Answered Prayer

Some may think this post frivolous and silly. After all, aren’t there worlds to conquer? Why mess with such silly things as catching fish and finding lost wallets? Aren’t those kinds of prayers for our fanatical charismatic brothers? We reformed are far above that form of silliness, we think. We are in to fine points of doctrine, the restoration of the church, the reformation of right worship. Bosh and bother, how goes your faith in the omnipresent and sovereign God? The fact is that the reason we do not perform in the grand things of the Lord is that we cannot perform in the small things first. He who is faithful in a little will be given much. Could it be that our work is small because our faith is small?

I just got back from vacation in Maine and had a hankering to catch a fish in the tidal waters of Middle Bay at Harpswell. Although I am an experienced fishermen, I had no idea what fish were in the bay or how to catch them. So I resorted to prayer. There is an indictment of our view of prayer. We have to ‘resort’ to it. God answered that silly prayer and I caught a beautiful Striped Bass. He was about fourteen inches long, a small one by Striper standards. So, with some audacity but in faith I prayed for a larger catch. By God’s kind providence, He sent another larger fish to find my hook the next day. This fish was not huge either but went about eighteen inches, a fine fish, especially if one is used to catching Smallmouth Bass in little streams.

My son lost his wallet yesterday with all of his hard earned lawn mowing money in it. He was perplexed. He searched the house, his route from his last job and circled the neighborhood without any success in finding his wallet. But there is a God in heaven who sees all. I called in my three year old son to pray that his brother would find his wallet. Ten minutes later, my oldest son came beaming down the stairs with the wallet, which had scooted under his dresser, out of sight to all but One.

God answers prayers, especially prayers of faith, specific and expectant prayers. We rarely pray such prayers because we do not believe. My young son has faith and God blessed Him with an answer so that he would have more faith to pray greater prayers. We have grown up beyond such prayers, beyond such belief. We would do well to learn the lesson. When we do, we will become dangerous. Until then, our faithless, generic prayers will continue to render to us according to our faith.

Eat the Light-Communion thoughts

For several weeks in our communion meal I have been exhorting you to eat and drink Jesus. Why do we do this? One, because it is a sacrament instituted by our Lord Jesus. We do it because He said to do it. And if you have walked with Jesus for any length of time, you have come to realize that He did not give us frivolous things to do. What He tells us to do has reason behind it, even if that reason is somewhat hidden in the mystery of God. It might not fully make sense to us but we have come to know, through faith, that it does to God. An unbeliever cannot be satisfied with such reasoning of belief but that is a truism.

But let us think about what is going on in this eating of Jesus. We have come to understand that sin is lack. It is a want of conformity unto God’s perfection. In words that we can comprehend, it is a lack of light. There is no way to get more light by eliminating darkness. We must eliminate the darkness by getting more light. There is a sense in which, if we have Jesus, we have all of the light. But I believe that is only true in principle and denies the organic world that God has made. In God’s world, light grows. The sun rises but it continues to rise until it fully shines. Jesus is like that with us. If He has risen in your hearts, well and good. But He must continue to rise until He shines at midday. So, we must continue to eat the Light that is Jesus until we are so full of that Light that there is no darkness left. This will take us a lifetime and more and will not come to complete fruition until the resurrection, when Jesus will fill us completely and no darkness will remain. But we come to this meal as a means of seeing the Light, partaking of it and being lit by Jesus. So eat the Light.

Lord's Day EXHORTATION on Faith

John 1:1 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

What is the beginning of our faith? The Word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. Faith was generated when we heard the Word of God and believed. The Word of the preacher became for us the very words of God. God gave us ears to hear and we did. This is mysterious to us because our dead ears were incapable of hearing on their own. But we did hear and we did have faith and we did believe and now we have come to see that object of our belief is Jesus, Himself, for He is the incarnated Word.

Some of these Words are mysterious for it is hard for us to comprehend how the Second person of the Trinity was in the beginning when our Lord Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, had not yet been born. But the Second person of the Trinity has always been. He was with God in the beginning and He was God. There are many men who get tangled up in all the mystery of the Trinity. They must explain to their philosophical satisfaction. But it is mysterious at its core and beyond us. This is why God invites us to faith. For faith can see what the eyes of the mind cannot. This second person, the Word of God, the creative power of God, has been manifested to us in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. While we do need faith to believe that Jesus is God, it is not faith that sees that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was. We have well attested and accurate writings of his existence, His work, His words, His life, His deeds. It takes faith to move from His life and works to His divinity. But this should not trouble us at all for His works reveal who He is and what He has come to do. The apostles beheld Him, touched Him, saw Him and left us their great witness.

I say all of this to bring our doubts to an end. Jesus did walk the earth. He did do miracles. He is the Son of God. He is the one who was with God and was God at the beginning. The mystery of godliness has been packaged into a Man and dispensed to us in great abundance. Now, the Holy Spirit brings us Jesus, the Light, to light all those who believe and call upon the name of the Lord. These are all great gospel truths. The only question is “Will you believe it?” And the measure of your belief is the Light of God in you, the Word of God spoken and therefore, spoken out of you, the Holy Spirit’s presence in You to work and to do the good pleasure of Jesus Christ, embracing of the Word of God for every form of worship, belief and practical living. All of this so that you do not set the standard of the measure of your faith. But, rather, the standard of the measure of your faith must set us you aright.

I have been urging you on to eat Jesus, just as He did in John 6. This is to believe in Him and do His will. He is mysterious as the pre-existent Son of God, always begotten of the Father, but His will is not mysterious. Do what He said. Believe on His name, love God and love your neighbor, be ye kind one to another. This is the incarnational life of Jesus Christ. In His Name and by His Spirit, do these things and you shall have everlasting life.

Lord's Day EXHORTATION on Marriage

Matt 22:3 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

We have heard many good words regarding marriage. To many these words are very encouraging. Your marriage is good and you can grasp much of what was said. The believing and the doing seems well within reach of where your find yourself.

To some these words are very discouraging. Your marriage is not good. You are not moving one another on in Christ in love and good works. The fact that it ought to be this way makes you feel like a failure and you cannot see any way out of the dilemma.

For those of you who find encouragement and hope in the words, it is because you are like the later guests to whom the Father said Matt 22:8-9 8 … to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. You are encouraged because you have accepted a good invitation. You have believed that the Father of the groom bids you to come and welcome, offers you proper garments for the special event and desires that you enter into the joy of the celebration. So, you come, and you look at all the other guests in their wedding clothes, thinking that they have always been dressed this way. What you don’t see is that the Father gave these beautiful garments to vagabonds and paupers as they entered the door. Nonetheless, you are glad to be here and are determined to make the best of it.

Those of you who are discouraged have either been like those who were bidden but would not come or those who would not dress up for the event. You think more highly of your poor opinion of yourself than the Father’s invitation. This is a self-esteem problem. Too much of it. If the Father bids you come, then come. If the Father offers you finery for the occasion, put it on.
Of course, it is Jesus Christ that we must put on. We do this by believing God’s promises to us. We receive Him by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we believe God this way, we have hope that His opinion of things is much more important than ours. Will you put on Christ? Will you come to the wedding? Will you eat, drink and be merry?

Those of you encouraged by all the words are so because you see God’s promises through your failures. So, you confess your sins, lay hold of Christ and move further up and further in. Those of you discouraged, can only remain so if you refuse to confess your sins, looking at the promises offered to you in Christ. A godly and happy marriage is only as far away as confession, repentance and forgiveness. So do not refuse to do so.

A Faithful Husband-Communion Thoughts

Rev 19:7-9 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

We are not just spectators at the marriage. We are participants. Neither are we the groom’s men nor the bride’s maids. Our role is the bride. Now, this might give some men an awkward feeling, as the Church plays this feminine role. But these words are spirit and they are life.

The purpose of a wedding is to unite two individuals into one. The two people do not cease to exist as individuals but two households do become one, two people are to become single- minded in the pursuit of God and their callings together. The two are to be united as one in the act of conjugal love. This unity is displayed over time as the married couple become more and more like each other. They begin to sound more alike. If they didn’t at the beginning, they begin to look like they go together. And after many years of this, it is unclear whether he is more like her or she is more like him.

This passage from Revelations is remarkable. The bride is arrayed in fine linen and that fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Our frigid response is often 'hat there is none righteous, no not one.' But that is speaking of one’s own righteousness apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But we are not apart from Jesus Christ. He has taken us as His bride, given us His name and drawn us into close communion with Himself. The bride and groom have become one.This meal represents and presents this truth to us. The Bride and groom become one in flesh. The Church and even individuals in the Church become one flesh with Jesus Christ. We are to eat Him and drink Him, to take Him into ourselves in such a way that our union with Jesus Christ is complete. We are to be more like Him as we learn from Him how to be faithful in all our dealings with Him and with His people. And being a faithful bride, let us rejoice as we receive all the blessings and benefits of having such a faithful husband.

Faithful Friend

There was a pleasant woman who’s husband was heir to the king. She was living in a blessed land, full of good things and wine on the lees. But the Lord made the sky brass for a time to see if the woman would remember that it was He that made the early and the latter rains.

The woman quickly forgot. She had two vigorous boys but she was growing bitter about the weather and named her boys Sick One and Failing One. It was cruel to call boys such names but they fully lived up to her expectations.

She decided to leave the good land because she heard that it was raining on the other side of the river. When she arrived there, she found that it was true and she was happy for a time. But the husband, longing for his own land, grew weary, took ill and died. She consoled herself that her princely sons would grow to take their father’s place. She had them take wives so that children could be raised up to her but even though they were in the rainy land, these sickly boys could not produce an heir. They finally obeyed their mother’s faith, fell deathly ill and perished.

At the right time, the rains began to fall in the land across the river from which she had come and the bitter woman rose up to seek her bread in the land of her nativity. Her daughters-in-law had grown to love her and desired to return with her.

The first daughter made loud protestations about her intentions to dwell with her mother but on their way towards the river, she kept looking over her shoulder at her brother who was standing on the high places near their mount of sacrifice. Finally, the bitter mother gave her a quick blessing and bade her run home.

The second daughter was a dear friend and refused to look back at her brother and father who were also standing on the same mount. She willfully and steadfastly kept her gaze on the river or on the face of her bitter mother-in-law. The mother-in-law often looked at her to see if she was looking over her shoulder but never caught her doing so. And so she found out who was the faithful daughter.

Diligence

Prov 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

In a day when glory was the right of kings there were two men whose honor lay in the work of their own two hands. The first man built homes. The second man, who was putting food on the table for his family, built houses. They began their days in a similar fashion, they ate at nearly the same time, traveled to the work site, prepared their tools and commenced the manly art of building. The first man was picky in his work and often caused his mates a bit of irritation. When measuring to nail, his men would often say, “That’s close enough.” To which he replied, “No, its not.” Before he would nail, the measurer must say, “Perfect.” After a while they got use to this little quirk of his and tried to remember not to say “good” or “close enough”, but rather, “Perfect, nail it.”

The other man also built houses but had a different attitude about what was going on. You see, he was working for his family who needed him to do keep his job to keep the bill collectors at bay. He showed up on time and was never cause enough for any serious reprimands from his boss. His mates liked him well enough. His work was tolerable. However, he did generally work a bit slow and his standards were in general a bit slack. Occasionally, he had to redo some work because he had hurried it through so he could be on time for supper. It wasn’t bad that he had hurried but he sometimes confused quickness with diligence and so made stupid mistakes.

One day, an inspector came to see the houses that were being constructed. The first man was having one of his moments with his fellow workers. They were pushing up an outer wall and he was being nitpicky about the measurement.
“That’s good,” his partner called to him, “Nail it.”
“What?” he replied, and pushed it off center just a tad.
“Not now,” his partner yelled. “Try it again, more, a little more. Ok, perfect, nail it.”
And so he did.

The second man realized it was lunch time. At his work sight, he nailed furiously to finish his last section before break. His boss had made it clear to him that he should get it done by noon. He was proud of having accomplished the task.

When the inspector measured his wall, he noticed that it was slightly off center and told the man so.
The second man replied, “Nobody will ever know. We’ll balance it out on the next section. It’s close enough.”
The inspector was not an overly picky man but he was noticeably irritated.
“Young man, do you know who I am?”
“No,” he said, and he chomped on an apple.
“I am the king’s servant. These two houses are for his summer cottage. He will sleep in one and I in the other. That man over there said his wall was perfect. I measured it and it is. Your wall is off. What do you think the king will say?”
The builder of houses took another bite of his apple and smiled as he said to the king’s servant, “Guess you’ll be sleeping in this house, eh mate?”

Good Friday Homily

Godly Sorrow Leads to Repentance

2 Cor 7:9-10 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

1Thess 4:13-14 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

This night is a solemn occasion for us. We are reminded not only of the death of our Lord but also of our share in it. Jesus did not just die for sin or for sinners as some abstract ideal. He died for particular sins and for particular sinners. He died because we are fallen and dead in Adam and it is his desire to raise us up again to newness of life. He died because we followed Adam into sin with our own sins and thus confirmed the truth that all have fallen in Adam. He died because our sinful nature and our sins indeed have lumped us in with all the objects of wrath and have brought death to those who were meant for life. Without the death of Jesus, those sins cannot be taken away. Without the death of Jesus we cannot be justified and declared not guilty before our perfect and holy heavenly Father.

So, it is good for us to reflect on what a grand failure and horrific sin was committed in the person of Adam. He was perfect in righteousness and holiness. He was walking with God in the garden. He had heard God’s command and knew that he must heed, or die. And yet, Adam chose death rather than life.

He represents us well. For here we are on the winning side of the resurrection, on the knowing side of the Ascension, on the victorious side of Pentecost. Jesus has done all that He said He would do. He has kept all of His promises. And yet, we still, like sheep, have gone astray. We still, like the disciples, deny and abandon our Lord in seeking after what is forbidden. We still, like Peter, proclaim death-defying allegiance, only to shrink away from Jesus in fear of man. And all of this with the power of the Holy Spirit present and promised to us. If we only believed with our heart and actions the way we proclaim with our lips.

These are sorrowful words. Words of failure and sin. Words of hopelessness and despair. Words of guilt and shame. O, wretched men that we are, Who will deliver us from the body of this death!

It is not glorious that we are sad. However, it is most glorious that our sadness drives us to Jesus. For some, it is not so. It was not so for Judas. He sorrowed with the world’s sorrow and only discovered death. It was not true for Simon Magus. He sorrowed with the world’s sorrow and only found fear. But Peter was moved to weeping for his great sin. He was restored and became a mighty man of God. Paul was moved to repentance for his sorrow and was a mighty man of God.

It is not glorious that we are sad, unless our sadness moves us to repentance, unless our sadness brings us to the cross, to cast all of our cares on Jesus, unless our sadness brings the sorrow that leads to repentance and repentance to life. Then will our sadness be turned to joy. Then will our weeping end in rejoicing.

We have reflected on sad things here tonight. But let us remember that Easter is coming. We know this. We cannot be sad forever. Our sadness drives us to Jesus. Our sadness carries us to the resurrection. Our sadness is necessary so that our rejoicing can be inversely proportionate. We cry today, knowing that the Lord is near so that we can rejoice on Easter Sunday. As we leave here tonight, contemplative of our own sins and the fact that Jesus died to pay for them, let us do so with hope. Let us do so with anticipation. Let us do so with the knowledge that Jesus has already risen and that He receives all those who come to Him in true humility and repentance.

We do not wink at sin. It is an enemy and produces all manner of sorrow and suffering in the world. But we do wink at the supposed victory of death. Jesus is crucified before us and sin and death rejoice. We let them have their moment for it has all been a wonderful feint and stratagem of our Lord. Sin is no victor. Death is no champion. There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Jesus has become sin for us and died for us, only to condemn sin and death in us. Glory be to God in the Highest. Easter is coming! Amen.

Blind and Lame

Matt 21:10-11 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

On an historic day, there was an old blind man on the road leading from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. He had been blind from birth and had many trials related to his blindness. The worst of these was a broken back he had suffered when he fell from a second floor balcony while listening to a Rabbi exposit Psalm 118. He barely survived but his legs were useless from that day onward. He had spent many years begging for the help of others.

There was a strong young man on the road that day. He was well brought up and educated in the wisdom of the Jews. He was known as an expert on the coming of Messiah. He knew that Messiah was to come from Bethlehem and that one day He would come and lead Israel back to her former glory. He talked of these things often, disputing about times and weeks and looking to the consolation of Israel. He hoped that Messiah would come in his day so that he could usher in the great kingdom.

The crowd that day was unruly and very nearly out of control. Children were running to and fro, cutting down branches and throwing them in the street. Women were singing, men were in loud and heated discussions. The blind man was anxious and asked the young man what was happening.

"Jesus is coming," he replied. "He is riding on a little donkey."

The old man asked him to help him closer to the road.

"Why," retorted the young sage, "so you can see another pretender to the throne?"

"Don’t you think that He could be the Messiah?" asked the old man.

"Him?" sneered the young man. "I’ve seen Him and He is none too impressive. Besides, his followers are a bunch of idiot fishermen, harlots, beggars and publicans. What would I have to do with Him?"

The old man asked him to describe Him as he passed by.

As Jesus approached, the young man began to tell the old man what he saw. The old man stopped him rather abruptly with a rather astonishing statement.

"I see Him. He comes and all the world is falling down before Him."

The young man was disgusted and turned to walk away. As Jesus passed, the crowd began to surge in behind Him. The young man struggled against the crowd, lost his footing and was suddenly thrown down in the midst of thousands and trampled mercilessly. When the crowd passed, he was left blind and lame and no man would help him by the way.

The old man stood up and gazed after Jesus. He eagerly followed the excited crowd to Jerusalem to anoint the new king.

Boiling Pot

Matt 21:28-31 28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

There was a son brought up in all the fineries of the Christian faith. In his earliest of days he was expected to buck up to the system and he seldom disappointed. When he was very young, his parents delighted in him for he was the picture of prompt, if not somewhat timid, obedience. As he grew older they began to recognize a distinct tendency of a creeping bad attitude. It was never quite bad enough, in their mind, to require quick and firm discipline but they often wondered what their son was thinking. He never told them and they didn’t ask.

The son’s sour attitude grew with his height and the parents got accustomed to it. His resistance to their will was growing but so was his ability to manipulate the situation. After major outbursts of anger, he often told them he was sorry and occasionally even asked for their forgiveness. However, his bad behavior became persistent and consistent. He withdrew from family fellowship, he was mean to his brothers and sisters and though they didn’t know it, often said very disrespectful things behind his mother’s and father’s backs.

One day the mother was boiling hard-boiled eggs. The water had just come to a fast boil when she received a phone call. She asked the son to turn off the heat and let the eggs sit. He was looking at a magazine but irritably agreed to do so. A few minutes later, the mother returned and promptly opened the lid to retrieve the eggs. Unbenounced to her, the water was in a furious boil and the steam rushed out and burnt her hand and fingers quite severely.

“Son," she yelled in extreme pain, “didn’t I tell you to turn off the heat? How could I know the water was still boiling?”

“Why, yes mother,” the defiant and unrepentant son, replied. “You did. But you should have known the water inside the pot was boiling and you should have done something about it.” He stomped off to his room and left the mother to bandage her own wounds without so much as an “I’m sorry.”

Simply Virtuous

Prov 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

I knew a woman that wanted nothing more than to be married to a man and to have children and so she was and so she did. She wasn’t sure what she would do or how she would get along but she muddled through. She was thankful for her husband even though he wasn’t really much to be thankful for, at least in the beginning. She was simply pleased to have a man that loved her, provided for her and by God’s grace, brought her children. Her outlook on life really was very simple but so was she and it was a good fit.

In God’s good timing, she brought forth children. And though they weren’t the smartest or the wisest or the prettiest children that ever graced the world, this mother was quite oblivious to the fact. She simply thanked God for such blessings, cooked their meals, did the dishes and put them to bed with a simple prayer that God would keep them through the night and on the morrow.

In due time, her children began to grow into the likeness of their mother. They were quite simple and took the blessings of this life as from the Providential hand of God. When difficulties arose, they remembered the wise words of their mother and knew that these things, too, were from the hand of their loving Heavenly Father. They never thought to question His goodness because their mother didn’t. So, they thanked God for good or ill, cleaned up the dishes and went to bed with a prayer.

Her husband grew a great deal from her wonderful cooking and his influence seemed to advance along with his ever-advancing midsection. The loving wife remembered to thank God to have such a belly to love. Furthermore, she always remembered to thank her husband for his faithful, hard work and was so very pleased with all his little successes, not to mention showing interest in his grandiose schemes. She was not surprised by the honor that the other men bestowed upon her husband because she had always honored him. But she was quite amazed that God had changed him so much through the years and that he had become an immanently respectable man at work, in his church, and what was most important to her, in their home. She was so thankful that God had seen fit to give her such a wonderful husband, far beyond what she ever deserved or hoped for.

The woman eventually grew old and died and went to be with the Lord. When Jesus rushed up to her to welcome her to heaven, he brought a book. It was the Lamb’s Book of Life. He opened the book and read this verse. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Prov. 31:31) Next to the verse were written the names of her children and her husband. She was not surprised that the names were written in the book. However, she was humbled to embarrassment that the names were written there as the fruit of her hands and of her own works. She happily thanked Jesus and entered into the glory of her Lord.

Foolish Woman

Prov 14:1 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

There once was a woman who desired to build a house. And she did so. She was very clever and did much of the work herself, without even the help of her husband. He was willing to help but often ran afoul of her ideas and so relegated himself to giving careful counsel if he thought it would be received. It very seldom was, so as a result, he had little to do but watch.

As I said, this woman was clever. She could figure all sorts of ways to erect interesting structures in her house. The husband had a hard time understanding the utility of some of her ideas but, being a weak man, figured that she was probably more artistic than he and that he should simply acquiesce to her aesthetic eye. To her credit, the woman often asked her husband’s opinion because she knew that he was the head of the household. And besides, she wanted to tell the other ladies that she was submissive. And, the fact of the matter was, that she always did submit to all of her husband’s ideas…..whenever they agreed with hers.

As the house was nearing completion, the husband wondered when his wife was going to install the furnace or at least a fireplace. He thought a fireplace would be particularly homey and besides, she hadn’t even made provision for ducting the house. He had tried to point this out once on a particularly chilly morning but she gave him that knowing scowl and he shivered off down the hill. They finally moved in. The woman was greatly pleased with herself, even as she had let the ladies at church know that her husband had been little help indeed.

About a week later, a serious chill set in. The children were cold, the husband was cold, and what was really odd, even the woman was cold. The husband suggested that they get some warmth by finally installing the furnace. After a withering glance, the woman rushed outside, gathered some firewood and started an enormous blaze, right in the middle of their stone kitchen floor. In two minutes, the furniture caught fire and in an hour, the entire house was burnt to the ground.The next week at the ladies’ bible study, the woman explained that she had simply submitted to her husband’s rule of the house and that the furnace had never been installed. She didn’t say any more because she didn’t want to give any of the ladies the wrong idea about her husband.

Simpleton

1 Peter 3:7 7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

There was a man who desired a wife and children. He knew the admonition of the Lord and that it was his calling to love his wife and children. He also knew that it was their calling to respect and obey him. The weight of this knowledge was almost more than he could bear. The immensity of it caused him to fall to his knees daily requesting the sustaining grace of the Holy Spirit. That same sustaining Holy Spirit enabled him to rise from his prayers with the weight lifted and the ability to fulfill that which he was incapable of fulfilling by his own might and his own wisdom.

This man often made mistakes, especially when he was young. When he was first married, he often had harsh words for his wife. But he was a sincere Christian and was greatly bothered by his own behavior and even more so by the effect that his harsh words had upon his tender wife. He often remembered the words of the preacher on his wedding day that told him that the bible required him to love his wife. When he considered his harsh words, he knew that this was not love. So, he confessed his sins to God and to his wife and sought forgiveness from both.

Having got these fundamentals of the faith into his simple and humble head, he proceeded to follow this same course in raising his children. He sought to love them with true Christian virtue, often failed but sought wisdom from God and forgiveness against those that he too regularly wronged. And here is the odd thing. This fellow made technical mistakes in his application but always landed on his feet. He was always surprised at the honor bestowed upon him by his wife and children and felt unworthy of such respect from such a wonderful wife and such beautiful children. He constantly had the odd feeling that he had simply got lucky and was blessed with the perfect mate and obedient and cheerful children. This had the strange effect at making him even more humble and even more determined in his service, leadership, and duty towards them. He thought his redoubled efforts might be rebuffed as he needed to shore some things up a bit in the home but the beautiful wife and wonderful children most happily agreed with him. He scratched his head, thanked his God and was quite amazed that his life had worked out so extraordinarily well.

One day, his wife and nearly grown children planned a special party for him and spoke so glowingly of him that he was quite embarrassed. You see, his wife and children always thought these things of this beloved husband and father but were equally humble and seldom bragged about him in public. After the party, the husband desired a few words with his wife and children. “Dear wife and children,” he began, “those were all very nice words but you know that you laid it on a bit thick. I have never been such a good husband or father as all that. We ought to practice a bit more discretion in our speech. You know that I have spoken harsh words, I have overreacted, I have not studied as much as I should, my leading of family devotions has been inconsistent, even my…."

The wife, with bright eyes and a dancing smile joined the erupting laughter of the children. “Oh Dad," they all yelled. "Get off it. You’re the best dad ever!” And the father began to laugh, too. And that family did live happily ever after.

Fat Head

Eph 5:23 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

There was a man who desired a wife and children. He knew the admonition of the Lord and that it was his calling to love his wife and children. He also knew that it was their calling to respect and obey him. Having got these fundamentals of the faith fitted tightly into his fat head, he proceeded towards the ends of the Christian faith. He got a wife and children and reasoned that if his wife would only respect him and if his children would only obey him, then he ought to be just the kind of man who finds it easy to love them. But, of course, he never did.

One day, many years later, his submissive wife warily asked to talk to him about the troubled waters in their marriage and also about the alarming school reports concerning their nearly grown children. He was a bit shocked to have to discuss these things but it was Sunday and he didn’t want to break the Sabbath. After hearing her out, for about two minutes, the husband protested vehemently that it was not his fault. “Didn’t I make the important decisions for us? Didn’t I shed tears with you through these long years of our marriage? Didn’t I apply the rod faithfully to our young charges? Didn’t I…..?

The wife, without lifting her bowed head, softly interjected, “Yes, dear but you were indifferent when I needed you to listen, you cried when I needed you to be strong, you angrily disciplined when the children needed a hug and what you decided for all of us was only the best….for you.”

Having never heard anything like this from his wife in all his born days, the man was speechless….for about five seconds. He then gathered his thoughts and made a new resolution. “I will order that book on male headship that I’ve been wanting and I will know better how to lead us through this.” Having uttered this great statement, he then turned and walked away from his wife, who could not bear to follow his retreat with her sad gaze, so she looked at her shoes. The perturbed man ordered the children off the computer so he could order his book and read about how to be a more godly husband and father. And they did not live happily ever after.

Christmas Meditation

Christmas Meditation

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.

Our faith is particularly glorious. Many religions claim to have a prophet sent from heaven. And we have a great prophet, for Jesus truly is our prophet, priest and king. But if he is not Emmanuel, then He is the very worst of all the prophets, for he claims the Father as His Father. He told Thomas that if he had seen him, he had seen the Father.

Many men have seen the prophets of the earth. Through the ages, there have been many religious men, mighty men, emperors and kings to whom men seek to give great honor. These have received adulation and many have come to be worshipped as very gods themselves. But none of them are Emmanuel, begotten of God, very God of very God, very light of very light. Begotten, not made, full of grace and truth. The religions of the world seek to honor men as those men prove that they are worthy to be honored. But the one sent from heaven is full of grace and truth. He bestows honor on man because he has come to save him from his sins and set him free from sin and misery. It is all of grace lest any man should boast of his own worth.

If you see Jesus, if you behold him in spirit and in truth, then you have come to the know grace and truth. And it is not a special knowledge, a gnosis, that only a few can know. No, like the wise men, all that look upon this baby king in faith have come to see that God is with us. God has been kind to send Himself from heaven that He might take us to heaven. The Father’s grace is bestowed through the advent of His Son and continues with us through the Spirit of the Father and the Son. If you believe that Jesus is Emmanuel, if you believe that in Him, the power of the law to condemn is condemned, then you, like Him, will also be full of grace and truth. And this speaks to the glory of Emmanuel. God is with us. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Christmas Meditation

Luke 2:21 21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

When Mary and Joseph brough Jesus to the temple to have Him circumcised, they came in faith. It was not uncommon that a Hebrew child should be named Jesus(Latin), or Joshua, for the Jews believed that Yahweh would most certainly save. And so Jews named their children Joshua, Jesus in faith believing that God would supply the promises of their salvation and would deliver them, and this child that they brought to be circumcised, from all their enemies. But Mary had much greater faith. For her child was not to be saved but to be Savior, as was foretold by Zacharias when John was born.

Luke 1:68-75 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

So Mary named her child, not God will save us, but God, the Savior. And she believed and she treasured these things in her heart. So, let us believe that Jesus will save us. Treasure these things in your heart.

Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, Father of our Lord Jesus, the Savior of the World. Grant that we would treasure this truth in our hearts and live this truth out in our homes. May the grace of Christ that was given to the world be present in us by Your great mercy. Let us not look to a man-made salvation but cling tight to all of Your promises to us in Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. And may we walk in this great light for the Dayspring from on high has visited us and illuminated our souls. We thank You for Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

Loving the Saints-Part VIII

Phil 4:6 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 1 Thess 5:18 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

One of the central duties of Christians is giving thanks. The failure to give thanks is the source of much trouble within the church. It is the fuel that feeds discontentment, discord, and schism.
It is very difficult to find fault with your neighbor when you are sincerely thanking God for him. It is very difficult to bemoan your circumstances when you are thanking God for them. Now, both of these examples are negative examples. I am encouraging you to thank God for those difficult things in your life, for the hard providences if you will. But that is not the best kind of thanksgiving.

God has showered us with innumerable blessings. They are all around us. In the house we live in, the breakfast we eat, the job we go to, the wife we come home to and the children we wrestle on the carpet with. Furthermore, he has given us brothers and sisters in Christ and spiritual mothers and fathers in the church. He has given us promises in baptism and the Lord’s Supper and He declares these promises to us again and again as we meet on the recurring weekly cycle of the Lord’s Day to also declare our allegiance to Him.In the regular course of life, if we remind ourselves to give thanks for all the good the Lord has done for us and is doing for us, we don’t have time to look at the few slights and difficulties around us. We are busy remembering God’s goodness instead of forgetting it. This forgetting is probably the chief sin in all of scripture. It denies the world that God has made and controls. So, let us remember that in everything, we must give thanks to God.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 1 John 3:18-19

Heidelberg Exhortations-Lord's Day 7

SCRIPTURE OF PRAISE
Matt 6:9-10 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

PRAYER OF PRAISE
Our Father, we magnify Your name in the earth. You have called us out to be Your people and made us part of that kingdom that you have established here on the earth. May we be faithful to You so that Your kingdom here will look more and more like Your kingdom in heaven. You have been faithful from the beginning. You created us for Your good pleasure, not to fulfill a lack in Yourself but to display Your own glory, the glory You had with the Son and with the Spirit before the worlds were created. You provided a way for us to return to You after our fall in Adam. This was Your plan from the beginning. You made promises to Eve of the coming Christ and to all of our fathers in the faith of that one who would bruise the serpent’s head. You have kept Your promise to them and to us by revealing Christ in us. We thank You that You keep covenant with Your people to a thousand generations. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

EXHORTATION-7. Lord's Day

Q. 20. Are all men then, as they perished in Adam, saved by Christ? A. No; only those who are ingrafted into him, and, receive all his benefits, by a true faith.

Q. 21. What is true faith? A. True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits.

Q. 22. What is then necessary for a christian to believe? A. All things promised us in the gospel, which the articles of our catholic undoubted christian faith briefly teach us.

Q. 23. What are these articles?
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe a holy catholic(that is, universal)church: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
11. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting.

Those of you familiar with this will recognize the answer. It is the Apostle’s Creed. It is often ascribed to the apostle’s themselves but probably was not penned by them. However, it is one of the most ancient confessions of our faith and we would all do well to know it by heart as we confess with the Christian Church through the ages.

Question 21 speaks of true faith that is the free gift of God. The freer this gift the more binding is our duty and desire to obedience. We must get a handle on this. Those who oppose free grace often oppose it because they think it does nothing to bind the recipient to obedience. If grace does not cost anything, then why should we obey God? Dear ones, it cost a great deal. It cost the life of our precious Lord Jesus. If you really get a handle on this, then you must contemplate on how truly the free the grace is. You have no claim to it. You cannot purchase it. You cannot even really understand it. It is given to you by a gracious God merely because He is kind. And we stand there dumbfounded. A thankful man, woman, or child will immediately respond to that kind of grace with absolute fidelity, loyalty, and obedience. Any shortcomings will be immediately, confessed and repudiated. Remember, the freer the grace the more binding the obedience. And His grace is truly free and our love and thankfulness places upon us the most joyful burden of obedience. Who could not love such a kind Master?

SCRIPTURE OF CONFESSION
Matt 6:12 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Our kind Father, teach us how free your grace is. Teach us to see the enormity of our debt and so, the enormity of the cost to forgive it and so, the enormity of the forgiveness. We confess to You that we have not rightly understood Your grace. We have either made light of it and have given ourselves an excuse for sin or refused to rightly believe it by refusing to forgive others. Your wrath and anger against us has been removed in Christ and through Christ our wrath and anger against those who have wronged us ought also to be removed. Let no unwholesome word proceed from our mouths. Forgive us for our spiteful words. We pray that You would reveal our own sins to us and we confess them to You now. Amen.

SCRIPTURE OF ASSURANCE
Matt 6:13 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Dear Ones, God has been very kind to us and forgiven our sins. Just as we forgive, may he forgive us. This may scare us realizing that we do not forgive as He does. However, we must learn that by faith in Christ, we are forgiven, freely, fully, and forever. When we grasp this, we will be able to freely and fully forgive others. And God’s forgiveness will be with us forever. So, come and honor him now. Amen.

Heidelberg Exhortations-Lord's Day 6

SCRIPTURE OF PRAISE
Gen 3:14-15 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

PRAYER OF PRAISE
Our Father in Heaven, we give honor and glory to Your name. Our race forsook Your kindness when we sinned in the garden. However, you did not forsake us. Instead, you intimated the promise of one who would one day crush the serpents head. You saved mankind in Noah so you could be faithful to that promise and you continue to remind yourself regularly in the rainbow that you will fulfill your promises to us. You promised the nations to Abraham. You gave your wonderful law to Moses and began to more clearly reveal Christ in the shadows of the law. The kingdom was established with David and you taught us of Christ in and through him. The prophets afterwards declared that one would come who would put an end to wars and that peace would reign. Your people waited and were not disappointed as you brought us Messiah, the Lord Jesus. In Him are all the promises yea and Amen. In Him, we see the serpents head crushed. Our Father, these things are too wonderful for us but they are glorious and we rejoice in what you have done in Christ, our perfect sacrifice. Amen.

EXHORTATION 6. Lord's day

Q. 16. Why must he be very man, and also perfectly righteous? A. Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned, should likewise make satisfaction for sin; and one, who is himself a sinner, cannot satisfy for others.

Q. 17. Why must he in one person be also very God? A. That he might, by the power of his Godhead sustain in his human nature, the burden of God's wrath; and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life.

Q. 18. Who then is that Mediator, who is in one person both very God, and a real righteous man? A. Our Lord Jesus Christ: "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."

Q. 19. Whence knowest thou this? A. From the holy gospel, which God himself first revealed in Paradise; and afterwards published by the patriarchs and prophets, and represented by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; and lastly, has fulfilled it by his only begotten Son.

Our God has left no room for human boasting outside of Christ. Our fall was wholly our own but our rise to prominence is all of grace. The Father promised throughout our wanderings from Him that he would one day bring salvation by a redeemer. He was always faithful though we, as men, were ever unfaithful. But God is not slow to bring about His promises. In good time, he brought forth Christ, born of a virgin, to fulfill all that He promised from ages past. We ought to be able to understand from the events in history that man’s every attempt to save himself was only a heaping up of more sin and misery. His vainglorious good deeds made it worse, not better. We would not have figured out the purpose of God in His Messiah. The best religious scholars of the day and the closest associates of Christ, Himself, could not comprehend the will of God in salvation. It is not our work or merit or intellect or wisdom that leads us to salvation, but rather, the kindness of God in Christ. Until we see that the beginning, middle and end our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, we have not rightly understood the gospel. Lay down your vain attempts to save yourself. Only one who is very God and very man can handle that task, and He has done so. Receive it and rejoice.

SCRIPTURE OF CONFESSION
Rom 5:12 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Our Father, sin entered into the world through a man and death by sin and that death passed upon us all and we all sin. Our very nature, apart from your grace, is to sin and death. And thus, by our nature we are objects of your wrath. How can we ever think that we can bring good gifts to you in our own stained names? This so belittles the free gift that you have given us in Christ, Himself. Teach us to look to and trust in Him alone for our salvation, sanctification, and glorification. Forgive us when we think too highly of ourselves and our goodness and thus think little of our Lord Jesus. Teach us complete reliance upon Christ and lead us into the everlasting way. Thus, we are not objects of wrath by nature any longer, but objects of mercy by grace. Father, we pray that you would reveal our individual sins against you and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We confess them to you now and turn away from them by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

SCRIPTURE OF ASSURANCE
Rom 5:10-11 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON
We are reconciled to God in Christ. We are given life and are enabled to live righteously before our Father in heaven. We are joyful because Jesus died for us and bought us. You saints, who honestly seek His favor, your sins are atoned for. There is no separation between you and God. So come and worship Him now. Amen.

Army of God

Do we wear the armor of God to fight or only defend? Much of the armor of God is defensive. The truth shields us from falsehood. Righteousness keeps us from falling into lasciviousness. The gospel gives us a clean conscious before the Lord. Faith gives us the ability to stand fast in the face of overwhelming odds. Salvation is assurance of God’s kindness to us.

Having laid this foundation of defensive works, the Lord then gives us the instrument of conquest. Our defensive weapons keep us from retreating but our goal is not merely to stand fast but to march out and defeat the enemies of God. For this endeavor we need the mighty sword of the Lord, the Word of God. We must fight according to His Word. We do this by embracing all that He has said and exhorting Him to fight on our behalf through the mighty offensive weapon of prayer. When we do this, we are empowered to believe that the gospel really does conquer every foe.

In 2Chronicles 20 we get the great story of Jehoshaphat defeating Ammon and Moab. These are ancient enemies that remain a thorn in the side of Israel down to the return of the captivity. They are too strong for Judah to fight and Jehoshaphat calls upon God to fight for him. This was better than his father did, who called for Syria to protect him. But God heeds Jehoshaphat. God is his refuge and shield. Jehoshaphat employs the offensive weapon of prayer in this fight, particularly in singing. When Israel began to sing before the Lord, God defeated Ammon and Moab.

We must remember that our praise of God as we pray and sing to Him and before Him is the chief element in defeating His and our foes. We cannot win the battle in our own strength. So we must call upon Him to win for us. We must come to see the glory in this truth so that we realize that what we do on the Lord’s day is not some irrelevant and personal event. We call upon our God to be faithful to His covenant with us, to His promise to subdue the earth under the feet of Christ and to advance His gospel over the face of the entire earth. When we do this, God rises up and fights. When we sing psalms to the Lord, we are fighting. It is not merely preparation to fight. It is warfare. So, engage the enemy. Praise God.

Eph 6:10-20 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

2 Chron 20:19-22 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.