The Persecution of Inconvenience

“And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” (Ac 5:40 AV)

 

To whom Peter’s persecutors are agreeing is a Pharisee named Gamaliel.  The argument proposed by Gamaliel was if the gospel was of man, then it would eventually come to nothing.  He gave several historical events in the recent past of Israel to prove this point.  He counted with the understanding if it was from God, there was nothing they could do to stop it.  Their persecutors had every intention of severely beating Peter and his companions, even to the point of death.  Gamaliel, uttering a prophecy he wasn’t truly aware of, gave then good advice.  If it is of God, then all the beatings in the world aren’t going to stop it.  Gamaliel knew the more physical persecution the disciples suffer, the greater the revival results from it.  So, we are considering the world’s solution to conquering the gospel.  A solution that is effective if the church is not aware of it.  That is, persecution of inconvenience.  Make preaching or sharing the gospel inconvenient.  Not impossible. Peter and his co-laborers were beaten and let go.  They were told not to preach.  They were discouraged from it, but not stopped.   If the world arrested the saints for proclaiming their faith, it would embolden them.  However, throw some obstacles in the way and they just might get discouraged enough to quit.

It doesn’t take a whole lot to discourage someone from their zeal.  Put a roadblock or two in the way, and it is no longer worth the trouble.  I thank the LORD for my father.  He taught me many principles of life which, over the years, began to slowly appreciate.  One of those principles was there was a right way and a wrong way of doing something.  Even if the right way took more effort, that was the way it was to be done.  Many of those lessons came while in the Boy Scouts.  But one of those lessons came while working as a child, delivering the newspaper to customers in our neighborhood.  My father required when a paper was delivered, it was done properly.  Just because it was on the front porch or step did not mean it was done properly.  These papers had to be out of the weather and in perfect condition when the customer retrieve his newspaper.  This meant getting off our bikes and placing them in the mailbox or front door.  Even if we delivered to apartment buildings, these papers had to be placed at the front door laying flat and to the side.  We developed a skill that would rival any delivery system.  We found if we rolled and tucked the paper, we could throw it to an upstairs customer, hit the ceiling and it was to fall down in front of the door, opened and flat.  Just like my dad wanted.  However, if it failed to open, we would have to climb the stairs and fix it.  It was inconvenient.  My friends never wanted a paper-route.  It was too much effort.  It was inconvenient.  My siblings hated delivering and as soon as they turned fifteen, they got a part-time job doing something else.  I did too.  It was too inconvenient.

I fear with the adjustments we are being forced to make with COVID, and the soon to be inconvenience of an administration contrary to religious liberty, the church is being persecuted by inconvenience.  We don’t go door-to-door because our Governor asked us not to.  We don’t play musical instruments or sing in a choir because our leaders believe it too risky.  It is not more convenient to stay at home and live-stream than it is to get all dressed up and come to church.  The Devil knows if there was all-out persecution, we would fight back with a commitment to sharing the gospel.  All he has to do is make it more inconvenient than it was in the past and we will quit.  If it is too much work or the rewards do not outweigh the risk, then it isn’t worth it.  We don’t need to be taken out and shot.  We don’t need to be beheaded.  We don’t need to have our material belongings taken.  All the Devil has to do is make it a bit inconvenient and we shut down and give up.  It doesn’t take much.  A roadblock here.  A slippery road there.  All it takes is a deviation from what we have become accustomed and we are relaxing in our recliners wishing for the past.  I don’t know about you, but there is much work to do before that trumpet blows and the LORD will not entertain our excuses.  Time to get used to a little bit of inconvenience for the glory of God.

Save Yourselves

“And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” (Ac 2:40 AV)

 

Now more than ever, this is true!  The word for ‘untoward’ means warped or perverse.  What was true of the generation to which Peter was referring is just as true, if not more, than today.  We live in a warped world.  What is right is wrong and what is wrong is right.  I have lived a short half a century and stand amazed at how far our world has fallen after sin.  The depths of our depravity still stuns me.  When I think I have seen it all, something else becomes apparent.  Peter’s advice is the best one can offer.  Being a participant in this present generation is a spiritual disease.  Our generation has gone completely mad!  Peter is revealing a basic truth regarding salvation.  There must be repentance and a separation.  There has to be a concern for one’s own soul above all other considerations.  One cannot concern himself with the interests or priorities of his generation.  He must come apart from it.  To remain in the crowd means to reject Christ and suffer an eternal hell so horrible, it escapes words.  The parents of the blind man of John chapter nine come to mind.  They were too worried they might be thrust out of the synagogue, so they would not accept Christ.  They feared their generation, being warped anyway, and rejected Jesus.

High school, for me, was a complete nightmare.  I was not in the popular crowd.  Just the opposite.  What gave me solace was listening to the stories my classmates told come Monday morning of how they spent their weekend.  Tales of drunkenness, drug use, and immorality filled the empty time of classes.  I can still remember where I was when it occurred to me these classmates of mine were insane.  I was sitting in a classroom in DeSales Catholic High School in the ninth grade.  I cannot remember what class it was, but I distinctly remember the room.  If I am not mistaken, it was probably homeroom.  I remember what I was wearing.  I remember being quiet and listening to some of the boys in my class talk about a concert they all went to.  I listened as they bragged about drinking and getting so drunk they passed out.  They bragged about how hard of a hangover they suffered.  I heard how they got a hold of some drugs and did them too.  I heard about the tales of immorality they bragged about.  One story after another as one tried to outdo the other.  Now, I know most of these tales were probably made up.  But still, to imagine it and desire it to happen is only slightly less offensive.  I remember listening to all this and realizing popularity and going with the crowd wasn’t all that fun.  It didn’t sound fun to me.  These were warped people.  They were perverse.  I wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Perverseness has touched every aspect of our culture.  It has become so ingrained, we don’t even notice it anymore.  We have come to accept it as the new normal.  Whether it is flaunting a deviant lifestyle or straight-lining on a sidewalk, we see it as unfortunate, but completely expected.  Salvation means coming out from all that.  Even if we are not a part of it, we are still affected by it.  Salvation means we do not allow the abnormality of our generation to affect our own life choices.  We come out.  We save ourselves.  We accept Christ and before this warped generation can go any more harm, we get ourselves out.  Peter is telling us our generation is a threat.  If not, he would not tell us to save ourselves from it.  We have to see our age as something the LORD must judge and get out of Dodge!  Escape to the word of God and His people.  Remove ourselves from undue influence this generation hoists upon us.  If not, we are going down with them!

Refuge In Fear

“In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.” (Pr 14:26 AV)

 

Anxiety and stress are often self-inflicted.  If God is who He says He is, there should be no reason for anxiety.  The ‘fear’ spoken of above is a fear that manifests itself as a deep respect for who and what God is to the point of yielding to Him.  There is a misunderstanding perpetrated by those who seem to desire to live in their liberty apart from the principles and standards of the word of God.  That is, that we ought not to fear God because perfect love casteth out fear.  This is true.  Yet, those who quote 1Jo 4:18 ignore what perfect love is.  Perfect love is not a mere intense emotion that expresses a desire to be close to God.  Perfect love is love made complete.  Complete by His mercy and grace towards us and perfect in our obedience to Him.  Having said this, the fear above is a healthy respect for something.  Like fear of a hot stove is a healthy respect that tells us to be careful and use protection before reaching for that hot pot.  This healthy respect for the LORD is acknowledging Him in His fullness.  This fear means to incorporate the reality of God’s holiness, righteousness, justice, etc as well as His physical attributes like omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.  Fearing the LORD means more than desiring Him.  It means submitting to every aspect of God.  Although obedience is an application, we are impressed by the Spirit to consider faith in the whole of God working reverential respect as our strong confidence and refuge.

I have a very healthy respect for heights.  But it is not so deep that I am irrational.  For example, years ago when my family went to downtown Chicago, the kids and my wife wanted to go to the top of the Sears Tower.  I and my son had enough sense to know that was life-threatening so we stayed on the unmovable earth!  However, when my wife and I went to the Empire State building, I was prepared to ascend that tower.  Why?  Because of the shape of the buildings.  The Empire State building is larger on the bottom than on the top.  From my perspective, it was a much more stable looking building.  Knowledge was all the difference.  I didn’t like flying.  That is until I was allowed to actually fly a plane and feel the response of the plane to the controls and wind.  Knowing how aerodynamics worked and feeling it in my hand helped me to overcome the fear of flying.  The edge of Niagara Falls is a bit uneasy.  However, repelling down the gorge will erase all fears.  The same is true of the LORD.

We are filled with fear and anxiety because we fear other things or circumstances more than we fear God.  If we study more and more about the God we worship, then we can have confidence He is greater than anything we might face.  To fear other things or circumstances more than we do the LORD is to disrespect Him.  By saying we fear what might happen in the future is to say that God is not in control of the future.  By saying we fear what man can do to use means we do not fear what God can do for us.  Anytime we allow anxiety to overwhelm us, it is a reflection on what we truly think of the LORD.  What really impressed me this morning is the word ‘refuge’.  Several years back, I visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.  This cave has well earned its name.  The cave which bears the name is truly massive.  You could almost fit a city block inside.  I often think of this cave when I read of Elijah.  He escaped to such a cave when the fire, wind, and storm came.  He had more respect for a cave than the elements outside.  This is how we need to approach the LORD.  He is our refuge.  He is our confidence.  If we are filled with anxiety it is not the fault of the circumstances.  It is the fault of our own lack of understanding of the God whom we say we worship.

Ignorant Pride

“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.” (Pr 13:10 AV)

 

Ignorance and being opinionated is rooted in deep pride.  Not willing to listen and consider ends in strife and argument.  That is the simplest understanding of the proverb above.  Those who seek advice, listen, and consider are deemed wise.  This is self-explanatory.  But there is a deeper consideration here.  That is, the root of pride is founded in ignorance.  More times than not, this ignorance is willful.  We formulate opinions and ideas and then dare someone to prove us wrong.  No matter how much fact is introduced, we stick to our assessment.  Even if the facts cannot be completely known, we are unwilling to say that we are wrong.  Or, could be wrong.  This leads to world views and opinions being more emotionally driven than fact-driven.  This is exactly where we are today.  I have come to realize our world has been transformed from the age of enlightenment where human reason determined ideas to a post-enlightenment period where emotion determines one’s opinions and actions.  We have left ‘reason’ for feelings.  We are becoming willfully ignorant and thus pride is on the rise.  The end result is the clash of the prideful.

I witnessed the mother of all marital arguments between my parents.  It was something I had never seen before or since.  My parents were yelling at one another.  Not just disagreeing.  They were screaming.  Us kids thought for sure this would end in divorce.  If we were not around, it might have come to blows.  It was really scary.  What was the argument all about?  Finances?  Nope.  The remodeling project we were undertaking?  Nope.  A sibling’s bad behavior?  Nope.  The in-laws?  Nope.  A bad habit that had broken the proverbial back of the camel?  Nope.  What was it?  Muskmelon vs. cantaloupe.  One of my parents insisted they were the same thing.  The other refused to surrender and denied this assertion.  This went on for a good ten minutes or so.  Items were violently thrown to the floor.  A few choice words were even uttered.  Over what?  Over a debate which could be settled with an encyclopedia was allowed to boil over.  They did lighten the load when they saw their child’s eyes bug out real big.  So, the debate ended in a wager.  I don’t remember who took what position, but I do remember my Mom won!  What had caused the raucous?  Pride.  Pride based on ignorance.  Claiming to know something that turned out to be wrong and not wanting to admit one may not know what one thinks one knows led to the contention.

A little quietness of the heart and mind while seeking more information is a good way to battle the monster of pride.  In our proverb above, it is the will advised who are able to sustain peace.  Note is it not the advised.  Rather, it is the well-advised.  This does not mean we heap to ourselves information that supports our ideas and ignore all other sources.  To be advised means we seek out supporting, as well as, contrary opinions.  To be well-advised means we listen to all sorts of information, weeding out falsehood from truth.  Being well-advised means we are not quick to formulate opinions as to what we hear.  We listen to opposing points of view, examine them in the light of God’s word, then ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth.  I am not saying we should consider all voices.  There are those which are, by nature, false.  Knowing what the Bible teaches regarding salvation, I am not going to consult a theologian who I know teaches salvation by faith.  There is no need.  I do not need to consult evolutionists any longer because their scientific world view is incorrect.  What being well-advised does mean is we consult many viewpoints until the truth is discovered.  To refuse only means we increase the pride which already resides in the heart.

What's The Good Word

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.” (Pr 12:25 AV)

 

I cannot remember where it was that the following occurred, but one of the several cultures in which I lived would greet one another with the question, “So, what’s the good word?”  I want to say it was my native northeast, but I cannot be sure.  The meaning is simple.  We greeted one another with positive words rather than complaints or bad news.  So, what’s the good word?  Family news, news regarding one’s life, or blessings of life usually followed.  We figured negative news was going to come anyway, so we might as well start out with the positive.  The above verse is quite descriptive.  Heaviness is anxiety.  To stoop means to be depressed.  Anxiety causes depression.  Fear causes sadness.  Lack of hope causes the heart to spiral into a deep chasm from which it is difficult to escape.  The cure is a good word.  The meaning of the word ‘good’ varies slightly.  The one that fits the context best is ‘better’.  And, the word for ‘glad’ means to rejoice.  In other words, the soul is cast down into depression because of fear and anxiety.  To rescue the heart from its stooper it needs something better than it has.  It does not need worse.  It needs better.

One of the most enjoyable ministries I had was as a hospital chaplain.  I never had to be the one who delivered only bad news.  Sometimes I was asked to.  Most of the time it was the doctor who delivered such news.  My ministry was to temper the bad news with good news.  No matter how bad it was, my ministry was to find the good in it.  Because there always is some good in it.  Always!  The LORD does not allow negative without the possibility of positive.  Excluding eternal hell, of course.  I don’t remember many of my visits, but there are a few that stand out.  One such case was a patient who was terminal with emphysema.  This patient had an estranged only child.  During my rounds, I was asked to visit with the patient because she had no other living relative that would come and see her.  We spent the better half of an hour talking.  We talked about her family.  We talked of her child and grandchild from whom she was estranged.  The longer we talked, the less resistant she was to reestablish a relationship with her child.  By the end of the hour, she picked up the phone and called her child.  I excused myself from that conversation so my patient could have her privacy, so I didn’t get the outcome.  That is, until the next time I was called in to make rounds.  The nursing staff told me her child came to see her just before she passed.  It took a fatal diagnosis to reconcile these two people.  The good word was that if two people will humble themselves, a relationship can be restored even in the midst of severe circumstances.

Let’s face it.  We live in a world designed to get us uptight.  We live in a world of bad news.  We live in a world that is uncertain and that, by design, robs the heart of hope.  We turn on the news only to see the ray of hope we had has been robbed once again.  Count on this.  When our current crisis is solved, there will arise another.  If it is not pestilence, it will be war.  If it is not war, it will be poverty.  If it is not poverty, it will be civil unrest.  The bad news comes in waves and it will always be a part of life.  But, so too are the blessings of life!  There are good words that can be spoken.  The sky is not always falling.  There is a rainbow after a storm.  There are opportunities after failures.  There is tomorrow.  2020 will come to an end and 2021 will bring good days as well as bad days.  There are good words that can be spoken.  How dare we pile on top of others who are anxious with more anxiety.  It is almost like we want to dig their pit a little deeper.  Their heart is already stooped low enough.  Why not share a good word?  What is the good word?  If you don’t have one, then find one!  Stop this nonsense of surrendering to the spirit of the world by being downcast, hopeless, and negative.  Praise the LORD He is still on the throne and in complete and total control.  Personally, if you have a bad word, keep it to yourself.  I can find enough of those words all on my own.  Give me a good word.  Because like you, I could use all the good words I can get.

Foregoing Mercy For Wrath

“And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.” (Mr 15:23 AV)

 

In my cursory investigation of how long Jesus hung on the cross, it came to be about six hours.  There are several readily available descriptions of the agony Jesus endured in those six hours and the events leading up to the crucifixion.  One such description was authored by a physician how forensically described the agony.  To read it is to understand the absolute torture our Savior went through for the redemption of our souls.  Remember, the reason why our LORD endured such hideous acts was to satisfy the wrath of the Father which belonged to us.  Six plus hours of complete and unrelenting pain.  From each whip strike to the thrones on His head to the nails piercing His hands and feet, Jesus had to be in pain to a level few understand.  Now, notice what it was He refused.  Wine, mingled with myrrh.  This is not by accident.  This offering was not one of convenience.  This offering was a purposeful offering of minor grace to one who was going to suffer an excruciating death.  Wine, mingled with myrrh was offered to deaden the pain suffered by the one being executed.  It was an offering of mercy on behalf of the executioner.  One which almost all of us would partake of.

My wife has given birth to three sons.  The first, Nathan, was an emergency C-section.  He happened to get the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, so each time my wife had a contraction, it affected his heart rate.  For the first four or five hours, as long as Nathan’s heart rate did not drop below a certain level, the doctor felt it was safe for Lisa to birth Nathan naturally.  This meant five hours of hard labor.  Five hours of watching my wife go through the agony that one cannot describe.  When pain meds were offered, she said, “Fill ‘er up!”  They have her what they could, and I am sure it helped, but from my perspective, not much.  I didn’t blame her for taking the meds.  Why suffer needlessly when the outcome would still be the same.  There was no reward for enduring needless pain if one did not have to.  I, for one, am so glad the Father felt it fit to create me a male.  There is no way I could ever go through what my wife went through.  Three times!  There is no amount of money that someone could pay me to endure pain when there are meds that could take it away.  It would be unnatural for a person to desire pain.  It would be natural for someone to avoid all pain.  As much as one could.  So, when Jesus refused an analgesic, it was not natural for Him to do so.

When one begins to meditate on the price Jesus paid and consider He accepted no comfort, it humbles the soul.  The scriptures forbid the king to drink alcoholic beverages, but the book of Proverbs 31:6,7 allows for the medicine administration of alcohol.  In the case of our LORD, He would have been in His right to accept the wine mingled with myrrh.  As the inflammation and dehydration affected His body, He suffered blood loss and organ failure, and as He slowly suffocated to death, the wine mingled with myrrh would have deadened the pain.  To do so would certainly have been merciful.  But the thing is, Calvary was not a cross of mercy.  Not for Jesus anyway.  It was the place where the wrath of the Father was, for our sin, completely and wholly satisfied.  If Jesus accepted any amount of mercy, then full wrath could not be inflicted.  Do we truly appreciate what Jesus did for us?  Do we fully comprehend the rejection of mercy on the cross of Calvary meant Jesus suffered as much as possible for our sins?  He could suffer no more than He did.  For Jesus to refuse wine mingled with myrrh means that He endured all possible wrath that we do not have to suffer on small iota.

Heart Trouble is Self-inflicted

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (Joh 14:1 AV)

 

If our heart is troubled, it is because we allow it to be.  Twice in this chapter, the LORD tells His disciples not to allow their hearts to be troubled.  This instruction is in the context of the pending death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.  Their world was going to radically change.  For three and a half years, they have had a relatively safe ministry.  In a matter of a week, that was all going to change.  For three and a half years, they had a leader who took control of everything.  In a matter of one week, that was all going to change.  They forsook all and followed Jesus, and in a matter of a week, He was going away and they would have to figure things out without Him.  For three and a half years, they witnessed miracle after miracle.  It appeared they were on the winning side.  It was an obvious choice.  In less than a week, they would still be on the winning side, but it will not be all that apparent.  In short, in less than a week they would have much to be troubled about.  It would be natural for their heart to be troubled.  Too much will change all of a sudden. 

As I have related before, last year I was diagnosed with heart palpitations and an irregular heartbeat.  Part of the process of diagnosis was to wear a device that measured my rhythm.  I was instructed to enter notes whenever I felt my heart do jumping jacks.  This happened regularly.  When my appointment came, my cardiologist reviewed the paper readouts and was a bit startled that I could feel all those instances of heart irregularities.  I have clinical proof that I am indeed a sensitive person.  The tech that did an EKG stated they are caused by a valve that doesn’t quite close all the way.  At least on every beat.  My heart was beating so hard it could literally rock a rocking chair.  No kidding!  I had other tests on my brain for another issue and my regular doctor and I agreed I needed to maintain a lower than average blood pressure.  It was great!  While lowering my blood pressure this also affected my heart rhythm issues.  I no longer can feel my heartbeat.  If I am having those irregular heartbeats, I cannot feel it.  One thing I have to be careful about is caffeine.  This is really horrible because, from the age of sixteen on, I lived for my coffee!  Caffeine was the motivation for work and school.  However, If I want to still my heart so that I do not feel as though I am going into cardiac arrest, I have to avoid all stimulants, NSAIDs, and take my meds.  If my heart is troubled, it is because I neglected treatment designed by others for a healthy heart.

In our text, there are two things Jesus tells His disciples He will send that their heart be not troubled.  It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the word of God.  The job of the Holy Spirit is to teach us what we need and remind us of what we have learned.  He does this through the ministry of the word.  A third leg on the stability goal is prayer.  Although not directly mentioned in our passage, it is revealed elsewhere in the word of God.  “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:6-7 AV)  The future is uncertain.  Most things, anyway.  We know we will get older.  We know we will suffer loss.  We know life gets harder.  These things we know.  But there is coming dark days ahead.  If our hearts are troubled, it is because we allow them to become that way.  We can either go into what is coming with a heart of anticipation, or we can enter them as if this life is all that matters.  Our troubled hearts are troubled because we allow them to be.  Our fears drown out the Spirit, our news outlets drown out the word of God, and our conversation drowns out our prayer.  If we are troubled, it is because we have allowed it to be so.