GLADNESS OF HEART
#047 GLADNESS OF HEART
Scripture Psalm 96:9-13 NIV Orig. 12-5-61
Rewr. 10-29-87
Passage: 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Purpose: To share a hopeful and heartening message at the funeral of a church member
Keywords: Funeral Joy
Introduction
Death and sorrow are inseparable. With the loss of one so intimately entwined with our lives, there are the sudden and sure pangs of grief and loss. At this point, Christians are no different. In fact, these feelings may be more inordinately felt.
To measure life by eternal scales is to feel with an intensity that others cannot know. It is sadness for the one parted from us, whose parting came under such struggle and toil. There is given to the believer, however, the potential even in such a place, to know peace, even to know gladness of heart.
At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky
And flinging the clouds and the towers by,
Is a place of central calm;
So here in the roar of mortal things,
I have a place where my spirit sings,
In the hollow of God’s palm.
Edwin Markham
I. Gladness of Heart Comes in Knowing that the Lord Reigns. V10 “Say,” says the Psalmist, “that the Lord reigns.” How can there be tragedy that is not negated by that good news? Surely, there are regrets in such partings as this. But resentment, for the believer, is a thing impossible. For there is no untoward thing that cannot bring refreshment to the believing spirit.
“Time flies,
Suns rise
And shadows fall.
Let time go by.
Love is forever over all.”
English Sun Dial (Q1, II, p30)
He came to reign, and the heart in which he reigns is at peace. Isaiah 51:11 “The redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion: and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.”
To know the Lord is to know redemption. It is to know that though the parting was a grievous one, the first greeting will be as happy as the last one was sad. It does us well to remember that peace is not a human condition but a divine complement.
A man on his deathbed (attributed to John Newton, writer of Amazing Grace) dictated a short letter that he wanted delivered to a friend. He started, “I am yet in the land of the living.” Suddenly, he directed the one taking the letter to stop writing. “Change that,” he said. “I am yet in the land of the dying, but soon will be in the land of the living.”
II. Gladness of Heart Comes in Remembering the Goodness of God. V13 “… the Lord cometh to judge . . . the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” It is here in the land of the dying that the gracious hand of God comforts his people. We are surrounded by heartache, struggle, a thousand other things that we would change if we could, even things that are meant to magnify God’s grace. It is in the struggle that we are best able to perceive the sovereignty. The returning captives would know the sheer, unadulterated joy of victory over their deepest sorrows.
Isaiah saw the day of return. Isaiah 55:12 “Ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the mountain and the hills will break forth before you in singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
It is his will to introduce us from this land of death, to one of life. James Tinsley has preceded us. Knowing what he now knows, he would not change a thing. He would plead with his renewed voice to be ready, for the time will come and for many, when they are least ready.
“I prayed to see the face of God, illumined by the central suns
Turning in their ancient track;
But what I saw was not His face at all—
I saw His bent figure on a windy hill,
Carrying a double load upon His back.”
--R. Perkins in Anthology of Modern Verse
Conclusion
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was asked by a respondent a question about his own death. She wanted to know, “How would you spend the next few hours if you knew you were to die at midnight tomorrow?”
He replied, “Just as I intend to spend them now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester. Again at 5:00 tomorrow morning. I would ride to Tewksbury to preach in the evening. Then to meet with the societies, and to go to friend Martin’s house. There I would converse and pray with his family, retire to my room at ten. Commend myself to my heavenly Father. Lie down to rest. And wake up in glory.”
SEEKING BETTER THINGS
#045 SEEKING BETTER THINGS
Scripture Colossians 3:1-4 NIV Orig. 4-14-63
Rewr. 1-6-74/4-8-79
Passage: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Purpose: To speak to my people on the occasion of Easter celebration to call to their minds the need to lift our horizons in the Lord Jesus, and commitment to Him.
Keywords: New Birth Easter Resurrection Christian Living
Introduction
A BAG OF TOOLS
Isn’t it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, a book of rules:
And each must make—before life is gone—
A stumbling block or a steppingstone.
--R.L. Sharpe--
We do not have to look very far to discover people who have committed themselves absolutely to their life priorities. Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist, considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Mary Leakey, paleontologist and contributor to National Geographic, was committed to the task of discovering man’s beginnings. Ralph Nader was a consumer who made news about the dangers of the Corvair and Pinto; a young college student had died. Nuclear scientists are convinced that one of man’s energy sources is in their field, and they are committed to efficient and safe nuclear power plants; it is too late to turn back because there are already 500 of these plants in the world, either in operation, or in some stage of planning or construction.
We Christians must come to terms with the need for commitment to our Lord, and to His church, in order that we might be known as people whose energy resources and reserves are given over unconditionally to our Lord to bring glory to His name.
Seeking better things is as immanent in the spiritual world as in the material world.
I. The Natural Beginning Place for Any Improvement is to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.“
Apparently, most of us are looking for some good out of life. For Adam, it was a rather arrogant goal, to be like God, all wise and eternal. For Job, it was for an answer to a philosophical question, albeit a very important one (Job 14:14) “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Thomas, who walked part of life’s trail with Jesus, was one who could not settle for faith, He had to have fact. “I will believe that He is alive, only under the circumstances of touching the nail holes, and feeling the torn flesh on His side.”
But regrettably, the goal for most of us is not changed from that day long ago in Babel (Genesis 11:4), “Let us build us a city and a tower. . . , whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
We are compelled here as Christians to remember that life has a higher, nobler goal. It begins with the certitude that Christ is alive. Luke 24:3 “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.”
It takes on its deepest meaning when we discover through faith that we are alive with Christ. A.A. Ketchum wrote the hymn on p. 429 in our hymnal, Why Do I Sing About Jesus?
Deep in my heart there’s a gladness; Jesus has saved me from sin!
Praise to His name, what a Saviour! Cleansing without and within!
Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me?
He is my Lord and my Saviour; Dying, He set me free!
Paul is not here appealing for a sham other worldliness where we only contemplate eternity. He is clearly acknowledging that for the Christian, his new standard of value will be God’s standard of value: Giving more than getting; serving more than ruling; forgiving more than avenging.
Vance Havner, the contemporary Baptist evangelist, gives practical advice to all of us: “I would say to today’s young minister, ‘Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation. You can well afford to dispense with many other activities some may think indispensable. You will be returning to a way of life almost forgotten now, and you may be eyed askance by all runners in the Great Rat Race. But your chance may come one day to speak your piece on some strategic occasion, when weary humanity has reached saturation and boredom listening to everything else. On that day, your quiet walks and lonely vigils will pay off. If that chance never comes, they will have paid off anyway.’”
II. Then, Let this Seeking Continue in the Positive Thrust of Christ-Like Living. V3:2-3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” The Gnostics believed in hidden wisdom. The meaning here is obvious. The believer does not automatically lose worldly desire. One never loses the potential to sin.
Something else did happen, and still does. Their lives are wrapped up in Christ. The Greeks commonly spoke of a dead relative as being hidden in the earth. The believer dies a spiritual death in baptism, and is hidden in Christ. Baptism literally engulfed the early believers in the Lord. It should be so with us.
There is another reason why the believer should be so wrapped up in the Lord. Satan rarely, if ever, gives up on bringing disruptive influences to bear in our lives.
Paganini, the great violinist, was in the middle of an important concert when one of the strings on his violin snapped. He continued to play as if nothing had happened. Then, a second broke! He played yet on without hesitation. Then, unbelievably, a third gave way with a sharp crack! For a brief moment, he paused. The audience assumed he would quit. But he calmly raised his famous Stradivarius with one hand and announced, “One string . . . and Paganini!”
With a tremendous, furious skill and matchless discipline, he finished the selection on a single string. The audience arose and gave him a thunderous ovation.
There are times in our lives when things go wrong. Strings one after the other seem to snap. It becomes increasingly easier to quit. But when we are wrapped up in Jesus, going on is the thing to do. Nothing pleases the prince of darkness more than for the children of the Father to forget who we are and WHOSE we are. Nothing robs him of power and pleasure in our lives like trusting the Lord the more in difficult times than in good times.
You see, the Christian life has a final goal of Christlikeness. The Christian’s life is never more than when it is in the process of becoming.
There is the new consumer advocacy. There is genetic engineering. For the believer, there is that priority that establishes the Lordship of Christ, and my only solution to the sin problem in my life is through Him.
CLOSING
The three Hebrew children, young men actually, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were threatened with death if they did not accede to the demands of the Babylonians. They were to worship like Babylonians and act like Babylonians. “If it be so that our God is able to deliver us, well; but if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve thy gods or worship them” (Daniel 3).
When Paul arrived at Miletus, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17). He reminded them of the two essentials of the kingdom: repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus. He, Paul, was not going to be around to help them, but this was the essential message that they were to bear to the people of their city.
Repentance and faith. They still are the elemental functions of belief: Repentance—clearly, we are sinners, and only repentance toward God will ever change that; and Faith—faith that Christ died on a cross as the enabler of repentance and forgiveness, and the better, fuller life that is in Him.
JUSTIFIED FREELY
#044 JUSTIFIED FREELY
Scripture Romans 3:19-31 NIV Orig. 11-12-61 (11-85)
Rewr. 10-5-88
Passage 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, here defining the message of justification for all mankind.
Keywords: Bible Study God, Grace Man, Lost Justification Law
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
Although it has been a number of years, many of us will still remember news reports out of the city of Philadelphia, and the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. It was the summer of 1976. By some fateful choice, the American Legion was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia. Many of the legionnaires were staying at the Bellevue Stratford.
After the convention was over, and many of the conventioneers had returned home, a strange pall of illness invaded the lives of many of them. Although they were in hospitals in several parts of the country, their doctors read the symptoms the very same way. These people had an unknown illness. For that reason, it became known as “legionnaires” disease. In the weeks following at least 29 people died as a result of complications from the disease. These people had either stayed at The Bellevue Stratford Hotel, or had taken meals there.
Public censure of the hotel began immediately. Before the end of that year, a period of no more than six months, the hotel was closed. What had at one time been one of the proudest of the Philadelphia hotels, slowly sank into an undeserved oblivion. The hotel did not cause those deaths. But its association with them was such that a cautious public would no longer avail itself of these accommodations.
We have an aversion to that which seems to be a threat to our physical well-being. We are insisting on more and more safety in every mode of transportation. We spend huge amounts of money encouraging medical science to protract life.
We have no aversion, however, to sin. We seem willing to take our chances with it even when we know what a threat it is. Thus, Paul reminds his readers, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace through . . . Christ Jesus.”
I. First, then, Is the Need for Justification. V23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thomas Hobbes wrote, “whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin.” The first three chapters are an extension of this premise. God has revealed Himself to the gentiles through nature (Romans 1:19-20). He revealed Himself to the Jews through Law (Romans 2:14-15). All have rebelled against this revelation (Romans 1:29-32 and 2:1-5). All will be judged on the basis of truth rejected (Romans 2:9-11). All are equally guilty (Romans 3:21-23).
Here will begin (through chapter 8) the supreme workings of faith. Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, or angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things past, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Man, whatever his cultural bias, is the fallen creation of God. We were created in, and for, holiness. Acts 17:26f “From one man made He every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth: and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him. . . reach out for Him and find Him, though . . . not far from any of us.”
The first man was created in holiness but voluntarily fallen. So, each one of us, though touched by that same life force of God, is fallen. Holiness implanted but not yielded to in our lives, is thus lost.
We were created to remain under the just law of God. The article was somber and sobering. “Last night while you slept: 15,000 arrests were made, more than 3,000 were committed to mental institutions, there were nearly 100 suicides and 30 murders.”
II. There is Purpose in This Justification. V22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Man had the choice of positive obedience, and of belief about trust in community, too. It was no impossible alternative. The only available example is Jesus. While we have the seed of sin, the choice is our own.
God chose man to dwell in fellowship. That purpose has never changed. It was witnessed by law and prophets. Isaiah’s “suffering servant” passage (Isaiah 52:13f) confirms. Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring thee back.”
The same truth pertains to Jew and Gentile, v22. “There is no difference.” V23 “Both have sinned,” or “miss the mark.” Hebrew v. Greek suggest bad aim or powerlessness.
“Justified freely” (v24) means a judicial decree. “Redemption” (v24) refers to a slave market, where a price had to be paid.
I Peter 1:18f “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish.” This brings us to the very heart of the gospel. It speaks of the measure of redemption—“freely” (v24). It speaks of the manner of redemption—"by His grace” (v24). It speaks of the means of redemption—“through . . . Christ Jesus” (v24).
It behooves us to recognize the choice that we are left to make. Human reason tells us to avoid the implication of guilt. Matthew Arnold, poet and author of Victorian England, pictured sin “not as a monster but as an infirmity.” Elsewhere: “an infirmity to get rid of.” He says not “How”!
The likely choice is the (word), not human reasoning. Romans 3:2 “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Guilt is a factor, and restitution is inevitable. The workable alternative is faith in Christ as redeemer and sin bearer.
III. Finally, We See the Example of Justification. V28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Paul’s argument here is not simply justification by faith. He has already settled that: V24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ.”
His argument is one for the exclusiveness of that faith justification. His point is clear. God does not opt to save some by faith and others by work. Such inconsistency is the spawn of infidelity. It is a human trait, not a sovereign one. If God’s mood allowed such swings, how would we know what is His contemporary exercise?
So the point is thoroughly made: He is God of both Jew and Gentile. Jeremiah 10:7 “Who would not fear you, O you king of the nations?” “Nations” is reference to non-Jews. Greek translates ethnos as “nations.”
Mark 12:29f “Hear O Israel, the Lord is one . . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” For the Jew, the law is the source through which faith flows. (Galatians 3:24, in the King James calls law a “schoolmaster.”) For the Gentile, grace is the instrument of faith. But for both, it is the act of believing faith that saves.
So, Paul reminds us that sin is the problem. We are without defense or excuse. Repentance is the key that activates this faith. Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian, said, “You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it will be too late.”
Closing
On our one trip abroad, we stopped briefly in Venice. On a ride through the canals, we saw the bridge called The Bridge of Sighs. It is said to lead from a courtroom to a dismal prison. “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
GIDEON: MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR
#043 GIDEON: MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR
Scripture Judges 6:11-18, 22-23 NIV Orig. 11/4/62 (11/77)
Rewr. 10/4/85
Passage: 11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
Purpose: To lead my people in an in-depth study of Gideon and his spiritual resolution, and what we may learn thereby.
Keywords: Character God Power Missions
Timeline/Series: Old Testament Characters
Introduction
Gideon is called here a “mighty man of valor.” It is a term that can be misapplied. We usually go through a relatively simple process when we make such judgments about other people. Compared to another, how does that particular person measure up? Is Gideon such a “man of valor,” or is it that compared to those around him, he left such an impression?
Tennyson had to resort to fiction to find one who accommodated his own characteristics of human supremacy. He wrote of Sir Galahad
“My good blade carves the casques of men.
My tough lance thrusteth sure:
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.”
It is far easier to find those whose “hearts” are not pure, who are not “men of valor.” During New Orleans days, a young seminary friend stopped by my office. He was serving a church in the Bogalusa area, and was in the pastor’s office there. A church member came in with an armload of mops. He began to berate the pastor for allowing such a budget travesty. “Why had they bought so many mops that could only be used one at a time?” After the man had his say and left, someone in the room commended the pastor for keeping his cool under such an unnecessary outburst. My friend said that the pastor’s reply was a classic. “It really isn’t that hard to understand his feeling, when one is aware that the total sum of his contributions for the year is tied up in unused mops.”
Compared to Tennyson’s Galahad, few of us would be considered as “people of valor,” but compared to the “Bogalusa Badman” most of us could smile and be happy about what we are.
Gideon is clearly a “man of valor.” His are characteristics which God often chooses to bless.
I. It is to a Prepared Man that God Comes. There can be little doubt that Gideon spent long lonely hours at his vigil. He has poured out his soul beseeching God for an answer to Israel’s dilemma. Note his reply to the angel (v13) “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us?”
How often people are prepared for spiritual challenge by their distresses. Isaiah—“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” Hosea—Understood and revealed Israel’s infidelity by experiencing it in his own family. Martin Luther—Climbed the 52 steps of the “Scala Sancta” on his knees and spoke out against the church, fellow priests, and scholars; as a separated clergyman, in his arms little Magdalena lay dying—it nearly destroyed him, until he received God’s peace.
For others, it is the challenge alone that prepares them for their work. Too many of us think in terms of why we can’t accomplish something. There are some who consider only what they must. Gideon knew why this would be a most difficult undertaking. The Midianites were determined and ruthless. Israel was in a state of confusion. Even Gideon’s own house was torn down for idolatry. V25 tells of the statue of Baal in Gideon’s father’s house.
200 years ago, William Carey, the father of modern missions, had not yet gone to the mission field, had not yet begun to pastor, had not yet been baptized. We must remember that mission is a recent concept. His major challenge was to overcome not the hardships of the mission field, but the excuses of the people on the home front. It was too great a distance (but not for commerce); the people were uncivilized (but Paul went to Gaul and the Britons); the discomforts—but that’s for the missionary to decide; the language barrier—that didn’t stop the East India Company.
Yet others were prepared by vision. Against Gideon’s excuses the Lord responded 6:14, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
II. It is to One with Purpose that God Comes. It is not with only the sense of a purpose that God comes, as if the man alone is what God needs. It is the purpose, linking the man’s life with some noble cause.
God offers His strength to implement that of Gideon. V15 “So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.’” We see a nation come to grief. A family is described (Gideon was the son of Joash the Abiezrite whose own father was a Baal worshiper): Gideon is a man who views himself as an unlikely candidate for honor.
God’s strength is offered for God’s purpose. God has already given unconditional promises. Genesis 9:13 “I set my bow in the clouds as a sign of covenant between me and the earth.” Judges 2:1 “I will never break my covenant with you.” God never wills to leave us in distress except to our good. Gideon is that chosen vessel for good.
Gideon is a proof text for people caught in the mire of Spiritual lethargy. Perhaps we see characteristics that are reminiscent of Gideon in us. What would be our reaction to an angel? “You’ve come to the wrong house. Let me get a roadmap and help you on your way.” But God chooses to use us in His cause. There are injustices. You do feel unworthy. “Accept my purpose and I will use you.”
Gideon would succeed where others had failed because God’s purpose would become his purpose.
III. Finally, it is to Anoint with Power that God Comes. Gideon reaches out for some tangible evidence that he has not dreamed this. He prepares an offering (v19). A rock becomes an altar of proof (v21). The first test came quickly. God said “cut down the grove belonging to your father.” Gideon selected men of his own servants as others were not to be trusted. When Gideon’s life was endangered, his father said “If my son has offended Baal, let Baal act.”
Still, Gideon needed assurance. Gideon challenges God to show by a particular sign that it is His work he is doing. If the fleece is wet with dew and the ground around it is dry, “I will know your intent.” V37.
When the day of battle comes, Gideon is instructed to disarm and go into battle with 300 who drink water funny. (Chapter 7)
How like us this is. Of all the ages we think ourselves the least likely candidate; of our father’s houses, I find me the least able. We unite our voices in asking God, “Why?” Do we hear Him say, “Go in this thy might”?
As a physicist said, “If there is no law in physics between me and my goal, I can get there.”
Conclusion
Herbert Lockyer wrote that, without doubt, Gideon is among the brightest luminaries of Old Testament history. His character and call are presented in a series of tableaux. We see:
1-Gideon at the flail—the young man was threshing wheat when the call came to him to become the deliverer of his nation. History teaches that obscurity of birth is no obstacle to noble service. It was no dishonor for Gideon to say “My family is poor.”
2-Gideon at the altar—Gideon was God-fearing. His own father had become an idolater but Gideon vowed to remove the idols. No wonder they called him Jerubbaal, meaning “discomforter of Baal.”
3- Gideon and the fleece—Facing the great mission of his life, he had to have an assuring token that God was with him. God condescended to grant Gideon the double sign.
4-Gideon at the well—How fascinating is the incident of the reduction of Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000, then to only 300. The few, choice, brave, active men and God were in the majority against the swarms of Midian. God is not always on the right side of big battalions.
5-Gideon with the whip—The men of Succoth and Penuel made themselves obnoxious, but with a whip of thorns Gideon meted out to them the punishment they deserved.
6-Gideon in the gallery of worthies--It was no small honor to have a place, as Gideon has, in the illustrious roll named in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, where every name is an inspiration, and every character a miracle of grace.
THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD
#042 THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD
Scripture Matthew 5:5-13; 26:39 NIV Orig. 7-5-64 (10-75) (4-85)
Rewr. 4/22/84
Passage: V5-13 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
V26:3939 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Purpose: Using Jesus’ teaching and example in prayer to remind us of the parameters of God’s grace in our lives today
Keywords: Commitment Grace of God Prayer Christ Mediator Communication
Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader of peaceful resolution, gained many of his most significant insights from Christ. He is quoted as having said that he would have given more serious consideration to having become an avowed follower of Christ had it not been for some of the Christians that he had known. It is still so, that the greatest hindrance to the Kingdom of God is usually found in the discordant events in the lives of those who are presumably members of the kingdom.
Dr. R.G. Lee entitled one of his favorite sermons, “The Menace of Mediocrity.” In it he writes “Mediocrity is somebody with diamond and ruby talents, worth as little to God’s cause through the church as a punctured Japanese nickel is worth at a Chinese bazaar.” In that message, he mentions another sermon entitled “Bantam Baptists.” Dr. Lee said he could have preached the same message to any gathering. He would only have had to change the name: “Midget Methodists, Peewee Presbyterians, Lilliputian Lutherans, Puny Pentecostals, Miniature Mennonites, or Diminutive Disciples.”
Too many of us as Christians seem content to go through life with some such spiritual mediocrity as that mentioned in the child’s verse that many of us read to our children.
“Solomon Grundy
Born on Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Taken ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
And that was the end of Solomon Grundy.”
I. Grace is First Considered in Communication with the Father. V6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.”
It acknowledges the practiced humility. It means to practice prayer. It means that we are to do so even though we are not advantaged in the world’s eyes.
Charles Schultz has cartoon books for teens. Girl to Sunday School classmates: “I had to give up my secret closet of prayer. Every time I went in there, all those cashmere sweaters made me feel guilty.” Think how many of the world’s problems could be resolved if more of us were willing to be disadvantaged. Ireland could become a land of religious harmony. Central America could offer struggling third world nations a chance to be free and economically secure. South Africa could resolve racial hostility.
It acknowledges practical meditation. Clearly, we are to search for answers. We are to do so with resolve in what the Father already knows. V8 “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask.”
Jesus not only taught us so to pray, he exercised this option to the fullest. Recourse to this grace is extended to each of us. Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” II Chronicles 32:8 “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us.” We seem to want Him removed out of our politics and government, out of our schools and homes. All that will be left is churches. All that will be left is some social stigma, or worse, against believers.
Mediocrity is but a step away when we fail to be in touch with God’s grace through prayer. It is to claim other resources than God. It is to claim dependence on our own wit and charm. Luke 18:11 In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, [I thank Thee that I am me.]”
II. Grace Extends to Companionship in the Father. V8 “Be ye not therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” It pertains to a day-by-day awareness of God, and His help. Norman Vincent Peale: “Millions of men and women are creeping through life on their hands and knees merely because they refuse to rely on any power but self.” Too many of us are too distracted by the myriads of things in our lives. V7 Admonishes us “not to use vain repetition as the heathen do.” It is to put the Lord first, and to know where we stand with Him.
Remember the old radio ad of the dog sitting before an old timey speaker. The caption says it all: “His master’s voice.” It is to be obedient to Him. “Too many Christians spend six days sowing wild oats, and the seventh praying for a crop failure.”
Such companionship offers not only daily help, but also delivering help. V13 “Deliver us from the evil one.” People who are insensitive to Satan’s zeal, tend to discount his power. It is amazing how many people respond to exercise, diet programs. They eat the right foods. They work out strenuously. But these same people give no consideration to spiritual needs. James 1:4 “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.”
The promise of God’s help is in accord with the practice of faith. I Corinthians 10:13 “God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.”
Daily help, delivering help, becomes determined help. V10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We don’t come into the kingdom grown. We grow in the pursuit of God’s will as we nourish our interest in it. Our Daily Bread told of a tribal chief where missionaries were working. “If you become better men and women by being Christians, you may remain so; if not, I forbid you to be Christians at all.”
III. Beyond Communication and Companionship, there is Commitment. Matthew 26:39: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
No person ever wanted to live, or had reason to live, like Jesus did. “Let this cup pass.” He thought of needs: hunger, disease, injustice. He thought of meaningless religion: unbelief, cynicism, error. He thought of misguided zealots: Jewish and pagan. He thought of the disciples and their wavering faith: Judas’ rejection, Peter’s denial.
Jesus wanted to live. “Let this cup pass from me.” But greater than His desire to live was His determination to do God’s will. Thus, grace is given: Grace opening to us the door to communing with the Father; Grace enabling us to experience companionship in the Father; Grace motivating us for commitment in the Father.
Conclusion
The French painter, Emile Ranouf, has depicted on canvas what he calls, “The Helping Hand.” It is of an elderly man in fishing gear, rowing a boat with a small girl at his side. Obviously, there is great love between them. Her small hands are also on oars. He looks at her fondly. The child has desire, but the strength is the grandfather’s. Thus is a renewable parable of our relation to God.
THE LORD'S INTERVENTION
#040 (continued from #035) THE LORD’S INTERVENTION
Scripture Joel 2:18-3:21, NIV Orig. Date 11-14-71
Rewr. 4-26-89
Passage:
18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
19 The Lord replied[a] to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern horde far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm[b]—
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
whom the Lord calls.[c]
3 [d]“In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[e]
There I will put them on trial
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3 They cast lots for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine to drink.
4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. 5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[f] 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
“I am strong!”
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble there.
Bring down your warriors, Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her.
18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk;
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house
and will water the valley of acacias.[g]
19 But Egypt will be desolate,
Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited forever
and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?
No, I will not.”
The Lord dwells in Zion!
Purpose: Continuing a study in the Prophet Joel, here describing God’s response to His people’s repentance.
Keywords Bible Study God, Sovereignty Repentance
Series/Timeline Minor Prophets Sequential
Introduction
The concluding part of chapter 2 gives much of the weight of choice to those who believe the book to be apocryphal. He speaks of “wonders in heaven,” of “blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke” in the earth. The sun is pictured becoming dark, the moon, bloodlike. It is the terminology of the doomsayers. But Joel is a simple prophet who loves God, and who loves his people, and his wish is to call these people “back” to God.
I. He Holds Out to Them the Prospect of Intervention. V18f “Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity His people.” V21 “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice; For the Lord will do great things.”
What will be seen first are material blessings (vs 18-27): An abundance of crops, v19; deliverance from military peril, v20a; restoral of what they lost, v25—the stripped catalpa tree would be restored, the frost-bitten potatoes rejuvenated.
The second consideration is of spiritual blessings (Joel 2:28-32), when God’s Spirit comes to bring grace to His people (V28): on sons and daughters, on old and young, on bond and free. In a day of utter darkness, there will be light, v31. In a day of wasting, there will be a remnant to carry on, v32.
II. A Final Word Describes a Judgment of World Proportions. Joel 3:2 “I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, . . . whom they have scattered among the nations.” It is a temporal judgment because of the mistreatment of God’s people: “They have scattered my people;” “they have parted my land;” “they have abused the guiltless.”
The judgment will be thorough. There is accusation, v3, “They have cast lots for my people.” There is investigation: They have taken treasures, v5—not of God’s house, but of God’s; they have abused God’s people, v6. As they have done, so will it be done to them.
There is condemnation, v9, “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men”; they are to make plowshares into swords. Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 use the imagery, but it is reversed, and it is to God’s own people.
Joel paints a vivid picture of the final confrontation of the forces of flesh and the power of God. V11 “Assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together, round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” The heathen will appear in the valley of decision (Jehoshaphat). A day of terror is described.
III. The Concluding Thought Is of Blessing Upon Believers. V16b “The Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” God will be their hope. V16b “The Lord will be the hope of His people.” God is their dwelling. V17 “I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion.” God is their sufficiency. V18 “And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord.” God is their protector. V1--Egypt and Edom are described as desolate. Is the mention of Judah post-exilic? V20-21 “But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.”
FAITH MADE PERFECT
#036 FAITH MADE PERFECT
Scripture James 2:19-26 NIV Orig. 10-14-62
Rewr. 10-8-87
Passage: 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[b] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Purpose: Beginning the new church year with an emphasis on faith and church organization in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper
Keywords: Church Activity Faith Ordinance Lord’s Supper
Introduction
Tomorrow is a special milestone in our great Baptist Heritage. It represents a very special anniversary for Louisiana Baptists.
On October 12th, in 1812, the first Baptist work was begun in our state. That was the date, in Washington Parish, on the Bogue Chitto River, that the Half Moon Bluff Church was organized.
For 175 years, the gospel has been proudly proclaimed by Baptists of Louisiana. Those earliest believers, because of their location in extreme southeastern Louisiana, were for some years affiliated with Mississippi Baptists, but they were, nonetheless, the forebears of Louisiana work.
It was the same year, by the way, that Adoniram Judson left to go to Burma as a missionary. If you recall the story, you recall that he changed to his life-long Baptist faith on the ship that took him to a land that knew nothing of Christianity. He went, then, without support. His former denomination withdrew support. And it was before we Baptists were known for our missionary vision. These struggling churches, not unlike Half Moon Bluff, in the early Nineteenth Century, supported what missionaries that there were, on butter and egg money, by the women of the Ladies Aid Society, the forerunner of our Women’s Missionary Union.
It has been people of vision, working together organizationally, who have reared up this great Baptist heritage. It seems that some of us are satisfied to let some parts of it die. In the name of our Lord, and in His covenant with us in his own blood, I challenge you to be a strong arm of influence in our town and Parish, for our Lord, and for His church.
I. Faith Demands an Effort Put Forth. V22 “…by works was faith made perfect.” Make no mistake, they were not saved by works. Abraham faithed God. God imputed (deposited to his account). Those with children away at school have to impute solvency so that these young people will appear secure. That depositing of worth expects a response of concern. In other words, the works don’t save, but they prove the faith.
Our faith calls us to organize our concern. We organize a Bible teaching program called Sunday School for the teaching of the Word of God. A Church Training emphasis was organized years ago to personalize youth involvement and growth. Today it provides opportunity for growth in Christ, in Bible study, in ability, for all. Missions organization is just that, a means to share with all the prospect of service to the needs of humankind.
The 2nd Sunday in October represents World Hunger Day. Are you aware that 730 million people remain hungry every day? The wafer and juice we consume is more than many will have all day. In Ethiopia, 5-10 million may starve this year. In America, there may be as many as 3 million homeless. People working full-time at minimum wage are $1800 below the poverty line for a family of three.
Thus, faith is an instrument in our lives for good. Faith is belief. But it is belief to train, to work, to serve. And we begin where we are. Too many Christians assume that they are excused from such service. No person in this room is little qualified to serve Christ, none too old, or too feeble.
Rahab (v25) served, simply by becoming a relocation agent for God’s people passing through.
II. Faith Made Perfect is a Process Through Which We Grow in Our Understanding of God’s Will and Way. V26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” As a believer, I have a responsibility: To stay as close to the Lord as I can through Bible study, service activities, and mission involvement (Camp Harris), and to walk by faith—to live by faith—to work by faith.
As a believer, I have a responsibility to share. We share readily with those we love. When will our hearts be open to love those less fortunates for whom Christ died? We have been successful in the Georgia Barnette State Mission Offering. We will soon endeavor to opportunize the Lottie Moon Foreign Missions Offering. What can we do for hungry people?
Conclusion
Let me remind you as we turn our attention to the Lord’s Supper, that stewardship is a faith venture also. In the great text of II Samuel 24:24 about David and Araunah the Jebusite, Araunah was prepared to give whatever it might take in the King’s name. David’s reply is a classic. “Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer . . . offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.”
What better time, than now, can we offer to our Lord, that which comes of dedication and even sacrifice?
WHO CAN ABIDE THE DAY OF THE LORD?
#035 WHO CAN ABIDE THE DAY OF THE LORD?
Scripture Joel 1:1-2, 11 Orig. Date 1/20/65
Rewr. Dates 4/26/89
Passage: The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.2 Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
4 What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts[a] have eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.
11 Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
13 Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c]
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d]
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
2 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
7 They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
10 Before them the earth shakes,
the heavens tremble,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
Purpose: Beginning a Prayer Meeting series dealing with the Minor Prophets, here introducing Joel’s call to repentance.
Keywords: Bible Study Judgment Repentance
Timeline/Series: Minor Prophets Sequential
Introduction
One thing is sure, the author, Joel, called the “son of Pethuel” has witnessed a frightsome event and he likens it to the “day of the Lord” (2:1). Little is known about him other than his fixation on the priesthood, and the region surrounding Jerusalem. There is no scriptural documentation. Other Joels are mentioned (I Chronicles 5:54), but nothing is found to tie them to this Joel.
The name means “Jehovah (or the Lord) is God.” His name probably does mean that he came from a family, whether out of Reuben as some believe, or out of Jerusalem herself, that worshipped the Lord God.
When he wrote is anybody’s guess. Pre-20th Century scholarship favored a pre-exilic view. He is positioned with Hosea and Amos among first mentioned prophets. Amos and Hosea are known from the 8th Century B.C.. The enemy nations are the Philistines, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Edomites. However, these were enemies after the captivity as well.
The lack of a reigning king fits the time when Joash was made king at age 7 (II Kings 11:21f). The priests actually governed the people.
But such circumstance fits a post-exilic date as well. There was no king. The priests ruled. The enemies were no longer Assyria and Babylon. But the message does not depend upon the selection of a date.
It is important to decide if the text is apocalyptic, allegorical, or actual. Those who take the first position say the locusts represent the enemies of God’s people in the end times. The allegorical view would represent these locusts as the traditional enemies of Israel. To see an actual locust invasion is to see Joel describing a natural event as an actual intervention of God to bring the people to repentance.
II Chronicles 21-22 may describe the period. Jehoram, fifth from Solomon, was a wicked king. There was a carrying away of people and possessions by enemies (II Chronicles 21:17). At Jehoram’s death, Ahaziah, his youngest son, became king. He was assassinated by Jehu, and his mother, Athaliah, ascended the throne. It was she who killed the royal sons, only to have Joash hidden by the priests.
I. Successive Plagues and Drought, Joel 1:1-20. V4 “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.” It is a scene of total destruction. Who has seen it before? Who will see its equal again?
The different names are thought to be the various stages in the life cycle. William Thomson was a 19th Century American missionary who worked for 25 years in Ottoman Syria. He writes in The Land and the Book: “Their number was astounding; the whole face of the mountain was black with them. On they came like a living deluge. . . . It was perfectly appalling as we watched this animated river as it flowed up the road, and ascended the hill above my house. For four days they continued to pass on toward the east . . . they devoured every green thing . . . . The noise they made in marching and foraging was like that of a heavy shower on a distant forest. . . . They all pursue the same line of march, like a disciplined army.”
The effect of all of this will be felt throughout the land. Desolation was as of a drunkard denied his bottle, v5. Despair was as of the young bride whose husband-to-be dies on her wedding day, v8. Desperation was as that of the farmer whose crops are destroyed at harvest, v11.
Thus, Joel issues his first call for repentance, v13-15. It is directed first to priests. The elders are to be brought together. The people are to assemble in “the house of the Lord.” It would be a “solemn day,” v14, a day to “cry out” danger.
Don’t lightheartedly pass over the semblance of the “house” of God.
Thus, in this context, Joel perceives “a day of the Lord.” He was given “the word of the Lord,” v1. He senses that word has directed him to an event, and the people are to be warned. Is it the activity of God’s righteous indignation? Is it man’s abuse bringing recompense on his own head?
The news told of the plight of an Australian sheepherder. Animals were dying by the hundreds. There was a caption with a picture of thousands of thirst-ravaged livestock: “Why doesn’t God hear their prayer? Who brought them to a dire land in such numbers that their needs could not be met?”
II. This “Day of the Lord” is Imminent, v 2:1-11. “For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” The meaning of the phrase: The prophets used this term of deliberate intervention by God—popularly, it was used of God’s intervention to bless Israel, curse their enemies. Amos used it as Joel here: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! . . . The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” It is a day of judgment and justice.
Joel uses the phrase five times: In relation to an event (1:15); as a symbol of a coming judgment (2:1,11)—also v31: “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into ‘blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord’”; as a warning that personal response is required, v3:14—“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision or the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”
III. A Parenthetical Call to Repentance is Issued. V1f “Turn ye even to me with all your heart, . . . rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful.” Disasters of the gravest magnitude may be circumscribed, v13. Their “turning” must be acceptable—from the Hebrew “shub,” for returning. It appears over 1000 times in the Old Testament, 111 by Jeremiah. The same word is used in v14 of God.
Religious pretension without heart performance is hypocritical and useless. God has the power to act in response to our faith. The people of faith and covenant must act: Observe a feast (v15); gather together for declaration of unity (v15, 16); forgo personal liberties and pleasures, v16b. Let the priests express before God the will of the people for intervention.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
#034 POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Scripture Deuteronomy 8:1,2,16-20 NIV Orig. 5/3/64 (3/79)
Rewr. 3/21/87
Passage: 1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. . . . 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
Purpose: To examine the spiritual motivations of the people of God in light of His blessings and His expectations
Keywords: Blessing God, People of Judgment
Introduction
Many of us have seen awesome generational changes taking place in our lives and the lives of our children. So many particular advantages have come, and are coming, to the youth of this present age.
Both of our girls have already become world travelers. Fritha has been out of the country three times: Canada, Europe, Liberia. She is presently planning a Russia trip. Rhonda has been away three times: Canada, Europe, Brazil.
Both returned from their travels to share great moments with their parents. I remember vividly the slides taken in Europe. I particularly remember the great cathedrals.
The architects of the 12th and 13th centuries had great confidence in their technical skills. They continued to press for higher and higher monuments of praise, and of self-glory. In 1163 A.D., the vault of the nave of Notre Dame reached the then record height of 110 feet. At Chartres, 31 years later (1194), a new record of 114 feet was achieved. At Rheims in 1212, a height of 125 feet was recorded. Then, just nine years later, in 1221, the cathedrals of Amiens stood at 140 feet. By this time, competition between the cities had become the driving force in these construction displays. The people vowed to raise their cathedral 13 feet higher than at Amiens. Three times they tried. It fell each time. In 1500, gigantic transepts were begun, and in 1552, the lantern tower reached the unbelievable height of 500 feet. The tower collapsed one year later, and with it came the end of this great period of architectural competition. Such enterprises had become monuments to the praise of men rather than the praise of God.
It was not always so intended. At Chartres for instance (LinLib1583), without proper stones nearby, nobles and peasants, abbots and abbesses with their subservient bodies of monks and nuns, allowed themselves to be harnessed to the heaviest of carts, which they pulled from quarry to building site. Then, on that site, they built, with their own hands, the walls of the “House of God.” How easy for such labors to degenerate to desire for self-esteem. So it was for Israel. So it is for us, too often.
I. Act One in This Drama of Power to the People Is Persuasion. 8:1 “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers.”
The initial concept in Persuasion is the authority of the persuader. All of us have been recipients of promises that could not be kept. The greatest single factor in the breakdown of many marriages, is in promises not kept. Many parents cannot give liberally to their children, but promises broken are the destiny provokers. And, we have all been guilty of making promises that we could not or did not keep.
I still remember some promises not kept while still a youth.
I remember preaching the funeral in Oakdale, Louisiana, of a young man who was killed in a car wreck directly attributable to a broken promise.
The lagoon of life is filled with the decaying hulks of broken promises and broken lives.
The persuader here is God Himself, who would not and cannot deceive. Listen to 8:7f: “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, . . . a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.”
Such sufficiency was the promise of God to Israel for their good. It was a promise He intended to keep. It was a promise to guide them in their will to follow. It was a promise, if kept, that would have been the supplier of power for Israel. It is a promise God makes to his people in any age. Psalm 27:8 “When thou saith, ‘Seek ye my face;’ my heart said unto thee, ‘Thy face, Lord, will I seek.’” Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
It is in the context of promise given to persuade, that we learn of Jesus as Saviour. The Old Testament, you remember promised that ONE would come. The New Testament teaches us the story of His life and death. Old Testament, New Testament, and 2000 years of Christian history certify that He is going to return.
Are you persuaded?
II. Act Two in This Drama Is Provision. V2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or not.”
What happened to Israel happened, to the end that they would better become a power of God. He is able to bring His people through struggle.
The misdeeds of His people are another matter. The Jim Bakker debacle is a case in point. We were in New Orleans when Bob Harrington left his ugly mark on the Baptist name. I have a friend in Morgan City who has recovered from this heinous wrong.
Have we stopped recently to contemplate what God has given over to us as His people? We are 7-8% of the world’s people. We occupy 6% of the world’s land mass. We control nearly 50% of the world’s wealth. We do struggle, over energy, marketing farm products, etc., but we are still, uniquely, the chosen people of God to the end that the gospel be proclaimed.
In such provision, we discover what a nation’s safeguards really are. Someone reminds us, “A nation’s safeguards are not in commerce or Tyre would not have fallen; not in art or Greece would have stood; not in political organization or Rome would have lasted; not in military power or Germany would have triumphed; not in religious ceremony, or Israel would not have collapsed.” Amos 5:21f tells us that assemblies were rebuked, offerings unacceptable, ceremony a defilement. Amos 5:24 “Let justice run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”
III. Finally, Act Three in the Drama Declares Their Probation. V18, 19, “But thou shalt remember . . . . And it shall be that if thou do at all forget, . . . you shall surely perish.” This is not the threat of an angry, surly, self-seeking God. It reminds Israel and us that He is not intimidated by our intellectual uniqueness. Even with that superiority, how evident is our record of failure.
Upon examination, His commands have always been consistent with this experienced probation. Look at the Ten Commandments and acknowledge their societal advantage. However, Jesus reminds us that they can be simplified. Mark 12:30-31 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
The probation given is directed against human pride. V12f “Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God. . . .”
One of the clear indications of this time is that the world’s people are on spiritual probation: Nations. Churches, Individuals.
A pilot discovered that his instruments were not working. He told the passengers, “I have good and bad news. The instruments are out. I don’t know where we are going. The good news is we are getting there at 600mph.”
Conclusion
A National Geographic article on Brazil concluded with the story of a man from the interior of the Amazon who had made his way to one of the cities. For 15 years he had worked separating tin cans from garbage. “Which do you like better?” the author asked. “It is better here,” the man said. “There I was a slave.” (NG—March 1987).
THINKING SOBERLY
#033 (use with #784) THINKING SOBERLY
Scripture Romans 12:1-10, 21 NIV Orig. 9-20-64 (11-75)
Rewr. 9-28-90
Passage: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Purpose: On the last Sunday of the church year, to remind my people of our need to give freely of ourselves for the glory of God in the new year.
Keywords: Commitment Offering Sacrifice Suffering
Timeline/Series: New Year
Introduction
It was Victor Hugo, I believe, who once described heaven as a place “where all the parents are young, and all the children are small.” I think I can understand the point that he was making.
The ones who are least likely to grasp this are young parents themselves. For others of us, however, it is quite impossible to look with anything other than nostalgia upon those days when our own children were small. What a treasure trove of delights those days now bring to mind. Oh, yes, there were days made weary by the wants and waywardness of those little ones. And, yes, the nights were sometimes made long with wakefulness. There are even some who have had to look death in its ugly face.
But surely, there are none of us so insensitive, that this lovable bundle of frail humanity was not a constant source of surprise and joy. The truly loving parent, however, would be the last to deny to this child the right and privilege of growing to personal fulfillment in adulthood.
If, as the Bible suggests, we get our start in the kingdom as “babes” (I Peter 2:2), as spiritual infants, then, the object of our being is to mature. The “Will of God” for His every child is for this one who was a baby to grow to become what they are capable of becoming.
While it may be nostalgic to smile with the concept of “child-like faith,” it is realistic to see grown-up people dealing with grown-up problems, from a Christian perspective. That’s what “thinking soberly” is all about.
I. We Begin with an Appeal to Sensitivity. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.” The appeal takes note that individual freedom is not denied. You see, our response to God does not come mechanically. It is not automatically in-bred. We don’t get it from our genes. At her school in New Orleans, Ann was teaching about basic genetics. She had Terry and Jerry, identical twins, in her class. She said, “Terry and Jerry are twins because their genes match.” An eager student helpfully said, “And their shirts!”
We do, however, learn a great deal, positive and negative, from moms and dads.
Paul does not here assume that they are doing all they can. He affirms from personal experience. He remembers out of his pilgrimage. “Beseech” is the verb form (paraclesis) of parakletos (John 14:26), or “Comforter.” In Luke 2:25 Simeon is “waiting for the Consolation.”
It is a call for willful response based on one’s redeemed heart’s longing. It is such response that purges the heart of unworthy thought and motive. Remember that Paul went “into Arabia” (Galatians 1:6) after his conversion. The question with which we must deal is of the desire of our hearts to sustain our professions as Christians.
We remember great Cowboy teams of the 1970’s. Coach Landry had two superstars sitting on the bench, Bob Hayes and Craig Morton. A reporter asked “Why?” Landry gave three reasons: “They do not stay current on plays. They are not consistent when they perform. They are not committed to winning.”
You see, the nature of the appeal assumes that an experience with Christ has occurred.
The first perspective of living the Christian life is our perspective of Christ. Tell me what you think of Christ, I will know what kind of life you live. Jesus defines hypocrisy (Matthew 23), saying that the one not at peace with God is like a whitewashed sepulcher, a death vessel. Without the converting experience, the appeal would have been to dead men.
We are free: But Christ holds the key TO PEACE WITH GOD.
We are free: But Christ holds the key to growth as Christians.
It is the desire of God’s heart.
II. We Must Next Describe the Affirmation of Sacrifice. “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice.” Admittedly, this is in the context of a message to an entire church. It will not be resolved by a committee. A highfalutin Board of Deacons will not authorize it. The staff will not scrutinize programs and work toward this one. It is a decision to be made by individual believers.
The language used here is that of animal sacrifice. I remind you that the Old Testament practice was based on offering a life to God, not a dead carcass. That’s why the emphasis is on the blood. Of the many vulgarities of Satanism, it majors on death, not life.
The mind of God is ours to know in relation to sacrifice. Isaiah 1:11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?” Hosea 6:6 “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” Amos 5:21f “I hate, I despise your feast days. . . . Let judgment run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The death of Christ becomes a case in point. God was willing to surrender His own son’s life for a greater good. So, begin to listen with your heart as with your ears. John 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” I Corinthians 5:7 “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” I Peter 1:19 “With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without a blemish, spotless.”
The death of Jesus begins to have meaning only as we give of ourselves in response. The measure of our sacrifice is the MEASURE of our faith.
Paul suggests four ways to assess our own lives: How we live—as long as life remains; Sacrifice—my life for another’s; Holiness—duty to God, others, and self; Acceptability—judged by the JUDGE.
Recall the example of Lot. With Abraham, decisions were made for him. On his own, however, he faced the hard choice of dying with his hands full of emptiness, or living in response to God.
This will be a good place to say a word about the election. The demand of the bramble of this world is always to “put [our] trust in” shadows.
III. Thinking Soberly, then, Brings Us to the Attainment of Service. “Present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Notice it says nothing about extraordinary commitment here. It addresses reflecting faith in the way we live. It speaks of the satisfaction of a morally upright life: Psalm 69:6 “Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.” Not only church staff members: deacons, teachers, others, as well.
It is a lifestyle that is unattainable without being into the word. That is the litmus test. Philippians 2:13 “It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Psalm 62:11 “The Lord gave the word.”
Conclusion
We are all familiar with the children’s story of the little Dutch boy who plugged the hole in the dike with his finger and thus spared his homeland. There was epic drama behind that story, however, for there were times when Dutchmen hurled their own bodies into the gaps of the weakening dikes, averting real-life disasters.
Spiritual dikes are being threatened today as never before. Some of the storms are alien, from far, distant places. Others are brought upon us by our own kind through apathy and indolence on our part.