No More Oceans

 Many years ago my wife and I were addressing one of her early illnesses when, upon discussing what we should do to ameliorate that condition, she turned to me and declared this eternal truth:  "You know what? - old age sucks".  We both burst out laughing.

Old age does produce some good fruit, however.  It tends to increase wisdom through the trials and successes of life, and it tends to further increase such wisdom by the accumulation of the rote-data that is obtained when one observes the accumulation of human events over many years.

What My Father Saw

(Era #1)

 

Dad was born in 1904.  He lived in an era that went through a violent cultural transition from one of horse and carriage and musket-loading to one of the tank, the Gatling gun and bomb dropping.  When he was a young lad there were reports that there was some kind of a machine that actually got off the ground and flew.  When one went to be entertained, one went to an auditorium and heard an orchestra with people dancing and preforming on a stage; it was known as vaudeville.

 

There have been many wars in human history, but dad lived through a war that was known as a "world war".  What is that all about?  Well, it was not world-wide in acreage, but it did kill approximately twelve million people and several nations did participate. We Americans eventually crossed an ocean to help defeat Germany in that war. Fortunately, that ocean also separated us and protected us from harm had Germany been strong enough and expansionist-minded enough to send their armies over here.  Dad gained much wisdom through those years; he had seen a semi paradigm shift in human culture. The modern age had begun.

 

What I Have Seen

(Era #2)

 

Like dad, I was a very young lad when the world-community advanced from the age of twelve million killed to the age of sixty million killed.  Like dad, I have seen and experienced much.  The Second World War was as much a continuation of the First World War as it was the generation of a new war.The hatred generated by Germany's defeat in WWI helped generate the reality of Germany's expansionist thrust in WWII, one, that conquered most of Europe and was heading into Russia with much gusto. Holocaust?  What in the world is a holocaust?  Well, it happened, and six million Jews were murdered before the war ended. During that war a very large and expansionist Japan joined, as an ally, to the German war machine.  We had two very formidable enemies to engage.  Fortunately, we had two oceans to help protect us.

 

The age between the wars and leading up to the era know as the information age saw a paradigm shift.  Entertainment advanced from Vaudeville to moving pictures; information from radio to TV; from the typewriter to the computer. Transportation and warfare advanced from the biplane to the missile; from twelve million killed to sixty million killed.  Like my father, I have seen much and have gained in wisdom because of it. The modern age took steroids and eventually transformed into the information age.

 

What We Are About to See

(Era #3)

 

It might be more informative to say "what we are currently seeing"?  My father saw a semi paradigm shift in world culture.  I have seen a full-sized paradigm shift in world culture and am currently seeing the international community doing things that seem to be beyond even the natural realm.  We may be observing at this very moment in world history not merely a paradigm shift in our culture, but may be observing a process that is not merely paradigmatic in nature, but is biblical in nature.  If so -  how sobered in nature should we be (one might ask)?

 

Science is accomplishing knowledge that is almost supernatural in nature.

Western culture is seemingly helpless before world-wide rebellion and militancy.

Hatred and polarized rebellion dominate our culture and politics.

Truth is helpless before a world culture calling "good as evil and evil as good".

Mass murder by the militants-of-the-world is justified by euphemisms.

Mass immigration, planned and proactive, is destroying Western culture.

The Western church is manifestly bifurcating into the called-out, and the apostate.

The information age is capable of generating any godless act possible in a nanosecond.

Belligerents of the world possess nuclear weapons with the abilities to send them worldwide.

Political parties, out of power, commit subversion against their own in order to regain that power.

God is effectively being removed from world society by design.

And on it goes, and it is not subject to our approval, nor our ability to end.

 

We are in the information age, the restrictions to evil and rebellion toward God are being removed and godless man will always do what is his nature to do when evil is available without restraints.

 

In the natural realm - We have no more oceans!

 

However, to those of us who belong to Christ, we have an ocean that is not of the natural realm.  We have an ocean that is eternal in size.  Let all that is depressing above drive us into His bosom.  We are a called-out people and need to start thinking of ourselves that way, lest we find ourselves to be without any ocean and time has run out.

 

 

Let's be wise!

 





 

 

 

 

 

 



 





 

 

Neglected Subject-matter

Thursday (11/16) I attended a Kindred C.C. conference with Phillip De Courcy (pastor) as host and Dr. John MacArthur as guest speaker. To those who are familiar with these two men it will be obvious that much substance was presented.

Dr. MacArthur finished the event with an expression of how the Church - as kingdom of God - should be identified and, then, to emphasize to our Christian community the import of such an identity. Five categories of emphasis were offered-up with the intent of Dr. MacArthur to imply (or to declare) that these were imperatives to the Church and not mere teachings. 

The Church body, being a member of His Kingdom, needs to teach, and even emphasize

these five truths:

 

The Kingdom and the Chosen -

 

He is sovereign over us if we are members of the chosen community.

This reality is not subject to our approval. If we are to be members of His kingdom, then He is our sovereign King who rules over us, and we are to hear and to obey as He sees fit. 

 

The Kingdom and substitution -

 

In His blood we have been bought.  We are His slaves through His blood. If we deny that we are slaves, then we deny that we have been bought and our eternity is fixed, and it will not be nice.

 

The Kingdom and Sanctification.

 

Kingdom members must become fully formed in Him that He might become fully formed in us. We are to be in that process of becoming Christ-like.  Simply put, we are to be internally transformed.

 

The Kingdom and Scripture,

 

The Truth is our foundation.  There is one Book that contains the Truth and that is the Holy Scriptures. This is our one, and only, source of Truth.

 

The Kingdom and the Second Coming of Christ.

 

Dr. MacArthur states it thus: "The end of the story is the reason for the story."

 

 

Some Comments

 

 

First of all you will notice that I have not used any Scriptures with the above.  It is not my intent to convince anyone of the truth of such claims, but, rather, to exhort our leaders to use these imperatives as a teaching and preaching module in our community - and then - to call to the attention of whomever we may have influence over with in that Christian community - that they realize the gravity of such imperatives - and especially "as we see the days approach."

I believe that our evangelical community has done a robust job in the proclamation of the fact that Christ laid His life down - and all that that means - for our salvation. He was our Substitute.  Well done here for number two.  However, I have not often heard of teaching/preaching on our being a called-out community.  I place emphasis here on one being a called-out  believer - number one -  more than on one being a chosen believer. Let's stay away from that mine-field for now.

Sanctification is a word that is often heard in Church.  One usually envisions a white robe with angels singing.  Less often does the concept of set-apartness and being in His presence become subject-matter. This requires an effort that needs to be talked about.  Being in His presence is more than a theological and intellectual  belief.  We are born again; we have the right to enter in to His presence which is real sanctification - but - our flesh is strong.  Vigilant pursuit over a prolonged period of time is required in the denying of that flesh.  Liberty and fruit-bearing awaits such efforts.

The Kingdom as Scripture has been well appreciated in our community.  Dr. MacArthur took the Scriptures to be more than we usually understand, namely, that the Book is the only source of Truth in the World.  I agree. Others can write and speak true things; but only the Book contains The Truth.

Finally, concerning His (soon) coming, I repeat the above quote - "The end of the story is the reason for the story." It's important, is it not?"  The King is coming and we may be less prepared for that event than we think we are.

Finally

 

 

I have obviously extrapolated - by inference - from Dr. MacArthur's five imperatives.  He may disagree with some of my emphatic declarations.  Apologies where that may be the case.  My intent is not to declare truth; the truth is resident within his five points and not in my extrapolations.

 

With all of the above said, wouldn't it be more than productive if we were to exercise such teachings in our local churches.  Considering the World-conditions as they are (and they are in a godless plunge downwards) it seems more than wise to actively pursue such as the above - and to do so with a prolonged effort - in order that His community be better prepared for that day.   

 

 



 



The New Sultan

I recently finished reading a book entitled The New Sultan by Soner Cagaptay (London, I. B. Tauris, 2017). The country involved is Turkey; the new-sultan-wannabe is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's current president. The book is more than readable.  The author is succinct, plausible in his conclusions and (oh the joy!) does not appear to have an agenda. Here is some background that will aid us in getting oriented to the substance of the book:

At the end of the First World War Germany was defeated along with the subsequent fall of its ally Turkey. Turkey was the center of authority for the centuries-old Ottoman Empire, thus, it's authority and polity was Muslim with it's culture, likewise, being Muslim.  The former polity was terminated by military defeat; the latter cultural makeup remained, and does so to this day. 

In 1923, five years after the termination of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey formerly became a secular state under the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It has remained so for almost a century.  In that time, Turkey has wavered between its affection for an alliance (both culturally, and politically)  with Europe, and its desire to remain independent.  Turkey is, to this day, a member of NATO, that organization that was generated during the days of the cold-war when Russian expansionism was intimidating Europe, America, and Western civilization in general.  This writer remembers the days when he would observe Turkish Colonels and Generals participating with American troops during Seventh-Army military exercises in Germany.  They were faithful allies. They participated with zeal with American troops during the Korean war.  Their culture, to this day, detests the Russian entity. In short they were, at least, a non-threat to the Western community, and, at best, willing to "jump into the fox-hole" with us when needed.

All of that has changed - and why does it even matter?

 

Turkey will play a critical geopolitical role in the events of the Middle East.  After the attempted coup of July 2016, the spotlight is on Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the powerful leader of the country whose increasingly authoritarian regime has heightened tensions both within and outside the country. Erdogan's crackdown on dissent has been brutal and consistent - hundreds of journalists arrested, academics officially banned from leaving the country, university deans fired and nearly half of the highest-ranking army officers in custody.  As opponents accuse his Justice and Development Party (AKP) of heavy-handedness, Erdogan promises to bring order and stability under a 'strongman'(inside flap).

In short, Erdogan has declared Turkey to be an Islamic state.  The polity of the State has rejoined the culture of the State.  The days of Ataturk are over. The Ottoman Empire is being given new life and Recep Tayyip Erdogan is its Sultan. I find it to be interesting that Erdogan has gained a similar hegemony that accrued to Hitler in the early 1930's, namely, that academia, the court system, the military, the religion, and the information-flow came under his (their) dominance. 

So why does it matter and why should the Christian man or woman even care in this modern world culture where political leaders are ever more exercising lust for power, doing so in a duplicitous manner, and seemingly always able to get away with such behavior?  "They're all doing it." One is surprised whenever world conditions are otherwise.  Well, here is my take on the matter:

There are those in our community who believe that modern-day Turkey will be a participant with Russia and Persia (Iran) in the invasion of Israel as is described in Ezekiel chapters 38-9.  Erdogan has turned his back not only on Israel, but he has likewise done so to Western Europe (spurning EU membership) and also to the United States.  He is currently courting Putin of Russia, yet is at odds with Iran. He has also been an adversary to Syria in their civil war.  Russia and Iran have been very supportive of Assad and thus to Syria.   Will he, or won't he join in?

 

-- so --

 

Let's consider two ways to approach this subject matter and all other matters concerning the close of the age (and if one believes the Ezekiel passage is yet to be, then one understands that such an event will indeed close the age): 

 

First of all, let's determine to read the Word with honesty and integrity of heart and do so without an agenda.  Let's exegete and not eisegete.  We don't have to know every detail of the close of the age.  Godless Man will do what godless men do.  They don't always behave logically. Let's read the Word while observing World events. In respect of Ezekiel's passage "all the planets seem to be lining up."

 

Secondly, let's understand that we may face a severe testing of our faith when world-events approach the finality of all things.  The worst thing that can happen to a man or woman of faith is to be tested under fire and deny the faith.  Now is the time to strengthen ourselves, and those who surround us, in the faith.

 

If you are interested in such matters then read the book.  It will serve you well.

 

 



Winning or Setting the Stage?

These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.

 

I suppose that if one were to extrapolate upon Dr. Albert Mohler's article of March 21, 2017 (The Gathering Storm:  Religious Liberty in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution - March 21, 2017) - wherein he expresses concern that the Christian community is in critical danger of losing religious liberty to the degree that Western civilization may be in danger of losing "the very foundation of human rights and human dignity" - then one might agree with the foundation of this blog by uttering forth from his, or her viscera - "beloved, there seems to be a freight train coming." Another might strongly agree and utter forth the most sincere thought that "These are days that will require courage, conviction and clarity of vision."

 

In my previous post of June 17 (According to Mohler) I alluded to continuing my response to the above thought by reviewing the dark days preceding World War II.  Dr. Mohler considered those days to be a foreshadowing of the conditions that he is warning us about at this current time.  Winston Churchill was his example of a voice in the midst of a fearful Western community saying something like this:  "Wake up everybody; there is a seemingly unbalanced man over there in Germany who has a huge state-of-the-art military and he wants to consume a whole lot of real estate called Europe and he doesn't seem to mind killing people while accomplishing such".

 

Here is how Dr. Mohler more elegantly stated the condition:

 

In the first volume of his history of World War II, Winston Churchill looked back at the  storm clouds that gathered in the 1930s portending war and the loss of human freedom.  Churchill wisely and presciently warned Britain of the tragedy that would ensue if Hitler were not stopped.  His actions were courageous and the world was shaped by his convictional leadership.  We are not facing the same gathering storm, but we are now facing a battle that will determine the destiny of priceless freedoms and the very foundation of human rights and human dignity.

 



So, at the expense of seeming to go out into space somewhere, a question begs to be asked and it is this:  Did Churchill succeed, and, if not, what did he accomplish?  Obviously, it is the thought of this writer that that great bulldog-of-a man did not succeed.  What then, did he accomplish?  To this writer the answer to that last question reveals an enormity of thought that he hopes will somehow resonate to our Christian community  in light of the present world condition,  Do we agree with Dr. Mohler that there is a "gathering storm" before us?  If so, how then should we respond?

 

Let's now review those dark days leading up to WW2.  To do so, it may expedite things to introduce to those having been brought up in the public school system a man by the name of Neville Chamberlain.  This is a vilified man.  By-the-way, he is not so vilified by me.  I believe that he was a sincere man who yearned for peace in a noble, and not selfish, way. He actually attempted as Prime Minister to noticeably increase the size of the British Air Force before the war only to be refused by those in power.  His sin? He appeased Hitler when all of the signs were there indicating that this was a very dark man with a really big stick and he (Hitler) needed some time to prepare for a proactive war that he would soon  start.  He (Chamberlain) was applauded when he returned from meeting with Herr Hitler by an appeasing-like community only later to be vilified by that same community when aggression was forced upon them.  His triumph before his fall was in waving a peace document signed by him and Hitler while he declared out loud a statement that seems to never disappear: "I have met with Herr Hitler and we have both signed this document that I have before you - We have attained peace in our times."

 

Churchill saw   -   Chamberlain did not. 

 

So what turned Churchill from a man little heard to the bulldog that unified a desperate people in a desperate time?  What turned Chamberlain from a hero to one of a despised failure causing him to be removed from office?  To a community not willing to deal with the potential of violence in the subliminal areas of their psyche, an outside force is sometimes (always?) needed that will supersede that subliminal area of comfort and cause a literal perception that leads to action.  Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland,  That invasion, and that invasion only caused Europe to respond. Violence tends to cause mental comfort to transform into intellectual acuity.  It could have been too late to recover.  Dunkirk follows and England and France (and all of Europe) were lost.  Well, history tells us that England was not lost.  Why?  A bulldog that would not quit, a huge giant of an industrial entity protected by a three thousand mile ocean with a people willing to engage, an invasion of an island on Dec. 7, 1941 that energized that magnificent people to action, and a Fuehrer foolish enough to invade the Soviet Union were the reasons that England was not lost.

 

 

So, was Churchill a failure, or a success?  In marshaling the Western European community to prepare to resist Hitler in the mid to late 1930s he failed.  Not his fault, by the way, but the required response, by those who should have responded, was not there.  In his bulldog-like tenacity throughout the war, he was a magnificent achiever. He never gave up and total victory was the result.  Now here is where we may go into space.  Even though Winston Churchill failed to marshal the world for war, he did prepared a remnant community of individuals to take heed in those dark days who would begin to prepare for the days that would soon come and to hit the pavement running, so to speak, when they did come.  Here is a thought for the current Christian community.  Churchill failed to marshal the community for war, but he did prepare that remnant community who did hear, with ears to hear, to respond when war was forced upon England and America.

 

Is the current Church in the Western community in need of a present-day Churchill?  Is there even such a person existent today?  Allow us to make a metaphor out of Neville Chamberlain.  He would be a type of the present-day dormant Church, a church not even aware of such warnings as Dr. Mohler is expressing; namely, that there is a gathering storm out there and its desire is for us and that these are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision. Allow that the vacuous utterance that we have peace in our times be a metaphor and type of the utterances Paul warned us about when he declared there to be a people who will, at the close of the age, cry out peace and safety (I Thess. 5:1-6).  Utter destruction follows such a people for it is the day of the Lord. There will be no Churchill in that day.  Churchill had Czechoslovakia and Poland to awaken a dormant people.  We will have no one but Christ to be our Churchill, and that will be when human history is truncated and finalized.  As a final metaphor let's allow Christ to be our Churchill to close the age.  In the meantime let us be Churchill-like using the mid 1930s in Europe to foreshadow the time in which we currently live, a time that demands of us who see and hear to not live in darkness that the day not overtake us, to be light bearers, to be sober and alert and be proactive in these days when courage, conviction and clarity of vision will be demanded of us. 

 

In the conduct of the war Churchill was a magnificent bulldog of a man and was magnificently victorious over a vicious enemy.  In the marshalling of a dormant and cowardly world community he was less than victorious, but in setting the stage for warfare and response to invasion he was triumphant.  Let this be our final metaphor that we may return from space:  When the soon close of the age is upon us there will be no three thousand miles to separate the Christian community from whatever awaits.

The dormant-like church will not see such a condition approaching.  It's the mid to late 1930s and Churchill-like men and women like Dr. Mohler are voices crying out in a wilderness-like community.  We need to be vigilant in what Christ has us doing.  We are in the process of setting the stage for whatever awaits us - a process that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.

 

 

 

 

 

According to Mohler

"These are the days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.  We are in a fight for the most basic liberties God has given humanity, every single one of us, made in his image."

I recently ran across this article in Dr. Albert Mohler's blog of March 21 of this year. There is certainly no equivocation here.  In the article (The Gathering Storm: Religious Liberty in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution) he goes on to state that those of us who have been made in His image are presently engaged in an existential struggle to maintain a moral set of standards that are progressively being negated in the World community by a strong, dedicated and proactive force. This ominous progression is advancing "with astounding velocity."  He continues:

A revolution in morality now seeks not only to subvert marriage, but also to redefine it, and thus to undermine an essential foundation of human dignity, flourishing, and freedom.  Religious liberty is under direct threat.  During oral arguments in the Obergefell case, the Solicitor General of the United States served notice  before the Supreme Court that the liberties of religious institutions will be an open and unavoidable question.  Already, religious liberty is threatened by a new moral regime that exalts erotic liberty and personal autonomy and openly argues that religious liberties must give way to the new morality, its redefinition of marriage, and its demand for coercive moral, cultural, and legal sovereignty. 

 

These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.  We are in a fight for the most basic liberties God has given humanity, every single one of us, made in his image.  Religious liberty is being redefined as mere freedom of worship, but it will not long survive if it is reduced to a private sphere with no public voice.  The very freedom to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake, and thus so is the liberty of every American.  Human rights and human dignity are temporary abstractions if they are severed from their reality as gifts of the Creator. The eclipse of Christion truth will lead inevitably to a tragic loss of human dignity.  If we lose religious liberty, all other liberties will be lost, one by one.

 

The bold has been added.  I was thinking of adding bold to other parts of the quote but decided that more than half would have been in bold and thus making the devise almost meaningless.  So let's stick with "These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision." I noticed that he did not appeal to some form of Christian activism.  I was actually pleased by such.  It is not that I advocate against Christian activism.  Just the opposite is the case.  Rather, I was pleased that, acting as a learned scholar, he seemed to leave the severity of the subject matter to stand by itself and not be diluted with extraneous thoughts.  "Stop and cogitate" he might have said. "These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision".

Dr. Mohler continued on with many thoughts -  naming names, concepts, organization, etc. Leave it to say that I agreed with all that followed.  However, - allow me to deflect a little and expand on a thought that began the article. Immediately following his clarion-like call to courage, conviction, and clarity of vision he alludes to the bulldog-like efforts of the great Winston Churchill in his attempts to awaken a lethargic Western World community to the immanent dangers of the expansionist mentality of Adolph Hitler in the late 1930s.  He saw that if not impeded - Nazi hegemony would prevail over all of Europe (and beyond?).  One would do well to read the article. 

I was going to continue this article with allusions and conclusions concerning the situation surrounding the dark days preceding WW2.  Did Churchill prevail and awaken a comfortable World community, or did the reality of invasion do so?  The subject-matter became substantive enough that I thought it best to continue this line of thought with another post.  Part two to follow.

Let's close with this:  For those of you who are aware of World conditions and are sobered by such a scenario - Do you feel that our Christian community is going to soon become courageous, become convicted by the godless atmosphere that is pursuing the demise of Christianity and its moral and biblical code, and do you believe that a myopic clarity of vision is soon to prevail in the American church?  Do you even think that such a scenario is required?

My appeal is for us to consider the warnings of Dr. Mohler, to stop and cogitate and to consider that courage, conviction, and a clarity of vision may soon be demanded of us.  The World condition may force the matter upon us. 


 

Open Windows

Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God."

 

The narrative that covers the above scenario is found in Daniel 6:1-17.  Daniel, as a young man, was captured and sent to Babylon during the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C. Many years have passed, Persia has conquered Babylon  with Daniel now finding himself serving in the court of Darius the Mede.

As with the officials in the Babylonian court, the officials in the Persian court are jealous of Daniel.  He is wise, faithful, possesses no signs of corruption, is a possessor of an extraordinary spirit, and above all is about to be appointed with authority over the entire court. This man stands out as a righteous and faithful man.  He is an embarrassment to the members of the court.  So what does one do with such a man?  Why kill him of course!

 

As many of us know, the members of the court remind the king that it is in his authority to generate an injunction and by the law of the Medes and Persians be bound by its conditions.  Not even the king himself can revoke that document.  The narrative continues:

 

Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: "King Darius live forever!  All the commissioners...have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who make a petition to any god or man besides you, O king...shall be cast into the lions' den. Therefore King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction. Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.

 

What a remarkable response was made by this seasoned veteran of God!  Daniel  knew, yet he left his windows open.  Have you ever deliberated over that part of the passage?  I have not until this time around.  What kind of a man would leave the windows open knowing that he had enemies that were awaiting, with patience and directed zeal, the possibility of observing him disobeying the very commandment of the king himself?  Loyalty to God, and/or arrogance are the two scenarios that come to mind.  Knowing about the nature of Daniel, we will assume that loyalty and not arrogance was his motive.  What kind of a man, indeed!

 

 Let's fast-forward 2500 years to the present time and consider this response as a metaphor for our lives today.  Would you leave your "windows open" if  you  were pressed to choose between loyalty to a Caesar-like person or to choose manifest loyalty to the Gospel message and to the God of that message?  Would the cultural conditions of a godless world at such a time cause you to "close your windows"? Under modern conditions it seems that such a state is more than possible.  The world community is in flux.  The godless are becoming more bold in their desire to have license to sin and rebel. However, somebody is in the way.  That remnant-like portion of the world Christian community that remains faithful to Christ and His Gospel message will be in the way.  It will be required of us that we be Spiritually wise, be faithful, possess no signs of corruption, but possess that extraordinary Spirit that caused us to be born again from above. In short we will be an embarrassment to the world court and we will have to be dealt with.  Will we leave our windows open at such a time?

What kind of a man was this Daniel, and what kind of a man, or woman will we be required to be when such conditions surround us?  What dominated my thoughts concerning Daniel's response was that he was not only intellectually loyal to God, but, more importantly, he was experientially loyal to God. This is no small condition.  Intellectual knowledge of the Word of God, and of the God who was revealed in that Word, may not always be sufficient to pass the test when we have our faith put under duress. When Daniel's state of mind and subsequent courage was discussed in a recent bible  study of the text, a brother-in-Christ immediately alluded to the courage of the two priests that were required to cross the Jordon river in flood stage (Joshua 3:13-17).  They did not fail the test.  What was similar to Daniel was the fact that their faith in God and in their loyalty to God had been tested under conditions of duress for forty years of wandering in desert places.  They had been tested and were found to be approved.  Like Daniel, they were transformed into faithful servants of God and to the Torah of God.  It's who they were, not just what they did.  So too was Daniel.  He was a tested servant living in a foreign land whose love, loyalty and affection to Torah and God transformed him into a man who left his windows open for all the world to see.



 

If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it has hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

- John 15:18-19-

We live in a comfortable America.  How sad. 

 

 

 

 



Provoking Selfexamination

Who is the man who fears the LORD?

He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

His soul will abide in prosperity,

And his descendants will inherit the land.

The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him.

And He will make them know His covenant.

(Ps. 25:12-14)

Upon reading through the Psalms this morning, this passage stood out enough that I set it aside to be pondered upon. Upon doing so my attention was deflected away somewhat from the fruit that this fortunate individual was producing unto that mind-set that was causing such blessed fruit to be produced.  Why was this person "being instructed", "abiding in prosperity" "having secrets revealed" and having His "covenants made known"? 

Why obviously he, or she, feared God; a subject not often dealt with within our community since the default mind-set of our community is almost always to interpret that to mean reverential respect.   One can superficially believe that he or she respects God.  One can continue to live a superficial life doing so without the demand for self introspection or repentance being required. To fear God, however, implies more than a superficial life that allows one to default to a mind set that does not deal with eternal matters. Accountability is implied when one fears God.  Spurgeon commented on this passage with this powerful admonition;  one that I will keep forever,  teach on forever, and preach on forever. "Let the question provoke self examination" he shouts  with his pen.  Spurgeon then concludes with these sobering words:  "Gospel privileges are not for every pretender.  Art thou of the seed royal or no"? (The Treasury of David, seven-volumes, I, p. 445) Can one fear this great God and love Him with reverential respect at the same time? The thought comes to mind of the child who hears the dreaded words from mom: "just wait until your father comes home"  Does the child love dad and fear his soon return at the same time?  Most assuredly he or she does.

It seems as though we have far too often used that Hebrew verb (yare) to substitute a slumber-like euphemism of reverence in the place of a sobering and thought-provoking admonition to actually fear God.  It is not suggested here that one should fear God as one would fear a tyrant.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.  He took it all upon Himself; we have been redeemed by the most powerful act of love to ever have been exercised in human history!  Yet - it seems to me that a staggering sense of sobriety is required of those of us who proclaim His great name. 

Let us consider that every man, woman, or child who has ever lived upon this planet will spend eternity somewhere.  One should ponder the implications of that word "eternity".  We live in perilous times beloved; times that may be Biblical.  If Biblical, then a great apostasy awaits the planet (Mt.24:9-10). Those who call themselves Christians will be sifted during times of testing.  One remains faithful and is called-out unto His presence and the other becomes apostate,  is placed under the ban and is cast into outer darkness.  If the end of the age is not near, and His coming is far away, then one lives-out his or her life in the sobering belief that this is a great God Who will demand an accounting of his or her life.  Such a person will also be called-out unto His presence. For those who live out their lives by default and do not self-examine and who lightly esteem the One Who redeemed His beloved ones, there awaits the same fate as those who became apostate when under trial and the casting-out into that outer darkness awaits them - or so it seems to me.

And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, I would that you were cold or hot.  So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

(Rev. 3:15-16)

 



Sobering words by a great God.  Are we of the seed royal, or not?  A little introspection may be suggested here.  I can think of only two eternal states of being for the Human race:  Those who belong, and those who don't.  FEAR GOD  -  eternity awaits.

There Are Certain Jews

and they do not serve your gods

or worship the golden image which you have set up

 

 

One of the more famous stories found in the Bible is that of the ordeal endured by the three young captives deported to the court of Nebuchadnezzar the conquering king of Babylon upon his defeat of Judah and Jerusalem in the period of 605-586 BC.  In the first wave Daniel and his three companions Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have gone to the court to be trained-up in the culture of the Babylonians that they may serve that powerful king.  One is invited to revisit the passage describing this ordeal found in Daniel, chapter three.

 

 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold...

 

There are certain Jews who have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods

or worship the golden image which you have set up.

 

It is not the intent of this article to review the entire chapter.  A single thought came to my mind while sharing with some men in a bible study we hold on Monday nights.  Allow me to speculate and even postulate to expand that thought.

 

When the members of the court came before the king to announce that there were certain Jews who refused to obey, bow down, or worship the image, the king was enraged and threatened the three of them with a violent death.  Their response was immediate. Filled with certitude and resolve, they were determined to suffer whatever consequences that might follow. Their response was more than an intellectual determination; it was a reflection of who they were.

 

 

O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this.  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath... (vv. 16-19 bold added)

 

 

Now what kind of persons can utter such things under such circumstances!  And so my mind began to speculate concerning the essence of these young men.  "Reading between the lines" I speculated that these three had been chosen for the court because of their special nature, namely, "their intelligence in every branch of wisdom, their discerning of knowledge, and being endowed with understanding" (1:4). These young men had been raised in the knowledge of and the fealty to Torah law. They had been trained up in the way of the God of Abraham.  Their inner nature had been forged over a function of time and that process produced more than an intellectual understanding and approval of the life-style demanded by that God; it was in their viscera; it was who they were.  At the moment of crisis, they did not serve the false gods of a gentile kingdom and neither did they bow down to  and thus prostitute themselves to a gargantuan idol capable of cowering the entire known world of the Babylonian kingdom.  They were steeled to be faithful to the God of Abraham their father and to the God of Moses their law-giver.

 

So, let's fast forward 2600 years to today.

To those of us whose tendency is to take the bible literally when reading various passages that describe the close of the age and the return of Christ in power - one question should dominate our thought process:  Will I be able to stand?   To those of you who are less than inclined toward a literal understanding of things eschatological I invite you to a least postulate such a condition.

Violence will rule the day (II Tim 3:1-5), death is promised us for refusal to take a mark and to worship a man and his image (Rev. 13:14-18) and apostasy will bifurcate the church (Mt. 24 - be sobered by the entire chapter). To those of you who have an eschatological position that disagrees with the above scenario, please do not let that position propel you on to a rabbit trail.  The godless world that currently surrounds us is becoming increasingly violent and the strong tendency is for those who are proactive in it to coalesce around two enemies: Israel and the Church.  This freight train is gaining momentum and those driving that train are not deterred by our eschatological belief- system, nor by our theology.  License to sin, not accountability, is their goal and we are in the way. 

So I ask myself that question:  Will I be able to stand?  Will I be steeled like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, or will I join that great apostasy predicted by the Lord Himself when I have to face my own Babylonian statue -  in whatever form it might take in my life - at whatever moment-of-decision that is demanded of me?    So many "Christians" are living a shallow life in this country; an untested faith dominates their psychology and I fear for them as our present age is becoming increasingly violent and godless.  All of this to say that a little bit more sobriety concerning the time in which we live would be more that productive.  Our faith may be tested more than we anticipate.