there is one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” and “…No one comes to the Father except through Me (Jesus),” and “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Why let the Bible get in the way of a good time?

Any person with the slightest interest in the truth of the gospel or in the well-being of his own soul (or anyone else’s) should not waste time on “The Shack.” If you do read it, know what you’re getting into. It offers a lightweight (often blasphemous) take on God, making little of sin, and redefining the gospel as much as it redefines God. It denies every person’s need for salvation through faith in Jesus; in fact, salvation is re-conceptualized in this book as something other than a sinner being rescued from the condemnation, penalty, and power of his sin by the grace of God in Christ. The church of Jesus Christ (See Matthew 16:13-18) is seen as more of a problem than a blessing.

Shack’s God is no more God than my little strawberry blonde dog is God. Like the Baals, Dagon, Aaron’s Golden Calf, Pleasure, Accomplishment, beloved Bank Accounts, and other Earthly Delusions, Shack’s God is an imaginary, manageable god-concept molded by each individual. To receive and believe the message of “The Shack” is to embrace a false conception of God and to worship an idol, not the true and living God who has revealed Himself, His will, and His message of salvation in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, as set forth in the Scriptures and preached to mankind in the gospel. –TSA

The Man in the Iron Cage

The Character and Condition of an Apostate

In Bunyan’s classic allegory of Christian’s journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, one of the most striking and horrifying sights is the man confined in the iron cage of despair. His hopeless, miserable, irrevocable condition is set before Christian to warn against the damning sins that lead to apostasy and, at last, to hell. Here one should learn to keep watch over his own soul and to make his calling and election sure, lest he prove reprobate, false, and deceived. While it is not possible for a true child of God to apostatize, it certainly is possible for one who thinks he is a true child of God to do so.

Apostasy is not a concept with which most modern evangelical Christians are at all familiar. In this day it seems that every profession of faith in Jesus is regarded genuine and soul-saving, as long as it is sincere. Sincerity and tears sway us into thinking that any person who professes to know and love Jesus actually does savingly know and love Him. Should such a sincere person turn out to be a hypocrite who ultimately turns away from Christ and the gospel in his heart, that person is still thought to be sure for heaven because of a twisted understanding of ‘eternal security.’

The apostate man in Bunyan, forever bound in the iron cage of despair until he is cast into everlasting flames, is certainly an allegorical man. It is one in ten thousand (if that many) who will ever admit to his own apostasy (or even understand it for what it is) as the man in Bunyan’s story. Most apostates equivocate, split doctrinal hairs, and continue to present themselves as true Christians, only believers with areas of struggle and difficulty; they are, in fact, aliens to the life of God, have never loved Jesus Christ, nor were they ever regenerated by the Spirit-power of saving grace. They heard the gospel declared in the Spirit’s power and experienced something spiritually real, and then trifled with it. They took holy truths into their hands and treated them as playthings. Their pretended love for Christ was always counterfeit; yet one more deception of themselves and others.

Many Christians have no concept that apostasy is real, even though it is evident all around us. Many whom the people of God have regarded as ‘carnal Christians’ are certainly apostates. They once thought themselves sure for heaven and made a good show of it; but secretly their hearts are so hardened against Christ that they cannot repent. These will never be saved. Hear the man describe himself and the sins that sealed his soul up to despair and eternal loss.

“I am now a man of despair, and am shut up in it, as in this iron cage. I cannot get out; Oh now I cannot!” “…I left off to watch and be sober: I laid the reins upon the neck of my lusts; I sinned against the light of the word, and the goodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; I tempted the devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God to anger, and he has left me: I have so hardened my heart, that I cannot repent.” “…I have crucified him to myself afresh; I have despised his person; I have despised his righteousness; I have counted his blood an unholy thing; I have done despite to the spirit of grace: therefore I have shut myself out of all the promises and there now remains to me nothing but threatenings, dreadful threatenings, faithful threatenings of certain judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour me as an adversary.”

The reason for any person’s apostasy is his own sin and wickedness of heart and willful rejection of the gospel and its promises. We must never blame divine sovereignty for anyone’s apostasy. It was out of the rich goodness of God that the apostate once perceived enlightenment through the preaching of the gospel. It was from God’s goodness that he tasted the powers of the age to come and received the clear light of the gospel and got a certain taste of the good Word of God.

What a testimony to the necessity of regenerating grace the apostate person is! No matter how many sweet favors are ours through the goodness of God, our wicked hearts would cast them all back into the face of God apart from regenerating grace! It is the wretched sin of the sinner that damns him and seals him up to lasting hopelessness. Be sure of this: every apostate, like a madman, drives headlong to hell trampling underfoot the eternal Son of God, regarding Jesus’ blood as worthless as dung.

While there may be sadness and despair in the heart of an apostate, there is never repentance. Repentance flees where there is no humility, no sorrow for sin, and no turning to Christ. Matters are so much the worse because of the tremendous privileges the apostate person enjoyed, but then ultimately despised and refused the Savior of men.

Christian asked the caged man why: “For what did you bring yourself into this condition?” His reply is chilling. “…For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in the enjoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight: but now every one of those things also bite me, and gnaw me like a burning worm.” Thinking of his own conversion and knowing the tenderness of Jesus, Christian wonders at the man; why he does not simply change his mind and turn? The man answers: “God hath denied me repentance. His word gives me no encouragement to believe; yea, himself hath shut me up in this iron cage: nor can all the men in the world let me out. Oh eternity! eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in eternity?” How strange this is to the modern evangelical’s ears; but it represents a spiritual truth too quickly and too easily dismissed in this time by those who profess to be wise, yet who know nothing as they ought to know it.

This man in the iron cage had Bunyan’s knowledge of Scripture to fill his mouth with a true report of his soul’s condition. Most apostates walking about in this world continue to play out the scene, as if nothing is amiss and their hope of heaven remains sure. The reality is that there are far more people than we realize, people with whom we brush elbows day by day, who are sealed up in the sins they love. They cannot repent. Their coming misery is yet to be comprehended, for only eternity will measure their bloodguilt, they who have trampled underfoot God’s Darling Son and done despite to the Spirit of grace.

The apostate’s misery is a dreadful warning to every true saint. True saints keep watch over their souls; to live in disobedience to God’s Word while holding a Christian profession is to tempt God and to run the risk of personal apostasy. True saints live in love with Jesus and more and more despise their sins. True saints are aware that they could as easily have been deceived; they “make their calling and election sure” by a constant appeal to the unfailing promises of the gospel. They realize that they are only “accepted in the Beloved.” The redeemed take refuge in Jesus alone. To us His blood is most precious, because only by His cross do we have the sure hope of heaven. True saints trust not their own hearts, deceitful as they are; but they do trust the heart of their Savior who takes away their despair, replacing it with everlasting hope and joy for the journey. -TSA

Where His Glory Dwells

“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.” (Psalm 26:8)

“…He dwells between the cherubim…” (Psalm 99:1b)

“… you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)


Soon after the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, God gave to Moses instructions to build a portable worship structure, the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle). It was made of materials available to the Israelites as they traversed the desert, animal skins, desert wood, gold, silver, and such things. When they moved from place to place, they packed up the Tent and carried it to the next camp, as they were led by the movement of the glory cloud. This visible cloud of Yahweh’s presence was later called the Shekinah (‘residence’); this cloud of glory, residing above the Mercy Seat “between the cherubim,” evidenced His immediate presence with His people wherever they went (See Exodus 40:34-38).

The portable structure was called the Tent of Meeting because Yahweh met with His people there. He had delivered them from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea on dry land, drowning their pursuers. God gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai and there Moses received instructions about how the people of God should go about worshipping the Lord. Israel could actually see evidence of the nearness of God when they saw the Shekinah descended upon the Tent, resting above the Mercy Seat behind the inner Veil.

The Mercy Seat was the pure gold, cherubim-covered propitiatory where the blood of reconciliation was sprinkled each year. It is written, “…the Lord of Hosts…dwells between the cherubim” (2 Samuel 6:2). There Yahweh communed with His people on the basis of Christ’s atonement, prefigured under prescribed forms. The sacrifices and religious services performed there prefigured Christ, and especially His actual working out redemption and reconciliation by His death at the cross many centuries later.

During the daytime, the glory cloud appeared overhead. Israel lived for forty years in the desert and that cloud of Yahweh’s presence protected them from the burning sun each day. At night when deserts become so miserably cold, the glory cloud became a fire over them: shade by day and heat by night. The Lord met Israel’s needs by being with them. As it was then, so it is now; He still meets the needs of His people by His nearness to us throughout life’s journeys.

The Temple was not yet built in the time of David. He desired to build a beautiful house for the glory of the Lord, but that task would fall to his son Solomon. David erected a Tabernacle, a Tent, to house “the ark of the covenant” (the golden box that held the tablets containing the covenant, the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod, and a pot of the Manna that sustained Israel for forty years in the desert). The Davidic Tabernacle may not have been quite like the one carried through the wilderness, but this Tent was certainly in David’s mind as he wrote many of the inspired Psalms. This Tent housing the Ark of the Covenant was the focal point of Yahweh worship during David’s reign.

As he wrote, “I have loved the habitation of Your house” and “the house of the Lord” and “the secret place of His tent,” David surely thought of the place where Yahweh was loved and worshipped. He loved the Tent because it was the place of Yahweh’s near presence, where the Ark and its Mercy Seat were. Forgiveness of sins and peace with God were so eloquently declared at this place. The glory of Yahweh dwelt there.


So, where is God’s house now? Where does the glory of the Lord dwell at the present time? At a church building on the corner, down the street? Where does God now evidence His glorious presence? Which place is ‘the’ place? Which house does the Lord God Almighty now inhabit? The answer of the New Testament is clear. The house of God is not a place; it is a people.

The habitation of God, where His glory now dwells, is the blood-bought church of the Lord Jesus. Jesus came and fulfilled all of the Old Testament types and shadows by His life and death and resurrection; the house of God that was established in earthly Jerusalem was one of those figures, a picture of a far greater reality, one that would fill heaven and earth in the end. In Christ all who believe the gospel are now built together into God’s household. The house of God is a family headquartered in heaven, in the very throne room of God Himself.

Whenever born again members of Christ’s redeemed church meet together as one people, whether a handful of saints or a massive congregation, there is the glorious habitation of God. This is God’s house. There the glory now dwells.

How amazing and how humbling it should be for each redeemed child of God to realize that, since the work of Christ was finished on the cross, the living God has been pleased for His glory to dwell in the gathered churches of the redeemed. Individually, we are indwelt by God’s Spirit. But in an astounding display of love, our God is now pleased for His glory to uniquely ‘reside’ upon and within the assemblies of the redeemed—in local, visible expressions of the one household of faith.

When the people of God gather together in true churches for worship, instruction, and fellowship, something wonderful occurs. When the living Christ brings together His redeemed people to make of them worshipping assemblies, the glory of God dwells among them. And it is especially so when they are gathered in one place, in one accord. He lives among them and causes His Name to be exalted before their eyes and before the eyes of some who, as yet, know Him not. He makes the united worship of His people to multiply; here is a case of something amounting to so much more than the total of its parts—multiplication, not addition. Five loaves and two small fish; multiplication!

What a gift to individual believers a genuine gospel-believing church is! It is God’s habitation, His house, His family. This is where His glory now dwells, in those who join together in loving and serving Jesus the Christ. David loved the place where God’s glory formerly dwelt. That house was a house of figures and types. Do we love the new place where the glory of the Lord now dwells—the living churches of Jesus our Lord, where He walks among the golden lamp-stands and holds the messengers of His gospel in His right hand? –TSA

If God Should Repay

No Thumbs, No Big Toes
Judges 1:5-7

After Joshua’s death, Israel was led by a series of leaders called judges; thus, we have the Book of Judges to tell their history. There was no permanent successor to Joshua and no monarchy at the time. For many years, as they settled into the Promised Land, Israel would wax and wane. They seemed to trust in the Lord for periods of time and to walk in His ways. But they would eventually forsake Him through various forms of idolatrous disobedience.

After some extended period of suffering because of sin (and it always seems to bring suffering in the end), the people would finally turn and cry to the Lord. Then, in mercy and love, He would raise up a deliverer to rescue Israel from the trial that had been sent upon them. After a time the cycle would replay itself with new details. The Judges were Israel’s deliverers.

When we think of a ‘king’ we probably imagine a glorious, robed, richly jeweled ruler over an impressive, expansive realm. But many ancient kings were more like regional strong-men who would lead their forces in ruthless raid campaigns on neighboring ‘kingdoms,’ and the rest of the time defend their own.

When the tribe of Judah began to possess the land promised to them by God’s covenant, they conquered one particular king known as Adoni-bezek, which means ‘the lord of Bezek.’ The Israelites had killed some ten thousand men in battle at Bezek, an ancient town in the region that became Judea. What a bloody mess it was, primitive warfare being as it was—nothing sterile about it! Everything was personal, eye to eye business. They pursued the “king” of Bezek who had retreated into the town. Pressing on, they thoroughly defeated the ‘Bezekian’ forces and when the head man attempted to slip away, he was captured.

Utterly defeated, Adoni-Bezek experienced one of the appalling cruelties of primitive warfare. He had often inflicted the very same cruelty on scores of other once-powerful men and now it would happen to him. Imagine a muscular figure approaching with a jagged hatchet—to cut off your thumbs and your big toes. Whack, scream! Again! Again! Again! I imagine that he slipped into an unconscious state for a time, only to revive to horror.

No more would Adoni-Bezek present a threat. Never again would he wield a sword. Thumb-less, he was incapable of gripping anything well. Big toes missing, the once proud ruler would never again confidently strut as vain men often do. He would struggle to walk at all. The lord of Bezek, once ruler of the place, was reduced to begging and scrounging about for scraps. Freshly humiliated, his haunting words drip bitter irony. The Scriptures tell us his thoughts.

“Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me." Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died” (Judges 1:6-7 NKJV).

What words! “…as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Adoni-Bezek had been successful in life. He conquered kingdoms and humiliated their most noble citizens, cutting off the thumbs and big toes of the kings of conquered realms. They were made to grovel under his regal table in the very depths of degradation. Instead of reclining at table as men, they would scramble like animals for scraps, every morsel tinged with gall, every swallow mingled with misery.

This was major payback. That is how Adoni-Bezek saw it. He considered this as God giving him his due. Because of his own unspeakable cruelty to those he had defeated and abased, now it was his turn—and God Almighty was seeing to it.

How do those words strike you, “…as I have done, so God has repaid me”? Are they not fearful to consider? If God should repay, what would become of us? Have we ever been cruel in success? Might He visit cruelty on us? Have we been thankless and proud in prosperity? Might He take His gifts and give them to someone more faithful and appreciative? Have we taken glory for ourselves when it belonged to the Lord? What if he poured out upon us the dishonor we deserve? What if God should repay? What if God should repay!

How long was the journey to Jerusalem? Was he caged like an animal or forced to walk the whole way barefooted on wounded feet, stumbling and falling and bleeding as he went? How long did he live in Jerusalem after arriving there, months, years, decades? The City of Peace held no peace for him, just scraps and degradation; a humiliated mascot, an object of disgust. At last, he died. There was no funeral oration, no fond remembrance, no monument erected to honor his life. He just died, alone and humiliated to the end.

What if God should repay? If we ever reap a full harvest of what we have sown, what will that mean? Do we truly want our deserving or His grace? If grace ever comes, surely we will want to cease from cruelty! How could we who receive mercy give out malice? We want to deny pride and cease from ingratitude. We have nothing good that we did not receive from our loving Lord; let us thank Him. He is worthy to be honored! What are we but mere men of flesh and frailty? We merit no goodness from Him, but the very reverse. What love He shows when He saves and forgives the likes of us! O’ that we might live as if we actually recognized it!

Our Deliverer, Christ Jesus, not only defeated our enemy and rescued us from the condemnation of our sins; He also changes our hearts. When we trust in Him who first loved us, we who are forgiven a mountain of sin learn to love Jesus with a mountain of love. We receive soul peace and free forgiveness when we receive Him as our Savior and Lord, by faith.

David wrote, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Lord” (Psalm 25:7 NKJV). We all have been such sinners. Every day God does not repay us according to what we deserve is another day of mercy. –TSA

Heaven Closed

A Test of Faith, a Call to Humility

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14 NKJV)

Do you ever have the sense that heaven has been “shut up” and that God has decided not to send refreshing times to you anytime soon? Have locusts eaten your productivity? Has disease or death brought sorrow to you or to those you love? So, what do these hard times signify? How should we ‘read’ God’s dealings with us in hard times, when it seems that, while others are experiencing good, enriching times, God has surrounded us with loneliness or trouble?

At the level of knowledge our faith may regard the unchanging love of Jesus as an irrefutable fact. But at the level of experience even true faith may find little comfort in His very real love when He has “shut up heaven and there is no rain.” When He has commanded locusts to ravage the spiritual or material economy, it is hard to ‘feel the love.’ When He has sent pestilence and everything seems ashen, dead, or dying, even the truest faith may struggle to peacefully rest in the love of Jesus.

The why of it all is, often, beyond any real understanding. Why does our Lord “shut up heaven?” Why locusts? Why pestilence? The Lord told Solomon that it was a matter of time. When God deems them appropriate, He still sends things like these among His people. “When I shut up heaven” does not mean “if I shut up heaven.” But what is God’s point? Just to prove that He can turn our little lives upside down? Merely to show His might and make us feel bewildered by an unpredictable life?

Hard things do happen and Jesus Christ not only knows about them, He governs them as to their degree and scope and dimension. He gives, He withholds; blessing and cursing are His to command. The sun is His; by it He can gently warm or fiercely parch the earth. The rain is His; He may sweetly water the soil with pelting droplets or overwhelm it with torrents. “The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm.” He is the King of kings; the entire creation belongs to Him. It is His world and nothing ever just happens. Jesus is Lord of all. Down to the least detail, everything is under His power and all things fall out according to His ultimate purpose.

Now this can be a tremendous comfort to one who trusts the Lord, to know that our God is God and that nothing can happen or does happen apart from His will. And this applies to big things as well as little stuff—from the whole vast universe to our tiny lives. But during those times when He has shut up heaven and we don’t understand anything, His sovereignty can be acutely sobering and even bewildering. What a test of faith hard providences are! And what a summons that we should humble ourselves!

In light of God’s words to Solomon, we are not arrogant to think that God intends to speak to us through difficult providences. And the sooner we rightly respond, the sooner He may relent and open heaven for us and send those spiritually refreshing times again. It is a humility thing. Worldly people won’t get it; redeemed people will.

Occasionally, we think we are independent; but we can’t even breathe unless God grants it. If we are breathing and living, existing in this world, a mighty and loving God means for it to be so. And how precious a thought this should be to any discouraged believer in Jesus. But what is the meaning of our troubles; what is the purpose of this life? How do we make sense of it, especially when the God who loves us sends such hard things into our lives? We will never make sense of anything until we see our own life in reference to God, His glory, and His will.

Christ loves all who are His; if you are His by the grace of adoption, it is sure that He loves you. From eternity He loved you with an everlasting love. But this is not something we always feel. Sometimes we just know. Often, we must wait until later to feel a sense of His love. This is exactly what faith must do in those awful, dry times, when the heavens have been shut up and locusts have come and the very life has gone out of life—we must deeply trust in Him who changes everything, yet who changes not.

Meanwhile, do we simply tell our hearts, “It’s what we know that counts, not what we feel. Feelings are not on the same plane as facts. Facts are real. Figures are real. Feelings are too changeable, too temporary; they’re just not as real as the rest of what we call reality. So, get real, snap out of it, and live by what you know!” If we take that approach we would drain life of its essence. Love and hate, liberty and bondage, joy and misery, justice and injustice, kindness and cruelty—none of these are important if they are unreal. These all concern thoughts, ideas, emotions—and they all are monumental! Indeed, the coming Judgment at the Last Day will be greatly concerned with such things.

One is thought quaint if he truly thinks God actually touches this world and has anything to do with everyday life—the weather (floods, tornadoes, tsunamis), bug infestations (fleas, mosquitoes), deadly epidemics (Bubonic plague, HIV-AIDS). Why would God concern Himself with such things since they only involve fortune and poverty and life and death?

The Lord says, “When I shut up heaven…” Locusts show up at His “command” and pestilence goes where He “sends.” Unbelievers imagine a random universe existing of itself, but the Scriptures tell us of God who is sovereign over the details—all of them. If He is God at all, He is God over the details. After all, big things are just a bunch little things taken together.

Is it really arrogant of us, in times of stress and hardship, to think that our faith might be in the process of some testing? Do we delude ourselves to think that God would try us? If we are truly Christ’s we delude ourselves to think that He could leave us alone and never intervene. We are, after all, not our own—He bought us with a price. Our Master does intrude. He does intervene.

When God sends hard times to wicked, worldly people it often comes as a punishment for their sins. But when hard times come into the lives of His redeemed people, we know that He intends to use those things to draw us to Himself, not to harm us or drive us away. When He shuts up heaven we are tested. How much trial and trouble and spiritual drought must come before we happily humble ourselves? What will it take for us to cease from pride and thoughts of our own sufficiency and for us to turn again to the Lord? What will motivate us to turn from our wicked ways?

If you have been tested, if you are being tested, turn your mind now to God’s promise. He resists proud hearts, but draws near to the humble person. If we belong to Christ, being called by His name, these words provide tremendous hope: “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin…”

The humility we must have is a self-imposed thing that causes us to pour forth prayer—we speak from our hearts to our God and make our desires known to Him. The prayers prayed by one who has humbled himself show a desire, not for more stuff, but for more of God and more of His grace. That sort of serious humility makes us glad to repent, to think and then live differently—to think God’s thoughts after Him, and then, by grace, to live righteously.

He promises to hear us. What a thought, that the God of heaven would actually bend an ear and listen to you and me! And forgive our sin. And make the place we live a happy place! Is there any kindness we need more than His forgiveness and the peace that accompanies it? What promises! The Lord Christ who shuts up heaven can also open it. He can send times of refreshing and give great joy to those who have endured brazen, silent skies. O that we will humble ourselves, pray, and seek His face, and turn from our sinful ways—expecting our loving Christ to refresh us with a deeply felt sense of His love yet again. –TSA

Repentance, Not Regret

“…bear fruits worthy of repentance…” (Matthew 3:8 NKJV)

Some would baptize old Lucifer hisseff if he showed up with a towel and a willingness to get wet. The Baptist confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees who professed that they had repented, as well. He refused to baptize them. Why not? He did not believe their repentance was real. Before John would consider baptizing them, they must first “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” Their lives must first provide credible evidence of genuine repentance.

What happens when a hypocrite ‘repents?’ The same thing that happened the last time he repented—nothing. No real change occurs because his professed repentance is only one more fleeting impression that vanishes as soon as it appears. Such repentance is repentance to be repented of.

He believes he is righteous while others are rather flawed. His thinking is straight; others are irrational or delusional. He knows the truth; others merely trifle with truisms. The Pharisee acknowledges himself sinful…but he is not nearly as flawed as those with whom he is forced to deal, day by day. Anyone who seriously challenges him just isn’t right; couldn’t be!

Indeed, we all deny the truth about ourselves at times. The truth can be a rather unflattering thing. Turns out that we are not the people we imagine ourselves to be. In our dreams we are reasonable with a good grasp on reality, fair and sober-minded. Our over-reactions are not really over-reactions at all; we can justify our behavior no matter how inappropriate; turns out that our reactions were precisely what the situations called for. Some people are simply unwilling to acknowledge the truth about us. Isn’t it strange?

Why does no one seem to believe a hypocrite’s repentance is real? Why do emotional apologies fall on deaf ears and meet with blank stares? Could it be that people recognize the same old song and dance? It may be a new situation, but the same tune and the same lyrics. They know that, if history can teach them anything, recent apologies mean no more than the earlier ones meant. Within minutes, hours, or at the most days, true colors will shine through again. The new repentance is but momentary sorrow; it will pass. Sorrow sometimes comes because harvest has begun. And who wouldn't feel sorrow when his evil seeds have produced evil fruit in abundance?

A hypocrite is surprised, and even angered, by the reluctance of others to believe that he is sincere. He believes others are sincere. He gives them the benefit of the doubt. He is quick to show sympathy and is understanding. He holds no grudges, but freely forgives. His conscience is clear, although seared black as night. Without malice, he is simply amazed at the pettiness, the pathetic smallness, of people: so exacting, demanding, unforgiving, and unfair.

Repentance and regret are not the same. Temporarily replacing anger with remorse is a hypocrite’s repentance. Saying, “I’m sorry” with tears is just his way of saying, “I’m sorry I lost control over my situation; I want it back.” Repentance is not an emotional event. Real repentance, the kind the gospel speaks about, is a spiritual grace that transforms a person at his very core. As a result, his thinking and his behavior change.

The ‘change of mind’ that is true repentance produces new actions and right words, the things life is made of. Degrees of sorrow, regret, and remorse may accompany true repentance, but the fact that one feels such things does not prove true repentance; a hypocrite may feel all of these ever so deeply and remain a hypocrite. Repentance is known and shown by persistent, consistent, appropriate fruits. Otherwise, the professed repentance is not credible. Pharisees and Sadducees talk the talk, call you “Brother,” and pretend love for God; all hypocrites do. These prove nothing.

“Fruits worthy of repentance” consist of more than apologies and wordy justifications. For repentance to be taken seriously and regarded genuine, one’s life must consistently produce the right fruit. A man often-remorseful and, as often, returning to wallowing in the mire of his sins—face it; he is a hypocrite. He is not a struggling Christian, although many have, in charity, treated him so.

At some point it ceases to be charitable to recognize a hypocrite as a struggling Christian; he must know that the farce is no longer convincing. He is a stranger to God and to saving grace. That is the sober assessment of men who know and love God in truth. He may have passed himself off as “wheat” for a time, yet the evidence of his life declares him to be “chaff” destined for destruction by “unquenchable fire.” The seeming evidence suggesting that he is a genuine child of God has vanished. What remains is empty, meaningless “chaff.”

Instead of fearing eternal wrath and bowing low in brokenness over the sins that hold him captive and poison his soul, the hypocrite maintains that he is genuine, although misunderstood. Never mind the mountain of evidence to the contrary. It is the nature of self-righteous delusion. In such a condition, no one will repent; but only keep up appearances as long as possible. And when no longer possible, keep on trying—the only other option is to acknowledge the truth. But the truth would utterly devastate his religious and damning pride.

“Fruits worthy of repentance” are produced by the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Who is kidding who? The hypocrite is only kidding himself, because he simply cannot bear the truth. Instead of producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, he is, instead: ‘quietly cruel, mostly joyless, much troubled, often impatient, subtly unkind, conniving manipulation, consistently inconsistent, inappropriately coarse, and absent self-control.’ A self-serving life blurts out the truth, as plain as day.

Can we bear to face the truth? Or, must we twist it and torture it and turn it on its ear so that it becomes something else? Only the truth can really set anyone free. Hypocrisy ultimately fools only the hypocrite. –TSA

Remember...

We are rarely able to put ourselves into another person’s shoes. To feel what he feels and think as he thinks is not natural. It’s a wonder that any of us wonder why no one really understands when we are in trouble; we don’t try very hard to really understand when others go through trouble.

“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them — those who are mistreated — since you yourselves are in the body also.” (Hebrews 13:3 NKJV) Here, we are called to remember and to put ourselves into someone else’s skin. That requires us to think and to feel. Some prisoners suffer confinement and abuse for Christ and the gospel, not for evildoing. Instead of whining and complaining, they go on furthering His cause in the place where Providence has put them and they still find their joy in Christ. They deserve to be remembered—and remembered with great feeling.

Many who love and serve the Lord Jesus with all their hearts find themselves today in prisons of other kinds. Steel bars and guards and razor-wired walls are nowhere in sight, but they yet live in a confinement of circumstance and in too much maddening isolation. They are not the sort of martyrs whose memory we sing, but they love Christ with all their hearts and bear witness to His grace by their persevering faith. But it isn’t easy to walk in their shoes. How could we forget them? How could we fail to comfort the Lord’s loved ones who suffer in any prison? Ah, but we do. We do.

We have intentionally short memories when it comes to pain or trouble or solitude. We forget as soon as possible. The royal cupbearer forgot Joseph as he quickly put the dungeon experience behind him. We too forget Joseph, like we never knew him. And why not leave an unpleasant past unremembered? It was a bad time we want to forget forever. Weary times, possibly not so long ago, when we suffered things most unbearable and felt that no one cared or understood—who wants to remember such things or such times? But forgetting our unpleasant past means forgetting Joseph’s painful present.

And what about Joseph? We didn’t put him there. Ultimately it was God who purposed that he should be in that hard place, right? Are we to interfere with evident providence, to intervene?

We make a great mistake to think that since Joseph lived in a dungeon that God had judged him guilty. We err further to think that God intended for him to stay there forever. Was he not impressive enough to recall, when he spoke comfort and strength to our soul, bearing good news in hopeful words? Did not Joseph’s quality shine through, despite the peculiar setting? How do we forget a virtual diamond of a man?

We have known some people and have conveniently forgotten them, and possibly some “of whom the world was not worthy.” They once enriched us, but that was then. It is as if they died, or never lived. But they are very much alive, though forgotten. To remember them would require us to revisit an old dungeon from our past where we were afraid and cold and alone. We would just as soon never think of it again. It is so much easier to leave it all in the forgotten past. Joseph will somehow be noticed. Someday someone will do something. Meanwhile, we have plenty to keep us busy without taking on projects. He’ll be fine. He was well a couple of years ago.

Is there someone you must remember, whose life, whose existence, should be your great concern today? Do you think you can now feel what they feel? Would you try to get into their skin? Are they lonely, sick, grieved, or even hungry? Can you begin to imagine their relief to see your face and to feel kindness in the touch of your hand? To know you care enough to interrupt their trouble! Someone…yes, you! You remembered!

Dear one, we have forgotten long enough. It is time to remember and that is something we must do on purpose! Remember; then do something. Do it today! –TSA

The Exclusive Savior

The natural minds of fallen men simply and profoundly hate the truth about God. Some that frequent churches and attend religious services are no different—full of religion they despise the truth revealed in the Bible. The peerless character of the one, true, and living God is too holy and His intolerance of sin too exacting for the worldly person’s taste; indeed, the world delights to worship lesser, more manageable gods.

The truth about God Almighty is too hard to handle unless one has peace with Him on His terms. His terms are plainly stated in the gospel of Christ and nowhere else. His gospel is plain and narrow: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The Lord Jesus’ understanding of Himself was that He alone was (and is) the only “way” by which sinful people can be restored to real communion with God. The “way” to eternal life is that narrow according to Jesus. Either we put our trust in Him or we perish.

One Redeemer
Jesus is Lord, not a moral teacher. He did not come to show us how to be nice. He did not come to inform us that we too can become gods. Rather, He is the eternal God who became Man in order to redeem us. None was more compassionate, but He did not come to merely demonstrate compassion. He came to accomplish redemption, to purchase His people by His blood! “To save His people from their sins” by His spotless life and obedient death on the cross; to conquer death and darkness by His death and resurrection from the dead!

Some prominent celebrities, religious and secular, along with innumerable New-Age types lend their voices to condemn the biblical gospel as too narrow. They favor ‘another gospel,’ along with its anathema (see Galatians 1:6-10); one that tells of many ways to God and many doors through which ‘good people’ may enter heaven. Nationally-renowned religious heroes who once preached Jesus Christ and faith in His Name as the only way of salvation (see John 14:6) have begun to whistle ‘another gospel’ tune, becoming even more beloved and more highly-honored—apostate though they be. Sad and sickening, the shipwreck some have made concerning the faith!

More than a Local Savior
He is not merely “the way” for those who hear the gospel; Jesus is the only way for any person to be reconciled to God. Those who suggest that some who never hear will be ‘saved’ because they are ignorant of the gospel and that will render them unaccountable in the Judgment, they lie against the truth! If that were so, then the only guaranteed-successful evangelism program would be to leave everyone as ignorant as possible and never mention Jesus to anyone—but ignorance does nothing to diminish a sinner’s corruption of heart. Ignorance does not remove accountability and sin still fully deserves the righteous wrath of God, whether or not we ever hear the gospel. To hear the gospel is a mercy from God, for it is only by resting our soul’s hope in Jesus Christ that we are saved from the wrath due unto us for our sin (see Acts 4:12). It is by faith alone that we savingly embrace Jesus our Sin-bearer.

A Line of Nonsense
Just how numb are people’s minds; can people not tell when they are being fed a line of nonsense? Are we unable to discern light and darkness? Know the difference between truth and falsity? Can we not recognize the disparity between the gospel according to Oprah and the gospel according to Jesus?

When some people talk about Jesus and the gospel they engage in such intellectual dishonesty as would land them in jail if they used the same measure of truth in a court of law. For them Jesus and the gospel are subject to definition-at-will, which always results in misrepresentation and dishonesty. The ‘Jesus’ they describe is not the Christ revealed in Scripture, and yet they give the impression that their representation is consistent with the testimony of the Bible, when all they have correct is the spelling of His name. They display abysmal ignorance, profound incompetence, or incredible dishonesty. Their ‘Jesus’ is nothing more than a reflection of their own sentimental, religious feelings; and that has nothing to do with anything that matters.

What Matters
What the truth is matters. (Jesus is “the truth.”) Who God is matters. (Jesus is God.) Our true spiritual condition in our fallen nature, that matters. (We are spiritually dead and alienated from God by nature.) How we can be right with God and forgiven of our sins matters. (Putting our trust in Christ, we will be justified and forgiven.) Whether Jesus Himself thought there was more than one way for people to know God matters. (He didn’t.) Whether or not the Bible is the Word of God matters. (It is, fully and utterly.)

What Oprah thinks about these things matters not. Not only is she not an expert on Christianity, her understanding of the gospel message is comparable to that of an illiterate incompetent. Anyone who can read the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6 (with even minimal comprehension) will know more than she does. She is wrong to say that she is a Christian who believes that there are many ways to God and heaven. A Christian by Jesus’ definition would believe Jesus to be who He says He is—not a way, but the one and only way by which a sinner can be reconciled to God. To reject Jesus’ claim as the exclusive Savior is to reject Jesus Himself.

The Exclusive Savior
Only Jesus Christ, crucified and raised from the dead, can save any sinner from spiritual death and unending hell. No amount of human reasoning can change this reality. Jesus alone can deliver us from the power and penalty of sin. There are no other saviors, no other ways to God and heaven. There is one Name by which we must be saved, one Person who can transform our lives for time and eternity. Only the Father can reveal Christ the Son to us (Matthew 16:18); only Christ the Lord can reconcile us to the Father (John 14:6). And only the Holy Spirit can make us spiritually alive (John 3:3-8), giving us eyes to see and hearts to believe. Do you know what it is to be saved by Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior?

Help from the Inspired Word
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12 NKJV)

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” …” (Matthew 16:13-18 NKJV)

What is Your Christian Testimony Worth?

A credible testimony of true and saving faith in Jesus Christ is a treasure to be earnestly desired, carefully secured, and tenaciously guarded. There are so many frauds and false brethren, that a well-established, credible gospel witness is worth something. Just how much is yours worth?

What are the components of a credible Christian witness? First, there is a public profession of faith formalized in one’s baptism. By our baptism we profess something. We declare to the church and to the world that we are Christ’s and that He is ours by grace alone through faith alone. We profess that grace has made a change in us and that we have begun to follow the Lamb as our Lord and Master. Second, there is discipleship. This is what builds the credibility of one’s profession of faith, that it is real and genuine and, truly, of the Lord’s doing; as the Lord’s brother said, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

Discipleship has been called “a long obedience in the same direction” (Eugene Peterson). Pastor A. N. Martin wrote a small booklet, “A Life of Principled Obedience,” addressing discipleship and the ongoing grace of sanctification in a believer’s life. Disciples discipline themselves for success. Disciples are scholars who hear and heed their mentor. If we know Jesus Christ in saving faith and repentance, then we have responded obediently to His gospel and have become His disciples. Without evident discipleship, there is also no evident saving grace.

So, the primary components of a credible testimony are, (1) our outward, public profession declared in our baptism and, (2) our discipleship lived-out day by day as we follow Christ and obey His Word. Every day that we conduct ourselves in the disciplines of God’s grace, the credibility of our Christian witness is more firmly established.

None of us are perfectly consistent in our following Christ; consistently inconsistent is more often the case. We all make missteps and mistakes and we all sin in ways every day, so all too often our discipleship does not shine. Some days are better than others and some days are just plain terrible when it comes to our faithful obedience to Christ, and those days end with shame and tears and in deep repentance. Still, the promise of our Lord makes us certain that He will hear and forgive and give us more grace heaped upon grace, helping us to find our way back to the path of obedient, determined discipleship.

How Are You Running?
Paul writes, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NKJV).

Very likely alluding to the ancient Olympic Games, the Apostle urged the Corinthian believers to live their lives in such a way that they might obtain the prize. But what was “the prize?” It was an imperishable garland, a conqueror’s crown. But what is it, after all? Nothing other than the smile of God; His approval of the way we conducted ourselves during the course of our lives.

Do you not long to hear your Savior say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23)? That, beloved ones, is “the prize” awaiting a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. But who among us is nearly as faithful as we should be? So, shall we despair of ever pleasing our perfect Lord because we are imperfect in this life? No, we are to believe the promises of the gospel. Our offerings of true, albeit imperfect, obedience presented to Christ in faith will be accepted because of His once-for-all, perfect obedience sanctifying our earnest, yet feeble and imperfect, attempts.

He is Watching & It Really Matters
Is it possible that the Lord Jesus who calls us to be His disciples would not take notice of our discipline, or the absence thereof? Paul knew that his Lord was watching every moment! He was sure that in order to win “the prize” he must run the race “according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5), according to the truth of the gospel.

Paul did not want to be “disqualified” after running so far for so long. Disqualified from what? He wanted to live with the sort of discipline that, on its merits, would prove that he was indeed a true child of God, a true disciple, a true Apostle. Many imposters had made their empty claims, but ultimately proved themselves false by the way they ran the race, not according to the truth of the gospel, but according to their own bogus set of rules. But Paul was the real deal. He was the genuine article. The grace that saved him was not impotent, cheap grace. It was sovereign grace, indeed.

Paul’s purpose was to succeed, to win, to receive that imperishable victor’s wreath that would proclaim throughout eternity that he had purposely lived for the glory of Christ Jesus. How do you think of your Christian life? Do you see it as a race that you must run with integrity and a race to be won? How much value do you place on running your life’s marathon “according to the rules” of the gospel, in “principled obedience” to Christ? Too many think of Christian life as a sprint when it is more like a marathon.

Shipwreck, Train-Wreck, a Tangled Mess
Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy about numerous people who had “made shipwreck” concerning “the faith” (1 Timothy 1:18-20), mentioning two of them by name. A shipwreck was a terrible tragedy, especially in those days; with the loss of cargo, with great damage to the ship or the loss of it altogether, not to mention the loss of life that was often involved. To “make shipwreck” concerning the faith of the gospel was nothing short of tragic; it was to suffer great loss.

“Hymenaeus and Alexander” (v. 20) had apparently persistently spoken blasphemies against the Lord and the truth of the gospel. There was some hope that they might “learn not to blaspheme” and be recovered to the church, but because of their blasphemies they had been excommunicated from the church. The church made it clear that those two men were no longer in the communion of the saints; they were under the church’s discipline in hopes that they might repent and be restored. Their sinful blasphemy had resulted in their making shipwreck concerning the faith, and they stood to lose everything by being proved nothing more than false, lying professors of gospel faith; unsaved men.

If the Apostle lived in this day and time he might have used a different analogy to describe the mess some professing believers make of their lives because of cherished sin. I recall once seeing a train-wreck as a child. There were overturned train cars and loose coal strewn everywhere. Years later my brother bought a mint-green Chevrolet in near-mint condition (what a car!); within a couple months one night the car stalled at a railway crossing and along came the train. About a mile or so down the tracks someone with some sort of machinery peeled the crumpled wreckage off the front of the train; so much for mint condition. What a picture! What a mess we can make of our lives in a matter of minutes!

Whether a shipwreck, train-wreck, car-crash, or some other tragic picture of loss and ruin—let us, every one, beware the devastating power of cherished sin. O, the wretched tendency to blaspheme, to prefer our sin over our Savior! Let us all beware and redouble our resolve; a credible witness of faith in Christ can be spoiled in such a short time!

Don’t Care What Anyone Thinks
When someone is in the process of ruining his life and spoiling his Christian testimony, he is likely to think or even to say, “I don’t care what anyone thinks! It’s nobody’s business but my own.” Such an attitude only reveals the mighty power of sin’s grip.

To the suffering believers of the Christian Diaspora, Simon Peter wrote strange words; strange, in that he wanted them to care how their lives were perceived by people around them, even those unbelievers who persecuted them and called them evildoers. “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12 NKJV).

The Tragedy of a Credible Testimony Forfeited
The forfeiture of a credible Christian witness by behavior that undermines that credibility—what a tragedy! What loss! What is our credible testimony of faith in Christ worth? Is cherished sin worth what it is going to cost? When our “good name” is destroyed because of persistent love of sin and refusal to obey God, will we care then? Indeed, the pleasures of sin are only “for a season.” And then what?

Are we, at this moment, determined to obey the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts? If there is even one sliver of doubt, then let us beware. Truly, “sin crouches at the door,” patiently waiting for an opportunity to seize us and drag us off to some out of the way place, away from the gospel, away from the church, away from everything familiar, to rip and tear us limb from limb—bringing our whole life to utter ruin and leaving us to wallow in our own blood and to suffer unspeakable misery under guilt and shame. How Satan would delight to see any one of us forfeit our credible testimony; in exchange he would happily let us bear the infamy of a hypocrite to our grave.

Let us hear the Word of God and love it and live it, all by grace. Value your credible Christian witness. Desire it, secure it, guard it. If you have lost it, seek by God’s forgiveness and grace to recover it for His glory. May our Lord give us grace to run well and to finish strong! –TSA

Help from the Inspired Word
“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:17-32 NKJV)

"The Great Tribulation"

“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)

Here is the only occurrence of the phrase “great tribulation” in the Bible. The scene portrayed is that of a numberless multitude of redeemed sinners from every segment of humanity, all standing in the presence of the sovereign God and before the Lamb, our Lord Jesus. All are clothed in white robes, symbolic of absolute righteousness. They each have palm branches and strong, loud voices with which they praise God for His free and priceless gift of salvation from sin, death, and hell (vv. 9-10). At the sight, the heavenly audience, composed of angels, elders, and living creatures, falls down joining in worship to the Lord (vv. 11-12).

This was part of the vision John saw. Then one of the twenty-four elders asked John to identify that sea of humanity dressed in pristine robes and to tell from where they came (v. 13). Correctly assuming the question to have been asked only so that the true answer might be given, John deferred to the knowledge of the elder who told him who they were and where they had been.

The people dressed in white, holding palm branches of peace, shouting glory for the salvation they had received through the cross-work of the Lamb—these are the ones who came out of “the great tribulation.” What was “the great tribulation” out of which they came? What did the elder mean; what did the Spirit of Jesus intend by this expression; what was meant by “the great tribulation?”

"Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”" (Revelation 7:13-17 NKJV)

The Difficult Journey of the Redeemed
The people who “come out of the great tribulation” are born-again Christians from all the earth in all ages from the Apostle’s time until Jesus’ return. The vision portrays God’s church robed in white, enjoying peace and worshipping joyously in the presence of God, giving glory to God and to the Lamb. These are Christ’s churches all gathered together in one, who have entered heaven’s glory by way of “the great tribulation.” Our pilgrimage through this world is called by this sobering designation. Once dressed in defiled garments of sin and shame, John saw us all wearing clean clothes; once polluted by sin, we are now robed in the perfect, imputed righteousness of Jesus. By obedience to the gospel, we have washed our robes in His blood and they have become white. It doesn’t seem like something that could happen, but it has. Dirty robes washed in Lamb’s blood, now as white as snow.

Tribulation is trouble and stress and struggle; such is the life of the true child of God as he pursues the will of God in a hostile world. Those described as having “come out of the great tribulation” are all the redeemed purchased by Christ and forgiven through faith in Him. Although there are also joys and victories and delights along life’s journey, “great tribulation” still accurately describes a Christian’s life in this world. If there is a more apt description, one wonders what that would be. Truly, some believers suffer more than others. Some suffer unto death as martyrs, while other children of God seem to live in relative ease; but all of God’s people, in some sense, endure great tribulation through life.

Sin, Satan, and the world all oppose the believer. Remaining sin, sin not yet mortified (put to death), sin that still finds a place in our hearts and actions creates all manner of trouble (see Romans 8:12-14). God deals with His redeemed ones as with deeply loved sons and sometimes visits harsh discipline on them when they walk in disobedience. Temptation pursues us, and all the worse when we give the devil an opportunity by not faithfully obeying the Word of God. And while we still have much to learn, how can we plead ignorance? We already understand so much that we do not yet perfectly obey. How dishonest to plead ignorance, while we boldly sin against clearly revealed truth! God knows our hearts and even our imperfect conscience bears witness against us.

Satan, the devil, our adversary truly exists. He is real and evil. He opposes everything that is good and everything that glorifies God. He is against us if we are for God. Against him we must stand, wearing spiritual armor with bravery and resolve and faith (see Ephesians 6:10-18).

Further, worldly men who love neither God nor His truth often plague the people of God in many ways. They add trouble to tribulation as they undermine all that is good and worthy and noble. When we would attempt righteousness, there is always a worldly voice to shout us down or to criticize our failings. “Love not the world,” John wrote. Worldliness only adds grief and sorrow to the tribulations of true believers. Indeed, it is a difficult journey “from faith to faith” and “from glory to glory” (Romans 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Heaven, At Last
Because of God’s grace, because of what the Lamb did in bearing away our sins, throughout the endlessness of eternity the redeemed people of God will always be in His presence, serving Him all the time—worshipping and exalting His Name and giving glory to the Lamb. The reality we will experience is God’s presence all the time, indicated by the expression, “day and night in His temple.” The living God will occupy our existence, filling our souls to the full with His own presence. We live by faith and will die in faith, and we all are more than conquerors through the Lamb who loved us. Then “great tribulation” will be no more.

Our everlasting home will be peace and comfort. Unlike the journey through this world in which God often permits His people to endure hardship, in that day there will be no hunger anymore. Never again will God’s people thirst or be drained of their vitality and sapped of their strength. No longer will we be exposed to the parching powers of the sun, beating down upon us until we are utterly spent and exhausted. No; for then we will follow the Lamb and He will guide us to rest alongside gushing fountains of perpetual refreshment. “The great tribulation” will then be past. God Himself will dry our tears; tears that often filled our eyes during the difficult journey through affliction. Never again will weeping be heard among the redeemed, for never again will sin or sorrow or disappointment come. Truly, in that moment heaven is begun.

“And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15b-17).