Convenient Cache

“Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” (Pr 30:8-9 AV)

 

I may have considered this passage before, so if you are experiencing the sensation of déjà vu, it would be normal.  Whenever I reach this passage in my reading, which is once a month, I pray this prayer with the writer.  I have been doing this for as long as I can remember.  These verses are so very important to me.  The writer is asking the LORD to give him that which is his portion.  No more, no less.  He asks the LORD to refrain from blessing him more than he can handle, but at the same time, he is asking the LORD to provide his needs.  The word for convenient above means prescribed limit or boundary.  We use the word a bit differently.  However, in the understanding of the word, we see great wisdom in the prayer.  What the LORD has destined for us is convenient.  If it was inconvenient, we would not want it.  Or it would require more than we could commit.  These prescribed boundaries are the boundaries for which the LORD has created us.  To learn to be content in the boundaries which the LORD has determined often takes a lifetime of maturing to accept.  However, the quicker we are in accepting those boundaries, the more content we will be.

To understand this idea of convenience, let us conjure up an example.  When we talk of convenience, we are usually considering a task or event.  Going from one point to another brings up many different routes.  We choose the most convenient.  We avoid traffic or construction and regardless of the distance, we choose the shortest route possible if time is our priority.  However, if millage is more important, we do not consider traffic or construction.  Mere feet or miles is our priority.  Whatever our priority might be, our choice is self-limiting.  Choosing the faster route limits choices which can be made.  One of the things my wife and I enjoy is running errands.  We run around to various places to conduct all sorts of business.  The post office, the bank, and the supermarket are our usual places.  However, occasionally, we have to pick up some coffee, run to the pet store, or go to a specialty store for other items.  The list of places is organized in whatever route works for us.  The most convenient way to accomplish the tasks at hand is laid out.  And off we go.  Then there comes a challenge.  I am usually the offender.  When driving, there is usually a plan in my head.  However, it is not always the right one, or, I forget how the city is laid out respective of where we are and inadvertently take a long way around.  This drives my poor wife mad!  She is a walking compass.  But, in her sweet way, she allows me to inconvenience us as we circumnavigate the globe for a simple trek around the block.  Too many choices.  Too many options.  Then there are the times when we forget there is an obstruction like a school or factory which intersects our street.  We have done this several times.  We forget the school on 73^rd st, or the factory off of 70^th.  We find ourselves going around.  Limited access is inconvenient.

When it comes to things in life, God gives that which is convenient.  This convenience is based on our abilities and our purpose.  Working with very wealthy people as a caddy taught me this principle first hand.  The LORD has created some with ten talents, some five talents, and some only one talent.  That which the ten talent person needs is far more than the one talent person.  It is what is convenient for them to accomplish that for which the LORD has created them.  Every time I read these two verses, as I said, my heart is joined with the writers.  I do not want more than the LORD has for me because spiritually, it would not go well with me.  Nor do I wish to suffer severe want.  Envy has a way of manipulating circumstances to get what we think we need or want.  The older I get, the more I realize I don’t need nearly as much as I think I do.  God has given me a wonderful life partner for my wife.  She is convenient for me.  She is just what I need.  I need no other.  He has given me three wonderful sons with their wives and children.  They are just what I need.  He has given me a roof over my head.  It is not the best in the neighborhood.  But it is convenient.  It is just what I need.  There is food in the pantry, heat in the registers, and the lights are on.  We don’t have the best of what we have, but it will do the job.  I praise the LORD He has given that which is convenient and not allowed us to suffer nor give us more than we need.  Praise be to His name.

Render A Hug

“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.” (1Co 7:3 AV)

 

Sorry, gentlemen, this is for you this morning!  We know the context.  The context is physical intimacy.  Paul is instructing the saints they are to render to their spouse physical intimacy due them.  For men, we understand what that means.  We have certain needs.  These needs are strong.  These needs are essential.  However, each gender defines physical intimacy differently.  Men may require a certain type of physical intimacy.  However, their wives require something else.  It is not that they mind that form of intimacy that their husbands enjoy.  Rather, they have a different need which is just as strong.  When it comes to fulfilling this intimacy, men have just as hard, if not harder time, honoring their wives than wives do their husbands.  We see the holding of hands, the hugging, and even the cuddling as restraining.  We see it as humbling.  We see it as something we would rather not do.  But Paul is clear here.  We are not showing to our wives due benevolence if we neglect this need.  Note this need is what is due her.

I may have used this example before, so please forgive me if I have.  In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray, and Debra are having an issue over her need to cuddle while they sleep.  Ray cannot seem to get any sleep because as soon as Debra falls asleep, she cuddles Raymond.  He cannot move.  He is stuck in whatever position he finds himself in when she cuddles.  The whole episode is over Raymond’s plans to overcome this.  All he wants is a good night’s sleep.  He compensates with more affectionate words.  He sees a counselor who tells him he is not showing enough physical affection.  So, he starts to hug and kiss her more.  All in the hope that when they lay down to sleep, she will remain on her side of the bed and allow him to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.  He even goes so far as to use an inflated child’s toy to act as a substitute.  They argue back and forth.  Raymond is trying to find some deep phycological reason why Debra feels the need to cuddle as much as she does.  Insecurity is the possibility Raymond raises.  To which she says something like, “Maybe the reason I want to touch you is that I love you, you big jerk!”

We may not understand the reasons why our spouse needs that type of affection they crave.  It really doesn’t matter if we do understand it.  Paul is not asking us to figure it out.  What he says is plain.  The benevolence they crave is due them.  This goes for both spouses.  Wives can be equally insensitive about this matter.  The world has taught us that men who carve their form of physical intimacy are selfish and immoral.  Yet that is not what Paul says.  He says it is due him.  But more importantly men, as strong as you feel your need is, your wife feels the same regarding her need.  The marriage that grows stronger is the marriage that respects one another’s needs and seeks to do all they can to meet those needs.  Regardless of what it means to us, men, we are to meet the physical needs of our wives as best we can.  Just because we may not think it important, it is important to them.  That is all that should matter.

God Keeps His Body Clean

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1Co 3:16-17 AV)

 

I used to think Paul is referring to the physical body of the individual saint here.  What Paul says in verse sixteen is certainly true of the saint.  The Holy Spirit does indwell the individual saint, this making his body the temple of the Holy Ghost.  This understanding is affirmed in chapter six.  However, all of my commentators teach this temple mentioned in this passage is the local church and not the individual saint.  They keep these verses in context to that which Paul had just discussed.  That is, building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ a solid ministry.  I would have to agree with the fathers of old that Paul is not referring to the individual physical body of the saint here, but rather, the body of Christ – the church.  Having established this, let us consider the warning of this verse.  If anyone were to defile the body of Christ, God would destroy them.  We will see what Paul is referring to when we read chapter five.  An illicit intimate relationship between a step-son and his step-mother became common knowledge in the church.  So much so they refused to deal with it.  Paul dealt with it and instructed them to turn the young man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.  The warning above came to pass in the life of an unrepentant saint.

If what Paul is referring to here is the wicked couple of verse five, the question might become: isn’t simply removing them from membership enough?  Why would the LORD seek to destroy someone who is living in unrepentant immorality?  Why not simply erase them from the records of the church as though they never were there and be done with it.  It is insufficient because as long as someone like that is living like that, regardless of affiliation, he will still be considered a member of the body by those who don’t know better.  The world will always see that individual as a saint regardless of his testimony.  As long as he is not severely dealt with, the world will mock the gospel message.  This is why the LORD dealt harshly with Israel.  They were the face of God to a lost world.  The more like the world they lived, the less credibility the LORD had.  He had to destroy them before the face of the world so the world would understand God is real and a God of holiness. 

The LORD takes the condition of His church seriously.  After all, we are referred to as the bride of Christ.  After all, Jesus made a promise to His disciples.  “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18 AV)  God is not going to allow the wickedness of mankind, even if it is the saints themselves, to defile His church.  He will clean it out.  He will chasten the guilty.  He will remove the filthy from the body if they refuse to live for the glory of God by living a moral life.  The warning above is a stern one because God loves His church more than we could ever know.  It isn’t just His reputation.  It is the love He has for us and the price He paid for us.  Those who would live like the devil and come to church anyway, the LORD will deal with.  Those who would bring shame to the name of Christ and show no remorse in spite of correction, the LORD will deal with this.  God takes this very seriously.  He is not going to remain silent when His body is under attack from within.

Cultivating Friendships

“Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.” (Pr 27:10 AV)

 

Relationships have become disposable.  Whether be offense or by neglect, we tend to value relationships as something extracurricular and not the necessity which they truly are.  Our writer, Solomon, is teaching his son that a neighbor and friend who is nearer in proximity and loyalty is better than a blood relative who is distant in one or both.  Our attention, this morning, is drawn to the underlined phrase above.  Forsake not.  It is common for us to forsake those relationships closest to us in favor of more distant relationships or none at all.  We allow them to become strained or lack the intimacy they once had for various reasons.  A disagreement might arise.  Life might become busy.  Other interests may steal away our time so these close friendships go unattended.  What is of particular interest is the friend of which Solomon speaks is one which his father cultivated and passed on this his children.  Or, his father’s friend’s children became his son's friends.  A multigenerational friendship.   There are few of those anymore.

This art is not totally lost.  When I lived in the south, it was common to see these extended friendships.  Especially because friends grew up together.  They went to school together.  Small communities tend to be like that.  Everyone knows everyone and there are relationships that last generations.  In fact, in most cases, they are assumed.  That is until someone gets offended.  It was fascinating to listen to the stories of parents and adult children as they regaled the spoils of the early days.  One such friend, Lawrence, had a memory like a steel trap.  He didn’t forget anything.  He also knew relations of kin like no other.  There was a history book written regarding the county in which I served.  He could go through that book and tell you how each and every person’s life intersected with another.  Then there was another family who grew up living on the river.  The Tennessee river, to be exact.  Lawrence would take me by that house and show me where his childhood friends and cousins would spend their free time at the river’s edge.  He would take me to a field and reminisce how it was once the homestead of another family whom he knew since childhood.  The thing about Lawrence was these relationships were not shallow or fleeting.  He knew everyone and everyone knew him.  He made an effort to maintain his relationships with others.  Forsaking a friendship was something he simply did not do.

There really is a simple truth which the Spirit desires we consider.  That is, let us not forsake our deep friendships for other relationships that may never grow as deep.  It took much time and effort to come by these deep relationships and neglect, or a simple disagreement should not end them.  Forsaking implies neglect.  It implies lowering the value of a relationship so it is not grown.  The neglect comes before the day of adversity.  This means, forsaking a close friendship will hurt in the long run.  This forsaking occurs because loyalty is misplaced.  Loyalty to a blood relative is valued as higher than loyalty to a friend who has stood the test of time.  I’ve had a few of them over the years.  These relationships have lasted over twenty or more years.  I cannot imagine how they will ever fade.  Forsake them not!  There will come a time when you will need that friend.  Or, that friend will need you.  Forsake them not!

Thanksgiving for All

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Th 5:18 AV)

 

Being grateful is neither circumstantially driven nor a neutral choice.  We are commanded to be thankful and we are commanded to be thankful in everything.  Good or bad.  In times of plenty and times of poverty.  In times of sickness as well as times of health.  In times of financial blessings as well as poverty.  We are commanded to be thankful in all things.  The reason is simple.  Because God commands it.  Thankfulness is God’s will.  Regardless of how we feel or what we are experiencing, God’s will does not change.  We are to be thankful for all things.  I know.  Easier said than done, sometimes.  However, to cease to be thankful only results in deep-rooted bitterness.  Failing to have eyes that can see the blessings in spite of the challenges means we live life under a dark cloud.  Thankfulness in everything is a result of perception, humility, and a positive state of mind.  God is always good.  Especially to His children.

Praise the LORD that my parents never had the traditional practice of testifying around the dinner table before we partook of a very large turkey.  As these things go, children have a hard time thinking of anything for which they are thankful.  For the most part, children thank God for the same things year after year.  They thank God for their parents, for their brothers and sisters, and for God Himself.  It is not that they are totally ungrateful.  It is just that they are not acclimated to think in a grateful way.  When there is something to notice which would cause harm or loss, they are all over that.  If a sibling takes a belonging or unnecessarily strikes another, complaints fly.  When my sons were young, we taught them to always say thank you no matter what was offered.  This served them well.  When they were older, I had they had the privilege to go on missions trips to South America and Europe.  All sorts of accommodations and fare were offered.  Most were out of their comfort zone.  One such trip took my oldest along the Amazon river.  There, he learned sleeping in a hammock was actually and wonderful experience.  So much so, he brought on home and we mounted it in his bedroom as his primary sleeping arrangement.  Teaching our young people to be thankful in all things is more than necessary.  Thankfulness is what will get them through the hardest times of life.

As stated before, thankfulness isn’t something we practice only when things are good.  Thankfulness is something commanded no matter the situation.  My wife and I had decided several years back to always be more grateful for what we have had than to resent what we had lost.  This decision came on the heels of losing three sons to the ministry and the loss of several loved ones.  All in a matter of two years.  Today, we sit alone.  No sons.  No daughters-in-law.  No grandchildren.  LORD willing we will be able to video call them later.  We can sit and become bitter we don’t enjoy the blessings which so many others enjoy, or we can be grateful the LORD has blessed us with three sons and their families who love the LORD and wish to serve Him with their lives.  I can sit and remember the loved ones who have gone on before with deep sorrow in my heart, or I can be thankful the LORD blessed me with their lives.  Therefore, I will always be thankful for what I have had or have more than I miss what I have lost.  God is good.  All the time.  And He deserves our gratitude.

Zeal By The Numbers

“And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.” (Ac 18:5 AV)

 

It is amazing how a preacher can be emboldened by nothing more than the presence of the saints.  Paul was alone in Corinth, starting a new church with people who shared the same craft as he.  They were tentmakers.  Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife who had moved back to Corinth from Rome because Claudius Caesar chased them out.  Paul happened to arrive in Corinth and needed a place, so Aquila and Priscilla offered him shelter.  In return, he assisted them in their business.  While there, he shared with them the gospel and they accepted Christ.  It was the start of the church in Corinth.  Paul had sent for Silas and Timotheus while they were at Thessalonica.  In the meantime, Paul was in the synagogue on every Sabbath disputing with the Jews.  Yet, we see when these two disciples came to the company of Paul, his zeal for the gospel increased.  Nowhere does the Bible imply a lack of zeal on Paul’s part.  He was faithful.  He was performing ministry in the most difficult of places.  Paul started a church and was discipling two new saints.  When Silas and Timotheus arrived, the faithfulness of the Apostle was turned into greater zeal.

I have been so very blessed that in whatever work the LORD has entrusted me with, He has also provided faithful soul-winners to work alongside me.  From my first ministry I worked to my present one, there have been a select few who have the flame of the gospel burning in their heart.  That flame has often been a source of zeal for a weary preacher.  There was David in my early years.  He and I were soul-winning partners.  Then I moved on to a new church and my father-in-law was along my side.  In the next church, I had the pleasure of working with Karl.  Then the LORD really blessed.  At the next church, I had Chris, Steve, Jim, and Doc.  To name a few.  Onward, the LORD blessed again.  There were Matt and his family, Nate, Karl, and my bestest hunting buddy, Bunk.  Now, the LORD has given me Chris, Mike, George, and occasionally, others.  Each of these men has encouraged me as I have encouraged them.  We have had interesting times.  There was the time my son Zack went with me and a guy had a gun behind his back.  There was the time the door was opened to reveal a cloud of marijuana wafting out the door.  There were times we had to outrun a dog.  Or times when the door was slammed in our face accompanied by a few choice words.  Then there were the times the Spirit gave us liberty to explain the gospel.  The thing is, ministry is far easier when there is someone who will serve with you.

In every church I have ever served, soul-winning was the first ministry we established.  If a church is not out there knocking on doors, it is not fulfilling its purpose.  There were times when my wife and I were the only ones who showed up.  Those times were extremely disappointing.  Especially when a church had a number of leaders who wanted to be in decisions making positions, but they seldom, if ever, were involved in soul-winning.  What encourages the preacher, even more, is when he goes cold-calling and the fellow-laborer is just as forthright with the gospel as he is.  The preacher feels he does not have to carry the load all himself.  He learns from the attempts of others.  He sees what may or may not work.  He is overjoyed others have as much, if not more, zeal to reach others and he does.  When I step back and defer to the efforts of my partner, I become the student.  Even more than that.  I become an observer of another man’s love for Christ.  This love of Christ then compounds in my own heart.  So, if you want to light a brighter fire under your preacher, go soul-winning with him.  You may not have to carry the load of conversation.  Just being with him and sharing the same passion will press him in the spirit to preach the gospel of Christ.

Most Precious of Inheritances

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Ga 4:7 AV)

 

Paul’s statement above is an incredible one!  God is a person.  How can one be an heir of a person?  If one is an heir, is he not an heir of things?  An heir is someone who has received their lot of what is available and then possesses it.  Thayer’s states, “in Messianic usage, one who receives his allotted possession by right of sonship.”  But here is where it gets mind-blowing.  God is infinite.  He cannot be broken up into portions.  In the sense that, if I have one portion, that leaves a little less for someone else.  This is impossible.  When Paul states we are heirs of God, he also understands the portion of God allotted to us is all that we can handle.  Not a sufficiency.  Rather and exorbitance.  Having said that, there is another tack which the Spirit wishes for us this morning.  That is, to be an heir of God is really all we should need or want.  To stop and think Jesus Christ, by His offering on Calvary, gave us the ability to inherit a relationship with the Creator of the universe more than we could ever comprehend is something words cannot express.  To think we can experience God to the fullest of our ability or limits is something we often take for granted.  I am an heir of God.  Not just heaven, a mansion, or a new body.  But God Himself.

My father, being a Scout Master, met I had to share him with others.  Times of campouts when he would train his scouts in knot tying or first aid meant there were times my father had more time for my friends than he did for me.  One of those skills I remember was how to sharpen and an ax.  Don’t ask me why I remember this specific skill more than others.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it was that skill which he felt a personal responsibility to pass along to his scouts.  He would show us how to pin the ax head in an upright position with some stakes.  He would show us how to use the file and then the stone.  He would go over the use of honing oil.  We would learn how to sharpen an ax, a hatchet, and a machete.  We would have to test them with a piece of paper.  He would be on us to get that right.  His point was obvious.  More accidents happen with dull tools than sharp ones.  He would make his way down the line and one of the first things he would have us do is to sharpen our hatchets.  Get those tents up, put our things inside, then sharpen away.  Up and down that line he would go.  Bending over to have a conversation with each scout as he learned.  All this meant he had less time for each individual.  The time we did have with him was precious.  A grown man taking interest in a young boy is a treasure.  His ability to give was limited.  He was only human, but God is not so limited.

Over the years, I have known individuals who have left an inheritance.  For the most part, those inheritances are gone faster than they were obtained.  Rarely would an individual invest that inheritance to leave something larger to his or her children.  Things give temporary pleasure and comfort.  We are not talking about inheriting things.  We most certainly will.  Even more than things, we have already inherited God Himself.  We have done so by the gracious gift of sonship.  This sonship has been purchased by Jesus Christ.  When we stop and consider that because of what Jesus has done for us, we have the privilege of walking with God, it should send shivers down our spine.  To think our sins are forgiven and we can have a personal relationship with the God whom we once despised is something more blessed than any other gift ever able to be given.  WOW!  We are an heir of God!  What a reminder that no matter what may happen, nothing can separate us from the love of God we have by the sacrifice of our Savior and LORD, Jesus Christ!

Deliverance is Today

“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:” (Ga 1:3-4 AV)

 

The mood of the phrase ‘...he might deliver…’ is subjunctive.  What that means is it may or may not occur based on circumstances.  It is a possibility.  Not a certainty.  This is important for understanding Paul’s statement.  The deliverance from this present evil world is not death.  We know this because death is a certainty.  This deliverance is not salvation which results in a home in heaven.  We know this because we are eternally secure in Christ.  We cannot lose our salvation, therefore, it would be a certainty.  This deliverance is the deliverance from an evil world which salvation accomplishes today.  That is a deliverance from the temptations and influences of this present evil world.  Christ, being our payment for sin, frees us from the old man bound to sin.  In His offering on Calvary, Jesus has freed us from the bondage of sin.  In that freedom also comes freedom from an evil world.

Think of it this way.  Imagine a poor child who must make his living in the shambles or marketplace of a common market.  His craft finds him there every day.  From sun up to sun down, he sits there selling his service.  To get ahead, he must use every angle he can imagine as he competes with others for the little business there is.  Along comes a wealthy benefactor.  He offers this lad an opportunity.  He will offer him a place to stay, improved equipment for his business, and a makeover to make him more presentable.  However, he still must come to the marketplace to earn his keep.  This boy agrees.  At the end of the day, this young lad arrives at his benefactor’s home.  He is escorted to a small outbuilding where he finds a small one-room building.  It has all he needs.  A small kitchenette, a full-size bed, a chair, and a full bath.  Hanging in the corner are fresh clothes.  Laying next to the chair is the newer equipment.  “All this is yours under one condition.  You must ethically conduct your business”, says the benefactor.  The boy agrees.  The next day, he gleefully arrives at the marketplace.  With the new equipment in hand, he sets up shop in the same place as always.  As he watches his competition, he quickly realizes he can make more money if he did what they did.  However, he remembers the agreement made with his benefactor.  He would lose all that he had gained if he compromised his ethics.  If he were to stay in the graces of his benefactor, he would have a roof over his head, fresh clothes in his closet, and newer equipment to do his job.

God has not promised to take us out of this world.  In fact, Jesus said as much.  “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (Joh 17:15 AV)  Eventually, we will be.  There will come a day when that trumpet blows or the LORD calls us home.  Until then, we are stuck here.  But that does not mean we have to be a victim of our surroundings.  This world holds no power over us other than what we concede.  It may persecute us, but it cannot take our joy.  It can tempt us, but it cannot take our will.  Unless we surrender to this present evil world, we are free from it.  This is what salvation means in daily application.  This world will pass with the using.  It will get burned up and recreated in righteousness and true holiness.  This evil world is temporary.  I know Jesus is fixin’ to come back real soon.  How do I know? Because of the unmatched precipitous rise of evil in our day.  With more and more of the world going after the devil, the closer our Lord and Savior is to His return.

One Night In The Firepace Room

“Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.” (Ac 15:31 AV)

 

A little context here is necessary.  Paul had been used by the LORD to reach a number of Gentiles with the gospel of Christ.  That is what the LORD called him to do.  However, this caused issues with the Jews.  Believing they were God’s chosen people, in which they were, they were confused as to the availability of the gospel and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles.  This was caused by ignorance in the scriptures.  Several passages foretold the gospel going to the Gentiles by the ministry of Israel.  This contention was so sharp, Paul and Barnabas were recalled to Jerusalem to attend a summit with the assembled Apostles over this issue.  After careful examination of the scriptures and hearing repeated testimony of how the Spirit moved among the Gentiles, the council concluded that indeed the gospel had gone to the Gentiles.  Letters were sent by the hand of Paul and other Apostles to the Gentiles in Antioch outlining the counsel’s position.  In essence, these letters officially welcomed the Gentiles into the fellowship of the gospel.  These letters are the purpose of the great rejoicing they experienced in Antioch.

Affirmation and cooperation are essential.  They are a source of great joy among God’s people.  To accept another as a brother or sister in Christ is one of the most important things a church can do in the early life of the believer.  My home church had a tradition which I hope they have continued to this day.  It was the greatest single experience a new believer could go through to assimilate into his new family.  Upon salvation, baptism, and joining the church, a picture was taken and posted on a wall with the title ‘New Members’.  Then once a month, the church would host a new member’s reception.  After the evening service, the new members of that month and the church would gather in the fireplace room.  There would be finger foods and punch offered.  The new members would be introduced, prayer for them offered, and fellowship would follow.  For an hour or more, these new members would be showered with attention.  They would be welcomed into the fellowship and called ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ for the first time.  Knowing one had the friendship and sense of identity when a long way in keeping the new saint from being snatched up by the world or some competing cult.  Affirmation and identity are so important to the establishment of the new believer.

In our text above, no doubt the church at Antioch would have continued with or without those letters.  Paul would not have ceased his ministry to the Gentiles if the Jewish counsel decided contrary to Pauls’ position.  The gospel would have gone on.  The Gentiles did not need affirmation to exist.  Paul did not need permission from the council to continue to reach the Gentiles.  But what this affirmation also dis was to establish unity among God’s people.  The council was not acting as an authority to rubber-stamp the existence of the Gentile church.  They were merely agreeing with the evidence of the work of Paul’s ministry and the scripture’s authority to declare the gospel went to the Gentiles.  Knowing the Jews had accepted the reality of the work of the Holy Spirit gave them great joy and relief.  Knowing the conflict has ceased and they could get beyond this theological debate is what mattered.  Knowing the Jewish church submitted to the will of the Father and accepted the Gentile church as a work of God, equal to their own, is what brought the affirmation they appreciated and for which they were grateful.  Affirmation and cooperation are essential for unity, purpose, and fellowship among God’s people.

Asking End Asserting

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” (Jas 4:1-2 AV)

 

I don’t know why this escaped me for all these years, but James is talking to believers here.  He is tying problems among members of the body of Christ with a lack of prayer.  We know he is speaking to believers because of verses three and four.  When the Spirit illumined this to me, it was like a giant lightbulb went off.  A profound moment that flooded the heart with all sorts of thoughts.  Thoughts that verify how important prayer is to the body of Christ.  Not corporate prayer, mind you.  This is not to which James is referring.  This is a personal prayer time.  Lack of prayer in one’s own personal life will cause immense problems in personal relationships with another.  The implication above is believers would rather fight and war with one another to get what we want rather than go to the LORD and be satisfied with His answer.  Show me a church whose members constantly bicker, and I will show you a church that does not pray a whole lot.

Coming from a large family, we had our disputes.  They were far too numerous to remember them all.  However, there was one dispute that rang through the otherwise quiet halls of a house with eleven children.  At least as quiet as a house with eleven children can be.  When I was a kid, cereal boxes came with prizes at the bottom of the box.  Much like Crackerjack did at the time.  You can only imagine the fight that erupted when the bottom of the box became evident.  The standing agreement was the person who poured out the toy into his bowl was the proud owner of a book of lick-on tattoos.  Or a submarine that dove and rose.  Or a whistle.  Or a ring.  It was a reward for eating all the crumbs at the bottom.  However, it didn’t take long for the wiser of the bunch to manipulate the toy higher in the box by a technique of shaking the contents while rotating the box in a circular motion.  A move the Karate Kid would have been envious of.  Mom caught on real quick.  She had had the fights and bickering.  We went to her to solve the problem every morning there was cereal on the table.  We asked her to settle the dispute.  Before she answered our request, it was every man for himself.  When we went to Mom, it was agreed whatever her solution was, it was the law of the land.  In her infinite wisdom, Mom opened all the cereal boxes from the bottom, removed the toys, and place them all in a bag.  When there were enough toys for one each, we would draw from the bag according to the closest birthday to that date.  That way, we all got to be first at least one time a cycle.  The key to ending the fighting was to ask Mom to intervene.  Asking, rather than demanding, was the answer.

Prayer causes us to settle things with God before we settle them with others.  Prayer causes us to accept the outcome no matter how different it might be from our desire.  Prayer requires we wait patiently on the LORD.  Prayer makes us accept an outcome either in or against our favor.  What prayer does very well is it causes us to leave things with God and let Him work them out rather than to try to manipulate an outcome we want.  This is the meaning above.  Those to whom James is writing are carnal Christians who desire an outcome and are not willing to delegate that outcome to God by prayer.  They are going to work their actions and words (which is exactly why James deals with the tongue in chapter two) so that they can pressure others into complying with what they think is right.  When the Apostles replaced Judas with Mithais, the first thing they did was pray.  When Paul was thrust into prison, the first thing he did was to pray.  When the council met in Jerusalem to dispute the role of Gentiles in the church, the first thing they did was to pray.  Prayer is the greatest asset to the believer and the church.  Abandoning prayer, be it corporate or personal, only ends in fights and wars.  No prayer, no peace.

Life As It Really Is

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Ac 14:22 AV)

 

There was a three-fold purpose of Paul’s missionary journey as expressed above. The first, to confirm souls means to shore up weaknesses.  By confirming the souls of the saints, Paul is strengthening them in their faith.  The word means to reestablish.  This suggests they were weakened in their faith to the point of leaving it altogether.  Secondly, once reestablished in their faith, he is encouraging them to continue in it.  The reason Paul had to do this is found in the underlined portion of our verse above.  Tribulation has a way of testing the faith of God’s people.  Allow a bit of hardship and that hardship will reveal the weaknesses we would not have noticed otherwise.  Tribulation reveals what needs to be addressed.  When those weaknesses are addressed, it makes for a stronger person.  That which the Spirit wishes for us is to come to terms is the inevitability of tribulation. 

Some of the happiest people I have known are or were octogenarians.  Those dear people in their eighties.  In my home church, this group of saints was called the halleluiah group.  To a tee, the pastor staff always remarked how this group was the most fun to hand with.  I always wondered about that until I started a monthly luncheon with the widows and widowers of my own church.  This small group met at Ponderosa once a month for a time of fellowship and food.  There was Wanda, Patsy, Terrill, and Prentice, Helen, Delores, and Mildred.  Later on, we added Hyatt and Juanita.  It was fascinating listening to them tell the stories of growing up in western Kentucky.  You would think you were listening to a Walton’s episode.  I heard stories of hog killin’s, growing up without refrigeration and electricity, and riding a horse to a one-room schoolhouse.  One thing was for sure when they got to talking about the good old days, laughter was in no short supply.  When they got to talking about the many perils of getting older, there was laughter all around.  My favorite, Ms. Wanda, always gave me a hard time about the size of my helpings!  These people knew how to laugh and have a great time.  Even though many had said goodbye to a spouse from a horrible disease or malady, they still knew how to laugh.  Why?  At some point, they came to terms with the reality of much tribulation.  They stopped trying to live the perfect life and learned to live the joy-filled life.  The matured.  They learned.  They accepted.

We have been raised in relative ease.  Our generation has not had to suffer a world war, major financial collapse, or internal conflict.  However, in today’s world, we are facing equally challenging circumstances.  Tribulation is upon us.  We have a hard time dealing with tribulation because we have been led to believe life can be full of nothing but blessing and ease.  Paul further gives the saints a reality check by using the word ‘much’ before the word ‘tribulation’.   Paul is telling us that tribulation will be more normal than times of tranquility.  The saints were losing their faith because they had not come to terms with the nature of life.  Hardship is the course of the saint’s life.  Paul tells Timothy to endure hardship as a good soldier.  Job tells us we are born unto trouble.  Part of the maturing process is realizing this reality.  Knowing my body will fail is not a happy thought.  Preparing for it and accepting it will help me tremendously in my response to it.  Sometimes, when we lack faith, it is not a lack of information.  It is a lack of incorporation.  It fails because we will not allow the reality of what we know to enter our minds and hearts, wishing it to be different.  Maturity means we accept life as it is, learn to endure, and rejoice over God’s grace through it all.

There's a Knock At The Door

“But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.” (Ac 12:16 AV)

And it was a good thing he did!  Every time I read this passage I chuckle.  The brothers and sisters spent the night in prayer for Peter and there he stood, waiting to gain entrance.  Just a few moments ago, he was in prison.  Now, he stands without, knocking to gain admission.  The answer to their prayers was just outside waiting to be let in and they had a hard time believing it.  So, he kept knocking.  And knocking.  And knocking.  I am so glad he kept knocking!  Dear old Rhoda was the one who opened at first.  She couldn’t believe her eyes.  Instead of welcoming Peter into the meeting, she leaves him standing outside and runs in to tell everyone.  They don’t believe her.  They go back to praying prayers that have already been answered.  They weep.  They cry out.  They plead with God.  Yet all along the answer to their prayer is staring them in the face.  But they cannot see it.  Why?  Faith, or lack thereof, has blinded their eyes to the hand of God.  They cannot see it because they do not believe it.

There is a familiar joke that I have used and also heard afresh the other day.  A horrible storm arose and a warning went out to evacuate the area.  One dear saint felt she needed to stay in her home.  The floodwaters came and rose quickly.  As she contemplated retreating to her second floor, there was a bullhorn blast from the floodwaters just outside her home.  The rescue had come in a Humvee and begged her to retreat with them to safety.  She told them, “I have prayed to the LORD and am waiting for Him to save me.”  They left.  She escaped to the second floor but the water continued to rise.  From the bedroom window, she heard another cry.  This time, it was from a boat.  The offer was still the same.  Escape with them to safety for the waters are still coming.  Her response was still the same.  The LORD was going to save her.  Now entering the second floor, she escaped to her roof.  Prayer again rang out.  She begged the LORD to save her from drowning.  Along came a helicopter and the instruction sounded familiar.  “Climb aboard before you and your house are swept away!”  Her response was repeated for the third time.  She awaited the hand of the LORD to be her rescue.  Then it happened.  Away she was swept by the floodwaters and perished.  As she stood before the LORD, confused and dazed, she asked the LORD why it was He never rescued her.  She had bragged on Him and wanted to testify of His greatness.  To which the LORD replied, “Why do you think the truck, boat, and helicopter were for?”

James puts it this way. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (Jas 1:6 AV)  Faith must accompany prayer.  If not, the LORD will not answer.  If not, when He does answer, we won’t see it.  Again, I chuckle when I consider the silly picture that must have been as Peter knocked outside and the people were debating the reality of the knock.  I wonder what they were thinking that noise might be.  There they sat, in the throws of prayer, wishing someone would shoo away that annoying person at the gate so they could get down to some serious spiritual warfare!  What a sight.  But I wonder how many times we do the same.  I wonder how many times we miss the hand of God because we simply do not believe He is capable or willing to answer.  I wonder how many knocks at the door we misinterpret and something other than they are.  God’s wonderful hand of answered prayer.  So, next time we hear a knocking, maybe we ought to look into it and see if the LORD is answering our prayers.  Perhaps He already has and we cannot, or will not, see it.

One Is A Crowd

“And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.” (Ac 10:27 AV)

 

Never underestimate the hunger of one searching soul to affect many more with the same concern.  Acts chapter ten is a critical chapter.  In this chapter, it is revealed to the Apostles the gospel of Christ was intended to go to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.  To this point, there has been a separation.  The Jews had no dealings with the Gentiles.  However, the LORD gave Peter a vision and informed him the Gentiles are now considered fertile ground for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Praise God for that!  Furthermore, Peter is sent to the home of Cornelius.  Cornelius is a Roman official who would have been considered somewhat of a Jewish proselyte.  He built a synagogue for the Jews and gave alms as a form of worship.  He diligently sought the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He wanted a deeper relationship with this God of the Jews.  He fell under conviction and knew something was missing.  By a dream, Cornelius was told to send for Peter whom God has prepared to show him the way of salvation.   What we want to notice this morning is exactly what happened in this house of Cornelius.  In particular, we want to note the crowd that was gathered in the home of Cornelius.  This Roman official’s concern for his own soul impacted a lot of people.  His hunger and thirst for truth drew a crowd of equally hungry and thirsty people.  Herein lies a principle of evangelism.

It is part of human nature that zeal begets zeal.  Marketers know this.  If they can market their product to influence heavily a certain type of individual, that individual becomes the best advertiser for their product more so than any ad buy could ever produce.  Some years back, my wife and I met her parents at the  Louisiana state fair.  At the time, I was having the beginnings of severe shoulder problems.  One of the things I like to do at the state fair is to go to the convention hall with all those booths.  Most of what is being hocked are fly-by-night products that don’t really work.  However, we rounded one corner and this lady was selling a salve for muscle pain.  My father-in-law; bless his heart; convinced me to give it a try.  There I was, in the middle of thousands of people, dropping half my shirt so this lady could rub in this potion as proof of a miracle!  Do you know what?  It actually worked!  The more she rubbed in, the cooler it felt and the pain began to subside.  The longer she worked, the more of a crowd gathered to watch the miracle.  All it took was for one person to be changed and it drew a crowd.  Needless to say, my dear father-in-law bought me a bunch of them.

So, for all of you faithful soul-winners out there, don’t be discouraged.  It is not your place to draw a crowd.  You will encounter a multitude of scoffers.  By far, most will hate you for showing up at their door.  However, there will come a time when you will knock on the door of Cornelius.  He will be waiting for you to show up.  When you do, and the gospel is shared, he will accept Christ and bring a multitude with him.  This bares out throughout the scriptures.  There is the Philippian jailer of Acts chapter sixteen.  There is the woman at the well of John chapter four.  There is Peter who brings Andrew.  Time and again was see evangelism treated as one soul at a time.  That one soul will produce many more.  That is if we do our jobs right and there is true conversion.  So, don’t be discouraged.  Continue to sow that seed.  Be faithful and eventually the LORD will give you a Cornelius who will fill his house with people of like minds and heart who are just as hungry for the word of God and he is.

Yet He Promised

“And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” (Ac 7:5 AV)

 

At first glance, this may seem to be confusing.  In the previous verse, Stephen the Deacon shared Abraham came to Canaan as the LORD had instructed him.  This land of Canaan was indeed the land of promise.  Abraham came there yet the evangelist shares the LORD had not given him an inheritance there.  Abraham would live and die in that land.  So, too, would Isaac his son.  It would be Jacob who took his family into Egypt resulting in four-hundred plus years of bondage.  Even though Abraham, in his lifetime, enjoyed the land of promise, it was not truly his in a permanent sort of way.  Nor would it be to his seed until Messiah comes.  Israel has been vacated from their inheritance more than once.  The Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans saw to that.  The world would take from them what God had given them.  They would regain it only to be dispossessed again.  Yet He promised!  That phrase is what we want to consider this morning.  The unfailing promises of God.

As a child, I did a lot of camping.  Most I did not look forward to.  Some, I did.  The ones I looked forward to were called Order of the Arrow weekends.  This is when a select group of boys was asked to come to a Scout camp for a weekend.  Part of the weekend was working on projects for the camp.  Setting up tents for the summer crowds.  Putting together docks.  Repair work, etc.  The thing about these weekends was creature-comforts that were included.  Generally speaking, they were cabin accommodations as opposed to tent camping.  There were also real showers to wash up.  The food was always great.  However, my father, being a very busy man, would have much to do before we could leave on Friday afternoon.  Plus, we had that paper route I spoke of earlier.  There was much to do leading up to the actual trip.  Sometimes, it was our job to take the truck, get it gassed up, tired properly inflated, and ready for the trip.  Other times, it was chasing down my father’s equipment and making sure it was in the truck.  There were a few times when the weather was not cooperating and we thought we might not get to go.  Most of all, it was Dad time.  He and I alone.  He promised.  No matter the challenges, we almost always went.  Four times a year.  Rain or shine.  We went.  Because he promised.

Yet he promised.  No doubt there were times when Abraham had to defend the small little estate he had against rival kings.  In fact, he had to rescue Lot from five kings who had taken him and his property.  Jacob fled from Esau and when he returned, also had to defend himself.  Then there was both Abraham and Jacob who felt threatened by Abimelech and fained their wives as their sisters.  There didn’t seem to be a time when Abraham nor his descendants felt the inheritance was something that would always be there.  The promises made by God was the anchor in uncertain times.  So, too, is it for us.  It has been said there are over 3,000 promises God has made recorded in the scriptures.  I don’t know how factual that might be nor to whom all those promises were made.  But I do know there are some made to the New Testament believer.  Knowing what they are and where they are is a ray of hope in a dark world.  Just the other day, I saint and I were speaking of the rapture.  I know God will not judge the righteous with the wicked.  This is a promise.  No matter how bad the world gets, if we are saved, we will be removed before the worst of it comes to pass.  Yet He promised!  A statement to look beyond the circumstances of life and into the infallible word of God that we might have enduring strength through it all.