The True Gathering

“I will gather [them that are] sorrowful for the solemn assembly, [who] are of thee, [to whom] the reproach of it [was] a burden.” (Zep 3:18 AV)

This promise was for exiled Israel as well as for the remnant who will enter the Messianic kingdom.  Israel was taken into captivity.  The northern ten tribes by Assyria.  The southern two tribes by Babylon.  Jehovah promises that He will gather some of the people of God back to Palestine and into the millennial kingdom.  But there is a stipulation here.  Only those who were or will be sorrowful for a spiritually renewed kingdom.  That is exactly what happened, and it is exactly what will happen.  When Cyrus decreed that people could return to the land of their nativity so that temples could be rebuilt, the invitation went out to all people.  Those of Jewish descent could return to their homeland and rebuild.  Yet a small fraction ever did.  Why?  Because only a small fraction cared enough to go back.  Restoration is promised.  But restoration is not forced.  God will call those who have a burden for restoration, reconciliation, and holiness.  The rest are content to stay in their state of apathy.

We can see a principle here.  One that applies quite well to our churches today.  If the body of Christ is not sorrowful for holiness, then God is not in that place.  If there is little to no preaching on sin, repentance, and walking in humility and obedience, then God is not in the midst.  He has not gathered them.  If there are no tears of remorse, vows of holiness, and a seriousness of mind to love God with the whole heart, mind, body, and soul, then the Holy Spirit is not doing the work.  If all we are doing is entertaining professing believers, then we are a venue, not a body in true worship to her Creator and Savior.  If we are more interested in nothing but a ‘positive vibe’, then our church experience is more man-centered than God-centered.  If the church is more interested in pleasing those who want nothing to do with the LORD than the LORD Himself, no matter how big our congregation is, God is not in that place.  If our coffee shops are busier than the altar of prayer, there is more commerce than consecration in that place.  The body of believers God has gathered come with a seriousness of heart.  They come to know God in humility, faith, and obedience.  They gather not to please Self.  They do not shop around for the church that has everything a soul could want.  Rather, they look for a church that is broken is spirit to know God in the deepest way possible.  They look for a church with a sorrowful heart because sin has destroyed our world, our homes, and our personal lives.  Then come prepared to listen and act.

God did not say ‘no’ to anyone who wished to return for the right reason.  In fact, if the motive did not match God’s heart, those with the wrong heart didn’t want to go, anyway.  There used to be a time when church building methods were more about selling a palatable product that it was about a genuine relationship with the Creator.  It still is today.  Israel knew and knows that the Messiah requires the right heart in order that He can fulfill the promises made to them.  This is why Israel has faced so much.  They are being prepared for the coming of the Messiah.  Many will not turn.  Many Jewish people will refuse the commands of the word of God.  Just like His first coming, the Messiah will come the second time with the same amount of rejection He faced thousands of years prior.  This time, there will be a reckoning.  This time, those who are not sorrowful will lose any second chance.  The Savior will come, and only those Jews who look upon the One whom they have pierced with hearts of sorrow will enjoy His presence.  The same can be said of our churches.  Tomorrow, many of us will gather as groups all around the world to worship the One true God.  But one has to consider how much God is involved.  Are the people sorrowful because of the carnal condition of the church?  Are they moved to words of heartfelt prayer for the backslidden nature of the church?  If there is no brokenness for the body of Christ, there is no visitation of the God who created it.

The Robe Is Always On

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him.” (Ps 89:7 AV)

I wonder how preaching something like this would go over today.  The modern Christian has no clue!  To say that God is to be greatly feared, and that reverence is to rule in His presence is not only foreign, but to some, an offense.  If the modern Christian cannot have a sacred ‘party’ while attending church, he or she feels robbed.  I am not saying that joy and encouragement should be banned from worship.  But we are a far cry from that!  There was something sacred about our church houses.  People came to worship.  People would dress differently to attend the house of God than they would any other gathering.  Music was different.  Even in the oldest of days, the style itself was distinct.  Today, our churches are filled with the musical styles of the world and sprinkled with religious words to call it ‘Christian’.  Christian Rock, Christian Pop, etc are a contradiction of terms.  Don’t get me wrong.  This business of fearing and reverencing God is a shortcoming in almost all of us.  Yours truly included.  The closer I get the heaven the more I am realizing that genuine fear and reverence of our Almighty Creator is seriously wanting!

Because of my wife’s early work history, we kept company with several judges.  She worked in a law firm that contained a couple of county judges.  These people were the same people whether behind the bench, or as an advocate in other matters.  I had never stood before these men as a plaintiff or a defendant.  I couldn’t have, anyway.  There would have been a conflict of interest, and the judge would have had to recuse himself.  But I have stood before other judges.  Most of the time it was to lend support for a family member, church member, or friend.  There is a difference between seeing a judge in the privacy of his own practice compared with the same individual sitting behind a bench.  One can be familiar and common with a judge when his robe hangs in his chambers.  But once that robe is worn, the nature and disposition of that relationship change.  I worked at a golf course for a few years as a caddy to the rich and powerful.  Some of our clients expected a relational gap between caddy and golfer.  We were to remain silent unless spoken to.  Others, not so much.  Those who were more friendly were more reserved and aloof when the circumstances changed.  When around the clubhouse, they may have been friendly on the course, but now where professional and appropriate.

These are examples of fear and reverence.  Something that is seriously missing in our relationship with the LORD.  As of late, I am trying to use the term Creator while preaching or teaching.  We have forgotten that we exist by His hand, we continue by His hand, and where we exist in eternity will be by His hand.  The concept of Creator/creation is being lost.  Because it is, fear and reverence are also abating.  It is time we get back to fear and reverence for the God who made all things and controls all things.  It is time we stop treating Him like someone who is there for us and not we for Him.  It is time that we approach the presence of God with deep and profound respect, so much so that with the remembrance of the blood of Christ as our way to Him, so that fear and trepidation would overwhelm our hearts.  For this writer, he is striving to overcome improper or insufficient attitudes towards his Creator.  Almighty God deserves more than we could ever hope to give.  So, it is best to give Him all that we have.  It is time to fear God greatly and approach only in a reverent spirit.

Thank You for The Compliment

“[As] the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so [is] a man to his praise.” (Pr 27:21 AV)

This is an interesting proverb.  There are two consistent opinions here.  The first is that the praise offered is not by the man.  He is not praising himself.  The second is the purpose of the refining furnace.  The refining furnace separates the precious metals from the dross.  The refining furnace is purification.  One understanding is that a man is known by the praise of others.  Those who listen to the praise of others are able to refine out the true praise as opposed to false accolades.  The other understanding is that the man who is praised refines the words of praise through the fiery trials of a discerning ear.  He recognizes only that praise which is true praise.  The difference between the two understandings is the owner of the discerning ear.  Regardless, the truth is still the same.  Praise is nice.  Praise is affirming and needed.  But praise should always be heard or accepted with a discerning ear.

The Bible warns us about flattery.  Flattery is praise with an agenda.  A tale is told of an ancient Greek Olympian who was the champion in many events.  He outran all other competitors.  He drove a chariot with mastery.  He could hurl a disk further than anyone.  This Olympian was the celebrity of the nation of Greece.  Everywhere he went he was welcomed as the greatest Grecian alive.  Favors were poured upon him.  He never lacked for a banquet or a mansion in which to stay.  The populace fell over themselves to treat him like a god.  Person after person heaped praise on him as one who could never be bested.  Every four years, he would go to the games and compete.  He won everything he entered.  One year, he decided to try his hand at archery.  Shooting an arrow at a great distance, he would miss horribly.  Yet no one had the heart to tell him how much he had failed.  Our champion was nearsighted.  He could not see clearly beyond fifty yards or so.  What he didn’t know was that his situation was unique.  He figured he saw what others saw.  Time and again, the judges would tell him he hit the bullseye.  In reality, he was many yards short.  Being emboldened by the praise of others and thinking he could hit a moving target at one hundred yards, he entered the armed forces for the glory of his emperor.  No one had the heart to tell him that he couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn.  Off he went.  He kept a distance away, and launched arrow after arrow not hitting a single target.  His armorbearer told him different.  Finally, an arrow came from the opposite direction and struck him in the heart.  Our hero died a fool’s death because he believed the unproven words of praise from others.

Solomon knows of what he speaks.  As the greatest and wisest of all kings at the time, no doubt he heart much praise.  Praise may have been genuine.  Or praise may have had an agenda.  The wise king knew that wisdom listens to praise with a discerning ear.  This requires humility and honesty.  It requires knowing ourselves better than others know us.  Most of all, it requires knowing Self in light of the revelation of the word of God.  Knowing our own Selves and knowing what part the Holy Spirit has in making us who we are goes a long way in staving off pride.  The Greek champion believed what he wanted to believe.  When others heap praise upon us, we can graciously accept it.  However, the wise and humble saint will look at that praise as belonging to the One who made us able for that praise.  And the wise saint will run that praise through the refining furnace of truth.  He or she will be gracious and grateful.  But he or she will also be humbly honest.

Jesus Is LORD Now!

“And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” (Mic 5:4 AV)

Even when Israel and Judah are being chastened, God reminds them of His promise!  The person to whom the prophet is referring is none other than the LORD Jesus Christ.  This verse is obviously in reference to the Messianic kingdom and Israel’s place in it.  Through Abraham and David, God promised the people of Israel that He would come and rule the earth.  He would do so through the seed of David.  He would do so with Israel as His administrator. Had Israel accepted Jesus Christ the first time, after His ascension He would have returned to set up His kingdom.  This is all future tense.  However, one little phrase puts it all in perspective: ‘for now’.  Micah shares the comforting truth that whether Jesus is here or not, he is great in all the earth!

We take a lot for granted.  We assume our government is in control regardless of our ability to directly observe it.  We expect our utilities to stay on.  We expect our grocery store shelves to be full.  We expect the gas stations to run or public transportation to be on time.  Recently, I watched a video on the operation of a cruise ship.  This boat was massive.  Most of the inner workings of the ship are hidden from the passengers.  There is a massive infrastructure in place for waste management.  There was a portion of the video that revealed the massive organization to load food for the trip.  If produce arrived that was substandard, the foreman in charge of the supply of food had a system in place to use a backup vender.  Housekeeping would blow your mind!  Taking care of thousands of guests and their rooms is a giant undertaking.  The laundry facility alone was the size of a small building.  All this is organized by the captain of the ship.  The passengers simply assume all their needs will be met.  There isn’t a second thought of the possibility of a need going unmet.  It all runs by someone whom most will never meet.  

Remembering that someone whom you cannot see, touch, or verbally speak to is great and in total control is difficult to say the least.  It takes great faith!  When we see the world spiraling out of control, it is hard to remember that God has it all under control.  When the saints of God are fodder for the God-hating world, it is not easy to remember that God has it all under control.  When our godless world sees no problem with murdering the unborn or mutilating the confused, it is hard to remember that Jesus is great in all the world.  These things happen because Jehovah has given mankind the ability to choose.  He will bring this all to an end.  Justice will be meted out.  God will not let this stand.  Until then, remember that Jesus is great in all the earth and His enemies cannot stop Him!

It Still Works

“O [thou that art] named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? [are] these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?” (Mic 2:7 AV)

Although our passage refers to Israel and Judah ignoring the word of God because they believe it to be ineffective, the truth behind the question brings hope to those who desire to know and walk with God in obedience and faith.  The question God poses to the people of God is intended as an accusation.  The charge before the people of God is simple.  For those who wish to walk uprightly, the word of God is effective.  For those who do not, then the word of God is a plain book.  The Spirit of God is not constrained by the words on the pages of the word of God.  If the Spirit is constrained, or straitened, it is only because the reader’s heart is hard.  Therefore, we have a great promise here.  As long as we desire to walk with God and grow in Christlikeness, the word of God is effective.  This is of great comfort to me.

Over the years, the ministry of the word of God to the spirit and heart of the child of God changes.  In our spiritual youth, the word of God was primarily a source of doctrine.  Prophecy was also important.  The facts of the bible and the implications of those truths became our steady diet.  As we grow in the word of God and know the truths contained therein, the ministry of the word of God adapts.  As we grow in Christlikeness, the ministry of the word of God becomes more devotional than informational.  However, if we are not careful to remember this, we can misinterpret the ministry of the Spirit through the word of God as something entirely different.

As we age, our conversations with our spouses or family change.  In our earlier married life, we were learning much regarding the other.  Over the years, we have grown to a point that we can predict what the other is thinking.  We can anticipate thoughts.  As we age, our conversation changes.  Rather than task-driven, it becomes more personal.  Rather than growing on knowledge, our conversation becomes more intimate.  We laugh more.  We smile more.  Our life becomes one of personal growth rather than a function of getting things done.  Some couples see this change as a drift.  But it is not.  It is actually just the opposite.

Reading the word of God and listening to the Spirit are much the same.  We already know the doctrines of salvation, baptism, the attributes of God, or the history of the nation of Israel.  We have read these passages for years.  We know what the next chapter discusses.  We know where the context is going before we read it.  Part of our ignorance assumes that familiarity means we are drifting from God.  But nothings could be further from the truth.  Sometimes, it is the same passages that speak to us again and again.  This doesn’t mean we have stopped growing any more than when we share verbal affirmations of love to our spouse time and again that they become less sincere.  The Spirit of God is not straightened.  He is not constrained.  He is free to do a work in our hearts as long as we seek to grow in Christlikeness.  This is the power of the Spirit.  This is the power of His word.

Revival Amid The Impossible

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jon 3:5 AV)

I believe the Bible to be silent on this matter, but I could be mistaken; but what was it that precipitated the revival Jonah realized at Nineveh?  What happened to prepare the people of this wicked city?  Why did they believe the preaching of Jonah, and why were they moved with fear?  The only evidence of any event that precipitated Jonah’s preaching was a salt-water whale vomiting Jonah on the shores of the Euphrates.  What doesn’t make sense in my mind is the historical narrative of the relationship between the Ninevites and the ten northern tribes of Israel?  From the early years of Israel in Palestine, Nomads from Nineveh would raid the eastern edge of Israel on a regular basis.  They would pillage, rape, and murder the eastern tribes of God’s people.  There was no fear of Jehovah in their eyes.  Yet revival came.  We may never know the particulars lest we try to manufacture them ourselves.  One thing is for sure: God can and does bring revival to the darkest people at the darkest time and under the darkest of circumstances.

The adversary is trying to convince the body of Christ that massive revivals are no longer possible.  He is convincing, to say the least.  He will point to the carnal condition of the body of Christ as evidence.  He is right.  We are carnal.  He will point to the destructive influence of science, so-called.  He will point out that mankind has been brainwashed into believing there is no God.  He controls the schools, the media, and the culture.  All to convince mankind that there is no God and Jesus Christ is a myth.  He is largely successful.  Our adversary will make a big deal out of shrinking churches, the razing of sacred buildings, or the downward spiral and moral decay of humanity.  He will increase confrontation to a new level.  The efforts of evangelism are directly challenged by a hostile world.  It seems as though all this is increasing while the influence of the gospel is waning.  The enemy of the cross will point out that we are losing and not winning.  So he asks, why bother?  The body of Christ becomes discouraged because our baptismal waters have run dry.  There seems to be more empty space than full.  We are trying to raise funds to survive rather than to increase.  All the trends are heading in the wrong direction.  But that is exactly when revival comes.  That is exactly why revival is needs.  Revival doesn’t come to a body that is already alive.  Revival comes to a body that is almost dead.

Jonah faced impossible odds.  In fact, he expected the Ninevites to wholly reject the grace of God.  We looked for and wished for the destruction of Israel’s enemies.  He fully expected a Sodom and Gomorrah event.  After all, until Jonah showed up in a pile of whale vomit, there wasn’t much respect for the God of Israel.  It wasn’t until a preacher who had the gall to preach for three days up and down the streets of Nineveh before the Ninevites felt anything coming close to fear. One would think the sailors of the ship upon which Jonah traveled would have told the Ninevites of the events preceding Jonah’s appearance, but they were on the other side of Asia.  News would not have traveled that far and that fast.  What was it that made the Ninevites afraid of a God whom they never respected in the first place?  We will never know.  But one thing we know for sure.  No matter how spiritually dark a place can be, God can bring revival.  No matter how anti-Jehovah a people might be, God can bring revival.  It doesn’t matter how much a people group disdains the culture of the preacher, God can bring revival.  As we approach the coming dark days of the tribulation, let us never grow weary.  God can bring revival no matter the situation.

Incorruptible Corruption

“I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars [was] about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.” (Jon 2:6 AV)

Jonah is one of several wonderful examples of the doctrine of the resurrection.  His travels in the belly of the whale and release onto the shore picture the resurrection of Christ and His believers.  Daniel would be another.  What we want to consider here is the last part of the verse.  Jonah uses the past tense while still in the belly of the whale.  While in the belly of the whale, Jonah states that God has brought his life up from corruption.  How?  He is still in the depths of the sea.  No doubt he is experiencing the bends.  He is surrounded by whale bile, stomach acid, saliva, and decomposing fish.  If there was anyone in the midst of corruption, it was Jonah.  So, how can he say that he had been brought up from corruption?

There are two explanations.  It could be that Jonah was speaking in the present tense because he internalized the future and lived there.  Rather than acknowledging his present situation as permanent, he saw that with repentance, the LORD would deliver him.  Therefore, he lived presently in the promise of future deliverance.  Or, there could be something else going on here.  Perhaps what Jonah saw was not what the future held, but rather, what God had accomplished in the present.  Jonah was thrown into the belly of the whale as a mercy from God.  Yes, Jonah was in disobedience by running from the call of God.  However, he saw his prison as the means God used to redeem his life.  In fact, he calls it his mercy a few verses later.  The belly of the whale was the means by which God rescued a rebellious child from a life of running.  What is never discussed is what would have become of Jonah if God simply let him go.  God could not let Jonah pursue a course of action that was not for him.

The belly of the whale was Jonah’s redemption.  It was his salvation.  He fled from the presence of God, but God found him right where he placed him.  The humility of Jonah is what saved him.  He saw his predicament for what it was.  It was God’s way of rescuing Jonah from a life of self-will.  It was God’s way of saving Jonah from a pattern of poor decisions.  It was God’s way of slowing Jonah down long enough to help him reflect on God’s call.  It was God’s way of motivating Jonah to stay on point.  He was able to speak in the present tense because he came to himself.  He knew God’s best for him was still God’s best for him.  Praise the LORD that Jonah realized his situation in the light of God’s will for him.