Respect Truth

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Mt 7:6 AV)

 

The admonition here is not that hard to explain.  The comparison and application are extremely vivid.  We understand what is holy and we understand what a dog is.  When it comes to the pearl and swine, a great picture is drawn here.  Pearls are representative of great truth.  Sometimes, leading to eternal life.  We know what the swine is.  Why would someone cast a pearl to a swine?  They wouldn’t.  At least not on purpose.  According to one commentator, the common diet of swine at the time was peas and almonds.  How he knows that I do not know.  Swine also eat grain.  My wife has a few pearls.  If those pearls get mixed in with white peas or grain, they might be very hard to find.  The swine would not be able to discern the difference and would eat it anyway.  The thought is, truth is too valuable to neglect or treat lightly, casting it aside as not all that more valuable than falsehood.  If we treat truth like any other fact rather than a precious commodity to be sought out, internalized and used to benefit God, others, and ourselves, then we are casting it to the swine who couldn’t care less what they are eating.

All truth is precious.  But all truth may not have the exact same value.  Interestingly, Jesus uses the plural here.  In researching pearls, I discovered certain species of oysters can produce multiple pearls at the same time.  The Japanese Ayoka oyster typically produces around five pearls at a time.  Saltwater oysters only produce one to two.  However, it is not all that rare to find an oyster with more than one pearl inside.  An article in the New York Post dated last month speaks of a woman who opened an oyster and found a dozen pearls inside.  When the paper interviewed the cook, he mentioned he shucks about 2,500 a week and typically finds about two a week.  However, he did find an oyster with nine pearls.  Pictures are accompanying this story and the obvious cannot escape notice.  Those dozen pearls are all of different shapes and sizes.  Obviously, the larger ones will fetch more money.  The smaller ones, not so much.  But they all have some value.  And none should be discarded as common.  If the average find is two pearls per 2,500 oysters, then pearls are rare indeed regardless of their shape and size.

When we treat all insights or opinions as of equal value whether they be true or not, we cast it to the swine.  When we refuse to say something is true because it would offend those who believe a falsehood, we cast it to the swine.  When we do not commit truth to the soul that we might live to please the LORD, we cast it to the swine.  When we reduce truth to the philosophy of man, we cast it to the swine.  When we think we are the determiner of truth and that truth is not absolute whose origin is from God almighty, we cast it to the swine.  When we refuse to stand for truth, we cast it to the swine.  When we ignore truth and live according to our soul’s desire, we cast it to the swine.  When we do not commit truth to memory and treat it as a mere intellectual exercise, we cast it to the swine.  Any time we treat truth as disposable or something to serve our own purposes, we devalue it and cast it to the swine.  Truth is eternal.  Truth is not subjective.  It is something bestowed to us and we enjoy the privilege of learning and using it.  But just like the pearl, we did nothing to produce it.  All we did was discover it.  It does not come into existence because we created it nor does it continue because we nurture it.  Truth is the nature of God.  Truth should be treated with great respect and not subject the human whims and wishes.

What Everyone Needs But Seldom Asks For

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” (Mt 6:8 AV)

 

The ‘them’ are those who use repetitious prayer because they lack faith the LORD would give them of their basic needs.  In essence, our Savior is telling us to pray in faith because God already knows what we need and will provide what we need if we believe and ask.  However, another thought came to mind.  That is, those things which we need.  Can they be determined?  Are the things which we need common to all people?  If they are, are they listed?  What is interesting is following this statement, the LORD gives His model prayer for the disciples to follow.  In that prayer, there are four things the disciples of Christ are instructed to pray for.  They are: God’s will to be accomplished, our daily provision, forgiveness from God and forgiveness towards others, and protection from temptation.  These four needs every soul requires.  These four needs are something for which we should pray in very specific ways that the needs of every soul are met.

The will of God is done on Earth as it is in heaven – God has allowed agents with free will to influence that which He has created.  This does not mean God ceases to be sovereign.  He controls the circumstances of those choices while granting liberty to created beings to make these choices.  This means God’s will is pliable.  This does not mean there is any set of circumstances wherein the perfect will of God fails.  God’s will can have more than one outcome and still be His perfect will.  God is not willing that any should perish.  However, if a soul refuses Christ, His will is that soul to perish.  Either way, whatever the choice a free-will agent makes, the perfect will of God is accomplished.  Therefore, when we pray the will of God to be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying for the specifics of God’s will to work out including the circumstances from the choices of others.  In short, when we pray the will of God to be accomplished, we are praying the hand of God to be active and certain in all things.  Including that which directly affects us and those whom we know.

Give us our daily bread – we take for granted our cupboards will be full, our refrigerator will be stocked, the water and utilities stay on, the mortgage is paid, and we have something to wear.  We take for granted the paycheck is in the mail or our assistance will always be there.  The thing is, the LORD is not obligated to provide those things if we do not pray for them.  We do have more needs than physical ones.  We have spiritual needs.  We need to hear from the LORD each and every day for correction and encouragement.  This need is always available but not guaranteed.  There much be deep prayer before we crack the bread of life and listen to the Spirit as He speaks to us through His word.

Divine forgiveness and forgiveness towards others – This need is so under-preached today.  Forgiveness is a basic need of the human spirit.  We need affirmation.  We need to know we have nothing between God and ourselves.  We need that assurance the wrath of God has been satisfied in the person of Christ and that our present sin is also forgiven.  To live under the pressure of guilt and shame is not a comfortable place to live.  Equally so, we need to forgive others who have offended or caused an injury.  To remain in a bitter state causes great spiritual and physical harm.

Protection from temptation – Some assume the temptation here are any difficulties of life.  However, that would not agree with other passages of scripture.  We are called to have our faith tried under fire.  We are called to suffer persecution for the cause of Christ.  Of these temptations, we have no standing to ask for relief.  However, there are the temptations to sin that plague us until our dying day.  Temptation to sin is powerful.  Some we can overcome in our own strength.  Most, we cannot.  Temptation is something that requires the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Overcoming temptation requires a working knowledge of the word of God.  Temptation is something we face every day.  So, to overcome it is a basic need.

When Jesus tells us that the Father knows all that we need before we ask and then gives us four things which we should pray for regularly, I think it would be good advice to do just that.  Upon reflection, these four basic needs are usually that which we pray for least.  Unless there is a pressing need in one of these areas, we tend to take them for granted.  This is unwise.  Let us not use vain repetitions thinking God will answer based on how many words we use.  Rather, let us ask in faith.  Nothing wavering.  But let us ask.

How Salty Are You?

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Mt 5:13 AV)

 

The initial thought I had is if Jesus is teaching that salt cannot be revitalized to become saltier, then if the saint were to lose any effectiveness to influence his world, this loss of influence would be permanent.  I then asked the question of how salt can lose its savory nature.  If salt is a chemical compound, how does that chemical compound diminish?  This lead me to several commentaries and articles regarding the differences between salt in the western world and the salt commonly used in Palestine.  In most parts of the world, we get our salt from evaporation or mining.  The salt we harvest is purified salt.  According to a chemist, there is no known substance or process by which salt can lose its savor.  We know Jesus cannot be wrong, so what is going on here?  The salt of the middle east was harvested from marshes along the coastline or from salt lakes that would dry up in summer.  This salt contained much organic material.  The more organic material, the less savory the salt.  Now we begin to understand how salt can lose its saltiness.  The more organic material salt contains, the less salty it will taste.  The more pure salt is, the saltier it will taste.

My wife and I love watching cooking shows.  Particularly those which teach the viewer something about food.  We were watching the last season of a particular show last night which featured a different celebrity chef in each episode.  Many of these chefs I have never heard of.  Last night was such a case.  This Chef’s specialty was desserts.  In particular, baked goods.  During the challenge, a judge and the guest chef would go to each contestant and taste their cooking as they go, but also offer advice on how to improve their dish.  They were looking for teachability in these contestants.  If there were not willing to listen, then they would more than likely exit the show.  One particular candidate wanted to show all of his techniques and creativity in one dish.  They warned him about overcomplicating a dish and causing no symmetry in the flavor profile of his finished dish.  He ignored their advice and that is exactly what happened.  Another cook made his dish way too salty.  This grabbed my attention because we have all been there.  How do you un-salt a salty dish?  I believe it was some kind of batter he was mixing.  My first thought was to dilute it.  Make a second batch of batter and dilute the salty batter with unsalted batter.  That would have been my solution.  However, the guest celebrity chef advised him to add lemon juice.  Something about lemon juice reduces the perceived savoriness of salt.  There was organic material added to reduce the salty taste of salt.  Salt itself was not reduced.  The amount of salt in the dish remained.  There was something else added which reduced the impact of that salt.  A conflicting flavor profile that reduced the impact of the salt.

Now, we see exactly what the LORD was trying to tell His disciples and it is so simple.  The introduction of organic material into salt makes it less salty.  At some point, the purification process of contaminated salt would be more work than merely going to the marsh and getting more.  The permanent state of unsavoriness was only permanent in the sense that purifying it would not be cost-effective.  There was better salt out there that was easier to get.  This is a great illustration of the usefulness of God’s saints to the work of the kingdom.  No doubt, we have connected the dots.  The organic material found in Palestinian salt is equated to the world.  As the world influences the saint, he becomes less effective in influencing the world.  The more we let into our lives and become like that which surrounds us, the less we can exhibit a contrast between the world and God’s holiness.  The more evident application is what the middle eastern cook would do with the salt.  He would cast it aside in favor of more potent seasoning.  This application then becomes a warning.  If we have too much of the world in us that we can no longer affect the world, then God will turn to another salt that is more separated from its world.  In this, we see a challenge.  The more purified from the world we are, the more useful we are from God.  If we will not be purified, then God simply turns to others who will be.

More Boldness

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,” (Ac 4:29 AV)

 

What we have learned from history is that it repeats itself.  The book of Ecclesiastes tells us is just like the seasons of the year, the actions of mankind are cyclical.  Things tend to go full circle.  What was once the norm generations ago, becomes the norm again.  I get a kick out of retro-style merchandise.  Retro is all the rage.  If you don’t know what that is, some manufacturer and/or retailer will sell things that were in style a generation or two ago and people snatch it up.  Not those who used to own it decades ago, but the up-and-coming generation.  That which is old is new again.  The same is true with the cycle of dispensations.  How the previous dispensation started is probably how it will end.  Above, we see great persecution aimed at the church as a whole.  This cycle will repeat itself.  As Christ gets closer to His return, the church will suffer under the hand of godless governments.  When that happens, we need more boldness than ever.  The thing is if we are not bold in times of relative peace, then when these times come, we will be even less bold.  The time to be bold is now.

It is interesting how people react to potential danger.  Some see danger in everything and react to preserve against a threat that would never realistically come.  Some are more level-headed and they take precautions, but their lives are not altered all that much.  The majority are scoffers.  They refuse to believe there is any threat and ignore any and all warnings.  They will even go so far as to ridicule those who are trying to help by announcing a warning.  They see Chicken Little in each and every voice that pronounces warning of pending threats.  It is this last group that often silences the voices of the saints as we seek to share the good news of the gospel with those who are lost.  The difference is, there is a chance those warnings issued may never come to pass whereas the warning of eternity is certain.  The lost world treats them as of the same level of concern.  When I lived in Kentucky, I was forced to live with the reality of possible tornadoes.  This was new to me.  I had never lived in a place like this before.  So, I bought an NOAA radio that gave voice warnings and tracking of tornadoes on the ground.  We were able to stay very safe because we knew exactly where these storms were and the likelihood of being in the path of destruction.  The thing is, where we lived there seldom were serious tornadoes.  I lived about twenty miles to the northeast of Mayfield nestled in some severe bends of the Mississippi River and the junctions of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi.  These rivers caused an updraft that usually minimized the risk.  But there was still a risk.  After a few years, I took the warnings with a grain of salt.  I began to scoff because the likelihood of ever being directly hit with a storm was much lower than neighboring counties.  The storm was not certain.

We minister to a world that is hostile against the very gospel which we preach.  It is not going to get any easier.  As time marches on, it will get increasingly more difficult.  I imagine we are the ones who are standing at the door warning of the storm that is approaching yet getting that same door slammed in our faces.  The truth is, the storm does not change course because those in the path of it ignore our warnings.  The storm does not dissipate because those whom we are trying to warn sic their dogs on us.  The storm is still coming.  It is still making a b-line to those who are not prepared.  Just because they call the police on us for trespassing does not mean the storm halts in its tracks and recedes back into the sky.  The clouds are still rolling.  The lighting is still striking.  The winds are still howling.  What we need is boldness.  And more of it. 

Joy - Our Principle Emotion

“So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” (Ezr 3:13 AV)

 

What a scene that must have been.  The temple was rebuilt and for the first time in over seventy years, there were offerings again at God’s house.  There was a reason there was weeping that went with the rejoicing of others.  Those who wept had every reason to.  They wept because they remembered the former glory of the house of God and compared the appearance of the new temple as inferior to the old.  Upon reflection, they realized it was their sin that resulted in a simpler form of a temple.  There was much remorse and regret from the older crowd because of what the house of God had become.  Yet, the rejoicing of the up-and-coming generation overwhelmed the sorrow of the older crowd.  In this, we see a great balance in emotional reaction to the hand of God over our failures and His forgiveness.

I don’t follow sports all that much.  But I do look at headlines every once in a while.  This past weekend was bowl game weekend.  Friday night there were two playoff games.  Then New Year’s Day rolled around and we have five or six more bowl games.  From what I read, they were pretty good games.  Especially the Ohio State game.  However, one headline caught my attention and I read the article.  I cannot remember the team or bowl, but apparently, a starting quarterback for one of the teams went down with a serious injury.  I think it was later in the game.  It was particularly significant because this young man was projected to go in the first round of the NFL draft.  I think it was the starting quarterback of Ole Miss.  Anyway, Ole Miss went on to lose that game because, in part, because their starting quarterback went down in the third quarter.  Now, writers are wondering what will happen to this young man seeing as how he suffered a serious leg injury.  Time will tell, but we can be certain he will play somewhere.  Wherever he plays, in the back of his mind might be the 2022 Sugar Bowl and a lot of what-ifs.  Whichever team he hooks up with may place him as a second-string player.  Perhaps he will never be the next Tom Brady.  I doubt anyone will be.  However, his future does look significantly better than had he not chosen to play at all.  The setbacks of the past may in part define our future.  But the past does not have to fatally define our future nor dictate our response to the future.

It is quite natural and appropriate to feel remorse, regret, and shame over the failures of life.  If we didn’t feel these things, we wouldn’t be motivated to get right with God.  However, we cannot allow the negative emotions of our sin to overcome the joy that comes from divine forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration.  The days of old may have seemed better.  But they were not.  Tomorrow, for the child of God, can always be better.  No matter how much we have failed in the past, the LORD can overcome it and build a life better than we had before.  Not only that, but God is as much God in the present and future as He was in the past.  The newer temple may have been significantly simpler, but that doesn’t mean the glory of God was any less.  God is not the building.  God is not the facilities.  God is a person and as long as God is in the midst, the properties are of minor consideration.  The point is this.  Our rejoicing over the forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration from God should be louder than our weeping over regret, shame, and remorse.  The joy of God’s mercy should be the chiefest of emotions.  The same is true of the condition of our world.  We can be frustrated, disappointed, and anxious over the direction of this world.  But those emotions should not be strong that the hope of our calling in Christ Jesus.  The church of God should ring out in joy more than it does in weeping.  We may weep in the night, but joy comes in the morning!

Responsibility To Give

“And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place:” (Ezr 2:68 AV)

 

What caught my attention this morning was the group identified in the above verse.  The chief of the fathers.  These were leaders of the leaders.  These were the elders.  These men were those whom everyone else looked up to.  These were also the men who may have seen the original temple before the Babylonians burned it to the ground.  It is written of these men when they came to the house of God, took up an offering, and gave that the temple might be repaired and used once again.  There is no mention of what exactly motivated them.  It might have been a habit with them and they did what they would have always done.  It could be they saw the condition of the house of the LORD and were moved to do something about it.  We also do not know, at least from this verse, if others gave as well.  For some reason, the Holy Spirit felt it necessary to let us know that the chief of the fathers gave freely that the house of the LORD might be set up in its place.

I have seen an occurrence of the following only a couple of times in my many years of eating out with friends.  There would be a part of four or more and we would eat and enjoy one another’s company.  One such time happened in a Buffalo, NY suburb.  Some of the staff of the church at which I served met for lunch.  I think we were out running an errand or something.  There were about five or six of us.  I ordered a Beef-on-weck sandwich with chips and a drink.  I almost didn’t order a thing because this was a spur of the moment thing and I didn’t have any money.  My superior offered to pay for my lunch.  Anyway, we sat and fellowshipped over lunch.  We laughed and prayed.  It was a grand old time.  Then the bill came.  Always awkward.  Someone is designated to divide up the check for each meal and drink.  However, this time it was a bit different.  The bill came and no one looked at it.  I thought they were all playing defense to see who it was going to be that would pick it up.  Instead, a very weird thing happened.  All of a sudden, cash was flying on the table.  A ten here.  A twenty there.  No one looked at the check to bother and see whether it was covered.  They just kept throwing money at it.  When the money stopped floating in the air and it has settled on the table, there had to be over a hundred dollars there.  I knew the check was not even close to that amount.  I looked at the check and then at the money.  Being very poor, I thought this was a great waste.  However, as one missionary explained, money was not the biggest concern here.  It was their testimony to the waitress and restaurant.  I learned something very valuable that day.  These men, who were the chiefest of the congregation, gave of what they had for the sake of the LORD’s testimony like it was second nature.  They gave because it was their nature and responsibility to do so.

As a preacher, I know people do not like messages on giving.  We don’t like them almost as much as those who would rather skip that service.  I feel like a dentist who is tasked with a root canal.  No one really wants one, but we know that we need one.  Giving should not be that way.  Giving should be seen as a privilege and a duty.  Perhaps the reason the chiefest of the fathers gave matter-of-factly was they had matured to the point they understood the work of God does not continue without the offerings of God’s people and if the work of God is going to continue, it will do so only according to their generosity.  They felt an obligation.  They knew it had to be done and were glad to do it.  It was their temple.  It was their sin that resulted in the temple lying in ruins.  Someone has to pay the bills and it must start with the leaders.  This is a sign of true spiritual maturity.  If we are grown up in the LORD, we will see the bill on the table and we will throw money at it.  It needs to be done.  It has to be paid.  And we want to see the work of God continue.

Raised or Retired?

 “Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezr 1:5 AV)

 

The underlined phrase begs a question.  Are there those whose spirit God could not raise?  When one considers how many returned to rebuild out of all those who could have returned, one must wonder why so small a number.  Their captivity was ending.  They had the opportunity to return to their homeland, reclaim their inheritance, and rebuild their capital city.  Yet a comparatively small number made the journey.  Perhaps those who stayed behind had made a new life in a pagan world and became too comfortable in their state that returning to do a work for the LORD didn’t seem all that attractive.  Nonetheless, there were those whose spirit could be raised to do something for God.  Being raised suggests they were mostly dead.  God had to bring a revival before the work could start.

There is a commercial for a charity that seeks to help wounded servicemen and women who have come home from the battlefield and are in great need of assistance.  There are several commercials for this charity and each features two or three wounded warriors as they take you through their injuries and needs.  It is rather heartbreaking to see the horrible injuries these patriots are enduring.  One of the themes throughout all of these cases is the fighting nature of the warrior continues.  Their new enemy is the injury of disability which they must overcome.  One of the commercials features a young man who witnessed the horrible terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York City.  9/11 for short.  He had witnessed this event like most.  However, he was from New York City and he tells of three phone calls he made as he witnessed those towers coming down.  The first was to his mother to let her know he was safe and out of harm's way.  The second was to his father for the same purpose.  The third was to his recruiter.  Because he saw those towers fall, his spirit was stirred to do something about it.  This found him on a battlefield that took both of his legs.  He saw a need and was stirred to act upon that need.

David and Jonathan were very close friends.  One of the reasons was their spirits could be raised.  They had kindred hearts which God could stir to meet an occasion.  I fear we are like David’s brothers and the rest of the Israeli army who sat by and allowed the Philistine Giant, Goliath, to ridicule and blaspheme.  It took a boy who was barely a man to face the giant with a slingshot.  Why?  Because it was a spirit God could raise.  Had anyone else yielded to the need of the moment and allow God to stir their spirit, God would have guided their hand as well.  Jonathan?  All he did was take on thousands of Philistines on a hilltop all by himself.  These two allowed the call of God to stir their spirits to do something for God.  This is why our churches are powerless.  We simply do not allow the Spirit of God to move us to action.  We are stirred about a lot of things.  A ball game.  A virus.  The cure for a virus.  Politics.  All sorts of things.  But not the work of God by winning souls, discipling them, and doing the work of the ministry.  Imagine what those left behind in Babylon missed?  They may have had a few comforts.  But they never had true liberty.  Only those who surrender and allow God to raise the spirit are those who will accomplish much for the glory of God.