Who Is Faithful?

March 9, 2009

"Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?" (Proverbs 20:6)

Faithfulness is like a rare and precious gem. It is difficult to find a real such gem, though there are many who will offer their virtues as a substitute.

Moses, however, was one such man. "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house" (Hebrews 3:5). So was Abraham. "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham" (Galatians 3:9). Moses and Abraham were full of faith in Gods Word; therefore they were faithful to Gods Word. The very word "faithful" means "full of faith."

God is not impressed with those who boast of themselves and their qualifications or who belittle others. "It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory" (Proverbs 25:27). Actions speak louder than words, and it is better to let ones works speak for themselves. "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18). The rare quality of faithfulness--firm and reliable commitmentto ones convictions and responsibilities, in accordance with Gods Word and Gods leading--is proved in practice rather than proclamation. May God help us to be faithful servants, for "it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). It is quality, not quantity, of service that God measures. Faithfulness--not fruitfulness--is required.

There is one glorious promise regarding faithfulness--not our faithfulness, but the faithfulness of our Savior. "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith |literally, 'faithfulness| of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be |found| true, but every man a liar" (Romans 3:3-4). HMM

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Trust in the Lord

March 3, 2009

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." (Psalm 37:3)

Sprinkled throughout this psalm are various pictures that provide the assurance of God’s victory--not only in His eternal plan, but also in and through the lives of His precious saints.

Trust is the most basic of the characteristics of our relationship with the Lord and sets the foundation for all the rest. The Hebrew word carries the meaning of confidence, or boldness, and is often used in such a way that it would imply that we are to "gain support" and "lean on" the One in whom we trust. The expanded definition of trust is contained in Proverbs: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones" (Proverbs 3:5-8).

But merely having great confidence in the God of creation is not enough. We must "do good" (our text). The entire New Testament book of James is devoted to this theme: "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). "O that there were such an heart in them," God told Moses, "that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).

If we would enjoy the blessings of God, we must embrace the plan of God. If we are to expect the promise that we will "dwell" and "be fed," then we must submit to the instructions of our Lord, who told us to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). HMM III

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The Holy Ghost in David

February 27, 2009

"For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness." (Psalm 95:7-8)

It is an interesting coincidence that verses 7-11 of Psalm 95 are quoted almost verbatim in verses 7-11 of Hebrews 3. The two writers are both referring, of course, to the 40 years of wandering by the children of Israel in the wilderness.

The Hebrews reference contains an important insight on biblical inspiration. It is introduced by the words "the Holy Ghost saith" (Hebrews 3:7), showing that God was actually the real author of the psalm. Then, the same phrase ("To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation") is quoted again in Hebrews 3:15, but this time it is introduced merely by "it is said."

Then, remarkably, it is quoted still a third time (Hebrews 4:7), where it tells us that God was "saying in David" this grave warning. In other words, the same Scripture was attributed both to David and to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps even more significantly, the phrase "it is said" is seen to be equivalent to "God says." All of this is a clear affirmation of the divine inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Finally, the fact that the same warning ("Harden not your hearts") is cited three times in the space of just 19 verses, all quoting the original warning in Psalm 95:8, must mean that God considers it extremely important that we harden not our hearts! It is possible that even a child of God can become so involved in doubts concerning God’s Word that he becomes useless to God and thus simply must be allowed to die in a spiritual wilderness, never knowing the great blessings of a life of obedient faith. "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart" (Psalm 19:8). Our hearts should rejoice at His Word, not be hardened against it. HMM

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The Days of Yore

February 22, 2009

"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?" (Deuteronomy 4:32)

This challenge was given by Moses to the children of Israel as they were preparing to enter the Promised Land. It was vital that they cease all complaining and begin to behave in a manner appropriate to their stature as God's chosen people.

For this they needed to regain a sense of historical perspective, and Moses urged them to study the history of the world since the beginning. Presumably, this would be possible only through studying the Book of Genesis, "since the day that God created Adam |same word as 'man'| upon the earth."

It is significant that "the days that are past" were implied by Moses to have begun essentially at creation, with no hint of any long geological ages before that. The 25 or more centuries from Adam to Moses had provided enough history to instruct that particular generation about God's plans for the world, and to prepare them for their own key role in their accomplishment, and to appreciate the real meaning of their own lives as they awaited the promised redeemer who was to come someday with salvation.

Now if the Israelites needed a true historical perspective, we need one today far more. In addition to what they had, we now also have the history of Israel, the first coming of Christ, God's completed revelation, and the Christian dispensation from which to learn and profit. Our understanding of God and His purposes should be far greater than theirs, so we have much greater responsibility. May God help us to study and believe and understand all that has gone before, as recorded in His Word, so that we also can be prepared to fulfill our own role in God's great plan of the ages for eternity. HMM

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How Christ Learned Obedience

February 21, 2009

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8)

This verse is a very difficult verse. The Lord Jesus Christ was the very Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the omniscient God, perfect wisdom and complete truth. How could it be that one who knows all things would have to learn anything? Even more particularly, how would He have to learn obedience? He was always obedient to His heavenly Father. "I do always those things that please him," Christ said (John 8:29). He surely did not have to be chastised like a disobedient child in order to learn obedience, as the verse seems on the surface to be telling us.

He was indeed a Son, and He was never disobedient, but He had to become obedient through actual experience. He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). The "things which he suffered," as the innocent Lamb of God, are beyond all human understanding, and His willingness to obey His Father even in this ("nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" -- Luke 22:42) demonstrates the ultimate obedience.

There are many things which one can learn in theory, but which are only really learned in practice. The Lord Jesus Christ knew all things by omniscience; nevertheless, He had to learn obedience by actual experience. "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, . . . to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10).

Once having passed this test, He had been "made perfect" as the succeeding verse assures us, and thus has become "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Hebrews 5:9). No act of obedience which He urges upon us can ever be as difficult as the things which He was willing to suffer to provide forgiveness and salvation for us. HMM

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Whom Shall I Fear

February 20, 2009

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)

David had more than his share of opposition. His father and older brothers thought little of him. King Saul relentlessly pursued him. His generals oftentimes conspired against him. His own son tried to usurp his throne. If anyone had opportunity to trust God for deliverance, David did.

In this psalm--an anthem of trust--David reveals his special relationship with his God which buoyed him in times of trouble. As we read in our text, his Lord was his light, salvation, and strength, and so He is to us.

The Lord is my light: When we walk in His light, we do not stumble. Enemies are not able to hide in the dark and catch us by surprise. He vanquishes the darkness. "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me" (Micah 7:8, see also 1 John 1:5-7).

The Lord is my salvation: God delivers His children from physical and spiritual danger, including deliverance from the penalty of sin. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake" (Psalm 79:9).

The Lord is the strength of my life: God is our defense, a place of refuge. "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower" (Psalm 18:2).

Even in the face of seemingly overwhelming opposition, we have no need to fear. Our focus should be on the source of deliverance, rather than on the problem. "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14). JDM

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The Self Life

February 19, 2009

"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)

This despondent cry follows Paul's disturbing monologue on the inner strife between his two natures (Romans 7:13-24). Here the apostle describes the conflict that goes on in the life of every Christian, until the self-life is completely subjugated and the will of Christ reigns supreme. The ascendancy of self is indicated in these verses by the fact that the personal pronouns "I," "me," "my" are used no less than 35 times in verses 15-24 alone as Paul records his inner thoughts and feelings (e.g., "that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I"--v. 15). Such a testimony is pervaded with introspection, relating everything to self instead of to Christ. No wonder the conclusion is so miserable: "O wretched man that I am!"

Unfortunately, this is the status of most Christians whose interests are almost completely self-centered. Most Christian books and sermons are designed to appeal to such personal interests, and the explosive modern growth of Christian professional "counseling" likewise reflects the existence of multitudes of self-centered Christians.

But the happy and useful Christian is the one whose concerns and activities center around others and who earnestly seeks to follow and honor Christ and His Word. And this is exactly the conclusion to which the apostle Paul comes in his melancholy soliloquy. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" he cries. Immediately the answer comes: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24-25).

We do still have to battle the old nature, but in Christ we have both the incentive and power to "put off the old man with his deeds" (Colossians 3:9), and to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). HMM

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Disciples and Servants

Disciples and Servants
February 18, 2009

"The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord." (Matthew 10:24)

Note the two-fold relation of the believer to the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in this verse. We are His disciples and servants; He is our Master and Lord. Each of the two relationships is vital. The word for "disciple" means "pupil."

The word "master" is the same as "teacher." The Lord Jesus, therefore, is our teacher, and He teaches us through His Word--the Holy Scriptures. It is our function to learn His teachings and, of course, to believe them. No Christian (one under the authority of Christ) has the right to reject or even to question one of the teachings of His Word (Matthew 5:18-19). The lord-servant relationship goes even further. The word for "servant" is actually "bond slave." The "lord" of a slave was his owner; the word itself means "supreme ruler" and is the title commonly assigned to God Himself in the New Testament. Thus, if a disciple is to believe the word of his master without question, the servant is to obey the word of his lord without hesitation.

But the world scoffs at the teachings of God's Word, and will try to persecute those who seek to follow them. The unbelieving world--even the religious world--responded to the teachings of the Master by ridiculing Him, then torturing Him, and finally hanging Him on a tree to die.

Yet we are to go to the same world with the same teachings. "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (John 20:21). "As thou hast sent me into the world," He prayed, "even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17:18).

He does warn us. "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also" (John 15:20). HMM Readmore...

Valentine's Day

February 14, 2009

"Who so findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD." (Proverbs 18:22)

Embedded in many of our customs and holidays are a mixture of pagan and biblical principles. Saint Valentine’s Day is no exception. Mystery surrounds who Valentine really was. He was probably a priest martyred in 269 A.D. at Rome. Among Roman Catholics, he is called the patron saint of affianced couples, beekeepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, and young people. He is one busy (and confused) man!

In the Western world, the emphasis is on human expressions of love and friendship. That is certainly of importance and, when guided by the biblical principles, a godly ardor worth commemorating.
Here are a few guidelines to remember this season:

• "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (Romans 12:9).

• "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22).

• "See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently" (1 Peter 1:22).

• "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25).

• "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2).

The objective of every kind of biblical "love" is stated in Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church: "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9). HMM III

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Thy Word Is Settled Forever

February 13, 2009

"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89)

This is the central verse in the longest chapter in the longest book in the Bible, and it is surely one of the greatest verses in the Bible. It conveys the amazing news that the Word of God (which is the theme of the entire 119th Psalm) has existed from eternity past and will continue to exist forever in the future. It was eternally settled in the mind of God before the world was created, then gradually inscripturated "at sundry times and in divers manners |as God| spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" (Hebrews 1:1).

Other verses in this psalm likewise stress the eternal validity of God's words: "The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting. . . . Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever. . . . Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever" (Psalm 119:144, 152, 160).

In the Book of Isaiah appears a magnificent claim: "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8). This contrast is expanded by the apostle Peter: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23).

To guarantee this great truth beyond any further question, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself made the following tremendous claim: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18).

The entire physical universe is (literally) "passing away," heading inexorably downhill toward ultimate death--with one exception! The words of our Bible and its glorious promises are eternal and immutable. HMM

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Darwin's Day

February 12, 2009

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." (2 Peter 2:1)

Thousands of clergy have signed "An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science." On the Sunday closest to Charles Darwin's birthday, these "pastors" eulogize him and endorse evolutionary science as compatible with the Bible. Here are five reasons why this idea is grossly wrong.

• The Bible has absolutely no hint of ages of evolutionary development. Forcing the "days" of Genesis 1 to mean "ages" can be done, but there is no support for that idea in the rest of Scripture (Psalm 33:6-9, 148:5-6; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 4:11; etc.).

• Evolution is not observed at all today. Empirical science is based on observation and verification. Nothing (from bacteria to people) is "evolving" into a "higher order." Period.

• Fossil data does not show any transitional forms. If evolution occurred prior to recorded history, it can only be documented by the fossils embedded in the water-deposited rocks of earth. Those "missing links" are still missing.

• God's character absolutely forbids evolutionary methods. God's holiness demands truth, and His omniscience demands perfection. He cannot know what is best and then "create" something inferior. He wrote that He took six days to create the universe (Exodus 20:11). And He cannot lie!

• God's stated purpose for creating excludes evolution. The creation reveals the Creator (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1-4), gives authority to the message of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14, Colossians 1:16-18), and is the foundation for the gospel and for worship (Revelation 14:6-7). Creating is what God does at the moment of the new birth (Ephesians 2:8-10). HMM III

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The Fruit-Bearing Christian

February 11, 2009

"Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." (Philippians 4:17)

The apostle Paul here was commending the Christians at Philippi as the only church that had sent an offering to help defray his expenses on his missionary trips. He calls such gifts "fruit" that would abound to their "account" (Greek logos, probably better rendered as "testimony"). Thus God considers gifts of money to scriptural ministries to be like life-giving fruits on a healthy vine.

There are other types of fruits which a Christian life can produce. Paul regarded those he had helped lead to Christ as fruits. He wrote to the Christians at Rome: "I purposed to come unto you . . . that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles" (Romans 1:13).

Genuine traits of godly character are also called fruits. "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9). The classic passage, outlining the nine-fold fruit produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a willing Christian, is Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance." It is significant that all these attributes constitute one fruit, not nine fruits.

The tremendous importance of fruit-bearing in the Christian life was especially brought out by Christ in His famous discourse on the vine and the branches, in John 15:1-16. In these verses, the word "fruit" occurs eight times. First, there is the warning: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away" (John 15:2). If there is no fruit (or if the fruit is "corrupt fruit") in the life, there is no assurance of any life at all.

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8). To bring forth much fruit, we must abide (that is, "continue steadfastly") in Christ (John 15:5). HM

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Inerrancy According to Christ

February 10, 2009

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18)

Here is the commentary of the Lord Jesus on the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration. Not only were the words of the Bible divinely inspired, but even the very letters! The "jot" was the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet (yod, the tenth letter). The "tittle" was a small horn-like appendage which transformed one Hebrew letter into another. Thus, a stronger statement of absolute verbal inspiration than this could hardly be imagined.

Further, the phrase "in no wise" is actually a double negative in Greek. In New Testament Greek it was used for strong emphasis. According to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, every word--even every letter--of the "law" must be fulfilled. This certainly includes the books of the Pentateuch--including even the often-maligned and distorted opening chapters of Genesis!

He applied the same principle to other parts of Scripture as well. "The scripture cannot be broken," He said (John 10:35) in the course of an exposition of Psalm 82:6, based on one single word used in the verse, supporting the vital doctrine of His own deity.

It is clear that Christ taught the doctrine of full, verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. It is sad and inexcusable that so many today who call themselves Christians repudiate this vital teaching of the Lord Jesus by rejecting, diluting, or "interpreting" the plain statements of the Word of God. And, lest anyone equivocate by suggesting that, since the original writings have all been lost, we no longer can know what the divinely given words may have been, we should remember Christ's promise: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). HMM

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The Temple's Silent Construction

February 9, 2009

"And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building." (1 Kings 6:7)

Here is a remarkable testimony to the engineering and construction skills of the ancients. In order to erect the magnificent temple of Solomon, every portion was so carefully fabricated, far away from the construction site, that the building could be completely erected in reverent silence.

Furthermore, the stones were not small and rough. "They brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house" (1 Kings 5:17). They were quarried from limestone beds beneath the city and had to be fabricated and brought to the temple site, all ready to be laid in place. "And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers" (1 Kings 5:18).

In both its unique beauty and its silent assemblage, the temple is a striking type of the spiritual temple now being erected by the Holy Spirit. "Now therefore ye are . . . built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:19-22).

In this spiritual temple, each new believer is a costly stone, carefully cut from the world's dark quarry, then silently placed in the growing structure by the Holy Spirit on the foundation of Jesus Christ, "to whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:4-5). "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). HMM

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The Christian's Speech

February 7, 2009

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6)

A Christian's words are of transcendent importance, for Jesus has said: "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36). The word "answer" in the text above means more than simply an answer to a question. The Greek word is used 250 times in the New Testament, and in every other instance, it is used in a simple narrative sense (such as, "he answered saying"). Thus it refers to ordinary conversation, indicating that every verbal response of a Christian should be gracious and tasteful--never crude, or hurtful, or bland.

The Scriptures include many other specifications for a Christian's speech. In the first place, there should not be too much of it! "Study to be quiet, and to do your own business" (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Our words should be carefully chosen, able to be substantiated--"Sound speech, that cannot be condemned" (Titus 2:8). People should be able to rely on the truth of what we say. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour" (Ephesians 4:25). Furthermore, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29). "But who ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth" (Colossians 3:8). Our words should always be edifying and helpful, wholesome and thoughtful.

But if this seems humanly impossible, remember God is able to tame our tongues, even though we cannot! The key is prayer--earnest and consistent prayer--not just that our speech become innocuous, but that it may edify, testify, and minister grace. HMM

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The Cup of Salvation

February 2, 2009

"What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." (Psalm 116:12-13)

Here is a remarkable question and answer. To every one born into the world, God has given multitudes of benefits. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). Some receive more than others, but all receive many, so the question is what we should do for the Lord in return. The answer is simply to receive His great gift of eternal salvation!

On one occasion the people of Capernaum asked Jesus: "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" His answer must be profoundly surprising to anyone who believes that he can please God and earn salvation by doing good works. "This is the work of God," said Jesus, "that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:28-29).

The truth is we can never pay for our sins by good deeds. If one is ever to be saved from his sins and to obtain salvation, it must be received solely by faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. "For the wages of sin is death," but "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," so that "the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many" and--in the words of our text above--"whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 6:23, 5:8, 5:15, 10:13).

Therefore, when a repentant sinner calls in faith on the wonderful name of our gracious Lord, he drinks of the healing cup of salvation and receives everlasting life. Because Jesus drank the bitter cup of God’s righteous judgment on our sins, we can drink deeply of the "living water. . . . springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:10-14), and we can say with the psalmist: "My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Psalm 23:5-6). HMM

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God's Shadow

February 2, 2009

"The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." (Lamentations 4:20)

In the hot desert lands so familiar to the Israelites, a place of shade was considered a blessing wherever it could be found, and this was often taken as a symbol of God's protection from the hot hatred of their (and His) enemies. In fact, the Hebrew word for "shadow" is used twelve times in the Bible as a type of God's guarding presence.

The first is in Psalm 17:8: "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings." Three other times "the shadow of thy wings" is used (Psalm 36:7, 57:1, 63:7). Isaiah speaks of His presence "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" and as like being hidden "in the shadow of his hand" (Isaiah 32:2, 49:2, also 51:16). The Lord is compared to "a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain" (Isaiah 4:6). He is "a shadow from the heat" and like "the shadow of a cloud" (Isaiah 25:4-5).

The last reference to God's shadow is in our text above in reference to the forced exile of God's people into Babylon. In this sad context, Jeremiah laments that even "the anointed of the Lord"--that is, literally, the Lord's Messiah (fulfilled in Jesus Christ)--has been taken captive with His people. He is even called "the breath of our nostrils," recognizing implicitly that it was He who breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life in the beginning (Acts 17:25). Thus, He will even be with His people as they undergo their just chastisements; they can even "live among the heathen" under His shadow. No matter how dark our circumstances, we can say with the psalmist: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. . . . in him will I trust" (Psalm 91:1-2). HMM

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Worship and Praise

by Henry Morris III, D.Min.

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalm 138:2)

Praise and worship are widely taught in Scripture, but are seldom used to describe the same actions. "Worship" describes an attitude of obeisance and reverence (usually by bowing or prostrating) during a formal act of sacrifice or some other structured observance. "Praise," especially this word used in Psalm 138, emphasizes joyous thanksgiving, recognizing God's specific blessing or God's worthiness in character, power, deed, or authority.

There are only two events recorded in Scripture where the people of God both "worshipped" and "praised" at the same time. The first was at the dedication of the great temple of Solomon. When the prayer of dedication was finished, the fire of God's glory descended on the temple and entered the Holy of Holies. That awesome event drove everyone to their knees "with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord" (2 Chronicles 7:3).

The other occurred right after Ezra led a remnant back from Babylon. As the people heard the Word read to them for the first time in many decades, they became so convicted of their disobedience, that they began to cry and confess their sin. They stood for about three hours and "confessed |same word as 'praise'|, and worshipped the Lord their God" (Nehemiah 9:3).

In neither case did the people jump up and down, clap, or otherwise demonstrate exuberance. They were so overwhelmed at the presence of God that they fell down on their faces! Then they poured out their heart in intimate worship and praise for His lovingkindness, His truth, His name, His being, His attributes, and because God has magnified His Word above all His Name.

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The Higher Purposes of Winter

"Thou hast made.., winter." Psa_74:17

It is always easy to believe that God has made the summertime. There is something in a perfect summer day that speaks to us of the divine. The beauty which is around us everywhere, the singing of the birds in every tree, the warmth of the pleasant summer sun, the amazing prodigality of life, these, as by filaments invisible, draw our hearts to the Giver of them all and make it easy to say, "Thou hast made the summer."

With winter it is different. It is not so easy to see the love of God there. There is a great deal of suffering in winter both for the animal creation and for man. It may therefore aid the faith of some who may be tempted to doubt the love of God in winter if I suggest some of its spiritual accomplishments.

Winter Deepens Our Appreciation of Summer

One of the higher offices of winter is to deepen our appreciation of the summer. We should be blind if summer were perpetual. Someone has said, and very truly said, that our dear ones are only ours when we have lost them. They have to pass away into the silent land before we know them for what they really are. And in like manner summer has to pass, leaving us in the grip of icy winter, before we fully appreciate the summer. It is not the man who lives in lovely Scotland who feels most deeply how lovely Scotland is. It is the exile on some distant shore, yearning for the mountains and the glens. It is not the man with abundant, unbroken health who feels most deeply the value of his health. That is realized when health is shattered.

In Caithness, where I lived four years, there is a great scarcity of trees. I never knew how much I loved the trees till I dwelt in a land where there are none. And we never know all that summer means to us, in its pageantry of life and beauty, till we lose it in the barrenness of winter. Lands that have no winter have no spring. They never know the thrilling of the spring when the primroses awake and the wild hyacinths, and the iris waves in the breeze. Thoughts like these, in January days, make it easier for faith to say, "Thou hast made the winter."

Winter Puts Demands Upon the Will

Another of the higher purposes of winter is the greater demands it makes upon the will. I should like to take a simple illustration. In summer it is comparatively easy to get out of bed at the appointed hour. For the earth is warm, and the birds are busy singing, and the light is streaming through the open windows. But in winter, to fling the covers off and get up when it is dark and perishingly cold, that is quite a different affair. That calls for a certain resolution. It makes instant demands upon the will.

Now broaden that thought to the compass of the day, and you reach a truth that cannot be denied. The countries where the will is most developed and where moral life is most vigorous and strong are the countries that have winter in their year. There "ain't no Ten Commandments east of Suez," says Kipling in a familiar line. The singular thing is that east of Suez there isn't any winter in the year. Rigorous winter days when life is difficult and when it takes some doing even to get up are God's tonic for His children's will. "O well for him whose will is strong. He suffers, but he does not suffer long." Let any young fellow have his will under control and he is on the highway to his victory. Summer is languid; winter makes us resolute. We have to do things when we don't feel like them. And Thou—the Giver of the Ten Commandments—Thou hast made the winter.

Winter Intensifies the Thought of Home

Another accomplishment of winter is to intensify the thought of home. In lands that bask in a perpetual sunshine, home-life is always at a minimum. I had a friend who for three years was prisoner in an internment camp in Germany. I asked him once when he felt most homesick, and I am not likely to forget his answer. He said that the only times when he felt homesick were when fog settled down upon the camp reminding him of winter fogs in Glasgow. In summer he was happy. It was good to be alive in summer. But when the fog came, he thought of lighted streets and saw his cozy and comfortable home. And always the thought of home is sweetest, and the home-life richest and most beautiful, in the dark, cold season of the winter. We talk in the same breath of hearth and home, and it is in winter that the hearth is glowing.

There is one poem about a humble home more beautiful than any other in our literature. It is a picture by the hand of genius of the joy and reverence of the hearth. But the "Cottar's Saturday Night" could never have been written in the tropics. It is the child of a land with winter in its year.

Now think of everything we owe to home. Think of what the nation owes to home. "From scenes like these auld Scotia's grandeur springs." Home is the basis of national morality. Is it not easier when one thinks of these things to say in the bitterest January day, "Thou hast made the winter"?

Winter Stirs Us to Charity

The last purpose of winter I shall mention is how it stirs our sluggish hearts to charity. With that we are all perfectly familiar. Did you ever watch a singer in the street in the warm and balmy days of summer? The passersby pay him little heed and rarely give him a coin even though he is singing all the charms of Annie Laurie. But in winter, when the air is biting, and when the snow is deep upon the ground, Annie Laurie brings him in a harvest. Folk are extraordinarily good to me in giving me donations for the poor. For one donation that I get in summertime, however, I get ten in the bitterness of winter. Winter unlocks the gates of charity. It unseals the hidden springs of pity. It moves us with compassion for the destitute, and so to be moved is a very Christlike thing. Such thoughts as these in stern and icy days, when we are tempted perhaps to doubt the love of God, make it easier to say with David, "Thou hast made the winter."

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Summer and Winter

"Thou hast made summer and winter." Psa_74:17

I suppose there are few who seriously doubt that the maker of summertime is God. There is something in every summer's glory that tells us of the touch of the divine, for here indeed we see the handiwork of God. But notice that in our text it says a great deal more than just that God hast made the summer. It says "Thou hast made the summer and the winter."

It was an old belief which is still held by multitudes that rival deities had been at work on nature. It was not the handiwork of one god; it was the handiwork of two gods. And all the sharp antagonisms of the universe and all the contrasts amid which we live were tokens of their mutual enmity. Had one made the glory of the day and the other the darkness of the night? Had one cheered us with the genial heart and the other cursed us with the bitter cold? It was one power that made the radiant morn, and another that made the deepening shadow. There were millions of people who believed that once, and there are millions who still believe it.

How different, how superbly different, is the spiritual vision of this singer of the Psalms! It was the God of Abraham who made the summer, and it was his God who made the winter, too. The very hand that decked the summer meadow and cast the mantle of green upon the forest touched that summer glory and it died. Thou hast made the summer and the winter. Thou hast clothed and thou hast stripped again. Thou hast lengthened out the shining hours, and thou hast crushed them into a little space. Thou hast created the gentle breath of evening that falls on man with benediction, and thou the bitter and the piercing blast.

The Summer and Winter of the Heart

Now I want you to carry that great truth into regions which the eye has never seen. I want you to believe that one God has made the summer and winter of the heart. There are experiences which come to every man which are tingling with the touch of heaven. They are so radiant and so delightful that we never doubt the hand which gave them to us. It is good to be grateful for such recurring gladness, but more is needed for a life of victory. He who would conquer must have faith to say, "Thou hast made the summer and the winter." God is not only gracious when the sun shines, He is just as gracious when the wind is sharp. He gives the glory and He strips the glory, and on His vesture is the name of Love. He who can trace His hand when it is winter—who can still say He loves me and He knows—has won the secret of that abiding peace which the world cannot give and cannot take away.

What a summertime the patriarch Job enjoyed! How the sun shone on him for many days! There was no one like him in the land of Uz for health and wealth and happiness and peace. And then there fell on him the blast of winter, and he was desolate and deathly cold, and "The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away," said Job, "blessed be the name of the Lord."

Do you remember what his wife advised him? His wife advised him to curse God and die. Do you remember what his friends advised him? It was to confess that he had played the hypocrite. But Job was far too big a man for that. "Though he slay me yet will I trust him," he said. The faith in which he conquered was just this, "Thou hast made the summer and the winter."

Winter Is the Loom on Which Summer Is Made

And now another question arises: How does God make the summer? What is the unseen loom on which He weaves that garment of beauty which we see Him by? Don't consider me as being mystical when I reply that winter is the loom. It is a truth which science will corroborate that out of the winter He hath made the summer. When a child rises in the morning, what an exuberance of life there is! The eyes are bright and the feet swift to run and play; and all that life, so wonderful and glad, has been created in the womb of sleep.

We say that in winter everything is dead. That is what they said of Jairus' daughter. And then came Christ and looked at her and said, "The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth." So we learn that in the dead of winter—and we never talk about the dead of summer—what we call death is but the child's sleep. Life has not vanished even though the eyes are closed. And then comes morning with all its joy and renewed life, all because of the quiet sleep of wintertime. There is no thrilling beauty of springtime without the chill of December. God needs the one if He would make the other. He fashions glory out of decay.

Consider that truth then and carry it to a higher sphere. It is as true of us as of the earth that winter holds the secret of the summer. Out of December, God will fashion June. Out of the cross, He fashions the crown. Out of the trial that was so hard to bear, He brings the beauty of the saintly character. "God be merciful to me a sinner"—that is the winter of our discontent, and yet when a man has cried that prayer of despair, he is preparing for his summer and his song.

There came to Glasgow, not so long ago, a pianist with an excellent reputation. I read the Herald's criticism of him, and there was one thing in it that I especially noted. The Herald said that he had been always brilliant—always been wonderful as an executant—but now there was a depth of feeling in him that had never been present in his work before. A day or two afterwards while preaching in a suburb, I met a relative of the pianist. As we began to discuss him and the Herald's criticism of him, the relative said to me, "Did you notice that? And do you know what was the secret of the change? It was the death of his mother eighteen months ago." He was an only son, unmarried, and had been simply devoted to his mother. And then she died and he was left alone, and all the depths were broken up in him. And now he played as only he can play who knows what life and death are and what sorrow is—and out of the winter God had made his summer.

Perpetual sunshine may make men brilliant, perhaps, but never deep. They don't understand. They never know. They condescend, for they cannot sympathize, for much that is beautiful in men and women springs from the season when the tree is stripped. All that is fairest in the world rises from the darkness of the cross. My brother, that is also how He leads us, for to our hearts the world is but the shadow. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Why Did God Make the Summer and Winter?

There is only one answer that can be given to that question in the light of all that we have learned. Not just for their own sakes has He made them—not for their sublimity or beauty merely. Through night and day, through sunshine and through storm, God has His purpose which is never baffled. And that one purpose—how shall we describe it? Put in simple language it is this: It is the purpose of every living thing that after summer there should be the harvest. Of course, God has made purposes in every thing and every season. Undoubtedly when He made the summer beautiful, He meant it to give pleasure to His children. But there is one thing deeper than all others, and that is the mellowing of the harvest field. Nothing is beautiful in nature for its own sake. Beauty is a trust for other's sakes. Summer and winter look beyond themselves to the time when the flower shall wither and the fruit shall come. He that liveth to himself is dead. There is he that scattereth and yet increaseth. Our gifts——our summer sun and winter storm—these have an end to serve in other lives. We are not here simply to be happy. We are here to serve and be a blessing. And "Thou hast made our summer and our winter" that we may have the joy of harvest time.

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