Written Word

'Be Ye Separate...'

What did Jesus come to earth for – to bring peace as in Luke 2.14 – or to cause division as in Mat. 10.34-36? When Jesus was born, the angels proclaimed,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" (Luk 2:14 RSV)

But sometime during the course of His ministry Jesus declared,

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  (35)  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;  (36)  and a man's foes will be those of his own household.  (Mat 10:34-36 RSV)

There is an apparent conflict of scriptures here, but it can be resolved by studying the life of Christ and comparing scripture with scripture in a knowledgeable way. Jesus’ life was one of contrasting parts that were all consonant within the whole. Let’s look at the whole picture in this particular instance:

1. Jesus’ primary aim was to bring salvation and peace to everyone who would accept His doctrine, but He knew there would be some who would reject His teaching. Isaiah foresaw this when he exclaimed,

“Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”  (Isa 53:1 RSV)

2. Jesus’ secondary aim therefore was to separate the believers from the unbelievers. They who hearkened to the words of peace and reconciliation that Christ spoke had to be separated from the bulk of the people who would pull them from their place in Christ. It is easier for a person to slide downhill than it is for him or her to push upward against the pull of gravity (the sinful nature we all have). So, yes, Jesus did come to bring peace and in doing so He had to divide the sheep from the goats, thus making a rift between the two camps.

Apostle Paul has cautioned us in his second epistle to the Corinthians,

“Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?  and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6.14

Then, after further admonitions, Paul concludes his remarks with this:

“Wherefore come out from among them [the unbelievers], and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Cor. 6.17)

This does not mean that believers should have no dealings with sinners because then, as Paul states in 1 Cor. 5.10, we would have to go out of this world. Paul is saying that we can have business, even personal dealings with the world [Paul himself had friends who did not share his religious doctrine – Acts 19.31], but there must continually be the rift, perceived by both camps, between the world and the children of God. If we are sensitive to the way the Holy Spirit is leading us at every moment, we will sense when it is time to pull back from any personal hand-in-glove type of association with the world.

It is very clear that God has ordained that there be a rift between His people and the world. He knows the nature of a man and He knows His people cannot continue to be clean and holy if they persist in walking hand in hand with the world. God has commanded that there be a separation; now it is up to God’s people to see to it that they maintain the required separation between the camp of righteousness and that of wickedness.

 

Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer

Everyone is his or her own personality. We shouldn’t expect John Jones to be like us simply because we are saved and following the leading of the Spirit. We should no more expect John to fully conform to who and what we are than we can expect to act and react to every situation as Jesus did in His lifetime on earth. Jesus was/is God and there are some situations that are too divinely narrow for us to fit our bulbous, awkward bodies into them.

By the same token we have no reason to force ourselves to act or react in exactly the same way that Apostle Pauli would in a given situation. We can, and we should, take valuable lessons from Paul’s’ life, but we are not, and indeed cannot be, carbon copies of the Apostle or any other person, living or dead. Paul was an Apostle, we are not. Others whom we may want to be like are whatever God called them to be, something to which God has not called us. We cannot be exactly like them nor can they be like us; we are each one of a kind. The mold in which we were formed was discarded upon our entry into this world.

If John seems to be marching to the beat of a different drummer – give John a break. If he too is walking in the Highway of Holiness and he causes no one to stumble, then we should back off. While we are giving John his space, we can quietly and unobtrusively look for the fruit of the Spirit in John’s life. The fruit is described in Gal. 5.22 and 23. Please note that the fruit is not good deeds, but rather, character traits. None of the fruit mentioned there can be called a deed.

Fruit is a part of your character, not what you do. What you do constitutes works of righteousness, which would include a myriad of things, including praying, reading the Word of God, fasting, comforting a bereaved soul, attending worship services, etc., on and on. But a reminder is in order here: Good works, no matter your sincerity or lack thereof, cannot save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ can bring salvation, which in turn produces the desired works of righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit.

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Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5.22-23)
Love	Joy	Peace
Longsuffering	Gentleness	Goodness
Faith	Meekness	Temperance (self-control)

 Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” If, after careful scrutiny, we can detect the fruit of the Spirit in John’s deportment, then we should leave him alone and prop him up with the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous. John may be marching to a different beat than we, but the Drummer is still God.

Leave John alone to serve his Lord in the way his Lord wants John to serve Him.

Dealing with SELF

“Lord, help me to lift up my sinful, willful self, not in praise, but to impale it on the cross with you by faith. Let it die with you and, if need be, let it die a painful death.”

The Self (speaking now not just about the carnal nature, but the entire person that I am), has a legitimate desire to be comfortable and at ease. As in all other areas of being, Self wants to feel a reasonable sense of achievement in doing the will of God.  But this full comfortable state of being cannot occur simultaneous with my fulfilling the will of God, not as long as the carnal self remains literally alive, which means not at all. The old carnal man, always seeking ways to evade the will of God, is continually at odds with the spiritual self, which wants to do only the will of God.

The feeling of contentment that comes with doing God’s will is destined to always be impinged upon by the lusts of the carnal man. It seems that just when the follower of Jesus has completed or is still working on a task assigned to him by God, he or she is beset by the contrary desires of the flesh (carnal nature), which refuses to die easily. It is clear there can be no fully “comfortable” state in this life. So, as obedient children of God, we take what we can and enjoy the satisfaction He grants us in doing what pleases Him and we keep moving and working in God’s Kingdom until He tells us it’s time to come home. This is what God gives us in this journey and it is more than all right with us. A full comfortable feeling is good, but feelings do not win races or games or spiritual victories. All we need is the hand of God in blessing upon us.

Who on Earth Do You Think Jesus Is?

God is acutely AWARE of everything – the things that are cataclysmically obvious or silent and unseen – that is happening in His universe at any time, at any place. He is very much aware. If you need specificity, consider this: God hears the rustling of the breeze through the leaves on a certain hillside in Ohio on a Tuesday at two o’clock in the afternoon. And He is just as acutely alert to every happening throughout Creation.

“How can this be?” you ask, “It’s utterly impossible!”

But there you are “utterly” wrong, friend. You are looking at the scene through your severely limited eyes. Your myopic vision fails to see the whole of God’s astounding power. The God who created all things knows all things. The God who made the universe, the galaxies, Earth and man and the lesser creatures, knows no limitations. He must be aware of all that occurs within the universe He created – or He is not God.

It is relatively easy for Jesus (who is God Himself according to my Scripture-based reasoning in The Life of Christ in Five Phases– press the highlighted text for fuller information: http://bit.ly/U05x1 ) to assert He is merely a good man, as some timidly say He is. It would be more difficult for Him to lay claim to being the only way for sinners to come to God; but it would be a prodigious leap into uniqueness among men and so-called gods for Christ to assert, as He does, that He is the one and only God in existence. He is the one and only God on whom men may call and be saved... and sheltered... and preserved alive from moment to perilous moment. There is, you should know, a dangerous and unremitting foe of all mankind and he would like nothing better than to destroy the entire handiwork of God and send it into fiery oblivion. He would do it in a fateful heartbeat, if he could.

But he can’t, and it is plain to see that our adversary can do only what God allows him to do. Then why are we worried? Why do we fear every slightest rustle in the night and the feeble chirp of a cricket in the dark? God is GREAT and He is AWESOME and we have absolutely no need to fear or fret.

Let’s get on with our lives, the lives that we say are given to God, and let’s reach above and beyond ourselves into the fullness of God’s power and glory. We have a ministry to fulfill and a God to glorify.

Doing What Is Required of Us

Without meaning the statement literally, we say at times, “The Lord and I have it in control” – meaning: God has everything in His strong hands. We know our only part is in giving assent to what He does. Without my consent God will do nothing for me; He will not overpower me to help me emerge from a distressful situation. He will not honor His promise that I shall rout a thousand foes determined to destroy me. When I cease to yield to His will, I am then on my own.

It is analogous to the Israelites’ relationship with God in their battles against their enemies. God required the Israelites to arm themselves and to train for warfare, but in the end it was God who made them victorious over their foes. And when they forsook their God, He forsook them, and all their training and armament could not achieve a triumph over even the smallest and weakest enemy.

Jehovah declared, “I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” God will withdraw His hand in a tentative manner from our affairs when we turn from Him, but He is still the gracious, loving Savior He has always been and He will not soon utterly abandon us to a well-deserved fate. God bears long with His people – and with mankind in general – but He is also a God of justice and righteousness and He will not tolerate our willful sinning forever. There comes a cutoff point, otherwise He is not the God He has always been.

In this great Jehovah God who came to men as Jesus there is a mind-blowing mix of many varied traits, some of which seem to contradict one another. But appearances are not always as they seem. The same God who declared that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” is the One who died in the sinner’s place. But on the reverse side of the coin, the God who died for the sinner is the one who will eventually consume the sinner if he rejects the salvation purchased for him at such a great price.

God does not change; our relationship to God changes. There are certain angles from which we see the tender, loving side of God; but when we move to a perspective that is oppositional to God, we see the stern, judgmental and wrathful aspect of God. It is not God’s responsibility to be sure that we maintain the right relationship or perspective of God; that burden falls on our shoulders.

God in Christ gave His all on Calvary: what more could He do? And we are reluctant to make the smallest of sacrifices for Him because it would inconvenience or distress the flesh or hurt our pride or “damage” our frail psyches! We, mankind, are no doubt a most pathetic people.

 

Who Is This God We Serve?

What a question to ask of a people who supposedly are faithful, loyal subjects of “God.” It is possible that the majority of church-goers have never looked at God face-to-divine-Face. Many have never seriously pondered this majestic Being they serve. Who is He and how did He get tangled up with abject sinners like us?

Who is God but God? He is God – up, down and across the invisible worlds of human imagination and the visible worlds of the universe. There is no place or concept that can successfully shut Him out. He is simply, inexplicably and incontrovertibly – God. The smallest and meanest minds cannot wish Him away just because He does not square with their lifestyle; the greatest intellects cannot reason him into their trick bag of myth or wishful thinking. He is God and He has no intention of disappearing.

 

Another Life Lost to the Inevitable

I haven’t visited my favorite Web sites much of late because I have been involved in writing a book and in preparing another for publication. Then, in the midst of these “feel-good” efforts (you know, doing good things that make you feel good), tragedy struck. I lost my only remaining sister to the inexorable clutch of death.

Once I had received the first of a chain of bad news, the others followed quickly. It seems that at one moment we had her with us and then – bam! bam! bam! – the sequence of bad news hit us in rapid succession. The first inkling I had that all was not going well with Juanita was the phone call: “Nita’s sick… she has lung cancer.” That was a blow to my vulnerable midsection.

The succeeding phone calls that followed one upon another, like the nerve-wracking dripping of a leaky faucet in the still of the night, were all hard to hear. “The cancer has spread all through the right side of her body,” “She has only a couple months to live, “Chemotherapy will only postpone the inevitable for a month or so” and on and on.

There was at least one bright ray of sunlight amidst all the handwringing and gloom. I was able to talk to my 84-year old “baby” sister by phone. I was pleased to hear that she did not cling to the impractical belief that God would have to heal her because “God gets no glory from your being sick” Oh, Nita knew that God has the unbridled power to heal a dying person no matter what dread disease they have or what age they are. But real rock-solid faith does not have to always buck against what is real and what is practical, and real faith does not ignore what the will of God is. As her late pastor, Bishop John Holly had said, “God can heal old people, but He will not heal old age.”

All people, saved or unsaved, have to die sooner or later, and if they manage to escape the “sooner,” the “later” will eventually overtake them. I talked to Nita by phone as I was too old and decrepit to make the trip. (I guess I didn’t have enough faith!) The talk was greatly reassuring, coming from one who was facing death eyeball-to-eyeball! She said, “Jack, I can’t complain. God has given me 84 good years. Although those years had their bad moments, I honestly can’t complain.”

We talked about the option of radiation treatment, but she was not inclined to go that route. “Why should I undergo such a painful procedure just to prolong my life another month or so at the most? No, I don’t think so. I’m ready to go.”

I assured Nita that I would be in her corner whatever she chose to do, but she knew and I knew that my “being in her corner” with my aged self, while commendable, was not what she needed. What sustained my sister in her last lucid moments of her stare-down with death was the Creator of life and the Conqueror of death. He was the One in her corner, He was her Handler and He whispered soothing truth in her ear, “Don’t worry, we’ve got ol’ man Death licked. He can’t lay a hand on us!”

True to God’s promise, death did not take Nita away from us: God took her home, unscathed and unhurt, to be with Him. Death didn’t lay a hand on her.

I haven't been very busy with my blog lately because I have been quite busy writing a book. Still involved in it and will be for some time. It's not a stand-alone book as it is a teaching aid for my book The Life of Christ in Five Phases. Of course it is titled The Life of Christ in Five Phases Teaching Aid. I am reaching beyond myself in this venture, but, I believe, not beyomd the will of God.
I have to admit that neither one of these books will appeal to the shout-and-dance Christian. Nevertheless the first book (not the Teaching Aid) should catch the attention of sincere, serious Christians. By the way, the first book is now available at http://bit.ly/U05x1 . Please, no stampeding!

Another Glimpse into The Life of Christ in Five Phases

(This is an excerpt. To purchase the book, go here: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Three Aspects of God 

To know Jesus of course we must have at least a relatively good knowledge of God. We know that there are these three divine expressions: God the Father; God the Logos or Word (John 1.1); God the Holy Spirit. The three, we are told, constitute the Holy Trinity. It would serve no good purpose to contend that there is no such word in the Bible as "trinity." That is not pertinent because there still remain undeniably a Father, a Logos or Word and a Holy Spirit, whatever one chooses to name the overall concept.

Of course we who comprise the "Oneness" movement are supposedly completely at odds with the Trinitarians. This writer cannot agree with this stance. When one studies the writings of the Trinitarian theologians (as opposed to the man who voices his unlearned opinion at the local barber shop) one can see that, although the words may be different, they are saying in essence what we are saying. After they go to great lengths to tell us there are three Persons in the Godhead, they then insist that the three are not actually three since the three are of one essence and think and agree as one. The main point here is that they are firm in their assertion that there is only one God.

Is there, then, such a wide gulf between them and us? While we stoutly and correctly maintain, as they do, that there is one God, do we not admit there are three distinct manifestations of the one God? We carefully avoid saying there are three persons as if fearful that will proliferate the one God. But one of the definitions of “person” is this: “Any of the three modes of being (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) in the Trinity [Godhead].” (Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1999).) That should not ruffle our Pentecostal feathers too much.

There are different spheres of operations for the three respective manifestations of God although there is a blurring of the boundaries at times. This is because whether one refers to the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, they are all one God. Each expression or manifestation of God is fully God, therefore each one shares the responsibility and/or credit for all the actions taken by the other two facets of God.

For example, Christ created all things (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16, 17) but we would not presume to say that the Father and the Holy Spirit were completely shut out of this activity. There is another example to buttress the premise that one manifestation of God does not operate independently of the other two: The Holy Ghost dwells in the hearts and directs the activities of the saints of God according to John 14:26 and 16:13. But in Acts 16:7 we read that the "Spirit of Jesus" (ASV, RSV, NIV) was He who directed the journeys of Paul and Silas. This Spirit of Jesus of course is the same One we call the Holy Ghost. The scripture's apparently chance reference to Him as the Spirit of Jesus helps to confirm our contention that the three are all one God and what one does is in effect done by all three. At the same time we must remember that God chooses to differentiate between the respective works of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and that is the way we should view their operations.

http://bit.ly/U05x1

Master Your Ambition

Ambition is a good quality to have in general, but for the child of God who has it, he or she should exercise care in how they handle it. Without ambition to power our small craft through the rough seas it will inevitably encounter, we would have no certain course and would drift aimlessly wherever the tide would carry us.

When ambition is present and is used correctly, It will power us to wherever the helm (steering mechanism) directs the boat. But, once again, we have to use ambition with care, otherwise it might overpower the helm and take us to the wrong port. Ambition is the push to succeed in what we are doing, and if it pushes us contrary to the helm (the will of God),we are in serious trouble. It will not then be an agitated sea or pounding waves that overwhelm us, it will be our excessive reliance on the thrust of our ambition. Ambition should never override the sure direction in which our helm is trying to take us.

There are various types of ambition that we might have in our journey on our personal high seas: 1) There is the obviously wrong type, the carnal ambition that is centered on self without regard to the will of God. That is a definite no-no for one who is supposed to be following Christ. 2) This second ambition type is as we discussed it above, the ambition or drive to succeed in the Lord's work that is so strong that we override the helm, which is the will of God. The thrust of our ambition propels us so strongly at times that we go outside of where the helm wants to take us, we venture outside of the will of God. When our "autopilot" (our conscience) signals "danger!" we brush it aside and insist, "I am doing the work of the Lord; nothing is going to stop me!" How dangerously foolish!

Paul cautions us to fight within the rules of the game. In the following letter to the Corinthians he likens our spiritual journey to a person running a race:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Cor. 9.24-27 NIV)

At the end of many years of a glorious hard-fought race, Paul could speak to his spiritual son Timothy out of a wealth of experience:

"…if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules." (2 Tim. 2.5)

Further in the same letter to Timothy Paul made this touching and eloquent observation:

"But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2Tim. 4.5-8 NIV)

Paul did not break the rules in his ambition to succeed; he did not override the autopilot. He was very careful, in fact, not to reach beyond his "measure of faith," that which God had allotted him.

"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 measure of faith God has given you." (Rom. 12.3)

If ever there was a man of drive and ambition, it was Paul, but he kept the ambition strictly within the bounds of the will of God.

3) Now we come to the third type of ambition, one that is consonant at all times with God's purpose and direction for our lives. Once again Paul is a good example for this reason: Although his ministry was an outstanding and glorious one, in his day it was looked on by his fellow Jews as a contemptible thing – but it was in this very calling that Paul worked like a man driven, and he was certainly driven by an ambition that kept within his measure of faith.

Paul took a calling that was shameful to all but the Church and turned it around in his mind into what it really was: the "high calling of God in Christ Jesus." In similar manner he metamorphosed the cross of crucifixion from a low despicable state (which it was and rightfully still is today) into a glorious profession!

It is incumbent on us today to pursue whatever calling God has for us with the same unbridled enthusiasm, the same drive to excel, the same ambition, doing all we can, within the measure of faith allotted to us, to touch lives and to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ.

"Whereof [Paul's apostolic office] I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. (8) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…" (Eph 3:7-8)

Be passionate in your work, however lowly, and be driven to success – all within the bounds of the will of God.

Pattern Yourself after Christ - Carefully

There is not, and indeed there cannot be, a perfect analogy between Jesus’ life and the lives of His followers. Of course it is only proper that we yearn to be like Christ, but at certain points we have to accede to the fact that Jesus’ divinity caused Him to display an aspect of Himself to which we can only futilely aspire.

But first let us look at the many areas in Jesus’ life in which we can properly strive to be like Him. After all, we are His offspring. Jesus showed many examples of compassion, examples we should seek to emulate, namely these: 1) He forgave sinners of their sins, which, upon close inspection, were sins against Jesus’ own divine Self; 2) Jesus was not too holy to associate with the lowest of sinners and with those who had the most dreaded affliction, leprosy. In these areas we should aspire to be like Him. As Jesus did, we can in love mingle socially with unrepentant sinners while at the same time living above the sins they practice. This is called witnessing. It is also called “letting our light shine.”

In our aspiring to be like Jesus, we should not be so fastidious (“finicky”) that we cannot touch and minister to those who are afflicted with loathsome diseases. Jesus was not so aloof from those He healed. It is true that Jesus healed some without touching them, but He touched the leper; He touched others who were sick. There are unfortunates of today who are sorely in need of a modern day Florence Nightingale or a Sister Teresa to walk among them where they live and share a bit of their misery and to give them a pencil thin ray of hope in the hellholes to which they are consigned by an unfeeling fate. (No, this is not God’s doing; it is the result of sin’s blighting a world that was originally created perfect.)

On the other hand, I repeat that there are some things that our lack of divinity preclude us from doing. While we are granted the privilege of praying as Jesus did in Gethsemane, we can never be, as He was (nor should we aspire to be), burdened with 1) the sins of an entire race of people nor 2) with the awful knowledge that in a few hours the Father will abandon us to the literal hell of being cut off from all sense of His presence. Jesus had known this abiding presence all His life, even when he was an infant and unaware of it. Nevertheless it was there and it kept the infant Jesus as it keeps all who are living in this world.

It is oftentimes the unaware sense of the presence of God and His Spirit’s unseen check on the actions of wicked men that keep them from going completely mad and indulging to the full their pursuit of wickedness. When Jesus was cut off from His Father, with whom he had the closest and most intimate relationship (Jesus was God come to earth as the Son of God, which is as close a bond as we can conceptualize), it resulted in torment greater than that He endured in Gethsemane and at Calvary. It is a matter of fact that the rejection by the Father was such a horror that it killed Jesus before the cross could end His life. That is why Pilate marveled that Jesus had died sooner than one could be expected to die by crucifixion.

“Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.” (Mark 15.44 RSV)

For an indirect confirmation that Jesus did not die entirely by the trauma of being crucified, we have these words by the commentator John Gill:

“For death, by crucifixion, was a slow lingering death; persons that were in their full strength hung a great while before they expired; and the two thieves, which were crucified with Christ, were not dead when he was…”  (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

God does not need to bring us a special revelation; reason virtually shouts it at us: We cannot expect our lives to be an exact parallel of Jesus’ life. He was without doubt fully human, but He was also, without doubt, fully God. We are not.

It becomes increasingly clearer as I study the Word of God: Our individual lives are not to be exact parallels of the life of anyone who ever lived or is now living. We look at other lives that are blessed of God, living or deceased, and we are expected to use them for examples of godly living, but we are not to imitate them to the nth degree.

One prime reason is this: No human is perfect, therefore if we make our lives exact replicas of any human, we will be copying his or her defects and failures. We have already touched on why we cannot fully follow the example that Jesus set: we are not, like Him, divine. We are obviously faulty lumps of clay on whom God is working  — but He has not perfected us yet. So we take the good examples from the lives of other godly men and women and we endeavor to be like Jesus in His humanity, and we keep our faith in the Almighty who will bless our efforts and bring us eventually to the perfection we seek.

'In the Beginning... God"

We err, in a technical sense, when  we posit that God created something (the universe) out of nothing. Where, and when, was that nothing? Scripture tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Joh 1:1) There was no place and no time that God was not. It is logical to conclude therefore that when God created the heavens and the earth, He did not actually create them out of nothing. As a witness for my case there is this:

“The axiom, that out of nothing nothing comes, is not contradicted in the case of creation. The universe comes from God; it does not come from nothing.”  (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

We have shown there can be no nothing where God is concerned; He fills all space and time, moving “nothing” completely out of the picture.

This is not to contradict Dr. Byron V. Johnson in His excellent treatise on “Creation,” in A Consensus of Pentecostal Thought (http://bit.ly/la55N ), Dr. Johnson writes,

“There were no preexistent materials from which God made the world. The things which are seen were not made of things which appear. Cre­ation was ex nihilo, or out of nothing.”

and his statement is correct: There were no preexistent materials from which God made the universe. No piles of materials were lying around from which God constructed the worlds; there was nothing at hand. He had no matter to work with, so in effect He did create something ex nihilo, out of nothing. God did what only a God could do: He drew from His own mighty, ubiquitous Self whatever was needed to create all matter and space and time. It is an oxymoronic concept: Out of that which was eternal God assembled a whole noneternal universe, one that was not from forever and would not last forever. That was the eternal plan of God and if I am in error, show me my error (but don’t you dare try to limit God to your own weak human self!)

The universe that God made, as illogical as it may seem to our “rational” minds, was centered, not physically but in a divinely hierarchical way, on an insignificant planet in an insignificant cluster of planets now known as the Solar System. The Solar System, in turn, was centered, again not physically but in a divinely hierarchical way, on one of its lesser planets, the planet Earth. The Sun is actually the center of the Solar System, but in God’s reckoning the Earth is the most important object in the System because He created it for a special type of creature.

I cannot claim to know why God chose a little sparrow of a planet when there were planets of finer plumage and more regal bearing, preening their feathers, waiting to be chosen by the Creator. Whatever the reason for His choosing planet Earth, God made (not “created”) various creatures to inhabit it, one of which He (God) made in His own image and after His likeness. This of course was Man, the “special type of creature” referred to above, God’s premier feat in a series of once-in-an-eternity feats required for the making of a universe. There may be other intelligent creatures somewhere else within the vast reaches of the cosmos, but it stretches the bounds of credibility to think there is another for whom the Creator God would die.

Not only was there not another for whom the Creator God died, I believe that when God made man in His own image and after His likeness, that was sufficient proof there could be no more creatures like Man anywhere. My reasoning is this: God has said of Himself,

“Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”  (Isa 44:8)

In a generic sense, it would seem that man is like God in that he stands alone in all creation. All men (and women) are one with Adam. He is their earthly father. All mankind comes from the one man and they bear a resemblance to their father. As a matter of fact there is also a theological/genetic association between Adam and his descendants: Adam sinned and all mankind became sinners before they were born. They too came under the curse of sin. In a sense they are all “Adam.” In all the searches of the cosmos our erudite scientists may conduct they will not find another like Adam, the single and singular Man-creature, though they poke their inquisitive noses into the remotest corners of the universe.

There – I think I have just painted myself into a corner of my own making!

More Intriguing Thoughts from 'The Life of Christ in Five Phases"

The text below is an excerpt from The Life of Christ in Five Phases, The Introduction to Lesson Fifteen, “Jesus Christ – Forsaken of God and Man”

The Demeaning Death of Deity

I want to mentally immerse you in the sufferings of Christ because only by hard repetition of cruel facts can we humans begin to really see what the Savior endured for us in His hour of Passion. Let’s look once again at the way God chose to save mankind. Actually it was the only way that would conform simultaneously to His strict righteous code and His love and mercy. God was restricted by His own righteousness and justice to one method by which He could save mankind. There was only one path to take: God had to give His own life for the life of His fallen creature. God had to die.*

* Instructor’s Note:  Perhaps you are wondering how God could be restricted in any way. you are protesting, “Why? He is God!” This is an interesting puzzle. I have maintained that God is all-powerful and that no one and nothing can successfully oppose Him, yet I am now saying that God had to die. First, remember that the Spirit of God did not die; the fleshly body that He inhabited died. And, secondly, God alone restricted God. His own righteous and just nature demanded death for sin, at which point His own love and mercy devised the means of salvation (a means we have already amply propounded in this work) for all who believe in Jesus Christ.

When the believer in Christ dies he loses only his natural life. There is no change in the most important aspect of existing, which is eternal life.  As we step over the Great Divide between natural life and its abrupt cutting off in death, our eternity of being continues separate and serene. There is not the slightest ripple on the surface of our sea of eternity. That is what eternal life is all about. The term connotes more than mere forever existence: sinners will have that, but such existence cannot be called “living.” The “forever existence” for sinners only means existing in a damned state. Eternal life is life glorious and free, attended by joy and peace and praising the God who made such a state possible.

Jesus’ death was not nearly so simple as that of the ordinary righteous man. It was a tragedy and a travesty of justice that the Great Judge who does all things with equity and justice should have died with not the semblance of human justice shown to Him. Jesus’ death was, in fact, the diametric and extreme opposite of justice. How could there be such an egregious wrong committed on the only inherently just Man who ever lived? How could heaven bear with such utter disregard shown by a worm for its Creator?

In the tragedy of the Christ we see not just the death of a royal personage, but one who sacrificed divine majesty and glory for the sake of love. Yet there were no grand funeral rites, no formal obsequies that always attend the death of a monarch or person of renown. This Man was by far the greatest of all men; He was the God of heaven – and men spit on him and reviled Him before He died, and even after, when He hanged a lifeless corpse on the tree of shame, a soldier had the effrontery to thrust a spear into His side. Even in death Jesus was humiliated.

An Unbreakable Bond of Divinity

At this point we want to revisit only briefly the reason that Jesus, who was God Himself, had to die for mankind. We read of Jesus often referring to the Father with whom, He said, He was one.  (John 10.30; 17.11, 22) It was true. The Father was always with Jesus just as He is always with us, even when we cannot sense His presence. No doubt, at some time during the forty days of temptation in the desert, Jesus must have experienced that black moment when He couldn't feel the Father’s nearness. But He knew, despite the lack of awareness of the Father’s imminence, that the Father was there.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus had the foreboding that the same bleak hour was approaching Him again as He drew nearer to His crucifixion. But this time – on the cross when the dread moment actually came – it would be vastly different and an infinity worse. Jesus not only would not sense the presence of His Father – the Father would be completely gone and Jesus would feel the knife thrust through His soul... and cruelly twisted.  When Jesus was finally impaled on the cross the Father would do the unthinkable: He would leave Jesus completely alone, something He never does (in this life) with the most inveterate sinner and the most confirmed atheist.

(The text above is merely a snippet taken from the book, The Life of Christ in Five Phases by Aaron J. Smith. To purchase this unusual book, go to this online address: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Let's Take Off the Blinders!

In horse racing a horse that is somewhat “skittish” may have to wear blinders while he is racing. The blinders permit him to see only what is in front of him. In that way he will not be distracted by what is happening around him; he can concentrate solely on winning the race.

That is good for horses running a race; it is not good for believers who are running this race toward eternal life. We are not race horses; as believers we all have duties to perform in addition to the major one or ones that entail the gifts of the Spirit. Performing the additional tasks will help propel us toward the prize at the end of the race. We have more to do than fulfill just one major assignment, which assignment is using the gift God has given us. We are humans who have a plethora of human needs in our midst that have to be looked after. No one can fill the needs unless we as individuals fill them. Perhaps the following will illustrate what I am trying to say:

God has given me the ability to write. It is not world class, but I have a duty to use the gift. Consequently I am engaged in writing Christian articles and publishing them in my limited way. Being involved in this primary task, I have a tendency to put on my blinders and not see anything else. After all, this is the Lord’s work, however small it may be. Yet I cannot be so occupied in writing, although it is a task  that is required of me, that I overlook the constant afflictions and needs of people all around me. Without doubt God intended for me to reach out and help others by the gift He bestowed upon me and it is good that I am doing this, but there are additional ways in which I should help the needy souls to whom I am reaching out. There are many needs that I have the ability to fill by the grace of God – and I would be remiss in my duty not to take of what I have and at least help fill a need of my brother or sister. There are gaping holes in the lives of my fellow creatures, holes that have to be covered over. If I have the means to do this or to assist in doing this, then the responsibility is mine whether I ask for it or not.

I want God to give me grace to diversify my interests as only He wills for me to do. I cannot be just a writer and  nothing else. What kind of writer is effective who has no experiences from which to draw? True enough, God gives me  my inspiration, but He draws it from the well of my experiences in great part. If the well is dry, there will be no inspiration. Just as God deals with men and women according to their individual personalities, He gives inspiration to preach or write as He finds it in the experiences of His people. But, after we have faithfully made use of our God-given gift, if we neglect the small things, the little acts of love, we are in effect putting our blinders on. Neither you nor I can expect to optimally help others if we ignore the tasks that are “too small.” It would be like running our race in a tunnel just large enough for us individually. We may properly have our eyes on the prize at the end of the tunnel, but by neglecting the “minutiae of God” we will have erected an impenetrable wall around ourselves. No one else can touch us behind the wall and we cannot touch anyone else. If I am not mistaken, the rules of this race make it mandatory that we love others. How can we love if there is no reaching out to touch?

If all I do is write, where is the praying heart and the listening ear? If I concentrate on my writing to the exclusion of everything else, where is the heart of compassion, where the getting down into my brother or sister's tragic experience? Where is the pain, the sorrow, the binding up of the cruel wounds inflicted by men whose only thoughts are on what is good for them?

I can ill afford to sit in my ivory tower and write about life if I have had no life outside of the ivory tower. Jesus prayed to the Father, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world...” If I ignore the many needs of others, I will have taken my own self out of the world. God wants us to stay in the world and not to participate in the evils thereof.

We would be wrong to wrap our gift or gifts in a cloth and bury them out of sight. There would be a price to pay for that. But we are wrong to get so engrossed in using  our gifts that we bury the needy, the afflicted and the unsaved out of sight. There will be a price to pay for that also. So let’s all do what we can to fill the needs, great or small, that are plaguing the masses among whom we walk as lights of the world. Let us raise the effectual, fervent prayer, show love and mercy, give of our material and financial needs, and strive to be what God has envisioned for us. It can be summed up thus: Let’s use our gifts of the Spirit as we continually walk in love. If we walk in love, we cannot help but reach out and touch those who need us.

Another Revealing Look at 'The Life of Christ in Five Phases'

(The book may be accessed here: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Here is another glimpse into the book that shows the many sides, facets and components of Jesus Christ who Himself is a facet of God. This snippet is not taken from the main text but from one of the ‘Instructor’s Notes’(#63) based on a remark in the main text that needed further expounding in an endnote mode.

“Looking with a discerning eye at Jesus’ time of suffering and death, we conclude that the passage of time does not diminish the extreme torment Jesus endured in His hour of pain and humiliation. Some of us mortals have experienced a certain moment of loss and/or pain that even the passage of years or decades can only assuage a trifle. Jesus, however, the God who came as a man, was in the unenviable position of being a mortal who was God who transcends all time. He is a part of Time and above and beyond such feeble restraints.

“Jesus lives in the forever Now in which things do not erode or grow less with the passage of time. He knew, from before Time was enclosed within the capsule of Eternity, what He, as a human, would suffer. Jesus knew from forever ”past” and He knows to forever “future” (I speak as though an eternal Being should have a past or future) – He simply knows and is forever conscious (fully aware), without any lessening of the great suffering, of the immensity of His sacrifice and the enormity of His torment.

“There can be no way that we humans, severely limited as we are, can get our minds around the torment Jesus endured. The small bit of  this horrendous and wonderful awareness we presently possess , we are unable to articulate because of the shortfall of our intellectual and linguistic skills.

“All of what we have said here brings up, as a matter of course, something else we cannot fathom: How can God, in the person of Jesus, bear the awful knowledge of the complete loss of everything that was essential for life, mortal and immortal, and the continuing awareness of the exquisite pain He suffered? It is true that Jesus came out of His most torturous hour at a certain time in history, nevertheless it is inconceivable that He could carry such a mental and emotional burden (a burden that time could not diminish) throughout time and eternity and still be the perfectly whole and functioning God He is. It is completely beyond reason; but it is not beyond the love of God. And I must confess, through stammering – even fearful – lips  ‘I am totally and awesomely overwhelmed by this Jesus!’ ”

Beware Following Every Charmer Who Plays a Pleasant Tune

 

Remember the Pied Piper of Hamelin

This is a time of much hypocrisy. Many so-called Christian leaders are wolves who know when and how to skillfully don their sheep’s clothing in order to bilk the simple-minded. We are taken in by their religious con man’s talk and gladly give them our money, our possessions and, I’m afraid, our very souls. But this doesn’t have to be if we study the Word of God as we should (instead of looking in it for a key to a miracle). Nor does it have to be if those spiritual preachers and teachers who know God will stand in the gap and protect the flock of Christ by giving to them what they (the preachers and teachers) have learned by prayer and study and by being taught themselves.

Before we give our all to the con man/preacher, let’s be sure he is what he professes to be. There are several caveats or warnings we should observe. The first and foremost is this: Do not pledge your allegiance to the first personable, smooth talking man or woman who bobs up on your radar screen. Remember the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He played such a charming melody on his pipe that the children of the town all followed him to their doom. Never, never follow a smooth talker playing a pleasant tune. You will probably regret it.

There are still faithful shepherds of the various flocks dotted here and there all over the world. I wish I could clone each one several times over and send all of these righteous persons out to combat the spurious teachings that are being spoon-fed to gullible spiritual infants who don’t know their right hand from their left.

Jesus plainly told His disciples that they could  tell a person’s spiritual state by the fruit they bore:

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  (17)  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  (18)  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  (19)  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  (20)  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat 7:16-20)

You will note that Jesus said that a good tree will not produce evil fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. It is obvious that Jesus’ use of the term “fruit” was not referring to producing good works because we all know there are unrepentant sinners who do many good works. Some of them make no profession of knowing God. They simply have an intuitive feel for the underprivileged. God does not recognize their good works in a soteriological sense – they do not bring salvation to the doer of the charitable works; no amount of good works can do that – but frankly the world is better off for their acts of charity.

Not only do they give liberally to charitable causes (for what reasons only God and their own hearts can know), some of them work tirelessly for the unfortunates of the world and will give their last million to a project they deem to be worthy. But many of them are impenitent sinners. They lie and cheat and lust after one another like wild stallions in heat.

Nevertheless I thank God for these individuals and corporations while at the same time I pray earnestly for their salvation.

But back to the greedy, grasping leaders of the flock of God. Do they as individuals show the fruit of the Spirit? The fruit to which Jesus refers in Mat 7:16-20 is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Gal. 5.22, 23. He tells us,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is …

· Love	· Goodness
· Joy	· Faith
· Peace	· Meekness
· Longsuffering	· Temperance
· Gentleness

“…against such there is no law,” Paul concludes.

The “fruit” in the passage quoted above consists of character traits. They may lead to good deeds, but they are not of themselves good deeds. When we see a person who performs charitable acts and deeds for which we properly honor them, we have to go deeper into the person’s character traits to see whether he is a “good tree” bringing forth good fruit. It may take a while to really know the individual, but in time his character traits will be demonstrated.

Unfortunately many who do the good deeds mentioned above are guilty of the “works of the flesh” that Paul condemns in Galatians 5.19 - 21:

· Adultery	· Wrath
· Fornication	· Strife
· Uncleanness	· Seditions
· Lasciviousness	· Heresies
· Idolatry	· Envyings
· Witchcraft	· Murders
· Hatred	· Drunkenness
· Variance	· Revellings
· Emulations (envious imitating)

…and he adds, “they which do such things shall NOT [emphasis mine] inherit the kingdom of God.”

Choosing a leader/pastor is very much like picking a spouse. Check the prospective spouse’s record  out first. Get some personal history on them. Pray while you wait. Wait while you pray – then open up your heart g r a d u a l l y to them.

In the instance of selecting a suitable mate from the throng of unsuitables out there, this may seem to be very unromantic, but a lifetime with the wrong mate is so unromantic also. Choosing the right church with the right pastor is a serious matter. There are more wolves skulking around than there are good leaders, and they are putting on their most beatific face and charming smile so that they can lure you into their trap. Use your head and wait. First impressions can be so wrong!

I have a good pastor. He is not perfect (sorry, Pastor!), but no pastor is. The pastor and I differ on some minor matters, but we can engage in a friendly back-and-forth verbal exchange about them without my feeling that he is looking on me as just another church member in his trophy case, and he is assured (I think) that I respect him for his knowledge, spirituality and genuine concern for my welfare.

I have seen this man at his most euphoric high and I have seen him – when he was low? – no, I have seen him when I knew He had to be discouraged, but I have to say truthfully, I could never tell it. He has been there for me in three personal losses, family members all. This pastor has preached and taught to the best of his ability by the grace of God, and the ability and the grace have touched me often. I don’t go out anymore, but I have been blessed to have had an excellent pastor all of my life. Cradle to grave. (Well I have not reached the grave yet, but give me a little more time…)

Of course these excellent pastors have taught me that “where much is given, much is required.” I feel overwhelmed by God’s blessings on my life, but it has come at a price and God has required much of me; and I am trying to give Him what He wants.

If you have an excellent pastor, listen to what he teaches and follow his counsel, or at the last day you may have to face those words that were meant for your edification and they will condemn you for all eternity.

I Am Hooked on God

I often look at posts and other articles I have written in the past. I do so at times with some trepidation because I hope that I have improved with the years and therefore what I have written in the past may appear to be the scribbling of a child. But, not to worry – I haven’t improved that much, and some of these infantile “scribblings” are virtually crying out to me, “Use me!” and I inflict them on you once more simply because I feel they are once again right on target for at least one lone individual. You may be the one.

I Am Hooked on God

(edited reprint of September 2, 2005)

I am always pestering the Lord for a closer walk with Him. I have pled, and will plead until I leave this earth, for a more intimate relationship with my Jesus. He is answering that prayer, but in an unexpected way. That roaring wind named Katrina, which blew with such savage fury over the Gulf States before projecting its wrath miles inland, made me see God in a different and more appreciative light.

I don't know how this is happening. It wasn't primarily because God spared  me and mine from the destruction and death that came with Katrina. I am of course grateful, but I know it was not my goodness that spared me; there were some believers in Christ who were devastated by the shrieking winds and the mighty force of the waters that came in their wake. No, that was not it; in fact, I might be the next in line for such damage when it happens again.

The relevance that the terrible catastrophe in the Gulf States has to my getting a more intimate relationship with God – who let it all happen – is hard to explain.  My senses have been overwhelmed by nature's might and I know there is a God greater than nature who holds all nature and the entire cosmos in His hands. But that doesn't really explain my feeling closer to God, although it has something to do with it.

Perhaps God is showing me his power in this indirect fashion (I didn't suffer as the unfortunates did in the ravaged areas) because that was the unvoiced part of my plea to Him: along with a closer walk, it seems that I wanted a greater awareness of His power. I was not asking for miracles; I am filled up to my eyebrows with the emphasis on miracles, as though they were the main evidence that God is God. All I want is to perceive His  power within my mind. I want to know it is there without becoming a “miracle addict.”

You see, technically I know the power is resident within Him. It is not as though I haven't seen it working in the universe, in the world all around me and in my own life (now there is the miracle!), yet I want to get into my mind and spirit an increased awareness of His  might. I need a closer walk with Him and I yearn for a more effective ministry. I can’t be content with “seeing” more of God without telling others, saved and unsaved, about this altogether fabulous God I serve.

In some inexplicable way the desolation, devastation and despair that were etched in the faces of the poor unfortunate people who were blasted by Katrina have made me learn more about God; they have given me increased insight into His Word and His ways (even His love!) and are producing the more intimate relationship with Him that I urgently require. It appears that the more He blesses me, the more I need more of His blessings. I am a junkie, plain and simple, hooked on Divinity Himself!

The winds, the overpowering waters, the wrath of nature – these all tell me about the greater power and wrath of God that will someday be unleashed on a terrified earth. But contrariwise, the total despair and the abject suffering that I see on TV evoke from me a strong feeling of compassion, and I know it smacks of the little bit of divinity within me. Further, it is evident that God has never wanted such catastrophes visited upon men and women. This is not the way He created the earth.

God created the earth perfect and when sin entered the world it brought with it all manners of tragedies and turbulence and death. God does not want that for the creature he made pure and guileless. His love is loath to smite man at any time, but man's own intransigence has brought these many evils upon him. Nor can we overlook the just and righteous side of God that demands like punishment for like trespass, an "eye for an eye."

So I see and somewhat understand this God I serve and as I behold in Him love and mercy and truth and righteousness and power and terrible majesty, my soul is overwhelmed and I bow my head in worship before Him.

Can you understand this?