Third, consider that many who claim to be faithful disciples of Jesus charge Bible-believing disciples with unfair criticism of cultural divergences from Bible truth. We are to be more tolerant of those who openly defy God's word. Indeed, some of those believers think Jesus may have been misrepresented by those who wrote his history in the Four Gospels.
God will REST in Heaven when ALL—meaning EVERYONE there—agree:
Fourth, consider that now God's people debate many theological points. To maintain a spirit, if not the embodiment, of unity, we stress the common faith we all share in Christ Jesus. God will REST in Heaven when all Christians—and, by the way, all in Heaven are Christians. Christ's sacrifice reaches backwards to the first pair in Eden and forward to the last person to be born. However, his REST will not occur when his children hold amicable discussions of differences,
God's REST comes when all agree on every doctrinal point of scripture. God's REST occurs when NO differences exist—since no differences then exist in belief and behavior. Fifth, consider that secular education now almost invariably eliminates God. The middle 19th century view that the Bible necessarily represented wisdom in education is replaced by the humanism that considers the Bible hopelessly outdated. In reply, since academia, business, politics and human depravity have eliminated God in Christ from education, God has eliminated answers we need to:
God will not be mocked by our arrogance, but we shall be shamed, disgraced and humiliated for our pride. Christians...hold fast, firmly, tenaciously to the Christ of the Gospels and to God's called, ordained and empowered perfect record of his life in the New Testament. Fini
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God – and his REST in Heaven, Part I
Understand that this 2-part blog, based on the recently completed series on Heaven, is only suggestive. The writer considers nothing written beyond complement or criticism. With that disclaimer, consider several ways it's possible that God will REST in Heaven. First, consider that the word GOD, used either of the Father or his Son Jesus, is the greatest, heaviest, most majestic word in any language. Yet, we hear it thrown around in everyday conversation like GOD weighs an ounce, in length measures a millimeter and in importance less than a breath. We now hear, "Oh, God" with disgusting regularity beginning sentences, and rarely and only by Christ's disciples, beginning a prayer. God will REST in Heaven when he never again:
When he instead hears his name:
Second, consider that creation itself remains faithful to God's purpose for it and obedient to his commands controlling it. In addition, the creatures in the natural world remain true to God's purpose for them. Yet, the mortals made in God's Image, and commanded and empowered to replicate his mercies in relating to our peers, instead choose envy over appreciation, egotism over selflessness and ambition over service. In personal habits, we minimize conquest of temptation and maximize surrender to temptation. We find it more comforting to overwork our Savior's forgiveness than to implement his Lordship. And we never exhaust ways to be imperfect. Nor do we ever fail to find ways to exacerbate differences into divisions, discussions into quarrels and matters of opinion into theological disputes. God will REST in Heaven when he has in his presence humans who are not only:
But also:
Who will have only:
Taking I Corinthians 1:18-31 as the baseline Bible truth, this blog critiques two polar-opposites in the religious world: the cheap purveyors of religious thrill; and the elitist purveyors of religious thrill—both of them with minimum to no Biblical content.
The first is illustrated by a picture in the San Diego U-T in July, 2021. Two young girls sat cross-legged, with thumb and index finger in a circle—the classic yoga pose, that eastern religion masquerading as valid exercise. But the insult to God was the headline—the girls were finding peace by meditating. Besides the fact that nearly every Bible reference to meditation has God's word as its object, not one's own thoughts, peace is a gift of God through the forgiveness of sin by Christ's Saviorhood. Understand Luke 2:11-14 in that context: peace comes from being forgiven. Relaxation can be found in many ways, even yoga. The second was illustrated by an obituary in the U-T, 6/12/18. An intellectual searching for God took it on himself to penetrate the mysteries of God Almighty through the human mind. Meaning...faith in God is something elitists create, not what God reveals about himself. It's what the human finds God to be, wants God to be and demands he be. The two ideas are contradictory to each other, never to be reconciled now or ever. Any such conclusion reveals an abysmal ignorance of God's word and the many evidences in it that God provides. We don't need to
Since the Bible assumes GOD, and offers evidences of God in passing, any effort we make to FIND HIM is unnecessary nonsense—an intellectual exercise that will never lead us closer to God than the Bible does. It will often lead us farther from God by making ourselves the authority about God—and we accept only what is intellectually acceptable. Whatever bounteous evidences God provides, and he does, the saved and justified live by faith Habakkuk 2:4, Hebrews 11:5, I Corinthians 1:18-31. I'm trusting God's word. Hope you are. Dipping the tip of his Paper Mate into what for him is the unfamiliar territory of Big Money, the writer has noticed the influence of small investors—"retail investors" by institutional experts in pension and mutual funds. Focusing only on the AMC Theater Chain, they have driven the company stock from a dormant $2 a share January 5, 2021, to a prosperous $72 a share Wednesday, June 2, 2021.
That's the limit of the writer's plunge into the stock market. But accenting the spiritual lesson taught by the surge of "retail investors", he reminds Christians of something we've forgotten. The Kingdom of God has, from God's choice of Abram, to God's choice of a shepherd boy, to God's choice of Simon Peter and brother Andrew, to God's choice of "not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth, I Corinthians 1:26, GOD ALONE empowers his Kingdom. Church leaders today glory in the conversion of high-profile people. This writer still remembers the Sunday evening H. Leon Appel came into youth group at Lincoln, Illinois, Christian Church and told us teenagers how Roy and Dale Rogers had been won to Christ. We were suitably impressed. Even the apostle Paul remembered to mention as a disciple "Erastus, who is the city's director of public works" Romans 16:23. A difference distinguished Paul from modern preachers: one reference appears in Paul's letters of such a convert whereas any preacher is quick to often publicly remind us of such people. While the disciples glorified in the "massive stones" and "magnificent buildings" of the temple complex, Jesus instead boosted the financial contribution of a widow whose sole contribution to God's work were "too small copper coins" Mark 12:41-13:1. And who of us hasn't heard of generous donors to churches, colleges and medical facilities, while hearing nothing of sacrificial donors to the same? The Kingdom of God IS GOD's Kingdom. He's the Owner, Benefactor and Sovereign. Any role we have, big or small, honorific or essential, is irrelevant to the Kingdom's Role and Rule. God called Abram from Ur of the Chaldees to be a witness of monotheism to a Mesopotamian world of polytheism. God called Moses to lash a turbulent mob of Hebrews into a nation of Hebrews as a witness of God's Law to an Egyptian world of royal privilege. God called Christians to be witnesses of GRACE through Christ's death and resurrection to a Roman world of militarism. That witness continues in all succeeding times until the FINAL TIME.
Each of these callings from God to chosen servants had a purpose: that the nations would learn but ONE GOD exists; that his ONE LAW governs, allows, restricts and forbids behaviors; and that, from the beginning of human history in Eden to the end when Jesus Christ returns from Heaven, God's GRACE ALONE through Christ will perfectly forgive all human sin repented and confessed to him. Every world-view into which God called his servants proved instinctively hostile to each witness. Including now, including ours. Nevertheless, God's purpose prevailed and prevails. And Christians will continue to have diminishing influence in society until we once again "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them" Matthew 28:18-20. Evangelism is the presently unused method by Christians for influencing society. When will we return to Christ's purpose in coming to earth? Summary thoughts for this series of blogs.
Virtues We Want Are Adjuncts of Our Spiritual Inheritance Self-help books proliferate by so many needing the virtues/qualities/traits Christians possess, without accepting God in Christ. Let us learn that all who trust God in Christ naturally accrue what others vainly seek elsewhere. If Christians don't have them, it's because we haven't claimed and tried them, not because they don't exist. Temptation Is a Goliath Overcome The Philistine threat to Israel hadn't been removed by Goliath's death. Saul's obsession with a non-existent threat from David limited his ability to once-for-all finalize Philistia's incursions. Point of Fear. Like Goliath, temptation is no joke. Like him in other contests, temptations seem invincible. Only with David's accession did Israel exhaust Philistia's strength. They tested his strength and found IT imperviously redoubtable. Point of Faith. Goliath-sized problems always appear to intimidate us. Impossible situations rise for which no solution exists. And sometimes man-killing tasks that everyone else avoids. David's confidence in God fills us with assurance. As his victory over the man representing Philistia anticipated Israel's conquest of Philistia in his later reign, our resistance to or victory over any temptation represents what can always be the result when facing problems. God is the Greater power whatever Great power we face, the Waymaker by being THE WAY, over, through, under or around otherwise stunning obstacles. For sometimes God doesn't so much kill the giants as he makes us so much bigger it shrinks them to runts. The Historic Struggle Continues David's success in slaying Goliath symbolized the victory of Israel's monotheism over Philistine polytheism. The outcome of the entire contest, first suggested by Goliath, and accepted as the basis of battle by David, proceeded on the basis of ONE God or Many gods. New Testament Christians confronted the same struggle. Did but ONE God exist or did a plethora of gods and goddesses aplenty and lords and saviors not a few? In his ministry Jesus declared his Spiritual Singularity against all the plurality Roman society advocated. John 14:6 but one of many examples. His people naturally accepted his authority as absolute. And, for the first 30 years, Roman tolerance served as a haven for Christians beleaguered by Jewish fanaticism. Then, beginning in A.D. 64, with Nero's persecution of Christians, a shift from tolerance to suspicion occurred. With the destruction of Herod's temple in A.D. 70, Rome became aware of the distinction between Judaism's former compliance with societal expectation and Christianity's refusal to negotiate Christ's authority. That led to the frightful persecutions of Christians during the latter part of the first century, the episodic persecutions throughout the second through the first decade of the third. In Revelation 2-3 the greatest danger facing Christians in the Roman world was the temptation to soften Christ's dangerous Singularity into a compromising Diversity; diluting his Pure Spiritual Truth with doses of innocent-sounding theories and philosophies. It hasn't changed to this day. The thoughtless immigration changes in the 20th century—buttressed by America's failures in war—have brought to America foreign nationals wanting all the freedom and prosperity we enjoy while demanding the right to retain all their customs and religious practices. Christians agree to freedom of religion. But we'll never agree that freedom OF religion means equality IN religions. Jesus demanded that his people defend his Singularity under the Caesars and hasn't changed his Singularity into a more comfortable Duality now or a cuddly pluralism that reduces him to a religious figurehead among equal religious figureheads. Fini David had two advantages over Goliath, the first infinite, the second relative. God armed his servant, Goliath served himself; and David had a mobility in battle denied the giant. In fact, for all the protection armor provided him, it prevented quick moves and instant direction-changes.
The apostles likewise possessed a divinely-given purpose, coupled with a simple organization in the months after Pentecost. They were free to act under the Holy Spirit's tutelage, while the cumbersome bureaucracy built through the centuries shackled the Sanhedrin's response. While the apostles KNEW they couldn't "help speaking about what we have seen and heard," Acts 4:20, the 70 member Sanhedrin debated how to respond: some wanted to kill them outright; others wanted further dialogue with them; still others wanted to WAIT, Acts 5:33-40! That inability to react swiftly and decisively gave the apostles freedom to preach, to heal, to influence and to baptize. And when the leadership finally decided to punish them, and did, Acts 5:41-42, it merely increased apostolic influence in Jerusalem, leading to Acts 6:1ff. The Sanhedrin's vulnerability vis á vis the apostles illustrates Goliath's vis á vis David. In a rage Goliath lumbered forward, likely expecting David to run for cover. THAT'LL BE THE DAY! The boy had descended the hill and crossed the valley to confront, to attack, to destroy his enemy. He instantly loped forward, in a sweat of concentration, looking for a chance to hit Goliath with the stone in his sling. After several passes around the giant, David found it—an opening around the nose and lower forehead. He stopped, stood and watched as the oncoming menace neared, his long spear glinting in the sun, his shouts booming across the plain, his flaming eyes glaring hatred, his mouth covered with spittle forming on his beard. On he came to wreak his revenge. On he came to kill the king. The boy again broke into a trot, heart pumping wildly. His trot became a wind sprint covering the last twenty yards between them. And as he flew across the ground practiced hands pulled the sling aloft and, at ten yards, as Goliath cocked his spear to strike, David twirled his slingshot once, twice, thrice, then...at the behest of the Holy Spirit's "FIRE"...David opened the sling's pocket and hurled the stone like a guided missile. Seconds passed and, as David glided to Goliath's right, he re‑armed to strike again. Without need. For the stone had almost instantly crashed into the target's forehead. Stopped in his tracks, he at first did nothing. Then David heard a pitiful moan as the Philistine wavered, his knees buckled, he dropped his unspent spear, then slowly collapsed, limb by limb by limb, face to the ground, whimpering in a mournful death struggle. David quickly bent at the Philistine's side, whipped the sword from his scabbard and severed his head. Holding the grisly trophy aloft, David waved to his brothers above. They burst into so explosive a whoop that the terrified Philistines didn't even break camp. They panicked and fled across the mountains and down to the seacoast towns. And in pursuit angry Israelite warriors unleashed vengeance to the very gates of Gath and Ekron. End Part VIII George Müller started a network of orphanages across England in the 19th century. Despite being responsible for thousands of kids, he never appealed for money or daily provisions. He wanted GOD ALONE to be his provider and prayed constantly for his beneficence. He admitted to developing faith in God equal to the daily responsibility of his ministry. "My faith...has increased little by little....over 26 years." Then Sings My Soul, Vol. 1, p. 103.
As a previous blog in this series suggested, the Holy Spirit empowered 15-year-old David with Samuel's anointing with oil I Samuel 16:1, 13. As a result, possessing faith in God far beyond his physical age, he confronted Goliath with confident audacity. Across the swells in the valley floor David could see the ever-larger form of a monster-man towering higher with every few yards. No matter to the lad. He knew God had already devoted Goliath to himself and would use David as his servant of destruction. At perhaps 60 yards Goliath had begun his plodding way, heralded by his armor-bearer, now just a companion. At 50 yards he stopped, looked and began to swear in thunderous disdain against the insult to his manhood. Then, in anger equal to the insult received, he determined to make a meal for vultures of the boy. "You want a fight, boy?" he shouted across the yards. "Fine; let's fight. But I'll warn you now, you'll lie in this field until the birds eat your eyes out and the animals bare your bones. No burial for you." On he went, poisoning the air with curses on Saul and the pup he sent as a warrior. This is what is called a boast. David stood those yards apart, listening. When Goliath finished, David began, answering boast with boast. Only he outboasted Goliath, in length and in content. He had come in God's name, not with sword or spear, David shouted. And the God he served, whom Goliath had disgraced, would uproot him from life like a dead plant pulled from the ground. David would strike him, cut off his head and see to it that Goliath's corpse remained on the field to be consumed by carrion. It would all be done to prove that Israel had a God who saved by his power alone. At last, all the talking over, all the bragging done, the combatants stood yards apart, Goliath sneering in contempt at David, David dripping with scorn for Goliath. End Part VII The battle joined. While Goliath awaited a grown man in full armor—as much like himself as possible to have even a minimal chance of success—he saw but an unarmed "fresh from the farm" boy approaching. His warrior nature as enraged as his personal prowess insulted, he ranted and swore and clanked his armor and weapons in protest. He had taken all those weeks of boasting to summon a tall man—and a runt appeared yards away; a mere dog unworthy of a vaunted strong man.
Dog is an interesting word in the Bible, never used in a complementary way. Always used in unworthy ways. As an unworthy object of a superior's attention:
Goliath ignored the even-then military axiom, "one who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off" I Kings 20:11. Or, as the military theorists would later say, "never underestimate your enemy." Because he considered SIZE, EXPERIENCE and EQUIPMENT essential to a warrior, the Philistine reviled a boy lacking all three. Like the University of Michigan Football team in 1924 marginalized the Fighting Illini's Red Grange, A.K.A. The Galloping Ghost. Like warriors putting on their armor, they bragged that Grange hadn't yet faced Michigan's powerful defensive line and would be shattered when he did. To prove his team's invincibility, the coach directed the opening kickoff at Grange.
I'll leave the readers' there with this Question: what problem do you face that taunts you as UNABLE to be defeated and must be accepted as your burden? One that not even God can lift? You've tried before and failed; why think success is possible this time? The sin has earned the right to be in your life. Why fight it? It demands your pound of flesh; most importantly...you can't think that God considers little ol' you important enough to empower you with his overcoming grace! All of those are Satan's lies, and lies, and lies. Never listen to him. Cover your ears and shout him away! End Part VI Planning on David killing Goliath seemed as impossible as a gutter ball getting a strike in bowling. Yet Mary Higgins had such an experience in Gander, Newfoundland, when bowling in a warped bowling alley. Clark, Kitchen Privileges, 69. The warped alley explained Mary's strike. Nothing but God's intrusion in the confrontation between David and Goliath explained that outcome. A miracle, remember, isn't an answer to prayer, though they're often specifically remarkable enough to elicit "it's a miracle." But it isn't. It's simply God answering the prayers of his people, as Jesus assured he would Matthew 7:7-12.
How, then, does a stripling fell an oak, minus tunic, helmet, armor and sword? For when David left Saul's tent stripped to his "work clothes," out walked a shepherd boy, unarmed but for an empty sling. To the edge of the hill he strode, accompanied by shouts of approval from Israel's army. Over its side he went, scrambling, feet first, arms held behind breaking his fall, till he reached the dry stream bed below. There he bent, chose five smooth stones from the scores lying around, armed his sling and stuffed the reserve into his shepherd's pouch. Then off to meet the foe...KNOWING that GOD ALONE could use his youth to kill a warrior from his youth. Understand the initiative that precipitated the conflict. For 40 days only braggadocio from Goliath split the morning and evening quiet. Now, on day 41, ACTION occured when the lad presented himself to the HULK! David went forward to engage the enemy; as God ordered ancient Israel forward to escape the Egyptian horde behind, with only the deep and dark Sea of Reeds ahead! Jesus saw Satan hiding behind his fortress walls, fearing the attack of God's people, knowing he couldn't withstand the power unleashed against him Matthew 16:18. Instead, God often sees his people withdrawn into their sanctuaries and Bible studies to save themselves, complaining of being besieged by wicked forces condemning us for Christ-like righteousness. Action BY God's people against every satanic stronghold in society must characterize the church in every age, including ours, including now. Question: when have we last used what we learned from messages and Bible studies to evangelize people lost in the multiple deceptions Satan uses to keep them chained inside their fears? David's forward motion to the contest is the past event that best teaches us what direction we should go as Christians. Get involved with "down and out" people, where they hurt, where they struggle to find reality, where they merely exist awaiting their end and need to KNOW where they can LIVE delighting in their end. With "up and out" people, trusting their education, career, social position or fame to save them in the END, when only Christ's Grace suffices! Then we can verify in our lives what Paul wanted Philemon to demonstrate in his, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" Philemon 6. End Part V |
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