What of Caperaum?

“And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” (Mt 4:13-16 AV)

In today’s climate, Capernaum would not be on the radar of many church plants.  In today’s climate, if a church isn’t planted and growing to over one hundred within twelve months, it is abandoned.  This results in more and more church plants being established in already saturated land.  The justification for it is some minor doctrinal difference.  The church down the road doesn’t have a strong enough stand on some issue of personal separation, so there needs to be a ‘genuine church’.  The church down the road doesn’t go soul-winning as much as the missionary thinks they should, so obviously the church is labeled as ‘back-slidden’.  So, instead of working with that church and reinvigorating their outreach, a new church plant is started.  Or the most common I have seen is a small group of families become disenchanted (translation: they are no longer the most important family in the church) so there needs to be a new church started because there are no ‘good churches’ around.  What is sad is that if the effort to start churches were focused in truly un-reached and spiritually dark areas of our nation, revival would break out!  This great nation of our would be transformed if those preachers who are led to start churches would venture out of the over-saturated bible-belt and preach the word in the Caparnaums of this country.

When Christ started His earthly ministry, he did not go to Jerusalem to do it.  He went to the one area were the distinction between the gospel and the darkness would be the most vivid.  Capernaum was the most northern major city closest to Israel’s pagan neighbors.  Jesus didn’t go where there were plenty of synagogues.  He went to the city were there wasn’t one.  He went to the city that was so spiritually dark that it took a Roman Centurion (Non-Jewish) officer to build a synagogue out of his own pocket.  Jesus went to the neediest first.  Not to the already reached yet rejecting crowd.

Years ago, when reading a thread meant to spread the word for pastorless churches seeking a shephard, a response by a preacher was predictable, but disheartening.  He remarked that no one should venture into this particular area of our nation because no one gets saved there anymore.  He defended his own geographical area as the only area where God was active.  If it wasn’t spoken out of shear ignorance, a comment like that would be both offensive and sad.  The truth of the matter is, attitudes like that is exactly why we are losing the battle.  Lack of churches is an indication the gospel needs to be preached there.  Jesus said himself the whole need not a physician.  That is why He went to the sickest of them all first!  We need more men called to the Capernaums of our nation.  We need more who will take the road less traveled and bear under the hardest of work.  What we do no need is more synagogues on every corner which only result in more, but smaller, churches.  We need those who are willing to do where the darkness is the greatest.  If it was good enough for Jesus Christ, it should be good enough for us!

Bothersome Brotherhood

“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” (Mal 2:10 AV)

There is a little context needed here to see the full impact of the truth which the Spirit has for us today.  Note in particular the treachery that one deals against his brother has to do with profaning the covenant of their fathers which they had with God.  Think on that a bit.  The covenant which God made with Israel’s descendants was, and still is, unconditional.  However, if (and they did) the descendants of Abraham broke their end of the covenant by neglecting the law, then God can (and did) suspend the agreement.  The LORD will honor it again when Christ returns.  Now, there begs a question.  How is it that in neglecting the law of God resulting in the suspending of the covenant be defined as dealing treacherously with one’s brother?  Wouldn’t it be treachery against God?

We do not live in a vacuum.  Our actions effect more than just us.  When we are disobedient, it affects all those around us.  Just imagine what a car ride would be like with nine children in tow.  Trust me, if only one of us acted up, it affected the whole car ride.  Such was the case many times.  We would be on our way to grandma’s house and two siblings would begin to act up.  My father, not one to let things slip from his control, would do a masterful job of getting things under control all the while navigating at highway speeds to our destination.  He mastered the art of the back-hand slap, over the front bench seat to the child behind him.  Or, there was the one-hundred-eighty-degree pinch.  That one hurt!  He would reach around the driver’s seat and grab as much flab as he could.  The thing is, when Dad gave us a dress down, even those of us who were behaving were put in a more somber mood.  One person’s acting out affected us all.

So, too, is it in the family of God.  We fail to realize that when we do not walk with the LORD, we effect the entire condition of God’s family.  When there is a break in fellowship between the child of God and our Father, the whole body feels it.  It is selfish to think that we can do as we wish and not care how it affects those around us.  The word ‘treacherous’ is a dramatic one.  It means to act deceitfully.  It means to cease to be ethical.  Unfair or faithlessly.  We cannot do that to someone whom we claim to be related to or love.  Our choices affect all.  Therefore, our lives should protect all.

Learning To Love

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Zec 13:9 AV)

There is no avoiding it.  Life with God is all about transformation.  It is all about fixing us.  It is all about becoming more and more what the LORD intended for us to be.  This often takes difficult circumstances of life.  It takes correction.  It takes steps of faith.  It takes persecution.  It takes some uncomfortable situations that we might continue to go through the transformation process.  But, in the end, God is our God and we are His children.  He cannot love us any more then He does.  His love is infinite. We, on the other hand, can always love Him more.  This takes change.  Hard change.  Necessary change.

Not that we are dogs, but the analogy runs true.  I miss my black lab.  We got Kimber from the shelter.  He was skittish about everything.  He barked and ran from me when I would dress in a suit.  He would notice if anything, and I mean anything, was different in the house. He would bark at it and hide.  If a chair was pulled out from the dining room table, he would bark and hide.  If a package came and we set it on the kitchen table, he would notice it, bark and hide.  However, over time and training, Kimber learned to trust me.  It took gentle training.  It took lots and lots of leash training.  It took walks.  It took affirmation.  It took situations where he was confronted with difficult choices.  One such problem as linoleum flooring.  He would not walk on it.  He would not go up a set of stairs.  Since his house was in the down-stairs apartment, I had to pull him by the leash until he learned it was no big deal.  What this accomplishes was a relationship of trust and admiration.  Kimber, in time, learned to trust me and admire my leadership.  In order to do this, he had to change his nature.  He had to change what he naturally was to what I wanted him to be.  As a result, he became a much more content and happier dog.

Again, we are not dogs. But the truth remains the same.  For us to love the LORD more and more, we have to be changed.  This is difficult.  But necessary.  As we yield to the hand of the Holy Spirit, He changes us in such a way this becomes possible.  We love the LORD more and more each day.

Pray for the Latter Rain

“Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” (Zec 10:1 AV)

In Palestine, the rains are cyclical.  They are seasonal.  The early rain comes in our autumn time while their later rains come in April.  The former rains saturate the soil in time for planting and early growth.  The later rains saturate the soil so the fruit may increase their volume just prior to harvest.  If there is no later rain, the harvest will be, as Joseph put it, blasted with the east wind.  It will exist.  But it will be shriveled and dry.  This challenge is a metaphor.  A metaphor for prayer that God’s blessing would come after a dry growing season that the fruit would swell in abundance prior to harvest.  For Israel, it meant a prayer for God’s blessing prior to the coming of the Messiah so the nation will be prepared for Jesus when he came the first.  For the N.T. saint, it has a slightly different application.

There are times in life when we go through some dry times.  The hard growing amid affliction is the goal.  We bear under the heat of trials of faith, times of testing, periods of correction.  We are dried up by the deep growth that takes place in our souls.  It seems like a time of fruitlessness.  But in reality, it is the greatest of all growth.  It is the time of the greatest maturity.  There comes a time, though, that all that growth must result in fruit.  It is at those times when it would be advisable to pray for the later rain.   It would be a grand idea to ask for God’s great time of refreshing so that we can see genuine and copious amounts of fruit gained for the hard time of growth.

We can learn our lessons which the LORD sends our way.  But, if they do not result in fruit, they are merely academic.  There are times when we are dried up.  Dried up from hard work and toil.  Dried up from the devil’s blast.  Dried of from the old man’s fussing.  Dried up from one too many assaults from the world.  Dried up from learn the hard way that God’s way is the best way.  When we are all dried up, it is time to pray for the later rain!  Time to see what God can and has produced by the experience of our lives.

The Silent Accuser Remains Silent

“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zec 3:1-2 AV)

What the Spirit reminded me of this morning was the silence of Satan.  What He mean by that is if one will note there are no words spoken by the devil from which he will accuse the high priest.  The high priest, by the way, is a representative of Israel.  The devil stands ready to resist Joshua.  Yet, he does not say a word.  The Spirit also reminded me of the discourse of God and the devil over Job.  The devil neither initiated the charges against Job nor initiated the conversation.  God did.  Which makes complete sense.  God, being the Sovereign, would start any discourse between Himself and His creation.  However, the is another principle here.  THE DEVIL DOES NOT HAVE THE LIBERTY TO ACCUSE THE BRETHREN UNLESS THE LORD ALLOWS IT.

Furthermore, the devil also knows the LORD knows all our actions, thoughts, and dispositions.  The devil only knows our actions.  There is nothing of which the devil can accuse that the LORD is not already aware.  Therefore, his accusations are not for the purpose of finding us guilty.  We already are condemned before a holy God.  His accusations are not to inform an ignorant judge.  Our God already knows.  His accusations are not for the purpose of embarrassing the God who loves us more than we can ever understand because, as He did with Joshua, His grace cleans us up.  The only reason which comes to mind that explains the devil’s accusations are to discourage the saints.  That is it.  Which brings us to our glorious application.

When the devil stands to resist us, he does so for the sole purpose of discouragement.  The grace of God answers every concern the LORD might have with us.  The devil has no rights of jurisprudence over us, so the accusations cannot be acted upon from his point of view.  His accusations will not absolve that for which he is guilty and he is going off to hell for all eternity anyway.  The only damage he can do is to our spirit.  This is why it so important to realize when the devil seeks to accuse the brethren before the LORD, he cannot speak a word unless the LORD allows it.  If that is the case, why do we allow him the victory of speaking in our ear?  Why do we listen if the LORD does not listen?  Nothing he will say will change our Father’s love.  Nothing!  So, see it for what it is.  A sore loser who is trying to discourage us away from the matchless grace of God.

Poking God in the Eye

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” (Zec 2:8 AV)

We know that Israel and David are the only ones referred directly as the apple of God’s eye.  But that does not mean this truth evades the N.T. saint.  When one studies the phrase, he is amazed at what the apple of the eye is.  In simple terms, the apple of the eye is the pupil.  That gate of the eye by which all information enters.  The part of the eye that focuses.  The gate into the brain.  There is even a greater picture here by the use of the word ‘apple’.  What does the pupil and apple have in common wherein one is used to describe the other.  It has to do with reflection.

An apple, unlike all other fruits, can be polished to a mirror like surface.  No other fruit can be polished to a glass like sheen.  When polished to its best, the apple can be used as a reflective surface.  Because the apple is convex surface, to see a reflection, the object must be perfectly in front of the surface.  In other words, passing a convex mirror from one side to the other side of a surface will only reflect it back when it stops directly in front of it.  If the pupil is the apple, than it can only focus on that which is directly in front.  A miniature of what the pulpit is focused on is reflected back in the surface of the pupil.  A miniature in reflection.

By stating that Israel, David, and by extension the saint, is the apple of God’s eye, then the word of God is telling us that we are the center of God’s focus, attention, desire, and protection.  We are the one whom the LORD is centered upon and by the very truth of this fact, He treasures us.  Thinking of it another way, the prophet says that he that touches the that which God treasures, touches the apple of the eye: those that touch that which God treasures is poking God in the eyeball.  He will not tolerate that for very long!

The Work of God's Hands; Not Ours

“In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.” (Zep 3:11 AV)

This verse gives us a clue as to what might have started the downward apostasy of the nation of Israel.  They became arrogant.  They became haughty at what the LORD had designed on the holy mountain.  They forgot the LORD brought them out of Egypt, planted them in Canaan, and provided the very means from which the temple arose.  They looked at the finished product as though their own hands and effort accomplished such a great temple and forgot it was the LORD who did it through them.  If they were the ones who did it, then they had the liberty to do with it what they wished.  Which explains how idol worship eventually found its way into the temple.  It explains how the pattern for the furniture given to Moses on the mount was replaced by a more elaborate pagan model.  It explains how Baal became the god they worshiped rather than the God who made it all happen.

Years ago, I visited the Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN.  It was probably one of the most influential places I have ever visited.  It never occurred to me how mankind could worship a false idol until I saw the image of the goddess Athena exhibited in this museum.  A very impressive gold-plated statue rising 42 feet, it is the largest indoor statue in the United States.  One could understand how mankind would worship such an object.  No so much because it was a real god, but rather, a work of men’s hands for which they would be very proud.  It dawned on me how self-exalting mankind can become.

The saints are not immune.  We can fall into the trap of forgetting that it is Christ who builds His church.  It is not we who build it.  We are the tools in the hands of the divine.  We are not the author who writes the book.  We are the pen in the hand of a ready writer.  I have seen many of God’s works fall into apostasy or even heresy because those tasked to lead the work of God have forgotten who it was who built it.  They forgot that Christ is the head of the church and if it experiences and success at all, it is because of the divine hand of the Master.  Because of this, He and He alone is the head.  He does with it as He pleases.  We are never the determining factor in what the church is or where it goes.  We have forgotten this.  We can rejoice in what the LORD has built, but never ever should we be proud of it.