Legalism & liberalism both create problems for which biblical faith is the only answer

Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."
Matthew 16:6

It only takes a small bit of leaven, or yeast, to take over an entire lump of dough.  The effect is gradual, but left alone, it will be total.

The Pharisees were legalistic religionists who sought always to add to God’s Word.  They corrupted the Law into something other than that which was handed down to Moses.  The Sadducees were liberal intellectuals who sought always to take away from God’s Word.  Denying the supernatural, they watered down the truth to make it palatable to natural men.

It doesn’t take much legalism or much liberalism to create a problem.  It may begin subtly, adding or subtracting such a small amount of the truth as to be imperceptible.  But gradually, both religion and intellectualism will corrupt the entire faith of those who allow it’s intrusion into biblical Christianity. 

In Matthew 16:12 it was made clear that Jesus spoke concerning the doctrine of these two groups.  Beware brethren.  Doctrine matters.  We need not be far off, dabbling in outright heresy, to be inviting ultimate error.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Worship God in, for, and with!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
Psalm 150:6

The last entry in the book of Psalms is Psalm 150.  It is short—only six verses.  In it there is broad, yet vital instruction about worship.  Three little words outline the content: in, for and with.

Verse one calls us to praise the Lord in two places: In His sanctuary (the Church) and in His firmament (or under the skies.)  These two mean everywhere!

Verse two calls us to praise Him for the great things He has done and for His intrinsic greatness.  Both are vitally important..

Verses 3-5 call us to praise the Lord with numerous instruments. The list is not exclusive or exhaustive.  It is illustrative.  The point is that we may use any number of musical instruments to praise the Lord.  Which instruments are used is not the point; the heart to worship the Lord is key.

Verse six concludes with an imperative (a command):  Everything that lives is to praise the Lord.  That the  command is repeated underscores the weightiness of this calling.  So, if you are alive, join the congregation of the Lord in praising the Living God: in, for, and with!

Hope and Caution

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem... And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 2 Kings 22:1-2

 Josiah gives me hope.  He became king when he was only eight years old, and led a spiritual revival when he was only sixteen years old.  This gives me hope that God uses young people.

Josiah’s father Amon, was evil, yet Josiah was godly.  This gives me hope that can turn things around.

But I am also reminded to be cautious.  Amon’s father was Manasseh, who was the most ungodly of all Judah’s kings.  But Manasseh repented in his old age.  That is good.  But the damage was done as neither the nation of Judah nor his son Amon followed Manasseh in repentance.

As godly as young Josiah was, when he was older— though he remained godly—even he made a pridefully foolish choice and died in a battle he shouldn’t have been involved with.  Let us be cautious not to think that being godly in our youth, exempts us from foolishness when older.

Regarding our godless nation, let us pray for and believe that God can bring about revival in our land.  And whether He does or not, let us be on guard to finish wisely. 

We need spiritual, not political remedies

Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 2 Kings 14:28

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 2 Kings 14:24

Jeroboam I was the first king of Israel when it was divided into Israel in the North and Judah in the South. Jeroboam I led the nation away from God from the outset.  Generations later, Jeroboam II (the one in 2 Kings 14) became king.  Please don’t miss this: Jeroboam II was a political and military success.  But spiritually, he was evil in the sight of the Lord.

May we in America not be duped by political and military successes brought about by godless leaders.  We can be thankful for the successes, but in the end, they are detrimental unless we as a nation turn to the Lord—not to anemic civil religion, but to biblical faith in and obedience to the King of kings.

Thank the Lord that we are blessed to live in a nation like no other in the world (as evidenced by the fact that people from all over the world want to come here!).  But let us repent of the false notion that an ungodly nation (regardless of outward strength) will be spared the wrath of God in the end.  Let us worship and follow the only true and living God of the Bible!

Because God is so good!

… Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:13

For those who think the Old Testament prophets only spoke about God’s wrath, sorry. Not so!

God’s people were in sin. Joel was calling God’s people to repent. The threat of wrath was surely there, but look at how Joel pleads with the people to repent—not merely because of God’s impending judgment, but more importantly, because of God’s gracious, merciful, and kind nature!

Let us (and I include myself since I also need to be reminded of this!), repent of our sins, not merely because of God’s judgment, but because of God’s love and eagerness, to forgive, restore, and reconcile us to Himself!

Care regarding close unions

Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God."    2 Chronicles  19:1-3

King Jehoshaphat was good, but not wise.  He loved and honored God but he lacked discernment, especially when dealing with the godless.  The most pressing cases in point are the king’s social, economic, political, and military alliances with wicked King Ahab and with Ahab’s son, Ahaziah. 

Though we cannot perfectly read the minds of people in antiquity, we may cautiously wonder if Jehoshaphat’s foolishness stemmed from a presupposition that people are “basically good” and may be trusted allies. 

It is good to think the best of people, but even a wisp of discernment would have said that neither Ahab nor Ahaziah deserved any such benefit of the doubt.

As Christians we should not enter into covenant agreements with non-believers even if they seem like “good folk.”  Doesn’t 2 Corinthians 6:14 warn us not to be “unequally yoked” with non believers?  This does not mean we can have no dealings with non-believers, but we must not enter into contractual or covenantal unions with those who are not committed believers.  This includes, but is not limited to, marriages and business partnerships (especially if the union is in the least way binding.)

“But, but, but…”

When God speaks there are no buts!

Why is there evil in the world?

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes."
Ecclesiastes 7:29

Why are things the way they are?  To be more precise, why are there bad things?  Solomon hit the nail on the head.  God didn’t create mankind sinful.  He created us without sin.  Solomon’s words about our “many schemes” are about the overarching reason we sin: our schemes are evidence that we think we know better than God!

Though God did not create us as sinful creatures, He created us with the potential to sin.  This is obvious due to the fact that Adam and Eve did sin, and so have everyone of their offspring—including every one of us!

Sin is a universal aspect of the human experience.  True, God knew that we would sin.  Our sin was part of His eternal plan to display His grace by forgiving sinners.  But that in no way makes God responsible for our sin, or for any evil, pain, and suffering in the world.  That is on us.  Lessons?

First, don’t blame or even question God’s righteousness, since God is never the author of sin.  We bear that responsibility ourselves.

Second, let us learn to stop thinking we know better than God.  Our sin is never a better or more correct choice than obeying God.

Third, thank God for His grace.  After all, His allowance of our sin is for the express purpose of putting His grace on display.

Christ in the Proverbs

A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
Proverbs 10:1

The book of Proverbs speaks numerous times, contrasting the wise and the foolish son.  The wise son pleases the Father.  The foolish son grieves the Father.  Remember that.

We know that Jesus fulfilled every aspect of God’s Law for those He came to save.  He had to because we have all broken God’s law.  On the cross our disobedience was laid on Jesus so that His obedience could be credited to the spiritual accounts of those who trust in and follow Christ.

In the same way, Jesus, who is the wise Son in whom the Father delights, lived every aspect of the wise counsel for those He came to save.  He had to because we are the foolish sons who would otherwise grieve our Heavenly Father.  On the cross, our foolishness was laid on Jesus so that His wisdom could be credited to the spiritual accounts of those who trust in and follow Christ.

The result is, just as Jesus is the wise Son who only always pleased the Father (Matthew 3:15, and others), if we are “in Christ” we are no less pleasing in the Father’s sight than Jesus is!

Let us live as though that is true, because it is!

How can a God of love…?

These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19

We live in a fallen sinful world that thinks we can define God. One of the world’s favorite definitions of God is “God is love.” That is true and biblical, but the fatal mistake is that the world insists on defining God by the world’s flawed definition of love. Thinking biblically, we must define love by how the Bible defines God.

People who do not know God often say, “How could a God of love to this or that? A favorite is “How could a God of love send anyone to Hell?” I’ll come back to that.

The world insists that love demands that we endorse and affirm everything, but that could not be farther from the truth! Even humanly speaking, a loving parent hates, and will kill, a wild animal that is attacking that parent’s child. Likewise, because God is not only loving but holy—He not only disapproves what is unholy, He hates sin because it is unholy. Because God is holy, He must judge and condemn sinners.

So the question, “How can a God of love send anyone to Hell?” is based on not knowing God and therefore not understanding love. Because all people are sinners (having repeatedly violated God’s law) the better question is, “How can a God who is holy not send everyone to Hell?”

The answer to that better question is: Because (thank the Lord) God is also gracious through Christ Jesus!

Weaning toward contentment...

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

David said he learned to be content regarding things he could not understand (v.1). He said that in the end, he was content like a weaned child with his mother. Notice he didn’t say like who just finished being nursed by his mother. That is a different kind of contentment—the kind that comes from getting what he wants. No, a weaned child is one who has been cut off from receiving what he wants. Weaning a child is an important part of a child’s development, both physically and emotionally.

Physically, it means learning to eat other food that is more difficult to eat and eventually more nutritious than mothers’ milk.

Emotionally, it is a first step in learning the responsibility to eat food and feed oneself, rather than simply being fed. Children often dislike being weaned, but mothers must insist on it for the child’s development.

David was speaking of the spiritual benefit of learning contentment by being denied what he wanted—not by his mother, but by God.

The pathway to contentment, as well as trusting God when we do not understand or like what He is doing, is to be denied what we otherwise desire—a sort of imposed fast. The key to learning the lesson is to resist being demanding or complaining, and simply trusting God.

We do not understand many of God’s ways. We can either demand and complain, to our detriment, or learn to trust God, which will mature us and glorify Him. Which path will you choose?

Two ways of thinking about money and possessions

There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches. Proverbs 13:7

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase.
Proverbs 13:11

There are rich people who have nothing and there are poor people who have it all.  How can this be?  Those who “make themselves rich,” loving and longing for money, doing everything they can to get their hands on it, may indeed amass great wealth.

Verse seven does not dispute that these people have money, but they own nothing.  They are instead, owned by the money they have accumulated.  In contrast, the one who does not love or long for money, who refrains from “making himself rich” by giving generously, may even appear to “make himself poor.”  This one, however has true riches.

Verse 11 declares that dishonesty may lead to wealth, but the wealth it obtains is temporary at best.  The one who earns his bread by honest hard work, however—though he doesn’t net big bucks in short order—is on the path to lasting wealth.  This speaks of time frames.  Will the self-made, often shady, rich man come to poverty right away?  Not often.  His money usually lasts long enough to convince him he was doing the right thing.  Will he loose it over the course of a lifetime?  Maybe.  But in the long run, this man will suffer loss of all things when he stands before God who will inform him that his riches cannot purchase forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Heaven.

The key to all of this is simple:  Listen to and obey God’s mind on the subject of money and true wealth, and enjoy eternal prosperity.  Listen to the world, and suffer eternal poverty.

Love greater than a mother's

When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
Psalm 27:10

I was watching a video of two adorable little bear cubs.  I thought, “How cute they are!  And to think when they are grown, they can tear the roof off a car!”  The scene changed to the two cubs and their massive mother.  Instantly I thought of the proverbial saying about the rage of a mother bear if her cubs are threatened.

And the powers to be condemn moms and dads for insisting that they, not the Christ-hating schools, have the authority to determine what their children are taught!  Incredible!  But I digress!

My point this: Mother’s day is that under normal circumstances, moms and dads (moms in particular) rightly give the highest priority to their children.  But because parents are sinfully imperfect, our love can be misdirected and can even wane.  But God, our Heavenly Father can never err in His love for His children.  And He can love us neither more nor less than He always perfectly does already.

• Parents, let us seek to love our children as our Heavenly Father loves us.

• Children, let us thank the Lord for our parents and forgive them when they are less than perfect.

• Children of God, let us rest in our Heavenly Father’s boundless love.

Do you want God, or merely what He can do for you?

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84:10

Psalm 84 is the cry of a man whose heart longs for more fellowship and intimacy with God.  His heart longs, actually, for more of God Himself.  In verse 10 he declares, in essence, that it is better to be in a lowly position in the presence of the Lord than to be in the place of comfort in this world.  Ideally, all of God’s people would readily say, “Amen!”—though sadly we know that is not true!

But how resolute is that “Amen” even from we who really do want more intimacy with God?  What if we really had to choose the lower seat versus the place of affluence and comfort?  It is one thing to say, “We want God no matter what.”  It is another to choose to pursue the Lord if it really meant suffering loss to our financial portfolio, our comfort level, or our health.

May we pursue the Lord—really pursue the Lord—not worrying about our affluence or comfort.  And if it should please the Lord to remove some or all of the perks we are so accustomed to, may we count them all loss “for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).

“Come, see; and go, tell.”

So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
Matthew 28:8

The first to arrive at the empty tomb on Easter morning were women who came to finish the burial procedures, hastily begun a few days earlier.  When they got there, we know that Jesus had already risen.  They didn’t!  God dispatched an angel to declare the good news.  His message was simple: “He is not here; He is risen, as He said.”

The angel then charged the women with four imperatives: “Come, see; go, tell.”  Come see that He is risen and go tell others that He is risen.  The next verse reveals not only their obedient response, but something of the heart with which they obeyed.  They went quickly—no time to waste with a message this great.  They went in fear—reverent wonderment—at such good news.  They knew it was true, but resurrections don’t happen every day, you know!  They went with great joy—they, of course, were happy that the Jesus they knew to be dead was now alive.  We only know Him as the One who died and then rose; but is that any less cause for rejoicing?

Let us, like those women, obey the Easter angel’s message to “Come, see; and go, tell.”  And let us do so like them, with urgency, reverence, and with great joy!

Praise from stones

But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40

Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on the Sunday before He was crucified—we call that day “Palm Sunday” because the people waves palm branches to herald Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. They hoped He would be a political king like David or Solomon, who would liberate them from the Romans. Palm branches were a symbol of the political Zionists in that day. Though Jesus certainly is the King, He is not that kind of king and His kingdom is not of this world.

The religious leaders wanted the people to stop cheering for Jesus. They commanded Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." Jesus explained that even if the people were restrained, the rocks would praise Him.

Five Lessons:

• People sometimes praise Jesus for the wrong reason.

• There are always people who hate for Jesus to be praised.

• Even if some people stop praising Him, others will. And if all people stopped, the rest of creation would praise Him!

• I/we must never think I am/we are the only ones praising Him.

• The Lord wants me/us to praise Him, but He doesn't need me/us. There are plenty of rocks to do the job!

Jesus died, and then rose for us

And the king said to Doeg, "You turn and kill the priests!" So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.  1 Samuel 22:18-19

Doeg was a Edomite in King Saul’s employ.  He happened to witness the High Priest, Ahimelek giving aid to David as David fled from Saul.

As Saul pursued David, he learned about Ahimelek’s kindness to David and ordered his men to kill the priests for “siding with David.”  They weren’t “siding with David against Saul.  They had no knowledge of Saul’s murderous intentions regarding David.  They knew that David was one of Saul’s men—who happened to also be Saul’s son-in-law.  They were simply doing what anyone would have assumed was the right thing.

Because Saul’s senses were twisted by his jealousy against David, he sinfully ordered the execution of the priests, including Ahimelek, the High Priest.

Saul’s men refused to obey the order.  But Doeg, not being Jewish and therefore having no respect for the priests, carried out Saul’s wickedly lethal order.  Not content merely to kill the priests, he killed men, women, children and even livestock. Three points:

• Jealous hatred pollutes good judgment, as it did with Saul.

• Non-believers, like Doeg, seldom have a shred of respect for any aspect of the true religion.

• Jews and Gentiles alike crucified Jesus, our Great High Priest.  But unlike the people of Nob who died, we who are in Christ live because He died and then rose for us.

A bit crazy about Jesus!

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish…And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!" 1 Samuel 1:10, 12-14

Does this sound a little familiar?  Do you remember that on Pentecost the onlookers thought the disciples were drunk as they praised the Lord, albeit in tongues?  Godly Hanna had a similar experience as she prayed, weeping in anguish.

This does not mean that only prayers and/or praise that are legitimate make believers look as if they are inebriated!  There are a couple of lessons however.

First, there are times when believers can be overcome with extreme emotion when praising or praying to the Lord.  Why?  (a) Because we are emotional beings (granted, some more so, some less).  (b) And although this is not always the case, believers can become overwhelmed by the Lord.  He is so holy and so great; and there may be times when we are either praising Him or crying out to Him that we can be overcome.  If or when that happens, let us not do so for show, but let us thank the Lord for being so real!

Second, there are times when those who do not share our faith will think we are—well, a bit crazy.  Jesus’ own family thought He was “out of His mind” (Mark 3:21 & 31).  Yet no one was ever more sane than Jesus!

Two thoughts from Judges

So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel… When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. Judges 2:7 & 10

Every generation must receive the Lord by faith and be born again. No one is a child of God merely because one’s parents believe.

Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. Judges 3:5-6

God forbids His people to marry non-believers. Why? Because He wants to keep us from what will make us happy? NO! Because He knows that these kinds of marriages almost always end up seeing the believers backslide, or worse.

Who do we think we are to insist that we know better in such matters—especially when our decisions are being made under the sway of romantic/hormonal “love”?

Worship the Lord for His kind providence to protect us!

Murmuring, grumbling, and complaining

Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. Deuteronomy 34:9

I can’t help but wonder how much comfort Joshua experienced knowing that the children of Israel were going to heed him as they did Moses. Didn’t the Israelites grumble and murmur against Moses at least as much as the heeded him? While it was still Moses’ sin to become angry with the people (leading them to believe God was angry with them—but was not!) didn’t the people’s complaining prompt Moses to be so angry?

Now Joshua was to lead people who would follow him as they followed Moses. Great!

Lest we cluck our tongues and wag our heads at “those Israelites,” doesn’t the Church often act similarly? Consider Acts 6:1, “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews…”

The fact is, how much murmuring, grumbling, and complaining does our perfectly loving Heavenly Father have to hear from us? And I use the word “us,” not merely referring to “His people,” but to you and me. Okay then, just me?

Father forgive me for my complaining as though everything should follow my script. Lead me in the paths of contentment, rejoicing, and thankfulness.

He touched, even me!

that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
Leviticus 10:10

The Old Testament law was very particular about human contact with what is unclean.  Many things were declared unclean.  We’ll not go into those details just now.  What is in the scope of our consideration is the fact that a person that was ceremonially clean became unclean by merely touching what is unclean.  The rule was quite simple.  What was unclean defiled what was clean.  The converse was not true, however.  What was clean did not purify what was unclean.

My go-to example is simple.  Throw a small cup of pure water into a mud puddle what happens?  The pure water cannot clean up the mud puddle.  Rather, the mud puddle swallows up the clean water making it part of the mud. 

According to God’s Law the same is true spiritually.  Christians are easily corrupted by contact with the world, but the world is not made holy by contact with Christian.

There is one exception.  Jesus.  He touched people who were “unclean” and His touch healed then and made them pure and undefiled.  Why?  Because Jesus is so incredibly Holy that He reverses the natural order.

There was a popular Christian song a few years that caught this truth with a wonderfully simple lyric:

He touched me, Oh He touched me,  And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,  He touched me and made me whole.