A DEADLY FAMINE

In an effort to understand what hunger feels like some folks have committed themselves to fasting for twenty-four hours. That this is a major challenge in our affluent culture says a lot in itself! Nevertheless, we can commend the effort to try and understand “what hunger feels like,” even though the uncomfortable feeling we get from missing a couple of meals is not really hunger.

There is a much more serious famine in our land, one with much greater consequences, deadly consequences, eternal consequences. That’s the famine the Prophet Amos spoke about:

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, there were long periods of silence from God. Some of those periods of silence occurred during times of prosperity, as in the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. The people didn’t seem to care. They were prosperous, things were going well. As the two kingdoms sank deeper into idolatry and its consequent evil behavior, God sent prophets to call them to repentance. But time was running out for both Israel and Judah. After Amos, only one prophet, Hosea, would speak for God to the northern tribes. Then in 722 B.C. Shalmanezer, King of Assyria, would carry them away into exile. As for Judah, after the prophecy of Malachi, the people would languish over 400 years in spiritual famine until God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the promised Messiah.

Now we Christians live in the light of the New Covenant, with the full revelation of God in the Person of His Son (Hebrews 1:2) and the guidance of His Holy Spirit through His completed Word. So is there a famine of the Word of God today? Apparently there is. And as in ages past, it is self-induced. As the ancient Israelites rejected or carelessly neglected God’s Word, even so professing Christians today are neglecting the completed Bible.

Recent surveys have revealed that even regular church attenders spend very little time, if any, each week reading God’s Word. A small minority have actually read through the entire Bible even once. As for pastors, while most say they refer to the Bible in their sermons and include Bible reading in the worship service, it is evident that very few expound the Bible clearly in context and make practical application to their congregations. Alistair Begg gave several reasons for the decline in expository preaching:

I.                   A lack of confidence in the Bible.

II.                Fighting the wrong battles

III.             Using the wrong role models: e.g. business, psychology.

(From “What Happened to Expository Preaching?” The Pastor’s Study, Vol. II)

While few would admit it, many pastors lack faith in the Holy Spirit to change lives through God's Word. Expository preaching lets the Word of God speak for itself by drawing attention to the timeless principles God revealed and applied to His people down through the ages. The Holy Spirit uses “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) to work where only God can work – in the heart!

F. B. Meyer (1847-1929) saw the same lack of expository preaching in his day, and he urged pastors to preach expositorily. His book Expository Preaching Plans and Methods is still well worth reading today, and it’s available in print or on Kindle.

One major reason the average Christian doesn’t read the Bible is because he or she has no idea of the richness of its progressive revelation and the practical wisdom revealed there. Creating a hunger for the Word is a large part of the pastor’s job.

 There certainly is a famine of hearing the words of the LORD today. And the effects of this famine are evident in the weakness of spiritually emaciated Christians in our churches.

A MAN NAMED CHRISTMAS

On December 25^th, 1766, a son was born to shoemaker Samuel Evans and his wife, Joanna, in Llandysul, Ceredigion. The couple named the child Christmas. That boy would grow to be a tall, husky, bushy-haired preacher who would lead the spiritual revivals in late 18^th- and early 19^th-century Wales. But he had a hard road to the ministry he would pursue from Anglesey to Cardiff for over half a century.

            Evans’ father died when the boy was only eight or nine years old, leaving the family in poverty. Living with a drunken uncle, Evans received no schooling and by age fifteen, he still could not read or write. His illiteracy grieved him, and with dogged determination he set out to teach himself, plodding through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress with the help of friends. They also studied the Welsh Bible together: “We bought Bibles and candles, and were accustomed to meet together in the evening in the barn of Penyrallt, and thus in about one month I was able to read the Bible in my mother tongue.”

           At 18 he was converted under the influence of Presbyterian pastor David Davies, and soon began preaching in cottage meetings, having memorized published sermons. Without financial means to further his education, Christmas Evans went to England to earn money in the harvest fields. But in England he began to despair of his prospects in the ministry and nearly lost interest in spiritual matters altogether. The turning point in his life came when he was attacked by a mob, apparently provoked by Evans’ objection to their ungodly activities, and was beaten unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he found that he was blind in his right eye. This crisis awakened his faith and his determination to serve God. At age 20 he was baptized in Aberdare by Baptist pastor Timothy Thomas and joined that congregation.

            At the Baptist Association meeting in 1790, Evans accepted a call to minister in Caernarvonshire. He was ordained at Lleyn to serve five small Baptist chapels in that area. It was there that he met and married Catherine Jones, a member of one of the chapels. Though his preaching was well received, the ministry there took a toll on his health. So after some months in Caernarvonshire, Evans took a vacation to Pembrokeshire. Since he could not afford a horse, he traveled on foot, preaching in every town along the way. Crowds followed him from town to town, spreading revival throughout western Wales.

            Refreshed by his coastal tour, Evans threw himself back into the ministry in Lleyn, walking twenty miles every Sabbath to preach in various chapels and open-air meetings. Yet in spite of the many converts from his ministry, Evans was not pleased with the level of spirituality on the peninsula, and in 1792 he accepted a call to the island of Anglesey, where, for a salary of 17 pounds a year, he was to be responsible for ten chapels. On Christmas Day – his 26^th birthday – he and Catherine crossed the Menai Strait to take up residence in a dilapidated cottage with a ceiling so low the six-foot-tall preacher could not stand up in it! His ministry there prospered, however, and within two years he saw 600 converts, and the ten chapels had doubled to twenty.

            In 1823, Evans’ beloved spiritual companion Catherine died, and the same year he developed an eye problem which necessitated treatment in Aberystwyth. By 1826, the number of chapels in Anglesey had increased exponentially and Baptist preachers numbered twenty-eight. Evans then moved to Caerphilly where 140 more converts were added to the Baptist congregations. From there he ministered in Cardiff, then back to Caernarvon, “where he contended with great difficulties from church debts and dissension.” (Armitage, The History of the Baptists, 612)  On a trip to Swansea to raise funds for the Caernarvon chapels, he suddenly fell ill and died on July 19, 1838. His last message was, “I am leaving you. I have labored in the sanctuary fifty-three years, and this is my comfort, that I have never labored without blood in the basin,” a reference to Exodus 12:22. In his last breath he voiced the words to an old Welsh hymn and passed into eternity.

            Christmas Evans is reputed by some to be the most dynamic preacher of “the golden age of itinerant preachers” in Wales. Historian John Davies takes note of Evans, along with Calvinistic Methodist John Elias and Independent William Williams (William o’r Wern) as the prominent preachers in the revivals that swept Wales in the early 1800s. (The History of Wales, 359) It is estimated that between 1801 and 1851, a new chapel was built on average every eight days. Many of those chapels were the result of the tireless ministry of Christmas Evans.

           

 Copyright 2015 by Thomas L. Jones  First published in Ninnau, Nov-Dec 2015

LET THE WEAK SAY, "I AM STRONG"?

Popular choruses and church benedictions seem to be magnets for verses out of context. One of the more recent ones is the popular chorus, Give Thanks. The verse, the only verse, is a simple expression of thanks to God for having given Jesus Christ, His Son. We can all sing that with enthusiasm. It’s the refrain that gives some of us pause. It is expressed as though it were a scriptural benediction: “And now, let . . .” The first problem is there is no such benediction in Scripture.

The second problem, the more important one, is that the first part of the sung “benediction” is wrenched out of Joel 3:10 – “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, 'I am strong.' " (NIV, NKJV, KJV, emphasis added) A cursory reading of the context of Joel 3:1-16 reveals that the above quotation is not a benediction! It is a taunt to the pagan nations to muster all their armies, all their strength, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, that is, the Valley of Decision, where they will be judged.

Now I can hear the explanations and objections: Didn’t the Apostle Paul say, “God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong”? (1 Cor. 1:27) And, “We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong” (even less applicable!)? And there’s Paul’s own testimony, “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). Paul’s wish for the Corinthian Christians was that they be spiritually strong and “complete” in Christ: “For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete.” (2 Cor. 13:9)

The concept of spiritual strength versus fleshly weakness is scriptural, but in the popular chorus, we sense more than a whiff of charismatic doctrine, especially when we sing on: “Let the poor say I am rich”! But that’s another issue entirely. Christians certainly do possess spiritual riches because of what Christ has done for us. But there are thousands of professing Christians who believe the atonement of Christ entitles us to all manner of physical and material blessings. But the New Testament does not support such notions. New Testament benedictions always speak of spiritual blessings, holy living, and heavenly hope.

Misquoting Scripture can be embarrassing. A beautifully carved plaque in a memorial chapel displayed this verse: “. . . absent in body but present in spirit” – 1 Corinthians 5:3. In context, the Apostle Paul was urging the church in Corinth to discipline an immoral member. Here’s the complete verse: “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.” (1 Corinthians 5:3)

There was a time when liturgical churches closed services with the following portion of Genesis 31:49: “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.” Eventually some ministers discovered that in the context this was a malediction, not a benediction! Jacob and Laban didn’t trust each other, so they set up a heap of stones as a witness if either passed over it to harm the other. The ignorance still prevails: I saw an ad for a necklace with that very sentiment engraved on it! You might want to consider the context before you give it to your loved one for Christmas or your anniversary.

I can’t help thinking that behind all the misuse of Scripture verses is an appalling ignorance of the Bible as a whole, and the false idea that the Bible is a collection of aphorisms and benedictions. I’ve written before about the danger of bibliomancy, taking verses out of context for guidance and decision-making. The Bible is truly God’s unfolding drama of redemption. It is meant to be read in its entirety, and each book in its context. Only then will the Scriptures transform lives.

In the meantime, my voice will drop out whenever the congregation starts to sing, “And now let . . .” 

MOSES'S FUNERAL PSALM

It seems that Psalm 90, “A Psalm of Moses, the man of God,” is irresistible to ministers preparing a funeral message. After all, our minister’s handbooks all recommend it. The psalm does have some memorable verses on God’s eternality and man’s mortality:

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were born

Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

You turn man back into dust

And say, ‘Return, O children of men.’

For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by,

Or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:1-4)

I always think of Isaac Watts’s great hymn, O God, Our Help in Ages Past, when I read those verses. Then there is that reality check about the nature of old age:

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to strength, eighty years,

Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;

For soon it is gone and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

All of the above are quite appropriate at a funeral, when everyone is forced to reflect upon the relative brevity of life. But there is more to that psalm, and the diligent pastor is loath to take verses out of context. That’s when we run into verses that disturb the atmosphere of comfort:

For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

You have placed our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

For all our days have declined in Your fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

(Psalm 90:7-9)

Who understands the power of Your anger

And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

(Psalm 90:11)

Anger, wrath, fury? Hardly comforting to a grieving family! And what about the unbelievers who inevitably attend the funeral of a staunch Christian? Well, maybe they need to hear about God’s wrath, but is this the right venue?

While pondering this psalm and its dubious use in funerals, I thought of the historical context in which it was most likely written. It is regrettable that this psalm is rarely expounded in all its fullness.

The first thing that ought to raise a question is why Moses, of all people, a man who lived to be 120 years old, would declare that a man’s years are seventy or eighty? When did Moses witness great numbers of people dying by age seventy or eighty? The obvious answer is during Israel’s wandering in the Sinai wilderness.

Israel had come to the southern border of the Promised Land, but they were hesitant to enter. They wanted to send scouts, one from each tribe, to spy out the land (Deuteronomy 1:22). All of those scouts except two, Joshua and Caleb, brought back a bad report on the land God had promised to give them. The negative report prevailed and the adult population refused to enter the land. In consequence of this lack of faith and obedience, God’s sentence was passed:

'None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the LORD fully.' "So the LORD'S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed. (Numbers 32:11-13)

The total number of men twenty years old and older at that time, minus Joshua and Caleb, was 603,548. That means that during the forty years of wandering in the Sinai wilderness, the nation would average over 1,200 funerals a day! And that was only the men. In addition to judgments for particular acts of rebellion, Moses witnessed the once hearty soldiers, all once fit for war, aging and weakening. He observed that by age 70 most were finished, but some were stronger and struggled on till 80, stooped and aching. And this end was the judgment for their disobedience, their failure to believe God. They were literally “consumed by (God’s) anger.”

Commentators have rightly seen a universal principle these verses: death is God’s judgment for man’s rebellion in Eden. Verse 3 clearly refers to Genesis 3:19 (though a different word for ‘dust’ is used): “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Moses’s witnessing of death in the wilderness caused him to reflect on that tragedy in the garden and its universal consequences.

 But the Bible makes a distinction in the case of God’s redeemed saints:

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. (Psalm 116:15)

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight-- we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:21-23)

Derek Kidner observed: “In an age which was readier than our own to reflect on mortality and judgment, this psalm was an appointed reading (with 1 Cor. 15) at the burial of the dead: a rehearsal of the facts of death and life which, if it was harsh at such a moment, wounded to heal.”[1] Psalm 90 has been a part of both Jewish and Christian funerary liturgy for centuries. 

Still, Psalm 90, Moses’s Funeral Psalm, needs to be presented in its context. Though death is a universal result of sin having entered the world, it is not God’s wrath that ushers one of his beloved saints into heavenly fellowship with Him.

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[1] Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73-150. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.

THANKSGIVING: THE KEY TO MENTAL HEALTH

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Every age has had its share of anxiety ever since the tragedy in Eden. But everything is moving faster in our hi-tech era, and that increases anxiety. We feel as though we're always behind.

Medications and treatments for anxiety and depression are a big business, but people are as stressed out as ever. What's the cure? Well, before we can cure a disease, we need to properly diagnose it. The Scriptures make it clear that anxiety and depression are spiritual problems. So the cure for them must also be spiritual.

Jesus recognized our natural propensity to worry when he encouraged his disciples to give their anxieties to God and trust Him to provide for all their needs (Matthew 6:25-34). He also urged us not to "borrow trouble" from tomorrow: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:34)

The Apostle Paul in the passage quoted above, specifically addresses the problem of anxiety, and he gives us a succinct prescription:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."  First there is a request: Take your anxieties to God, let Him know what's troubling you and ask for His help. Then, and most importantly, thank Him for all that He has already done and for whatever He chooses to do in the present and future. It is a well-established fact that thankful people are less anxious than ingrates! 

We have so very much to be thankful for. As you read this, God has given us another day to enjoy our family and friends, to work and provide for our families, to enjoy our hobbies and recreation, to wonder at the beauty of His creation, to share His blessings and salvation with others. How thankful we should be!

When we follow God's prescription, God guarantees the results: "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

THE EVANGELIST WHO INFLUENCED PATRICK HENRY

In a Presbyterian meeting house in Hanover County, Virginia, a bright young boy listened intently to the preacher, trying his best to absorb every word. He had too. For he knew that his mother and older sister would quiz him on the sermon during the carriage ride home. That boy would grow up to be the eloquent American patriot Patrick Henry, who would credit that influential preacher for much of his oratorical skill, as well as his view of liberty. That preacher was Samuel Davies, acclaimed as “the outstanding preacher of Colonial America” and “the animating soul of the whole dissenting interest in Virginia and North Carolina” (Sweet, 65).

            In the struggle for religious liberty in the American colonies, two Welshmen stand out: Roger Williams in New England (see Ninnau July-August 2015) and Samuel Davies in Virginia and North Carolina.

            Samuel Davies was born November 3, 1723, to David and Martha Davies, Welsh Baptists of New Castle County, Delaware. The Davieses were deeply religious, and Martha named her son after the prophet Samuel with the hope that he would enter the ministry. Yet when Samuel was of age, the Davieses lacked the finances for a university education, so they sent him to be tutored by the Rev. Samuel Blair in Blair’s academy in Faggs Manor, Pennsylvania. Blair’s institution was one of several disparagingly dubbed “log colleges.” The first so-called Log College was founded in 1735 by the Rev. William Tennent to educate his younger sons and other promising young men for the ministry, one of whom was Samuel Blair. After Blair assumed a pastorate in Chester County, Pennsylvania, he opened an academy similar to Tennent’s. Samuel Davies was to be his most renowned graduate and leader of The Great Awakening in the Southern Colonies, particularly in Virginia.

            The Anglican Church had held official status in Virginia since its founding, receiving tax support from the colonial legislature. Dissenting religious groups were tolerated, but their right to formal worship was effectively denied. In 1743, the colonial legislature of Virginia licensed Presbyterian “reading rooms” in Polegreen and three communities in and around Hanover County. Samuel Davies was commissioned as an evangelist to Virginia in February of 1747, and at age twenty-three he set out for the South with his bride of four months, Sarah (Kirkpatrick). Davies was determined to minister to folk of any denomination, preaching in dissenting communities and evangelizing wherever the opportunity arose.

            In September of 1747, tragedy struck: Sarah Davies died in childbirth only a month before their first anniversary. The loss hit Samuel so hard that he began to believe that he, too, always of frail health, might not have long to live. That thought drove Davies to redouble his evangelistic efforts. By 1748, Davies had set up his base of ministry in Hanover County, Virginia. In October of that year, he married Jane Holt from a prominent Williamsburg family. They would have six children together, one dying at birth.

            In the 1740’s, Davies was the only revivalistic – “New-light” or “New Side” – Presbyterian preacher in the county. There were, however, a few traditional – “Old Side” – Presbyterians, who presented little threat to the Established Church. Davies was determined to avoid conflict with the Established Church clergy, so his sermons were free of rancorous rhetoric or attacks on other denominations. He focused, instead, on careful exposition of Scripture and clear presentation of the Gospel. The strategy worked, much to the chagrin of the same Established clergy Davies had studiously avoided attacking. In 1752, Commissary William Dawson wrote the following to the Bishop of London:

The Dissenters were but an inconsiderable number before the late arrival of certain teachers from the northern colonies. . . . But since Mr. Davies has been allowed to officiate in so many places . . . there has been a great defection from our religious assemblies. The generality of his followers, I believe, were born and bred in our communion. (Cited in Sweet, 66)

            Davies would eventually establish seven Presbyterian congregations in five counties and win greater religious freedom for dissenters of all denominations.  Through his legal astuteness, he was able to secure in Virginia the application of England’s Toleration Act of 1689. His advocacy of the principles of the “free-born mind” or “liberty of conscience,” after the model of Roger Williams, eventually led to the establishment, after Davies’ death, of Virginia’s Declaration of Religious Rights (1776) and Statute for Religious Freedom (1786).

            Few colonialists, especially in the South, questioned the propriety of that “peculiar institution” of slavery, nor did Samuel Davies oppose it. He did, however, conduct a vigorous and extensive ministry to the slave population. Unlike the Baptist and Methodist missionaries who focused on a personal experience of salvation alone, Davies insisted that slaves be taught to read since an understanding and application of the Bible was essential to the Christian life. Davies himself estimated that he had ministered to over a thousand African slaves and had baptized hundreds. African converts were admitted into his congregations and were permitted to preach. He even wrote specific hymns for African ministry. The Negro spiritual, “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian in My Heart,” is believed to have been inspired, if not composed, by Samuel Davies.

            In 1753, Davies accompanied fellow Presbyterian minister Gilbert Tennent on an eleven-month fundraising tour of England and Scotland on behalf of the College of New Jersey, an outgrowth of Tennent’s Log College, during which Davies preached sixty-three times. The mission raised six thousand pounds, including a large contribution from the grandson of Oliver Cromwell.

            In 1759, Davies was offered the presidency of the College of New Jersey (which became Princeton University in 1898), succeeding Jonathan Edwards, who had died after only six weeks in office. At first Davies demurred, believing someone else more qualified, but he eventually accepted. Davies’s own tenure was also to be short. He died on February 4, 1761, at the age of 37.

            Few American ministers have had as much impact on the formation of the yet-to-be-founded United States of America as Samuel Davies. Davies influenced not only the eloquence, but also the principles of the noted orator and patriot Patrick Henry. Davies’ fight for religious liberty in the middle and southern colonies, formed the groundwork for the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

            As for Davies’ spiritual contribution, historian William Sweet sums it up well:

“Among the many prolific eighteenth-century preachers, few if any can be read more profitably today than Samuel Davies.” (Sweet, 70)

Resources

Sweet, William Warren. Revivalism in America. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1965.

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=category&cid=221

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord,_I_Want_to_Be_a_Christian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Davies_(clergyman)

First published in Ninnau, Sept-Oct 2016. Copyright 2016 by Thomas L. Jones.

A Writer's Best Reward

I’ve written a lot of articles for publication, and for some I've even been paid. My articles have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Naval History, Birds & Blooms, Reminisce, and many other periodicals. But my most valued compensation for an article came from a piece I wrote for a Sunday School bulletin insert. The article was about how God opened the mind and heart of an Italian man, resolving his doubts and producing faith in Christ. What touched one reader, though, was not the story itself, but a Scripture passage I quoted at the end: Deuteronomy 29:29 – "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

            Soon after the article appeared, a lady wrote to the editor with this message: “My husband and I have been going through a difficult time lately, and I felt sad and confused. When we got home from church, I took out the Sunday bulletin insert and read the article by Thomas L. Jones. When I got to that verse from Deuteronomy, my sadness lifted and my joy returned.”

            The editor of the periodical forwarded the letter to me, and I have cherished it ever since. Like any other rational person, a writer would like to believe he is making a difference in this world. Writers seek to do it through words – words crafted into sentences and paragraphs that we hope will convey coherent thoughts. Getting those words into a publication with a large circulation is gratifying in itself. We think about all those potential readers. But the writer has no idea how many recipients actually read his article. Unless someone writes in response.

           This is even more true for blog posts. In the case of a subscription periodical, we can be reasonably sure the subscribers at least looked at the periodical. But the statistics page on the blog site can be discouraging! Some "hits" I get appear to be sites that sell ready-made essays to students!

              Since I get no monetary compensation for my blog posts (I gave up “monetizing” a long time ago because of objectionable ads), my reward is learning that something I shared on my blog helped someone in some way. Getting feedback makes my day, and it spurs me on to write more. My thanks to those who have shared! I love to hear from you.

BIG SAUL AND LITTLE SAUL

Big Saul started out as Little Saul. Little Saul started out as Big Saul. Both were of the tribe of Benjamin. The first Saul considered that pedigree a little thing; the second Saul considered it a big thing. The first Saul exalted himself to his own destruction; the second Saul abased himself to his own salvation and exaltation. The first Saul feared the people; the second Saul feared only God.

            King Saul is memorialized and honored in Jewish history as Israel’s first king. Yet the Hebrew Scriptures reveal a man of poor character, devoid of a personal relationship with Yahweh, God of Israel. He was superstitious, paranoid, and vindictive. He constantly relied on his own devices and feared the disapproval of men. In the end, King Saul consulted a medium for guidance since the LORD had abandoned him.

            Saul of Tarsus, on the other hand, began his career as an honored leader of Pharisaic Judaism in the 1^st century A.D, a disciple of the renowned theologian Gamaliel. This Saul took pride in being of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). His zeal for what he considered to be the truth of God moved him to persecute the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Saul considered to be a threat to the covenant faith of Israel. After his encounter with the risen Jesus, however, Saul of Tarsus cast off all honor and prestige, preferring to be known as Paul, his Greek name meaning “little.” (See Philippians 3:4-14; Acts 13:9ff) Though persecuted relentlessly, Paul committed himself to the Lord (Acts 20:22-24; Philippians 1:19-21). Paul, “Little Saul,” sought no approval from men (Galatians 1:10, 15-24).

            Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12), and “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).  No two men in Scripture illustrate this contrast better than Saul Ben-Kish[1] and Saul of Tarsus.

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[1] Our English Bible identify Saul as “son of Kish,” which was one hyphenated surname in the Hebrew: ben (son) + Kish, hence, Ben-Kish. 

The Essential Key to Spiritual Understanding

"If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself." (John 7:17)

 A willing heart of obedience is an absolute prerequisite for understanding God's Word.  Only to an obedient heart does God make known his most precious truths.  That person "comes to understand, to comprehend" (Greek ginosko) the teaching of our Lord.  The Pharisees were not willing to do what God might reveal to them, so God would not illuminate their minds to understand what Jesus was teaching.  They felt they could judge God’s Word, rather than letting God’s Word judge them. 

In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15, Paul says, "But the natural (soulish) man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one."  But the Corinthian Christians were neither "natural," that is, unsaved people, nor spiritual people: they were "carnal" (fleshly) Christians, infantile in their understanding of spiritual truths.  So they could not fully comprehend the deep things of God.  Paul says he had to feed them with "milk" and not "solid food," because they were not able to digest it.

Christians whose focus is still on themselves--on their own desires, their own ambitions, their own pleasures--are still "fleshly" and are not able to receive the rich doctrines of God's Word.  And this fleshly attitude results in "envy, strife, and divisions" (1 Corinthians 3:3). 

Only when we have a true heart of complete obedience will God open our spiritual eyes to the most precious riches of His Word.  We need the heart of Samuel who said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” 

Let’s pray with the “sweet psalmist” David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”  (Psalm 139:23-24)

A CHORUS OF VIRTUES

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. (2 Peter 1:5-9)

The Greek word translated “supplement” in the English Standard Version comes from two words that mean “leading a chorus” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). The idea is that the Christian virtues in this passage are not to be added to one another, as the KJV and the NIV have it, but to supplement or complete one another as the voices in a chorus do. The balanced, mature Christian life has these virtues in harmony. Faith, for instance, must be in harmony with knowledge, self-control with steadfastness, etc.

That godliness must be in harmony with brotherly affection (philadelphia) is particularly striking. The noble desire for godliness, in isolation from the other virtues, has led many to ungodly extremes. Monastacism in its various expressions is one example. Monks have sought to free themselves from sinful temptations by isolating themselves from the world and others, only to find, as Jerome did, that they cannot escape their own thoughts! Some, in seeking personal godliness, have become judgmental of others, lacking in brotherly affection. Nothing is more cacophonous than supposed godliness without brotherly affection or kindness (NASB). It’s like a novice putting a bow to a violin!

One final voice, standing next to Brotherly Affection, completes the chorus: LOVE. Brotherly affection is that deep bond between believers in Christ, yet our love must extend beyond the bounds of our spiritual family. Our Lord commanded that we love even our enemies (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35). That love of the will (agape), is also needed in cultivating brotherly affection. That's why the two are often mentioned together (Rom. 12:10; 1 Thes. 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:7)

Meditating on how all the voices in this chorus of Christian virtues should sound together is a good exercise. We must remember, however, that it is not by the exertion of our will that we can put these virtues in balance. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul calls them “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22), and he exhorts us to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16 compare Rom. 8:4). Whenever we find that our spiritual life is out of balance – and it happens to every Christian for time to time – we need to refresh our relationship with Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit by means of prayer and the Word. We need to quiet ourselves before the Lord for as long as it takes for renewal.

The Christian’s life is to be a chorus of praise to the grace of God. Let’s make sure all the voices are singing together.