Gospel — Jesus is calling…

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:9–12)

The Gospel is simple yet so profound and so different than human thinking that it makes no sense without the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith to understand it and believe it. Think of it; God became a man. How sci-fi that sounds. And that man was sinless, meaning He didn’t do anything according to His own will but always spoke and acted as instructed by His Father in heaven. And His Father in heaven told Him to take our place and die for our sins, which He did, again saying “Not my will but Thine be done.”

We occasionally have a parent who offers to take the punishment or pay the fine for their offspring who has committed a crime, but that is infinitely small compared to what Jesus did that day on a cross just outside Jerusalem. 

This is how Isaiah describes sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Consider the population even at this moment and how each person, including Christians, makes decisions  without consulting God. Then multiply that by all the people that ever lived. That is an awful lot of sin. And pain, guilt. And all children are born with this sinful way of life. The entire human race is at odds with our Creator — unless we accept Jesus and His sacrifice as our salvation. 

Further, no one can do the will of the Father without Him. That sin-nature is unable to yield without the power of the Holy Spirit who comes to live in believers. It is as Jesus said:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1–5)

Yet even as we need Him, He blesses us just as the OT prophet says:

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)

For this incredible truth, the Lord calls to everyone with this invitation:

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6–9)

Yes, it is simple, but the Gospel is profound and beyond understanding to human thoughts. For this reason…

Lord Jesus, I continue to pray that You will have mercy on all who have not yet heard Your call and given their lives to You. Speak to the hearts of unsaved family and friends, to all men and women who are lost without faith in You. Do a mighty work of redemption before You come again and before it is too late.

Who can figure out this mystery?

When confronted by “why God saves some and not others” often the answer given is that God saves those He knows will say yes to Him. In other words, people are saved by their receptivity. This cannot be true because: 

It is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10–18)

The Bible is clear: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9) Those who say “I am saved because I accepted Christ” also forget that Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. . . .” (John 15:16)

The human desire to rule our own lives pops up even here. So we can boast? Rather than trust this God who is sovereign and does what pleases Him, even many times that have no logical reasons?

Charnock outlines how often the sovereignty of God means He does what He pleases and we have no clue why. Here are some examples from His Word and from history:

He sometimes conquers thousands, sometimes with a few laborers. Other times the harvest is small with many laborers. Evangelists may reach hundreds, or labor long and catch nothing. In Corinth, the gospel triumphed over many people, yet in Athens it is mocked, and gathers but a few. 

Miracles were not allowed or God uses them in unexpected ways. Sinners rise out of their graves of sin and beds of sluggishness at the first hearing of this good news while others lie snoring longer. We share, but are frustrated by the outcomes we expect and sometimes shocked by outcomes we thought impossible. 

Sometimes hearers leap at the appearance of Christ, but others lie upon a lazy bed when He knocks from heaven. Sometimes the fleece is dry, and sometimes wet. God can shine light into dark hearts, yet hearts remain dark with light shining all around them. 

Sometimes the strongest arguments and clearest promises cannot prevail over black and despairing resistance, then an unexpected word that seems to have no virtue in it itself opens that heart to Christ. Sometimes a spontaneous word not thought of before gives light where all other efforts were empty. 

A thought comes into my mind like a sunbeam, making a Scripture truth visible in a moment, yet before I never noticed or gave consideration. This, called rhema, is from God’s pleasure. For me, the mystery is why He has persisted for more than fifty years when I am so stubborn to obey?

As for gifts, why are they given? Why am I strong in some and not in others? Because, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11) 

It is the same for His wisdom concerning the gospel. Why was it given to the poor Galileans and not the Pharisees? He granted some “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” and not others (Matthew 13:11). Again, this is a mystery, one not revealed except that God does as He wishes and His acts of sovereignty please Him.

PRAY: Lord God, You have shown me enough of Yourself that I can trust You with what You keep hidden. My sinful, human and fleshy nature is disappointed because I want to know, solve the puzzle, discover the bottom line, be in on this secret. Yet my proud heart is humbled and even glad that You are God and I am not. Worship happens and that is one more mystery — that a proud and self-serving sinner is enabled to bow in surrender to a God that I cannot always understand what You are doing or why. I will be still and know that You are God, and that You will be exalted among the nations, and exalted in the earth. You, the Lord of hosts, are with me and You are my fortress. (Psalm 46:10–11) Amen!

Speaking truth in love

 

 

READ Proverbs 25-28

While childhood experiences are not excuses for adult behavior, they can be explanations. I missed most of elementary public school up to grade seven. Children of that age learn social skills from experiences like saying the wrong thing and being laughed at or doing the right thing and making a new friend. Missing all that has made me wonder how I can be so happy in solitude, or if I’m autistic in not knowing how to talk to others, and so on.

However, this ‘blank slate’ sensation has a plus side — when I became a Christian I also became more open to learning social skills from God rather than avoiding people or learning the hard way of trial and error. Even though Proverbs and the rest of Scripture teach that God’s way is not like human ways, which is another plus, even if it leads to some challenges.

A few verses in today’s reading go against the common way of doing things. For instance, if someone is sad, the usual method to cheer them is by saying positive things, but this bit of wisdom says, “Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.” (Proverbs 25:20)

A person told me that his ill spouse becomes easily depressed. He is very positive about everything with a view to a better future and tries to cheer her with those thoughts. But she isn’t helped by that, even gets angry at him and tells him to stop. I’ve learned from our conversations that depressed people can be frustrated by “be happy” because they are craving understanding and sympathy, not a solution. Telling them to be happy comes across as ‘your sadness bothers me so stop it’ and thus sounds selfish on their part.

My study in Job shows another side to this also. Job needed his friends to put their arms around him and be with him in his suffering, not try to explain it or ‘fix’ it with reasonings about its cause and what Job should be doing and thinking. Jesus did not insist that we sinners should smarten up. Instead, He took our place and bore our sorrows.

I’m no expert at compassion and sympathy. It does not come naturally to listen rather than my tendencies to offer solutions, but this verse does help me to listen and commiserate rather than trying to cheer up someone who is suffering.

Another verse that goes against popular thinking says, “A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.” (Proverbs 26:28) Saying what is not true and flattery are both used to get on the good side of another person or sometimes to ‘help’ them when they are discouraged or feeling like a failure. But God says that words that build up need to be true words — and it may take time and thoughtfulness to find out the root issues and deal with them in a wise way.

Saying things like, “Oh, never mind how your boss treats you, you are a good worker” to someone who has been slacking off is not helpful. Truth may hurt, but kindness is never a lie or flattery. Two other verses show how God’s way is different and opposite to what many do in cases like this:

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Proverbs 27:5–6)

Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. (Proverbs 28:23)

Yes, truth can feel like someone is wounding me, but if my sadness or struggles are caused by an attitude or behavior in my own life, telling me I’m okay is a lie and not helpful at all.

Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:31–36)

As a child of God, I’d rather hear truth that hurts and be set free than be governed by bad habits or wrong doing. And I ought to have that same desire for others to the point that my words reflect what God says rather than be conformed to the way the world operates. The challenge is always to speak those words in love that edifies — not with any attitude that puts anyone into a deeper pit.

 

His thoughts are not our thoughts — no kidding!

Today, the devotional writer says, “The most brilliant intellect may be imbecilic when confronted with the mysteries of God.”

In that context, the Scripture points to Pilate and his claim of authority. He says he has the power to release or crucify Jesus Christ and in that lies the mystery of God. Why would God give a man this authority? Isn’t this a terrible risk?

Today’s news is filled with situations that raise the same sense of mystery. The Bible says God is sovereign and controls all things. Why then is the world filled with so many events that contradict our idea of a loving God? Back in the day when Pilate was challenged, he didn’t consider that God was allowing him the authority he had. He tried to get Jesus to defend Himself and said to him:

“You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” (John 19:10–12)

Those opposed to the greater plan of God are usually ignorant of it. Pilate was. He had no sense that the man he was about to crucify would bring salvation to a sin-filled world. All he knew, or thought he knew, was that he was powerful and he called the shots.

Compared to Pilate, I’d say most of the political leaders in today’s world have no idea why God allows their worst decisions or what He is going to do with them. Pilate thought the issue at hand was whether Jesus lived or died but he was oblivious to the deeper issue: someone perfect had to die for the sins of the world.

We look at things like carbon taxes, spats over who rules what territory, immigration issues, and a host of other things, but very few will claim to know what God is doing on a deeper, eternal level. As many Christians say, all we know is the last chapter of the story — Jesus wins.

^^^^^^^^^

Oh Lord God, the newspaper would severely depress me or drive me to fear if I did not consider the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Your death, unjust and totally tragic, seemed to be one of the worst things that could have happened. But You allowed it, not only allowed it but planned it — so that we might be set free from the tyranny of sin and spend eternity with You. This story has nothing to do with Pilate’s ‘authority’ because no matter what he tried to do, You were in charge. By Your eternal plan, our Savior would die. Because that is true, the news is only news. We are simply oblivious to the details in Your plan that will bring this world to its knees before You.