Walking An Ancient Path

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.  But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”           -Jeremiah 6:16

 

            Have you ever looked around the places where you store old things?  It could be a basement, an attic, or maybe even a barn or storage shed.  I would imagine that as you look at the things that fill those places you would very likely find a lot of things that are completely obsolete – technology that is no longer in use and things that, while once very useful, have become little more than relics from days gone by. 

For years I refused to buy a digital camera.  My wife used one, but I would not.  I had a number of 35 millimeter cameras, and even a darkroom to develop film.  I was sure that those cameras would not be completely replaced.  To this day the resolution is better than all but the very best (and most expensive) digital cameras, but at some point I had to admit that the technology I was using was obsolete and needed to be replaced.  This is a normal part of life. 

We live in a day when the rate of advancement in society is unmatched in all of human history.  From the cars we drive to the computers we use there is not a year that goes by that something of value to us is not replaced with something more efficient, more powerful, or just better.  Things are happening today that were unthinkable only a few years ago.  Most of us keep track of much of our life with smartphones that have more powerful computers than those on board the Apollo space missions. 

Some of the advancements we see are great, many are helpful in the things we do each day, but in the midst of all the excitement about what our society can do or achieve, it is important that we make sure we are not losing things of great importance in the middle of all the changes that are taking place around us.  I do not mean things like cameras or cars.  It seems that in this modern day we have lost something much more important.  As we use what’s available to us to continually accomplish more – and do it better – with the limited time we have it is easy to forget about the things that go beyond our society that places so much value and emphasis on human ingenuity and achievement. 

We get so caught up in the advancements of the world around us that we forget about the things that exist and go beyond this world.  In our day it is possible to be better and more efficient in our work, our hobbies, our sports and almost every other aspect of our worldly life.  But for all that man has done, he has never – and can never – come up with an invention or device that will bring us closer to God.  He cannot conceive of anything that will forgive sin, or restore the relationship that God wants to have with Him.  It is easy to lose sight of this fact as we immerse ourselves in the society in which we live. 

Many of the things around us serve to turn our attention from the things of God to the things of the world, and as time goes by we forget what it means to walk the “ancient path” that leads us to God.  Our obsession with the modern world has obscured our view of the One who has provided for, and sustained man since ancient times.  We are not much different from the people of Israel during the time of Jeremiah.  We (yes, even Christians) have become so enamored by the world around us that we have forgotten the one who transcends this world.  We believe we have moved beyond the need for Scripture as a rule for the church and have replaced it with marketing strategies and business models – every invention of man that may provide us the modern shortcut we are looking for to entice people to be a part of the church.  While many look to these “sophisticated” methods of “doing church” we must always keep in mind the place to which those things have led us:

• 43% of Americans believe it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.
• 50% of Americans believe God will save all people no matter what they do.
• 41% of Americans are unable to identify an individual who they consider to be a strong Christian example or leader

 

We may have all the technology we could possibly need, but when it comes to knowing the Living God we are completely lost.  We have forgotten that no matter how advanced we become the platform from which we approach Him is still one of holiness.  We no longer seem to remember that the mind of God is still revealed through the Scriptures and that God’s power is still appropriated through our prayers.  Year after year we look in vain for the work of God in His church but see nothing more than the limited results achieved by the weak methods of man.  We have lost our way to God and His power.  The Christians of America today who spend their time and efforts groping hopelessly for something to hold onto and some way to find even a little of God’s power can be described by Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The Way Through the Woods:

 

They shut the road through the woods seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

There was once a road through the woods.

 

            As the church flounders in this country, and we struggle to see the work of God among us, we have to wonder if we are more like the Israelites than we realize.  God asked through the prophet Jeremiah, Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way (Jer. 2:17)?  As we have allowed all of our modern conveniences to take over our lives we have decided to use the extra time we have found to pursue more worldly pleasures, and given up our pursuit of the “ancient path” to God.  We become enslaved to our hobbies, our lifestyles, our sports and jobs and forget that God has more for us.  If we were only willing to step back from the busyness of this life and assess the way we live in relation to God we may see that God has set before us and ancient way that leads us – not to stress, and an early death from hypertension – but a “good way” that leads us to His peace.  It provides a rest to our souls and a joy that the world can never offer.

 

The Description of the Path

            Scripture tells us that this is an “ancient path.”  It goes against many of our modern ideas and priorities.  The world tells us to value the materials that are offered here while the path God has set before us is one that leads to righteousness.  It does not always give us the things that are valued by this sinful place, but shows us how to walk in harmony and fellowship with the one who transcends all these things.  The world tells us to pursue human achievement while the “ancient path” shows us that all we may achieve pales in comparison to what God can do through our lives if we will surrender to Him.

            We are not talking about restoring the traditions created by the generation or two that came before us, but restoring something that came long before that, something that was given by God Himself.  Too often we convince ourselves that if we make the church the way it was when we got saved everything would be better, and we would see God move once again.  That is not what the Bible is teaching when it calls us to walk in the ancient way.  We are looking to go beyond all of the things that have become distractions, all of the inventions that man has added to the church throughout its history and get back to a vibrant relationship with our Holy Creator.  Back to the path He created for us when Jesus Christ fulfilled His proclamation that I will build my church.  No modern invention or method that we have devised can ever replace the fact that the church was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.  It belongs to Him, and if you are to bear the name of His church – the Church of God – then you belong to Him.  He paid the price for your soul and ransomed you from all these modern things to which we are so willing to place ourselves in bondage. 

            Look at the history of the people of God and you will see that the church is at its best when the society around us (and even our modern conveniences) affects fewer of her decisions.  When the desire of God’s people is to seek His will and follow it the church thrives.  On the other hand, when man decides that his modern inventions have become good enough to take the place of the power of God and the guidance of His Word and Spirit we always see the same result: APOSTASY!  Every time we stray from the “ancient path” we see a fallen church, one that is not fit to carry the name, nor the power of God. 

This is why this path that God has provided us is called the “good way.”  It originated with God, completely independent of the flawed, errant reasoning of man.  Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go (Isaiah 48:17).”  In contrast, the Bible teaches that even what seems to be the best of man’s advancement is not necessarily God’s way.  A man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit (Proverbs 16:2). 

If we are EVER to see God work in power within the church it will be when we look beyond our modern conveniences to the “ancient path.”  God will move when we put Him before the things that have overtaken our lives, the hobbies, sports, activities and general busyness.  We will see His power when we seek it above all the technology and advancement the ingenuity of man can offer.  The Bible tells us of this path, and then tells us how to get there.

 

The Directions to the Path

            Jeremiah did not simply tell the people of Israel to walk the ancient paths when they found themselves distracted by the idols and culture of the people around them.  He told them to stand by the roads.  The people of God were specifically told to put themselves in a position to find the direction of God.  We sometimes act like God will just strike us with a divine revelation of His Word.  We get the idea that, like John on Patmos, God will show us great miraculous visions of His will.  But if your name is not John and your home is not Patmos it is very likely that you need to put yourself in a position where God will speak to you through His Word, and His Spirit.  We have forgotten how great the Word of God can be in directing us toward His will.  This is His revelation to us, and it shows us the way that He relates to, and works in the lives of man.  It shows us what He has done throughout history, and it reveals what we can expect from God in the circumstances that we face as we journey through this life.  If we take the time to search God’s Word we will find the answers to many of the questions we face in this life.  That’s why Solomon said, Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way (Proverbs 23:19).

            We also hear the Word of God when we are part of Bible studies, Sunday School, and even listening to a sermon.  God will speak through those whom He has called to teach and preach the Word.  By being a part of the gathering of God’s people we are putting ourselves in a position to begin to see the “ancient path” that God has placed before us.  We cannot separate ourselves from the places we know God will speak and expect to see the path. 

            Jeremiah also told the people that they had to look.  Through prayer and meditation on Scripture we discern God’s will.  We have come to the point today that we have almost lost these spiritual disciplines among all the modern gadgets of the world.  Why pray when the answer to every question we could possibly have is on Google?  Do I need to go to God when I have a problem?  I can just ask my iPhone. 

            Jeremiah also told the people to ask.  We seem to convince ourselves at times that God is trying to hide something from us.  We act like He really doesn’t want us to walk with Him, so He is working to obscure Himself.  We struggle to find God’s way while forgetting that James told us, you do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2).  God is revealing Himself all around us, even in nature the Bible tells us.  We just don’t see it because we are caught up in other things.  We have set our sights on a destination that is contrary to that of this “ancient path.”

 

The Destination

            There are people in this country today who are wearing themselves out trying to keep up with the torrid pace of this world.  They are determined to do everything they want to do, anything that might be even a little bit fun or exciting.  They are sure they need to have 25 hobbies and their children need to play every available sport and join every club.  They want to experience everything the world has to offer.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying this life, and enjoying it, but we will someday pay for this attitude that we can never be fulfilled unless we have everything we want.  We try to fulfill this expectation at the expense of the rest that God promises for our soul. 

            When Jesus told us, Take my yoke upon you…for my yoke is easy, and my burden light, He did not mean that He was giving us an excuse to fill our lives with every worldly pleasure we can imagine to the neglect of our relationship with God.   Jesus did promise that He would take our burdens on Himself and help us along this “ancient way.”  But He did not tell us to create unnecessary burdens to place on Him.  Jesus has empowered us and enabled us to carry our cross, and do God’s work in this world.  He has saved and sanctified us for this end.  He has provided us with a better way to walk through this journey; a way that ultimately leads to eternal life.  But we must remember that this “ancient path” leads to a destination where all those worldly things will do no good.  When we arrive at the gate at the end of the path we cannot carry with us our achievements.  Our hobbies and worldly activities will not pass through that way.  That’s why this path is for a specific kind of traveller; one who seeks God’s presence and His goodness above all else.

 

The Travellers

            The “ancient path” about which the prophet spoke seems to be one that goes contrary to all the things the world values today.  It leads in a completely different direction than the paths of man.  But though this road looks difficult – maybe even impossible – we must remember that it is the same path that has been trod by the saints of all the ages.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness (Matthew 21:32)…  He [Apollos] had been instructed in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:21)…  Throughout the ages countless men and women have sought and found this ancient path.  They chose to give up some of their worldly ways and follow an ancient path that rises above all the turmoil and struggles of this world.  It transcends the progress and ingenuity of humanity and rises to the very heavens and presence of the God who inhabits them. 

 

            The way of God is laid out before us.  It continues to wind its way through the lives of men and women.  If we will seek His way out from among all the ways of the world, we will find a good and better way.  We will find rest for our souls.  God calls us today to an ancient path.  Will we follow that path, or will we – as Israel – say, We will not walk on it?

Theological Liberalism

Revelation 2:18-29

 

            I studied music in college. I was a saxophone player, and my ambition was to play jazz professionally. For four years I practiced between six and eight hours a day six days a week, and a large part of the practice was devoted to playing scales. For two hours each day I played scales over and over again. I literally knew hundreds of them because they were imperative to what I was trying to accomplish. When a jazz musician performs a solo they are seldom playing something that is written. Most of the time they are improvising. To do this they must understand the chords that are being played by the piano and bass. They must also know what scales go with those chords, and use those scales as the chords change to play something that fits that particular song. Many believe it to be easy to improvise like this because it does not require the musician to read music, but it is very difficult to do it well.

            I attended high school with a friend who was a very good saxophone player. His dream was much like mine: to be a musician. He was encouraged to go to college to study music, but he always responded in the same way, “I don’t need to study scales and theory to make a saxophone sound good.” The summer after my first year of college we got together with some friends to play one afternoon. We played for only a short time before one thing became very apparent. He did need those scales to sound good. He needed them because it is that knowledge that frees the instrumentalist to express himself. A musician could conceivably play whatever they want to play, but unless it fits into the framework of the song it is just not right. We must play within the guidelines and rules.

            In some ways, our study and application of the Bible is like music. God has given us freedom to express our love to Him, and to serve Him. But these things must be done within a specific context. These things take place as we live our lives within the boundaries of what we learn in Scripture. This is the issue faced by the early Christians of Thyatira. They had knowledge of what it meant to live their lives in fellowship with Jesus Christ, but they allowed a teacher in their midst to go beyond the boundaries that Scripture puts in place. They allowed this woman – referred to here as Jezebel – to mislead the people of God, and follow teaching that was beyond the purview of the Bible. What they faced was an early form what we would consider theological liberalism, and the statement that Jesus made against them was not because it existed, but because they tolerated it.

            Theopedia defines theological liberalism in this way: “Liberalism tends to emphasize ethics over doctrine and experience over Scriptural authority…It has often been relativistic, pluralistic, and non-doctrinal.” It can also be defined as “a movement in modern Protestantism that rejects biblical authority.” The movement in Thyatira was to redefine the truth that God had revealed. This teacher sought to reinterpret Scripture so that it fit the ever-changing whims of a sinful society. Though we are separated from Thyatira by nearly two millennia, we continue to face the same desire within Christendom.

            Just as the would-be musician convinces himself that he does not need the discipline and boundaries provided many Christians refuse to place their lives under the full authority of God’s Word. We redefine the truth until it becomes something that is palatable to those who are lost in sin. We turn away from the depth of the Word, and settle for the equivalent of spiritual milk so that we can live in a way that requires less sacrifice on our part. We live in a day that is very similar to those of Thyatira. The greatest danger to the church is not the world around it. The greatest danger comes from within. When liberalism takes hold of God’s people, and they begin to look to their own reason and knowledge the church has set herself on the path to apostasy. Lillie McCutcheon explained, “Truth is ever the same. Inward foes of evil cause decay and death more rapidly than outward foes of persecution. The longest letter of the seven is written to this church with the least outward danger.” Consider the dangers of our attempts to remove Scriptural authority over our lives.

 

Liberalism Focuses Only on Immediate Circumstances

 

            This “prophetess” in Thyatira taught the people of the church to join those of the world in their corruption. The sinful paganism of man continually encroached on the early church, and the easiest way to deal would have been to tolerate it. That’s exactly what this Jezebel taught God’s people to do. Thyatira was known for some of the earliest trade guilds. If the people were to earn a living, they needed employment. Many times this employment required them to take part in the pagan rituals that initiated them into the trade guilds of their time. The false teaching of “Jezebel” taught the church to accept the worldliness that ran rampant around them. She taught them to commit sexual immorality and eat food that had been sacrificed as part of heathen worship. This loose view of the standards of God’s Word destroyed the distinction between God’s church and the world, and the church was reprimanded for tolerating it.

            We allow a lot of things to happen in the modern church in the name of tolerance. It seems to have been elevated to the status of “virtue” and is often more celebrated than the truth itself. We revel in the idea that we will accept everything, and openness has become something that we seek above all else. Many spiritual conversations are ended with the statement, “You’re just narrow-minded.” However, Jesus told the church of Thyatira that when it comes to the Word that God has inspired, narrow is not so bad. We might even look back to statements that tell us, narrow is the way that leads to life….

            There are times when it becomes evident that the church has endeavored to serve as editors of the gospel. They want the world to believe them to be tolerant, so the bar of God’s standard is lowered to include things that were previously considered sin. I’m not talking about things that Scripture doesn’t address, or things that we’ve added, but clear statements about sin. We don’t want to tell anyone that what they are promoting is wrong, so we ignore what Scripture teaches so that we can just “get along.” But we have forgotten that almost every New Testament epistle warns us against false teaching. In fact, John warned us against those who bring another doctrine and told us, he who greets him shares in his wicked work. Whether we want to admit it or not, there are some things that the church should just not tolerate. David Ravenhill explained, “The sin for which this church was being corrected was having tolerance for what should not have been tolerated. If we consider what the Spirit is saying to us today through this letter, it is this: We, too, err when tolerance takes priority over holiness.” How many Christians have come to that point today? How many are more interested in tolerance than holiness? We claim that we are free to pursue any doctrinal idea that pleases us while forgetting that a doctrinal standard does not confine us, but frees us to carry out God’s work. As Os Guinness wrote, “There can be no liberty for a community that lacks the means by which to detect lies.”

            Our desire for tolerance betrays the focus of the church. We show a great concern for our immediate circumstances while ignoring our eternal circumstances. In many ways, this modern liberalism is nothing more than a return to ancient paganism. Its pluralistic views teach compromise with sin rather than the purity of holiness. We have spent decades trying to gain the favor and acceptance of the world, and yet the church still finds herself powerless. How can this be?

            Our perceived need to find acceptance leaves us no choice but to squeeze the gospel into the mold of worldliness. We do everything we can to look and act like the world so that they will believe that we’re “not so bad.” We plan our services and activities to be sensitive to those who do not know God, and do so assuming that God will work through whatever we do. We believe that as long as we say a prayer (and sometimes we don’t even do that) God is obligated to work through us because we call ourselves His church. But we’ve forgotten that God is not beholden to us, and WILL NOT be manipulated by us. We turn our attention inward as we pursue our ideas and schemes unaware that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than our ways, and when our plans do not work we become discouraged and even more desperate. “When we discover that God is not producing according to our plans, we try to manipulate other forces – gods – to get what we want. All along this dreary way, our commitment to what is right is growing more fuzzy until ‘what is right’ becomes indistinguishable from what we want.” We have turned our covenant with Christ into something that is little more than a pantheistic ritual used to force God to carry out His work in spite of our unwillingness to live up to His standard of holiness. Walther Eichrodt likened that to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day when he wrote, “This legalistic distortion of the covenant relationship into a commercial arrangement between parties of equal status before the law rendered all intercourse with the deity lifeless and trained men in an irreverent calculation of divine obligations, which made any attitude of trustful surrender impossible.” While we claim that liberalism is freeing, at its root, the tolerance that it promotes is carried to the point of intolerance and it becomes a form of legalism in itself. It does not add to God’s standard, but becomes legalistic about eliminating it.

            The tolerance preached by modern liberalism is all about our current standing with the world. It has little to do with our future standing in eternity. It teaches us that we can serve God and still gain acceptance with a sinful world in spite of the fact that Jesus said, Woe to you when all men speak well of you for so did their fathers of the FALSE PROPHETS. By pursuing modern liberalism we have exchanged the gospel’s promise of eternity for temporary security here and now. Liberalism looks no further than that.

 

Liberalism Must Stand on Worldliness

 

            The teaching of the false prophetess of Thyatira stands in direct opposition to the power of the gospel proclaimed by the apostles of Jesus Christ. There is no difference in the compromise of Scriptural truth that is taught today. We find that it is not only short-sighted in its scope, but does not have the power to transform and change lives. In fact, it cannot even stand on its own.

            Revelation provides contrasts for us between God’s church and the world. We see a contrast drawn between the Lamb of God and the beasts of the world; a contrast between Babylon and the New Jerusalem; and a contrast between the purity of the church, and her counterfeit: a harlot seated on a great beast.

            The church is represented by a woman in the heavens in chapter 12. And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  This woman is clothed in the light of Christ, and shows the church standing in purity. Notice the difference between this woman and the one revealed to John in chapter 17: And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names…The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. We know that this woman is a contrast to the one in chapter 12, and represents a false church. She has compromised the holy standards of God’s Word and has sought after the riches and security of the world. She has even become drunk with the blood of the saints.

            The specifics of the women are not as important to our purposes as where they are found. The first woman stands with her feet upon the moon. She stands on her own, clothed in God’s light. Look where we find the second woman: seated on a beast! What is the beast? It is something that has been created by man. Daniel has a vision of beasts that represent political institutions. So must these beasts of Revelation. Revelation 13 tells us that the beast comes from the sea. And Revelation 17 tells us, The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. This harlot, who has lowered the standards of God in favor of worldliness rides on the back of a structure created by man. What’s the point? LIBERALISM IN OUR THEOLOGY CANNOT STAND ON ITS OWN! Look at the denominations around us that are most liberal. Aren’t many of them the ones that have the most man-made structure?  Kenneth Jones wrote, “It is not truly helpful to think of the church as an institution, but rather dangerous. It puts the focus on obedience to the human leaders, and detracts from concentration on the relationship with the triune God.”

            When the Word of God is preached in the power of God by the people of God there are not enough demons in hell to stop its power. But when we compromise the world in the name of “tolerance” we find that we no longer have a gospel that will stand on its own. We need to find ways to carry this false doctrine into the world, and we add to what God has given us in His Word so that we can subtract that which will offend from His Word. The harlot has no power of her own to carry her message. When we decide that we must have a large man-made organization to carry the message, it may be time to reconsider our message. The Word of God is powerful, it does not need our help, it need only be proclaimed. The same cannot be said for the liberal gospel of our day. It lowers our idea of the church to that of a worldly organization that lacks the supernatural power of the Gospel. Consider the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “Those people whom God has used throughout the centuries have had a great and glorious conception of the Christian church. She is not just a human institution. She is a spiritual society, a church of the firstborn. And it grieves their hearts to see her in rags and in worldliness and in utter confusion. Do we have this concern for the honor and the name of the Christian church? And do we long to see her functioning as a church, uttering no uncertain sound but the certain sound of the gospel and clothed with might and power and glory?” It is only the Gospel preached in purity that has the power to bring glory to God.

 

Liberalism Confines Us to Immaturity

 

            The rejection of Biblical authority leaves the church without power, and the Christian without maturity. It is God’s word that nourishes our spirit and provides us what is necessary to grow in our relationship with God. By eliminating the truth we find our relationship with God hindered by sin and impurity. We find that we struggle through this life hoping in vain for something to draw us closer to God, but our view of His holiness is obscured by our view of Scripture. Liberalism looks at the Bible as something that is subject to our preferences. This confines us to only the most basic principles and places us with the Hebrews, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness. We nourish ourselves, not with the meat of Scripture, but only with those things that allow us to continue in the lives we live without a change. We look around us and see a world filled with Christians who have never grown to maturity in their spiritual life. They believe that the purpose of the church is to please them and meet all of their felt needs, and the church is ever-willing to promote this mentality. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

            By pursuing the philosophies of the world we have limited what was intended to be an unlimited power. We have replaced the power of God, which originates from the throne of heaven with the ideas of fallen man. It is not, nor has it ever been, our place to redefine the gospel. It is not subject to our own opinions or those of the scholars in whom we trust.  It is for God alone to determine the message that represents His people. “The scholar has a vitally important task to perform within a carefully prescribed precinct. His task is to guarantee the purity of the text, to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written. He dare not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason. He dare not commend or condemn the word as reasonable or unreasonable, scientific or unscientific. After the meaning is discovered, that meaning judges him; never does he judge it.” The liberal commitment to liberalism in our modern theology obscures our view of the Living Word. When Jesus does the preaching, the fullness of His Word is in view. We mature is it impacts our lives and explodes in our hearts. The Word reveals Him to us, and empowers His work.

 

Liberalism Sets Us at Odds With Jesus

 

            By obscuring the Word which is embodied by Christ, liberalism works to redefine Him. It focuses on select characteristics while leaving out others. There are many who want to talk about the love of Jesus, and the miracles He performed. But we find that there are few who will discuss the character that caused Him to clear the temple and warn us of false teaching.

            Modern liberalism projects our ideas onto Jesus. It projects onto Him our views of “fairness” rather than God’s characteristic of justice. We look at the world through the lens of what we believe should be as opposed to what Scripture teaches God’s ideal to be. Never does a day go by when we don’t hear the talking heads on television telling us what should be done in the name of fairness. Many even appeal to Jesus to accomplish this. But Jesus Christ did not come to establish fairness, He came to reveal a God who is defined by justice.

            When we redefine the character of Jesus, we have redefined – and set ourselves at odds with His work. Consider the things we are told we must emphasize today in the church. Many of them are simply not emphasized by Jesus to the extent we stress them. “The fact of the matter is, if you read through the instructions to the New Testament churches you will find few explicit commands that tell us to take care of the needy in our communities and no explicit commands to do creation care, but there are dozens and dozens of verses that enjoin us, in one way or another, to be holy as God is holy.” The liberalism of our day has turned the work of Jesus into social activism. It teaches us to “play nice together” rather than to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The focus of many liberals in our day is to make the world a better place, but not necessarily a more Christ-like place. We attempt to bring people together in communities that lift up our ideas of what is fair, teach them to live in “tolerance” of diversity, and hope for the best. We have turned Jesus into little more than a first-century community organizer. But all of our human niceties mean nothing without the power of the unedited, unadulterated gospel. It is only this gospel that has the power to transform depraved humanity into the church of God.

           

            The prophetess, Jezebel, of Thyatira taught the people to do what would be accepted by the world, but did not teach them the discipline that is necessary to walk with God. She taught them tolerance and fairness, but not holiness. The only thing that will save the church today is the only thing that would have saved the church of Thyatira: Revival! A move of God’s Spirit, through His Word in the hearts of believers. We have tried for decades to use the methods and means of man to carry out God’s Work. We have amended the gospel, redefined its subject, and reinvented its purpose to make it palatable to the world, and what has it produced? It has produced a worldly, impotent church. Jesus called the people of Thyatira out of their liberalism, and back to a disciplined pursuit of the truth of God’s Word. He continues to call us to this end today. Will we pursue this call?

Planting in Fertile Soil

Planting In Fertile Soil

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

 

            Every fall the attention of many people in Western Pennsylvania turns to harvest.  They gather what they had planted in the spring and spend countless hours preserving and storing what had been sown.  Many had spent a great deal of time and resources to produce what they now have.  Their planning and preparation began long before they picked the vegetables that they now enjoy.  Work is done conditioning the soil before the seeds are even planted in the ground.  This work prepares the earth to produce something that is of value to those who are planting it.  This is the picture Jesus paints for us when he teaches us about the gospel of God’s Kingdom.

            Unlike Pennsylvania, Israel was not a good place for crops.  The soil was often very rocky and shallow, and there were insufficient amounts of water to grow their produce for most of the year.  The unfavorable conditions made it difficult to produce what was needed for the Israelite’s families to survive, but there was little choice.  Food had to be grown if the people were going to live in that land.  Each year the people would walk through their small plots of land scattering seeds across the ground hoping that some of them would land in a place that would allow them to grow.  The way they scattered the seeds was much like the way God offers His gospel to the world today.

 

            As the sower walked through the field the seed was scattered indiscriminately.  Handfuls were tossed about and naturally some of it landed in places that would not grow.  But that did not stop those who scattered the seed from spreading it over all the land they had.  That would maximize the yield of their harvest. 

            Just as the sower during the time of Jesus, God sows His Word broadly throughout the world today.  The “word of the kingdom” is available to all who will receive it.  Even when conditions are not favorable and there is little interest God continues to offer His prevenient grace to all men through the word of His kingdom.  That is why Scripture teaches us that , “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).”  Even in a world that discourages faith in God and submission to His reign, He still pursues us relentlessly as He scatters the gospel through His church.  William Barclay reminds us, “We must be prepared to take a risk.  Every time the farmer sows he takes a risk, for so many things can interfere with the harvest.” 

            As Jesus explained the parable of the sower he did not leave out the risk that comes as the word is spread.  Notice as we consider this parable that the risk is not a result anything done the sower, but comes entirely from the various kinds of soil on which the seeds are sown.  That soil provides a commentary on the responses that we see to the Word of God as it is sown in our lives.

            Jesus said that some seeds fell along the path as they were sown, and went on to explain that those seeds were the ones quickly removed by the birds.  This is said to be those who hear the word and do not understand it.  This is something that has become common in our day.  The current relativistic society in which we live does not understand objective truth.  People do not want to hear that there is only one way to God, or that He holds us to a standard of holiness in the lives we live.  This is indeed the enemy taking what God has offered us. 

            The Devil is constantly trying to convince people (and often successfully) that the word of God is subject to our judgment.  This ploy is as old as creation itself.  When Eve was tempted in the garden she was asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’ (Genesis 3:1)?”   This question immediately set the command of God against her own judgment, and the moment she chose to sin the truth of that command was stolen from her.  She had “deceived herself” and “traded the truth for a lie.”  Too often we are guilty of deceiving ourselves by believing that God is subject to what we think of Him.  By denying the truth that He has given us we are betraying what we really believe about the character, love, and motive of God in the way He relates to us.

            As Satan plants doubts in our mind about what God “really said” we see debates about definite truth come alive within the church.  We spend our time debating homosexuality and abortion.  I recently watch a video blog done by an emerging church leader inviting those watching to discuss what the “spirit of the Bible” says about homosexuality.  As this leader began the discussion he said, “I want to discuss this philosophically without addressing the six places in Scripture that talk about homosexuality.”  If Scripture specifically addresses it so many times why do we even need to debate the issue?  Do we still believe that truth has come from God, or do we believe that it originates with our own understanding?

            We have largely convinced ourselves that we are more enlightened than those who recorded God’s Holy Scripture.  We have more information, better education, access to science and philosophy that was not obtainable by those who lived so long ago.  We “walk in the futility of our minds” as the Gentiles walked during the time of the early church.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones spoke to our situation when he wrote, “It is no use to say that modern knowledge has added new understanding.  It has not!  It has made no difference.  Modern knowledge has told us nothing new about God or about people.  It has told us nothing new about death, and nothing new about eternity.  Here in the bible we read of men and women who believed the truth.  They received the Word that was preached.  The whole intellect was engaged and began to function as never before.”  Too often we lean on the crutches of modernism to ignore the truth God has given us.  In doing so, we have been robbed of the truth.

            Jesus went on to describe another reaction to the sower’s work: some of the seeds fell on rocky soil.  Jesus told his disciples that these were those who received the word with great joy but had no root.  They will serve God for a time, but when the trials of life become too much their faith will ultimately wilt under pressure.  They fall away in the face of persecution and tribulation.  When we plant seeds they must not simply grow upward, but roots must grow deep into the ground if the plant is to survive.  Our Christian life is no different.

            God has never called us to anything less than a constantly growing relationship.  Our relationship must always go further and grow deeper than it has ever been.  The truth that God has revealed about Himself is more than we will ever be able to fully comprehend in a lifetime.  There is always more for us to see and greater things that God has for us.  That is why the book of Hebrews tells us in the first two verses of chapter 6, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…”  Our emphasis today is seldom on depth in our relationship with God.  We need look no further than the popular Christian books and even our own willingness to pursue the truth of God.  People are very willing to spend their free time reading Christian fiction (which is not necessarily a bad thing) but will read little more about God.  This is why we have countless men and women who draw their knowledge of theology from the fiction section of their local bookstores.   Os Guinness wrote about this situation in his book, A Time for Truth, “The emphasis is now on surface, not depth; on possibilities, not qualities; on glamour, not convictions; on what can be altered endlessly, not achieved for good…”

            A shallow faith can never sustain us through life’s greatest difficulties.  When we face troubles we must be able to look wholeheartedly toward God.  Many Christians claim faith in God while simultaneously looking for something else to bail them out of their trials.  God has become our backup plan rather than our provider, sustainer, and lord.  We claim to be citizens of His kingdom, but spend much of the time looking to the governments of the world to solve our problems that originate with sin when all is said and done.  Our relationship with God must be growing ever deeper.  He will accept nothing less.

            Jesus also told us of seeds that fell among the thorns.  They could grow in that soil in the absence of thorns, but the weeds strangled out the seeds and kept them from getting what was necessary for their growth.  Jesus said that this represented the cares of the world and the deceitful riches that are offered by man.  These things do not have to be inherently bad to strangle our spiritual lives.  They have a way of overtaking our vision and focus.

            The Bible teaches us that God is Spirit.  That means our relationship with Him will be a spiritual relationship.  His work will be spiritual.  That means when we talk about vision it is spiritual.  The things of the world have a way of catching our gaze and taking our attention from the spiritual.  They distract us from the work and the will of God, and before we know it we have slipped into “the midst of the years.”  This is the time Habakkuk prayed for God to renew His work (Habakkuk 3:2), and it is a dangerous time for the people of God to live.  There is a lot that can happen when we are caught up in the world during the midst of the years.  This is when marriages and relationships fall apart.  This is when we let our spiritual life fade.  We were once committed followers of Christ, but we find that through the midst of the years we have lost our fervor, our passion, and eventually our faith.  Consider the words of Francis Chan, “I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns.  Thorns are anything that distracts us from God.  When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil.  A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.”

            This is why God called many people away from the things of the world throughout Scripture.  It is difficult for us to value those things and value God and His word as we should.  The weeds of this world have choked out many of the seeds planted by God, and they continue to strangle our spiritual lives in America today.

            There was one more type of soil that Jesus described to his disciples – the good, fertile soil.  In Israel there was far less of this soil than the three other types that were described, and that is probably an accurate description of the soil in our world today in relation to reception of the gospel.  This soil gave the seed the opportunity to sink into it deep enough to grow strong roots and flourish.   This is where the seed was not simply scattered on the soil, but planted in it.  Jesus told the disciples that this represents the hearts of those who hear the word and bears fruit.  When everything is said and done, that is really the measuring rod for the seeds that anyone plants.  Do they bear fruit?

            God is not simply searching for people who will listen to His word, but those who will listen and obey.   This is why Jesus said he taught in parables.  There were a lot of people who were interested in the miracles and the mighty works, but few were interested in obedience to the Son of God, much less submission to God their King. 

            When the seeds sink into the soil they begin to grow in a way that will alter the soil.  The roots solidify the soil around them and keep it from eroding.  That’s what happens when the word takes root in our lives.  It grows and ultimately becomes a part of us.  It transforms us.  That why Jesus could tell John in Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” 

            The word of God carries with it the power to sustain and bless His people.  It gives us access to the mind of God as we face our day to day circumstances, and shows us the full power of heaven when we come upon trials and temptation.  “For the word of God is living and active,” we read in Hebrews 4:12.  The Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1, 2).”  This is the man who will produce fruit in God’s kingdom, and the one in whom God will plant His gospel.

 

            Jesus used something that was a part of the lives of the people of Israel to convey a great spiritual truth to those who would receive it.  He came to establish God’s kingdom, but that kingdom had to be built on a foundation of fertile soil.  It had to be put in a place where it could grow and invade the world around us as God cultivates and works in the hearts of its citizens.  This parable is more about the soil than it is the sower, and it shows the difference our hearts make in our relationship to God and His word.  We know that the sower is all-powerful and infallible, and we are aware that what He sows is beyond reproach and human wisdom.  What hinders this seed is only the soil.

            The soil of our hearts must be cultivated and conditioned.  The weeds and rocks, the obstructions must be removed so that God’s word can grow freely in our lives.  Ralph Earle wrote the Beacon Bible Commentary on the book of Matthew.  He wrote in reference to this parable, “Of course soil is entire passive, but the human spirit is not.  To infer some sort of fatalism or determinism from this story would be to fly in the face of Scriptures as a whole, which everywhere assure individual responsibility.  By the aid of the ever-willing Spirit we can break up the ‘fallow ground’ of our heart.”  This breaking of the fallow ground is not the idea of a lone commentator, but scriptural truth.  “For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: ‘Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns (Jeremiah 4:3).’”  And again the prophet Hosea said, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you (Hosea 10:12).” 

            There may be some of us who struggle with God’s word.  It is hard for us to listen and obey what we hear. It is difficult to image that God is willing and able to do so much for us, but that is the “good news” of the gospel of the kingdom – soil can be transformed!  With the right work and effort (farmers are well aware) even rocky soil can become useful for crops.  In the same way, the soil of our hearts can be cultivated so that the word of the kingdom can take root and grow in our hearts. 

            The environments we place ourselves in, the things we fill our minds with, and what we are exposed to are all things that affect the soil of our hearts.  Our culture and environment can have a major effect on the way we hear and view God’s word, His gospel, and His kingdom.  To cultivate good soil in our hearts, we must desire to know God and place His kingdom above the things of this world.  It is this desire that will yield the harvest that God desires. 

 

            David Ravenhill wrote, “Never before in history have we had more translations of the Bible than we do now.  As for Christian books, they are as numerous as the stars of Heaven – everything from diets to demons, health to holiness, prosperity to prophecy, and all subjects in between.  And yet our greatest need is not to hear opinions, but to hear the word of the Lord.”  Since the beginning of time God has been working to reveal Himself to man.  He has been relentlessly pursuing the pinnacle of His creation and calling man to His kingdom.  The word is being spoken, preached, and explained through books and media like never before, but it is also being obscured by those things at times.  If we are going to be God’s kingdom it will be when we cultivate our hearts and open our minds to this revelation of God.  Jesus Christ planted within this gospel the secrets of God’s kingdom.  The harvest depends on the soil.  When that word is planted among us, what should God expect to reap?

The Power of a Lamb

Revelation 5

 

            The church seems to be in a position of instability today. We know that things are not going well in many places. We don’t really experience the power or promises of God, and we don’t seem to know why. We look to the leadership methods of the world around us, and adopt their marketing strategies to find direction, but even the ploys that bring numbers do not seem to bring spiritual maturity to a church that is starved of God’s Word.

            Each week meetings take place among leaders of denominations, local congregations, and pastors to discuss direction, and the future of God’s church. We look at the latest sociological studies, and try to stay in touch with the modern times. Many continually grasp at straws hoping that, by some chance, they will stumble on to something that will help people see God’s plan of salvation for their lives, but their gimmicks seldom come to fruition.

            As the early church sought direction from God they were brought face to face with an enduring reality: God is revealed through Jesus Christ! It seems redundant to continually wonder what John was thinking when Jesus began to reveal visions of the victorious church to him, but there is value in the realization that his outlook may have been much like ours. Government opposition and oppression kept the church from fulfilling her potential, but there were many more obstacles that came from within. There were congregations that were legalistic, liberal, lukewarm, and even in danger of death, but there was more to the story. In a day when God seemed to be silent, Jesus Christ burst on to the scene to reveal the mind of God from His throne. When we look at the fifth chapter of Revelation we find that the visions given to John center on one specific thing: the Lamb of God.

            “Revelation’s primary purpose is to tell us the story of Jesus, not to predict end-times events in Europe or the Middle East…As New Testament scholar David Barr notes, ‘Once introduced, the Lamb dominates the rest of the action. It is the Lamb who gathers the 144,000 holy warriors on Mt. Zion (Rev. 14:1); it is the Lamb on whom the armies of evil make war (Rev. 17:14); it is even the Lamb who marries and rules after the war (Rev. 19:7, 22:3).’”[1]

            Revelation reveals God’s purposes through the work of Christ. It reveals what true power and victory over the world are and the action from which they came. It shows us the Lamb who was slain. The One who reveals the work of God and through whose sacrifice this work takes place.

            We can search the world for fulfillment and direction. We can “try out” as many religions as we can find, but there remains one place where we find purpose: God’s throne. And there remains one living being who can reveal that purpose to us: The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ! He has the power to meet even the greatest needs, overcome the greatest obstacles, and deliver us through the most intense trials. Jesus Christ stands at the throne of God to open the scroll that shows us God’s will. One by one, the seals He opens show us what it means for the church to live in victory over this world. We will find triumph from no other source. It comes only from the Lamb.

 

The Lamb Has the Power to Meet the Greatest Human Need

 

            As we seek direction and purpose it would serve us well to ask why we lack those things. Many times we simply forge ahead looking for direction, but if we are God’s church shouldn’t we be able to trust Him for such things? Can any of us really claim to know the mind of God as we sit around a table discussing our ideas? Scripture tells us that we cannot. Verse 3 says, “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it…” They searched through all of heaven and beyond yet no man was able to reveal the mind of God. It came only from the Lamb.

            Our greatest need is not another man-made vision. It is not another program fabricated to bait the unsuspecting sinner. Our greatest need is the power of the Lamb; it is for Jesus to usher the power of heaven into our lives as we walk with Him. When we need direction, vision, fulfillment, or victory the answer is Jesus Christ. Whether we want to admit it or not, we need Him! We cannot even rightly call ourselves the church without Him. It is from this place of need that we begin to see God’s work revealed through the church. Dennis Kinlaw wrote, “Unless we perceive that we have a need, we cannot experience a relationship with Jesus as the Christ.”[2] And without a relationship with Christ we can never be a part of the fulfillment of the plans of God.

            The scroll of Revelation 5 finds is significance as God’s plans are carried out through the lives of His people. Lillie McCutcheon explained, “The book, which is in God’s right hand of power, symbolizes God’s plan of redemption through all ages. In scroll form, seven pieces of parchment individually sealed express a complete book, completely sealed. Even Gabriel could not bring the world a revelation of God’s plan…Neither could Moses nor the prophets unveil the hidden plan.”[3] Jesus came to meet the need we have to know God. He came so that the love, mercy, and grace of God could be revealed to us even in our greatest weakness. These things come to the fallen world only through Jesus Christ manifested in our lives. It cannot come in any other way. If we want direction what we must seek is Jesus. If we want to know where God is leading us, we must ask how we can know His Lamb more, and walk closer with our Savior. It is in this way that we begin to understand God’s purposes.

            The church today has everything she needs except for the presence of God. It has been said that the Holy Spirit could leave us and many would never know the difference. The presence of Jesus Christ through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest need of God’s people today, and the one thing that is lacking. Jesus did not come – as many suppose – to set up a political kingdom on earth, but to give us victory over such things. To provide a spiritual life that transcends the devices of the world that hold us in bondage. He came to show us a better way to live, and a better way to walk with God. “Christ was not primarily the fulfillment of a national dream, but the fulfillment of a universal hope; not primarily the culmination of a divinely ordained process, but the answer to human need.”[4]

            Jesus bridged the gap between man and God so that we might come to God’s throne when we don’t know what else to do. He died so that we could seek God’s help in our weakness and would not have to carry out this divine work alone. Isaiah told the Israelites, “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isa. 59:2). There is no other, in heaven or on earth, who can restore our relationship with God. There is no access to God except through Jesus Christ. No other sacrifice will overcome sin. “The blood of animals, being inferior to the blood of infinite man was too weak to redeem him. Man himself could not redeem himself: angels in heaven could not affect this. God gave his only Son. Being both God and man – the Son of God and the Son of man – he could make an atonement that would meet the demands of justice, and redeem the human family.”[5]

            If we are to be a church that walks with proper direction and purpose, it will be only when we do so because the Lamb has revealed it to us.

 

The Lamb Has Been Given All Authority

 

            The Lamb portrayed in John’s throne room vision had seven horns. Horns are used in apocalyptic literature to represent authority. The number seven signifies completeness. The vision of the Lamb reiterates the statement of Jesus, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). We spend countless hours planning and working out our ideas when it comes to direction in the church, but we have forgotten that the authority to carry out God’s work has not been given to us. It was given to Jesus Christ alone. He must be the center of all things as we live as the church. It is under His authority that we walk, and His reign that we testify to His goodness.

            When we walk by our own strength we often find ourselves easily overcome. We face obstacles that we cannot defeat and mountains that we cannot climb. But when Jesus Christ becomes the center of the churches focus we find that there is no earthly power or principality that can contain the power of God’s Lamb. Michael Lodahl asks, “If Jesus’ ministry of self-emptying love, culminating in the crucifixion, brought a halt to the momentum of human sinfulness, how much more does his resurrection let loose a divine power in the world for the aggressive conquering of sin and death?”[6]

            It is through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we find the full power of heaven released into the world. It is through His power – not our programs – that lives are transformed, sinners changed, and societies reformed. It is through His power that we see sins forgiven, families mended, obstacles overcome, and Satan defeated. “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26).

 

The Lamb Discerns All Things

 

            We also see the Lamb of Revelation portrayed with seven eyes. These, we are told, are the seven spirits of God. Eyes represent vision, or discernment. While we may not be able to see all things, Jesus can see the whole picture. He is aware of the circumstances of our lives, the difficulties we’re facing, our weaknesses and our strengths. It is easy for us to look at the church and try to do the things we think we need to do. We assume there are some things that churches are “supposed to do,” so we make every effort to pursue those things. Maybe we feel like we must have a small group ministry, or a great program for the children in our neighborhood. We don’t know how to do those things, but we know we have to do it because the church down the street grew when they did it. Is it possible that we don’t have those ministries because God has called us to something else?

            Jesus Christ sees the places where we live and the people to whom we minister. He knows what those people need, and how we need to reach them. He is power and authoritative, and is willing to empower His people to succeed, but only in the things to which He has called them. We cannot assume that we are supposed to do a specific ministry because everyone else does it and then expect God to bless it if it is not His will. All too often, however, this is what we do. We do not have the discernment of the Lamb. It is this that will help us to see what God is doing.

 

The Lamb Hears Our Prayers

 

            Make no mistake, there will be days when we don’t know what to do, or where to turn. There will be times when we struggle to find direction and just don’t know what God is calling us to do. But even on those day, the Lamb hears our prayers. The four living creatures around the throne each hold a golden bowl of incense, “which are the prayers of the saints.” It is the prayers of God’s people that are being offered before the Lamb. He works through our prayers.

            We can make all the excuses we want – and we do – but Jesus Christ honors the prayers of His people. Scripture is replete with promises of answered prayer, and power through our prayers. It is difficult to understand why so few Christians take advantage of the ability to converse with God. One of the most humbling things in all the world is that the divine trinity of God allows us to enter into conversation with the Father, Son and Spirit through our prayers. Yet we so seldom do. The church is called to a faith in Christ that requires our prayers. It is from this altar that our sacrifices must continually be made.

            We pray to the Lamb of God because He hears our prayers, and stands before God on our behalf. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). When we ask God for discernment, direction, mercy, or strength it is Jesus Christ who asks on our behalf. It is for this reason that are prayers are of such great importance.

 

The Lamb Is Worthy of Our Praise

 

            Those who surround God’s throne sing praise because “He [the Lamb] has made us a kingdom and priests to our God.” Can you imagine such a thing? Jesus Christ has revealed God’s mind to us so that we may serve in His presence. He has provided for us a place before the throne of heaven. “In a very important sense the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all dwell in the spiritual church, or new Jerusalem, and are thus ‘in the midst’ of God’s people, surrounded by the redeemed host who unceasingly worship them, and thy, in turn, have the praise that ‘the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them’ (Psa. 34:7)…”[7]

            Jesus took those who had been victims in this world and turned them into the victors of heaven; those who have overcome every ploy of the enemy. This is the reason God’s people sing around His throne. This is why we sing today as we look forward to the day when we have overcome this world and live eternally victorious in God’s immediate presence.  F.G. Smith commented, “A few gifted voices of earth may possess such power and sweetness as almost to entrance us with their melody of song; but what an oratorio will it be, my brethren, when, released from the narrow limits of mortality, that sublime strain sung by the redeemed of all ages and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, bursts in upon our ransomed souls!”[8]

 

            We can spend lifetimes searching for direction. We must believe that most Christians want to see God’s work done. In spite of this we spend the bulk of our time trying to do His work our way. But it is not through our own ideas or methods that we see God’s work, or hear His voice.

            “If you want to hear God’s thunderous voice, just read His Word and hear His mighty voice as he speaks like thunder through its sacred pages. If you want to view God’s   footprints, just reflect upon your journey through time and look back at the places where He has carried you through the      hard times and narrow places. But, if you want to see the very heart of God, just look away to Calvary where a lone figure silhouetted against a darkened sky wrestled single-handedly against the enemy of our souls and purchased your salvation and mine with the shedding of His life’s blood. That crimson fountain that flowed from those nail pierced hands and feet and that punctured brow, along with the flood that streamed from His riven side has given life to me and to all who will plunge into its cleansing stream. As I look to Calvary I behold the love of God, the very heart of Him who sits on the throne.”[9]

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[1] Barbara R. Rossing, The Rapture Exposed (109)

[2] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (59)

[3] Lillie McCutcheon, The Symbols Speak (33)

[4] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (58)

[5] D.S. Warner and H.M. Riggle, The Cleansing of the Sanctuary (452)

[6] Michael Lodahl, The Story of God (163)

[7] F.G. Smith, The Revelation Explained (89)

[8] Ibid, (87)

[9] Richard Bradley, Scenes From the Throne (163)