New Years Resolutions; Humility before Happiness

I just watched Mel Gibson in the movie "The Patriot" again.  There was one scene that struck me.  Colonel William Tavington, a ruthless commander in the British Army, is discussing tactics with Lord Cornwallis.

Cornwallis has just finished drafting a Land Grant to another officer when Tavington enters.

Cornwallis: This is how His majesty rewards those who fight for him as gentlemen.

Tavington:  I dare to presume my own meager contributions will be rewarded one day.

Cornwallis:  You may presume too much.  His Majesty, like history, judges us not only by the outcome of the war, but on the manner in which it was fought.  We serve the Crown, and we must conduct ourselves accordingly.  Surrendering troops will be given quarter.  These brutal tactics must stop.

Tavington:  Is it not enough, my lord, that I have never lost a battle?

Cornwallis:  You serve me, and the manner in which you serve me reflects upon me.  I would've thought that a gentleman from a family as esteemed as your would understand that.

Tavington:  My late father squandered any esteem in which we were held, along with my inheritance.  I advance myself only through victory.

Cornwallis:  You advance yourself only through my good graces.  The colonials are our brethren, and when this conflict is over, we will re-establish commerce with them.  Do you understand, Colonel?

Tavington:  Perfectly, my lord. 

This conversation did not keep Tavington from committing more atrocities--one scene shows him summoning a village into a church, and promising mercy if information is given about the location of the militia. But when this information is given, the evil Tavington orders the church doors locked and the building burned, with all of the townspeople in it.  When some of the villagers protest that he had promised them mercy, he replied that God may show them mercy in the next life, but it was not Tavington's intent to show any mercy in this one.

Tavington later convinced Cornwallis that he could capture the leader of the American Militia, but it would require him to use the brutal tactics that Cornwallis found unacceptable.  Tavington promised to become a rogue officer, out from under the chain of command, so that Cornwallis could remain blameless.  Tavington's hope, if the British had won the war, was to be named regent over Ohio.  Of course this didn't happen, either in the movie or in history--the British did not win the war, and there was no American aristocracy of landowners, as Cornwallis had envisioned.

I thought about our battles with the world, and the fact that our actions reflect upon our Lord.  If we represent Him well, He may reward us.  But if we do wicked things in His name, it brings shame upon us. We only live by the grace of God.  If we lose favor with Him, there is nothing to keep Him from withdrawing His blessing from us--in fact, He could decide to snuff us out.

When I was in college, I ran for student counsel president.  My platform was that we represent Christ in this world, and that as servants (even slaves) to Him, we have no "rights"; we only have responsibilities.  My argument was that as college students, we relied upon the good graces of our parents and the University.  The University had accepted us into the student body, but that was subject to our compliance with University rules and policies--those who did not follow University rules could be expelled.  We received instruction from our professors, but we were not guaranteed a passing grade; we accumulated credit hours based on successful completion of each class, but there was no guarantee that a degree would be conferred upon us.  We had to do our part, to get the work done, to follow the prescribed degree plan, and to reasonably reflect the University and our families in the work that we did.

Needless to say, I lost the election.  People love to believe that everyone--students, citizens, even humans--all have "rights".  They seldom stop to reflect that those "rights" are granted to them by a government, or a Constitution; they forget that a Constitution could be rescinded or that a government could be overthrown.  Certainly the US Constitution is interpreted very differently today than it was 200 years ago.

Romans 13:1 says "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."  Remember that the Christians to whom Paul was writing may have been experiencing persecution at the hands of these rulers.  Certainly they had no "right" to worship as they wished.  Even today, there are countries which do not allow believers to congregate in public worship, or to evangelize openly.

So in this season of New Years resolutions, keep in mind the grace of God.  Instead of resolving to stand up for your "rights", think of ways you can be responsible for yourself, for your family, for your community, and for your God.  Remember that your good works may lead sinners to repent; conversely, your sins may become a stumbling block to unbelievers.  As you think of how you want to improve yourself this year, start with humility.  James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Somehow I don't think that having a mind-set of "my rights above all else" exhibits the humility that James was talking about.

James 4:7-10 is a good place to start when making Resolutions for the New Year:

1. Submit yourself to God.
2. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3. Come near to God and He will come near to you.
4. Wash your hands, you sinners--you want to be able to lift "holy hands" to God.
5. Purify your hearts; do not be double minded.
6. Grieve over sin.
7. Mourn for those without Christ.
8. Cry out to God for mercy.
9. Change your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom--don't think so much about your own personal happiness that you fail to get serious about sin or its consequences (both in your own life, and in the lives of your friends and family.  Remember sin separates men from God.)
10. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

As I said before, the key to success in the Christian life is humility; to count others as more important than ourselves.  We should call for God's mercy more often than asserting our "rights"; we should covet God's grace more than our own success or happiness. An old saying in our church is that "Happiness depends on happenings; Joy depends on Jesus."  We can have joy even when bad things happen.

Blessings on you and yours in 2013.

The gifts of God to us this Christmas

It's Christmas Eve, and I thank God for all of His gifts--he gave us so many of them.  First, He created us; He gave us life.  Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  So not only did He give us the gift of life, but He made it a marvelous and wonderful thing--He made us in the image of God.

Think about that.  Where God is beautiful, we know beauty.  Where God is just, we know justice.  Where God is righteous, we know righteousness.  Every attribute of God, we have, or have access to, on a smaller scale.  And if not for original sin, we would have direct fellowship with God and would share in his all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present Being.

And this brings us to the next gift that He gave us.  When He made us, he gave us Free Will.  But being all-knowing, He knew before-hand that we could not handle it.  We would, at some point, inevitably act in our own self-interest, rather than in the interest of others; we would, sooner or later, make bad choices.  And God knew this about us, yet He gave it to us anyway.

Mankind has philosophized about the "problem" of Free Will for ages.  If God knows everything in advance, how can we think that we are free to choose?  But if we have freedom to do whatever we want, then God could not possibly know how things will turn out--there are just too many variables.  But this is false thinking, as it limits God: it makes Him out to be nothing more than a super-computer, using predictive analysis to foretell the future.  But God is not all about algorithms, just like He did not make us robots.  He gave us Free Will, so that we could choose to follow Him on our own, not just because He commands it.

His commands are the third gift He gave us.  In the book of Romans, Paul speaks a lot about the Law. Without the Law, we would not be able to know what we are doing wrong, when our Free Will has allowed us to sin.  Romans 7:7 says, "I would not have known what sin was except through the Law.  For I would not have known what coveting really was if the Law had not said, 'Do not covet.' "  The Law was given so that men could be reconciled to God.  He called out an entire race of people to follow the Law (after sin had entered the world).  Where those men failed in keeping the Law, He allowed them to offer a sacrifice.  In the case of a sacrifice, all of that man's sin would be transferred to the animal that was being offered, whether it was a bull, a lamb, or a dove.

The problem with the Law is that it is exclusive. The Jews, the people who were given the Law, believed that God would only love them, and not the Gentiles (all other people, the ones who were not Jews.)  This is why it was so hard for them to accept the Sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was sent to take away the sin of the entire world.  Their thinking was that God could not possibly love those who did not follow the Law.  But Paul writes in Romans 11 that without the Law, Jews would not know what sin was.

So the greatest gift of all is Mercy.  By God's grace, He gave men Free Will; and by His mercy, He gives them the Law to show where they failed, and Grace to everyone who has access to God, even those who do not know the Law.  This is what Paul meant when he said, "For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11/32).

Does this mean that all will be saved, no matter what they believe, or what god they serve? Of course not.  But those to whom He gave the Law know that without sacrifice they would never measure up.  And those to whom He gave grace by offering His only Son as a sacrifice know that without mercy, we would be left out.

I know it would be easier to say, "Jesus is the greatest gift of all," or "Jesus is the reason for the season." Those statements are true.  But they are so inadequate when describing God's gifts of mercy and grace.  Most people alive today do not think they even need mercy or grace.  Why would they follow Jesus?  They will do just fine on their own--they can live life with the Free Will that God has given them, and not worry about the law, or sin, or sacrifice.  Yet Jesus died for those people, too.  I don't mean to be talking in circles, but we seldom think through the entire history of God's interaction with Man, or why it was even necessary to send a sacrifice.  But as you think about Christmas, I would urge you to to think about the back-story, about why Jesus needed to come when He did, so that He could eventually sacrifice Himself for us.  Thinking about this makes me feel very, very small.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.  --Romans 11: 33-36 

Where was God when tragedy struck?

It is with a heavy heart that we watch the memorial services taking place this week for the children and school faculty and staff that were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  Some have dared to ask, "Where was God in this tragedy?"  The best answer may have been given by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.  You can see his response at http://video.foxnews.com/v/2038135300001/huckabee-where-was-god/

According to Governor Huckabee, "As I see it, we've escorted Him right out of our culture and we've marched Him off the public square, and then we express our surprise that a culture without Him actually reflects what it has become."  We've taken prayer and Bible reading out of the schools.  People sue a city so that they aren't confronted with a manger scene or a Christmas carol.  They file lawsuits to remove a cross that was erected as a memorial for fallen soldiers. Churches and Christian-owned businesses are told to surrender their values under the edict of government orders to provide tax-funded abortion pills. We carefully and intentionally stop saying things are sinful; we call them "disorders"--sometimes we even say they are "normal".  We get to where we've abandoned our bedrock moral truths.  And then we ask, "Where was God?"  It's as if our hearts were hardened.

"Their hearts were hardened."

How many times in the Bible have we seen this phrase, descriptive of sinners bent on killing Christ, or driving him out of their homes, towns and lives.  Yet in the Gospel of Mark, chapter six, this phrase is used to describe the Disciples.

And after He (Jesus) had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray.  And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and He was alone on the land.  And He saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him, and were terrified.  But immediately He spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."  And He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased.  And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened."   (Mark 6:46-52)

By way of background, the first part of the chapter tells about the feeding of the five thousand.  What a time of celebration!  With five loaves and two fish, He prayed to God and the food was blessed. Even the leftovers were multiplied--it took twelve baskets to pick up the scraps.  This was the fore-runner of the Sunday-go-to-meeting-with-dinner-on-the-grounds.  Can you imagine the fellowship with God that went on that day, and the people who were converted, the lives that were changed.  It was truly a "mountain-top" spiritual experience.  Yet that very night, the disciples left Him, and got into a boat to travel to Bethsaida.

Jesus had told them to go to Bethsaida.  Yet a storm blew in.  Did God know that their boat would be in peril? Yes, for God knows everything.  Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." So it stands to reason that Jesus knew what would happen to them.  This may have been why He was watching. "He saw that they were making headway painfully."  Where was Jesus when the storm came? He was watching over them.

As time went on, the storm became worse.  The waves got higher, the wind blew stronger.  Some time during the fourth watch of the night--between 3 a.m. and dawn--Jesus came to them, walking on the water.  The disciples, tired, weary, and spent from fighting the wind and the waves, perceived Him there, but their perception was that He was a ghost.  Jesus would have passed them by, but they called out.  "God have mercy on us.  Save us!"  Where was Jesus during the worst part of the storm? He was right there with them.

When they called out to God, the disciples saw that Jesus changed His course.  Instead of walking by them, as He would have done, He climbed into the boat with them.  As soon as He did, the storm subsided.  The disciples were shocked--they could not believe what had just happened.  They did not take to heart the lesson of the loaves and fishes: it was not that Jesus will always provide our needs; it was that Jesus exercises  control over the natural world.  He has overcome the world, and he invited them to overcome with Him.  Yet they fell away.  Their hearts were hardened.  Where was Jesus when the storm passed?  He was still available to them.

Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary has this to say about that Scripture passage:

The church is often like a ship at sea, tossed with tempests, and not comforted: we may have Christ for us, yet wind and tide against us; but it is a comfort to Christ's disciples in a storm, that their Master is in the heavenly mount, interceding for them. And no difficulties can hinder Christ's appearance for his people, when the set time is come. He silenced their fears, by making himself known to them. Our fears are soon satisfied, if our mistakes are set right, especially our mistakes as to Christ. Let the disciples have their Master with them, and all is well. It is for want of rightly understanding Christ's former works, that we view his present works as if there never were the like before. If Christ's ministers now could cure people's bodily diseases, what multitudes would flock after them! It is sad to think how much more most care about their bodies than about their souls.

I believe there is a lesson to be drawn from this passage that we must remember during natural disasters, like Hurricane Sandy, or man-made disasters, like the massacre of 20 school children in Connecticut.  Our culture has written God off; but when something evil happens, the first words out of our mouths are "Oh, my God!"  The first  prayer that comes to our lips is "God, have mercy."  Yet when life gets back to normal, we ask, "Where was God in all this?"  I submit to you that He was watching over us, waiting to be summoned.  He will not go where He is not invited.  And even now, when we question His interest and involvement, He is still available to us.  All we have to do is ask Him.

We don't have to understand.  We may never understand why God allows tragedy.  But we would be wise to follow the advice of Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

How to be healthy, wealthy and wise

Ben Franklin wrote, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."  Who knew that a simple modification of your sleeping habits had such power?

I've always been a morning person, and although I am blessed with pretty good health, I'm by no means rich and Lord knows I'm not the smartest person in the room.  I guess the implication is that if you avoid bad habits (like staying out boozing all night) and avoid laziness (and hangovers, and STDs), then you'll be more likely to get up every morning and get that job and be able to keep it, and you'd be less likely to make a fool of yourself. (This from the man who said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.)

As I was reading my Bible this week, I came upon some more reliable Proverbs--those written by Solomon.  In the third chapter, Solomon also spoke of health, wealth and wisdom--but it had nothing to do with sleep schedules.  Proverbs 3:1-2 says, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity."

He seems to be saying that health and wealth come from wisdom.  But whence cometh wisdom?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.--Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10

Job 28:28 says, "The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."  Psalm 110:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding."  The source of all Wisdom is the "Word who was with God, and was God; He was with God from the beginning." (John 1:1-2)

Proverbs 3:7-8 says, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."  Again, we see the promise of good health to those who show a reverential trust in God and a commitment to his revealed will as found in his Word.  "Fear" in this sense does not mean something from which we should run away, e.g. God's wrath; but it does encourage us to avoid taking advantage of His boundless love and unlimited mercy and grace.

This is not to say the wicked cannot be prosperous.  Jeremiah 12:1 laments this fact, asking God, "Why do the wicked prosper?"  We also see in Job, chapters 1 and 2, how a godly person can be struck with disaster, disease and even death.  In these cases, it is helpful to remember that these anomalies are usually temporary, and are either corrected in this life or the next.

There is a story I heard on NPR about genetic testing--you can read it at http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/12/06/166648187/perfection-is-skin-deep-everyone-has-flawed-genes
Anyway, it says that scientists have always known that normal, healthy people have flawed genes.  The estimate was that those flaws would range from a handful to maybe 100.  But when they started testing people--perfectly healthy people, they found that the average number of genetic "mistakes" is right at 400.  This got me to thinking about spiritual matters.  We live in a fallen world, where everyone is under sin's curse.  But for the redeemed, we have the hope of heaven, and with it, the knowledge that our resurrected bodies will be free of genetic flaws.  We will all be the way God originally created us to be--perfect reflections of Him.

So if you are sick, suffering, wracked with pain; if you cannot fathom why God has not heard your prayers for healing; when life's pressures are too great, or the day is so dark that you cannot perceive the light--it is then that we must take to heart the admonition of Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Keep the faith.  Do not look outward, and wonder with Jeremiah "Why do the wicked prosper?"  Instead, look upward; keep your eyes on Jesus.  Better to rely on God's word rather than man's; better to read and apply the Proverbs of Solomon than the pithy aphorisms of Poor Richard's Almanac.

The mystery of a merciful God

There is so much I don't know.  Like how a seed can rot in a package on a shelf and not start to grow roots or shoots, but if you put it in a hole and cover it with dirt, it will grow.  What miracle happens in the ground, unseen by men, until it is evidenced by stems and leaves growing above ground?  How does the soil send nutrients and moisture to a seed in just the right amount? The seed is helpless--it has no way of gathering those things for itself.  It is a mystery to me.

In the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus mentioned this very thing.

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. (Mark 4:26-29)

The kingdom of God is also a mystery, that Jesus tried to explain by using parables based on farming.  No doubt many who were listening to his teaching had some experience with agriculture.  Jesus had just finished telling about a farmer who sows his seeds, and some fell on the path (that the birds came and took away); and some fell in the rocky soil (so it was shallow and had no root); and some fell on the soil with weeds and thorns (so that although it grew, it was choked and did not produce any fruit); and some fell on good soil (so that it grew and produced a crop).  This parable he took the time to explain to his disciples: The see is the word of God; the seed that falls on the path and is taken by the birds represents Satan stealing the message before it has a chance to take root; the rocky soil is the person who receives the Word, but it is shallow and can't take root because of persecution or trouble; the thorny soil is the person who receives the Word, and it does take root, but worries and carnal desires choke it out, so that it bears no fruit; and the good soil is the person who receives the word, hearing and accepting and producing fruit in his life.

So we assume that in Mark 4:26, Jesus is still talking about the Word when he talks about the man scattering seed.  The preacher is tasked with spreading the Word of God.  He does not know the condition of the people's hearts who hear that word.  Some may accept it; others may not.  Whether the preacher stays up all night worrying about it will not change the recipient's heart--only God knows whether and when the heart is receptive.

Sometimes my heart is more receptive than others.  Sometimes I get caught up in worry, in the desires of the world, including wealth.  At those times in my life, God's word doesn't always get through to my heart like it should.  But when I have had enough of trouble, enough of worry; when I beat my breast and say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner"--that is when God's grace breaks through.  Like the soil in which the seed is planted, my heart and mind start to feed the seed, and God mysteriously allows me to grow, to be fruitful.

This is the mystery of the gospel.  Romans 8:1-4 says,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.

The Law still plays a role in the life of a Believer--not as a means for salvation, but as a moral and ethical guide, obeyed out of love for God and by the power that the Spirit provides.  This law is no longer written in stone and displayed in a Temple.  It is now written in our hearts, where we can take it with us everywhere we go.  Jeremiah 31:31-34 says:

"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord.  "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord.  "I will put my law in their minds and write it in their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord.  "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

We are now living in that time.  All men have access to God in their hearts and minds; they can know God in spirit and in truth, without having to go to a Temple or a Priest.  Herein is the mystery: sin still separates us from God, but God, rich in mercy and grace, forgives completely.  Hebrews 10:14-17 says:

By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this.  First He says, "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.  I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then He adds, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."  And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

The new covenant guarantees that sins will be completely forgiven with the result that no additional sacrifice for sins is needed.  This is the nature of God.  A mystery, to be sure; but as real as the seed that, when covered with dirt, grows roots and shoots and ultimately bears fruit.

Is that all you got?

So I'm finding spritual significance in the weirdest places.  Last weekend we rented a movie, People Like Us.  I came in several minutes into the film, but it didn't take long to get caught up.  It explores a strange family dynamic after a father dies, and the son discovers that he has a half-sister that was kept a secret from him.  The woman, he soon discovers, is a recovering alcoholic who works as a bartender (oh, the irony), but has aspirations to be a landscape designer.  She has a son, whom he stalks as a way to get to the woman.  He has a gift for  her, but more about that later.  In one scene, Sam (played by Chris Pine) has taken Frankie (played by Elizabeth Banks) and her son Josh to the beach.  They watch what could have been a very romantic sunset, except for the brother-sister dynamic that Frankie doesn't even know about yet.  The "tension" is broken when Josh glances at the sunset and snidely comments, "I've seen better."  His mother, tongue-in-cheek, shouts out over the waves, "Yeah, God, is that all you got?!"

I smiled at this response.  While she may have been giving her son a lesson by taking his comment to the extreme, it made me wonder about Man's response to God throughout the ages.  Men have always felt a need to worship, but many gave names to natural phenomena and worshipped the sun, the rain, or the wind.  Others fashioned idols made of wood or stone, finding it easier to worship something they could see or touch.  When God revealed Himself to Abraham, it took a great deal of faith to obey--not just in the one story of offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice, but in the day-to-day walk of following God, of listening to His voice and obeying. 

Later, the Hebrew descendants of Abraham tested God often: having seen God part the Red Sea, they whined because they had no water (at Marah); they had no food (God gave them manna); or they were sick of manna (God sent them Ravens).  Having seen God visit Moses on the mountain, they could not wait a month before asking Aaron for a golden calf.  It's as if the whole forty years of wandering were filled with taunts of "Hey, God, is that all you got?"

When God revealed Himself in the flesh, in the form of a man named Jesus, the Pharisees watched him closely, tested him often, and criticized him unmercifully.  Instead of being like Abraham, having faith in and listening to God as He said, "This is my beloved Son; follow Him," they acted more like the refugees from Egypt who followed Moses through the desert.

There are tons of examples in the Bible.  When Moses brought the plagues to Egypt, the Egyptian sorcerers and magicians were able to conjure similar phenomena.  "Hey, God, is that all you got?"  Even today, when unbelievers try to justify their unbelief, they ask questions like "why would a loving God send people to hell?" or "if God is all powerful, why is there so much suffering in the world?"  In essence, they are saying God does not run His business like He should, like I would if I were in charge.  In fact, they are justifying themselves, by bringing God down to a  human level so they can compare themselves favorably--"I'm just as good as God is; if I were all powerful, there would be no wars or famines or suffering.  Therefore I must be better than God."

Irony.  The human condition is a fallen condition.  Because of our sinful nature, we are separated from God, yet we still want to compare ourselves favorably with Him.  Yet for some reason, God has not wiped out the human race and created something more perfect.  He has chosen to forgive us, and send us His Son to die in our place.  But that concept is foreign to us.  We can hardly fathom it.

Which brings me back to the movie.  Sam leaves his failing business in New York to travel to California to help settle his father's estate.  He finds a huge sum of money with a note asking him to give it to Frankie and her son, Josh. While it is obvious that the money would help Sam get out of his legal troubles, he doesn't seem to be tempted with taking it.  He makes several ham-handed attempts to let Frankie know that her father loved her, and wanted to provide for them.  Frankie misunderstands, and thinks that Sam wants to pursue her sexually.  Sam fends off her advances, and finally comes clean that he is her brother.  All he really wants to do is to give her the gift that her father had left for her, especially now that he knows her situation and her needs.

But near the end of the film, after his identity has been revealed, and the money has been offered, Frankie broods a bit about her life without their philandering father.  She says she would have given anything to have been able to spend more time with the dad; she would gladly forego the money for the chance to get to know him before he died.  She looks at Sam and shakes her head.  "Instead, he sent you," she says, wistfully.

I got to thinking about that line: "Instead, he sent you."  This must have gone through the minds of the disciples of Jesus and others in the first century Church.  Many of them had probably known of God, and had wanted know more, to have fellowship with God.  Many may have had pre-conceived notions of how God would manifest Himself to His people.  When Jesus appeared on the scene, He did not fit into anybody's idea of what God was like.  The religious leaders pushed back the hardest, questioning everything He did.  They ultimately plotted to kill Him. Others at the time had an idea of a military leader who would throw off Roman oppression.  They tried to crown him king of their earthly province, not realizing that he was the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Neither had any inkling that while they would not get what they wanted, Jesus would give them what they needed.

God knew our deepest need was a sacrifice for our sin and a restoration of the relationship that had been broken by sin.  All men cannot die in their sin--there is no fellowship in that.  So He sent One to die in our place.  This One was raised from death and has been crowned to sit on the very throne of God.  No one can see God and live; so instead, He sent Jesus.  As a result, "people like us" can come before God and intercede for our world.

Where the father in the movie was fatally flawed, God the Father is perfect.  Where the son in the movie was a mere shadow of his dad, God's Son is the mediator between God and Man.  He comes with a gift from God--not money or happiness, or even an end to suffering.  Rather His gift is eternal life.  Thank God for sending His Son!

Repent. Live. Repeat.

There is a stupid joke about a guy who meets his friend, who is late for their appointment.  The guy asks why his friend was late.  He says, "I was washing my hair."  The first guy says, "How can washing your hair cause you to be late?"  The other guy replies, "I was following the directions on the bottle: it says 'Wash. Rinse. Repeat.'  I'd still be there if I'd had the jumbo bottle of shampoo."  Today I'd like to look at the instruction manual for life, the Bible.  It seems to have an over-riding theme throughout:  Repent. Live. Repeat.  Let me explain what I mean.

I am taking a break from my study of Revelation.  Maybe one day I will get back to it.  But the Lord is speaking to me in other areas of my life, and I would like to share them here.  This week in my daily study of Scripture (which, I confess, is not always daily, nor is it always a "study"--more often than not it is a cursory reading, a skim-through so that I can check off in my mind that I have done it and I can move on) I read a verse in Hosea that stuck in my mind.

But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always. (Hosea 12:6)

This verse touches on three major themes that I think are essential to a successful Christian life: Repentance; Justice and Mercy; and Waiting on God.  I would like to discuss each of these in a little more detail.

Repentance
Hosea said "you must return to your God."  In the broad sense, God made us.  He desires fellowship with us.  But sin separates us from him.  So we must return our hearts to him.  Many Evangelical Protestants I know can point to a specific time in their lives where they realized they were a sinner, and asked for forgiveness for the first time.  They point to that date, the date of their conversion, as the time they "repented".  I believe that we need to repent much more often than once in a lifetime.

God knows us.  He made us who we are.  We are weak.  To show His strength, He provides a way out of every circumstance we find ourselves in.  Isaiah 19:22 says "The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them.  They will turn to the Lord and he will respond to their pleas and heal them." This verse implies that God has punished Egypt for sin, but that He has a purpose.  He is not some tinkerer, who takes things apart and puts them back together again for no purpose other than to amuse himself, or to learn how the thing works.  He knows how it works--he made the earth and everything in it. When He strikes us with calamity, it is to show Himself to us.  He can and will repair what is broken, but with the hope in His heart that we will take the opportunity to see His hand at work in us.

Even Israel, God's chosen people, needed to repent from time to time.  Jeremiah 4:1 says "If you will return, O Israel, return to me, declares the Lord. If you will put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray." The next verse says that the nation will be blessed.  So if they turn to Him, He will bless them. That is also His promise to us.

Justice and Mercy
Our text here, Hosea 12:6, says we must "maintain love and justice".  The word translated "love" in this text is the Hebrew word hesed, which is translated "mercy" in other texts.  Hosea 6:6 says, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."  The word "mercy" here is the Hebrew word hesed. This is a word that can refer to right conduct toward one's neighbor, or loyalty to the Lord, or both--the sum of what God requires of his servants.  Here it perhaps refers to both.  The same Hebrew word is translated "Love" in verse 4: "What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears."  Their "love" (translated "mercy") is like my attempting to be righteous all day--it lasts only until somebody cuts me off in traffic, or says something mean-spirited about me.  Then my love/mercy goes out the window, and I am ready to wreak havoc, becoming Judge and Jury and Executioner--in short, making myself like God.  I think of the passage in John chapter 8, where the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus.  Their law demanded justice: she was to be put to death.  Jesus' reply brought mercy into the equation: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."  His love for the woman in question did not overlook her sin, but she benefited from His mercy.  His judgment of the Pharisees did not excuse the sin that they had brought to light, but it did convict them of sin in their own lives, thus showing them a requirement for mercy.

I believe that Justice and Mercy/Love are two sides of the same coin.  We who are created in God's image sometimes place more emphasis on one over the other--there are those "pharisees" among us who only point to sin, or demand justice for every perceived wrong; then there are others among us who desire mercy and believe "God is Love" to the exclusion of His divine wrath over sin.  The former are called judgmental, and hypocrites, for they "do not see the beam in their own eye" for looking for "the splinter in their neighbor's eye."  The latter are no less hypocritical, for they ignore the instances of God's anger, and often use their philosophy as an excuse to sin.  Paul spoke of them when he said in Romans 6:1,2: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

The verse in Hosea mirrors what the prophet Micah was saying in Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  If I act justly in my own life, I have greater moral authority to judge you; but I also have a closer relationship with God, who grants mercy.  Jesus told a parable of a man who owed his master tens of thousands of dollars--more than could be repaid in many lifetimes.  The master forgave the debt.  But the man went out and found a fellow-servant, one who owed a few dollars.  The man had this fellow-servant cast into debtor's prison. When the master heard of this, he found the man and upbraided him, casting him into the same debtor's prison as the fellow servant.  This is where humility would have paid dividends.  It is the same with our relationship with God, to whom we owe more than life itself.  James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Waiting on God
Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who wait upon the Lord (or whose hope is in the Lord) will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." This is our ultimate hope.  Hosea 6:1-3 says,  "Come, let us return to the Lord.  He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  After 2 days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.  Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.  As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."  Think of Mary and the disciples after Jesus had been crucified--their hopes were crushed, their lives essentially over.  But after three days, Jesus rose from the grave and gave them new hope, new lives.  They had no choice but to wait on God.

Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." When hope is all but gone, the only thing we can do is keep the faith.  Micah 7:7 says, "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."

Lamentations 3:22, 23 says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness."  Our faithlessness leads to repentance.  Our repentance makes us more like God, exhibiting both love and justice.  And where our circumstances look bleak, we are to humbly wait on God.

I was reading a picture that one of my FaceBook friends posted last week about a successful marriage.  It said, "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times....always with the same person." I believe a great relationship with God requires repenting many times--not necessarily for the same sin, but always to the same God, who never changes, never fails, and never forsakes us.

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Miss Redemption

Hymns for those that seek and those that have redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ.  

Charles Wesley, 1747

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,

Into every troubled breast!Let us all in Thee inherit;

Let us find that second rest.

Take away our bent to sinning;

Alpha and Omega be;

End of faith, as its Beginning,

Set our hearts at liberty.

All of us have a sinful nature--what Wesley called "our bent to sinning."  I was reminded of this when I was watching the Vice Presidential debates last week.  The journalist who acted as  moderator brought up women's issues (read "abortion rights") in light of both candidates' identification with the Catholic Church.  Republican candidate Rep. Paul Ryan quickly pivoted away from religion, probably to keep from alienating non-Catholic voters, but he gave a pretty good explanation of why abortion is wrong,  He said that science has shown that abortion stops a beating heart, and the taking of innocent life at any stage is wrong, morally, scientifically, and hopefully one day, lawfully.  Democratic incumbent Vice President Joe Biden demurred even further, saying that though he identifies with the Catholic Church, he could not in good conscience demand that others fall into line under his morals or his church's orthodox teaching.  Like the true Evangelical that I am, I shouted at the television that neither man had the courage of his convictions.  The Vice President, especially, could not make me believe that he knew the Truth (in this instance), because he failed to insist that others believe it.

If, like Wesley wrote, Jesus Christ is to be the Alpha and the Omega, then the end of our faith should be like the beginning.  We should all be willing to sacrifice our lives for the souls of others.  Sadly, when the End arrives, men will harden their hearts and stiffen their necks, and not turn from their wicked ways.

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.  It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."  And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.  The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million.  I heard their number.  The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur.  The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths cam fire, smoke and sulfur.  A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.  The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.  The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk.  Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. --Revelation 9:13-21

In the Old Testament, the Temple and its furnishings were designed by God to mirror the exact same building and furnishings in Heaven.  The altar was made with four horns, projections on each of the four corners.  When making a sacrifice, the priest would smear the blood of the sacrifice on the horns of the altar.  Those fleeing judgment could seek mercy by taking hold of the horns.  1 Kings 1:50-51 says, "But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.  Then Solomon was told, 'Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar.  He says, "Let King Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword." ' "  Later in that same narrative, another man was in the same place.  "When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar." (1 Kings 2:28).  But the days of seeking refuge at the altar of God will one day come to an end.  Amos 3:14 says, "On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground."  Even the last refuge for a condemned person will afford no protection to the sinner.

John says that he heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar of God.  The voice said to release the four angels who were bound at the Euphrates river.  I think of the garden of Eden, that was situated at the headwaters of four great rivers.  The Euphrates was one of those rivers.  And when Adam sinned and disobeyed God, he and his wife were banished from the Garden.  God set his angels to guard the entrance to the Garden, from the North, South, East and West.  Are these the same angels that were released with a different purpose? I don't know.  But I do know that they were prepared for this very moment in time.  You see, God has his own schedule.  Every event occurs at the precise moment He commands; and He knew what would happen before the beginning of time.  Nothing can happen to you that God did not know about before-hand.  Nothing takes Him by surprise.

At this precise moment in John's narrative, the four angels release an army that is bigger than any army ever seen on earth.  Two hundred  million mounted troops may have been an estimation ("ten thousand times ten thousand", an inestimable number to a Jew in Bible times--probably more than the population of the entire earth at that time).  The mission of this army is to destroy a third of mankind.  A world-wide cataclysm of this scope at any other time in history would have driven most people to their knees, beseeching Almighty God to bring an end to the bloodshed.  After the tragedy on September 11 more people were in church than in any time in the history of America.  But at the end times, not one convert will be found among the survivors.

The individual troops in this huge army wore the colors of hell: sulfur is yellow, but when it burns it has a blue flame, and when heated to create coals, the coals glow a red color.  This sulfuric fire, heat and smoke emanated from their mouths like dragons, but their head resembled lions' heads. The horses on which they rode had tails like snakes, with poisonous fangs to inflict injury.  These were the horsemen released by the four angels; these were the troops that killed a third of mankind.  Yet John says those left did not repent of the work of their hands.  Revelation 2:21 says, "I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling."

How many of us would be willing to forego what we had spent our whole lives creating? What would it take for us to abandon our life's work?  I believe if I saw a huge army of lion-headed horsemen, breathing fire, I would run away from anything my hands had made.  But not these who are left.  They cling unmercifully to:

Demons
Did you know that anyone who worships any god besides the One True God is worshiping a demon?  Allah is not God--he is a demon.  Buddha is not God--he is a demon represented by a fat idol.  Sadly, when the final battle is fought, men will not turn to the One True God, but will run to their false gods.  The idols that represent these spiritual beings--and they are spiritual beings, they are just not powerful to save--these idols cannot see what is happening to you; they cannot hear your prayers; they cannot walk to lead you to safety.  The idols are  powerless.  But do not be deceived, friends; the demons which they represent are more powerful than you and me.  Thankfully, they are not as powerful as the One True God.

Gold and Silver
Many will rely on their riches to save them.  They will try to buy freedom or safety when the world falls apart.  Maybe they fly to some private island in their private jets.  Maybe they will be like the rich men on the Titanic, trying to bribe their way onto lifeboats.  But when the end comes, there will be no solace; no one with any power or magic that can be bought or sold.  Satan's army is mightier than the earth.  Thankfully, God is more powerful than Satan and his army.

Bronze, Stone, or Wood
These are elements of ancient weapons, as well as building materials.  When the end is near, many will muster armies to fight against this spiritual horde.  Others will seek shelter behind bunkers made of strong metals, thick rock, or hard woods.  But we know that the mounted troops described in John's vision will overcome any human army that stands against it.  And those that seek shelter may as well be like the Three Little Pigs  against the wolf--but this wolf will be able to blow down the brick house, or even one made of metal.

No, people at this time will not forego what they have made in order to follow God.  Some will even be hedonists, who follow the creed, "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we must die."  They will not repent of the sins that men do: murders, magic arts, sexual immorality.  And if they do survive, they will plunder the dead for their sustenance.

It is important to point out here that this fate does not belong to those who follow Christ.  Some believe that before this cataclysmic event, the Church will be raptured out, called to Heaven by God.  Others believe that the people that John is talking about here do not include Christians, who are safe from all harm--even if they are still on earth during this time, they will not fall victim to the spiritual forces of evil, because they are marked with the sign of the cross on their foreheads.  Revelation 14:9-10 says, "A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.  He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.' "  Not only will they suffer the brunt of Satan's fury, but they will also endure an eternity in hell.  Revelation 21:8 says, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death."

If you have not repented of your sins, if you have not called out to God for His salvation before it is too late, I urge you to do so today.

Full salvation! full salvation!
Lo! the fountain, opened wide,
Streams thro' ev'ry land and nation
From the Saviour's wounded side.
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full salvation! full salvation!
Streams an endless crimson tide. 

O the glorious revelation!
See the cleansing current flow,
Washing stains of condemnation
Whiter than the driven snow;
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full salvation! full salvation!
O the rapt'rous bliss to know! 

Love's resistless current sweeping
All the regions deep within;
Thought and wish and senses keeping
Now, and ev'ry instant, clean.
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full salvation! full salvation!
From the guilt and pow'r of sin. 

Life immortal, heav'n descending,
Lo! my heart the Spirit's shrine!
God and man in oneness blending—
O what fellowship is mine!
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full salvation! full salvation!
Raised in Christ to life divine! 

Care and doubting, gloomy sorrow,
Fear and grief are mine no more;
Faith knows naught of dark tomorrow
For my Saviour goes before.
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full salvation! full salvation!
Full and free for evermore.

The thundering horde

Worse than any wound is the wish to die and yet not be able to do so.--Cornelius Gallus, Roman Poet, ca.26 B.C.

In heavenly armour we'll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord
No weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand
The battle belongs to the Lord

We sing glory and honor Power and strength to the Lord (repeat)

The power of darkness comes in like a flood
The battle belongs to the Lord
He's raised up a standard, the power of His blood
The battle belongs to the Lord

When your enemy presses in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord
Take courage my friend, your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord

This post begins with multiple images, and dueling quotes signifying opposing sides in a spiritual war.  It is important to remember the first verse of the song written by Jamie Owens-Collins, because when the second verse plays out, the enemy will take the form of evil beings that combine the three separate images into one terrifying species of invaders.  Either you despair of life, like the poet Gallus, or you place your hope in the Lord.

Here is what I mean.  In Revelation chapter 9, the first four Trumpet Judgments have taken place, but a vulture-like creature has warned us that the worst is yet to come: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!" (Revelation 8:13).

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.  The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.  When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.  The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.  And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.  They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months.  And the agony they suffered was like that of a sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.  During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.  The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.  On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.  They had breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.  They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.  They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.  The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.--Revelation 9:1-12

Wow!  What a terrifying scene.  Let's look a little closer.  The star of our show is a heavenly being, probably an angel.  Remember Lucifer was once an angel in heaven before he fell from heaven.  This angel may or may not be Satan.  What we do know is that this angel is subject to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Revelation 1:18 says, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death an Hades."  When Jesus was on earth, he said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18).  On earth, Peter was given the keys to heaven.  In the last days, this fallen angel will be given the key to the Abyss.  More on this later.  It is important to keep in mind, however, that later in Revelation, the key is taken back, because Revelation 20:1 says, "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain."  That chain will bind Satan forever, and he will be thrown into the lake of fire.

What is the Abyss?  It is usually conceived of as the subterranean abode of demonic hordes.  The Greek word means "very deep" or "bottomless", and it is used in the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament) to translate the Hebrew word for the primeval deep.  Genesis 1:2 says, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."  Solomon wrote in Proverbs 8:27-28 that Wisdom said, "I was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep."   And remember when Jesus cast the demons out of the possessed man who had been living among the tombs--when Jesus spoke to the demon and asked its name, the reply was "Legion--for we are many".  As Jesus commanded the spirits to leave this man, Luke 8:31 says, "And they begged him not to order them to go into the Abyss."  Jesus instead ordered them into a herd of pigs, and the pigs immediately ran off a cliff and into the lake.

But in our text, when the Abyss was opened, thick smoke came out, like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.  I can't help but think about the faithful Hebrew men in Daniel chapter 3, who refused to bow down to the image of king Nebuchadnezzar.  The king was so angry that he made the furnace seven times hotter than it had been, and he had the three Hebrew men thrown into it.  But when he looked, he saw four men, and the fourth looked like the Son of God.  God was with them.  Like the Psalmist said, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there." (Psalm 139:7-8).

But the inhabitants of the Abyss were not sleeping.  They were waiting for the day that they could come out and torture mankind.  In Revelation 9, the image turns from black smoke to a dark cloud like a locust swarm.  We mentioned before how many references there are in Revelation to the plagues of the Exodus.  You remember the plague of locusts in Exodus chapter 10.  Well, there are also references to other Old Testament scriptures.  The prophet Joel described another locust plague, that he said had been sent on Israel because of their sins.  But the way that Joel described the locust swarm is telling: "A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.  Like dawn spreading across the mountains, a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old, nor ever will be in ages to come....Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine." Joel 2:2, 10.  The way Joel describes the massive locust swarm is very similar to the description of the thundering horde in Revelation.  There are so many that the cloud of them black out the sun, the moon and the stars.

As we take a closer look at them, we get a description of demonic forces never before seen on earth.  The locusts individually looked like horses prepared for battle.  Joel 2:4 says, "They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry."  But their faces resembled human faces, indicating that they were intelligent beings, not insects or animals at all.  They had cunning, and did not simply use brute force.  On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their hair flowed in the wind like women's hair.  They had teeth like lions' teeth.  Joel 1:6 says, "A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness."  Can you imagine such a fierce, fearsome creature?  I can't even imagine a Halloween costume this scary.  They had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings against the iron breastplate sounded like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.  And on their tails, a scorpion's stinger.  A multitude of these creatures was loosed from the Abyss.

What was their mission? They were told not to harm green plants or trees, but only those people that did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  If you were not sealed by God, look out!  The creatures would not kill you, but they would torture you with unspeakable pain, like being stung by a scorpion.  The pain and torture will be so bad that people will wish they were dead, but they will not be able to take their own lives.  This torment will last for five months.  This is about as long as locusts usually live, I think.  Or maybe the time period corresponds to the growing season, spring to summer, when locusts are a danger.  Or maybe it is prophetic of something else, I don't know.  What I do know is that the time is limited.

Who is the leader of this massive horde of tormentors?  He is described as the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon (Destruction), and in Greek, Apollyon (Destroyer).  Most likely this is a general in Satan's army, who is waiting for the day to be loosed from the pit to wreak havoc on the earth.  Even so, he cannot touch those with the seal of God on their foreheads.  Job 28:22 says, "Destruction and Death say, 'Only a rumor of it (wisdom) has reached our ears.' "  I said that the demonic creatures were cunning; I did not say they were wise. This is the first woe--misery, sorrow, affliction, distress.  There are two more coming.

I know this is creepy stuff, and most preachers today will not touch this subject.  But the facts are clear, and spelled out very clearly in the Bible--if you do not know Jesus personally as your Redeemer and Lord, and if you do not have His name written on your head and on your heart, then your fate will be worse than death.  You may not face the end of the world in your lifetime, but you will spend an eternity outside of the presence of God.  And without God, the spirits in charge of your future are Satan, the Destroyer, and Destruction.  Call out to Jesus today, and ask Him to save you from sin and Death.

Savior, more than life to me,
I am clinging, clinging, close to Thee;
Let Thy precious blood applied,
Keep me ever, ever near Thy side.
Refrain
Every day, every hour,
Let me feel Thy cleansing power;
May Thy tender love to me
Bind me closer, closer, Lord to Thee.
Through this changing world below,
Lead me gently, gently as I go;
Trusting Thee, I cannot stray,
I can never, never lose my way.
Refrain
Let me love Thee more and more,
Till this fleeting, fleeting life is o’er;
Till my soul is lost in love,
In a brighter, brighter world above.

The Day of the Lord is coming--Beware!

My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance I do not catch the spark
I don't know when I noticed life was life at my expense
The words of my heart lined up like prisoners on a fence
The dreams came in like needy children tugging at my sleeve
I said I have no way of feeding you, so leave
But there was a time I asked my father for a dollar
And he gave it a ten dollar raise
When I needed my mother and I called her
She stayed with me for days
And now someone's on the telephone, desperate in his pain
Someone's on the bathroom floor doing her cocaine
Someone's got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me we aren't gluttons for our doom
But I tried to make this place my place
I asked for Providence to smile upon me with his sweet face
But I'll tell you
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance I do not catch the spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
(By grace, my sight grows stronger and I will not
be a pawn for the Prince of Darkness any longer)
Maybe there's no haven in this world for tender age
My heart beat like the wings of wild birds in a cage
My greatest hope my greatest cause to grieve
And my heart flew from its cage and it bled upon my sleeve
The cries of passion were like wounds that needed healing
I couldn't hear them for the thunder
I was half the naked distance between hell and heaven's ceiling
And he almost pulled me under
Now someone's on the telephone desperate in his pain
Someone's on the bathroom floor doing her cocaine
Someone's got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me we aren't gluttons for our doom
I tried to make this place my place
I asked for Providence to smile upon me with his sweet face
But I'll tell you
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance I do not catch of spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
(By grace my sight grows stronger, grows stronger)
I do not feel the romance I do not catch the spark
(And I will not be a pawn for the Prince of Darkness any longer)

As I write this, my son is somewhere in Canada, driving to Alaska where he hopes to winter in Anchorage.  Given that autumn has officially arrived, and that Alaska is in the upper regions of the Northern Hemisphere, he will experience a third less daylight than those of us in the lower 48.  Many people become depressed (I've heard) when they spend time in Alaska, for although they are surrounded by awesomely beautiful scenery and wildlife, the seasons play havoc with their emotions.  In the summer, there is a third more daylight than normal, leaving precious little cover of night for good, sound sleep.  And in winter, the darkness is pervasive, causing many to fall in to deep depression.  I would be worried for my son, except for his extensive social network--not just with Facebook and other social media, but within his church and other friends and relatives who can support him if he calls for help.

I can't imagine spending a dark winter in Alaska without a network of close friends for support.

Darkness is also a common prophetic figure used of the Day of the Lord, and is generally a metaphor for distress and suffering.  Hell itself is described as a "lake of fire", but the flames are not bright, cheery yellow flames that we think of when we plan to go camping, singing songs around the campfire and roasting marshmallows.  Revelation 19:20 describes the capture of the Beast and of the False Prophet, and together "they were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."  Sulfur has a blue flame that emits sulfur dioxide, a vile smell that is found in skunk odor and fertilizer. Molten sulfur assumes a dark red color.  In utter and complete darkness, these dark colors would not give enough light to read by, much less to be able to discern the faces of friends and relatives who abide there with you.  Those who joke, "I'll see you in hell" are sadly mistaken, for the darkness there is so intense that you can feel it.

That is why in Revelation 8-9, the judgments of God are each preceded by a trumpet blast.  Trumpets are used in the Bible to warn God's people of danger, and to muster the troops against the enemies of God.  So when we read the following verses from  Revelation 8:12-13, we should take it very seriously:

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark.  A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.  As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice:  "Woe!  Woe!  Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded the the other three angels!"

In the ninth plague on Egypt, thick darkness covered the land for three days.  References to the Egyptian plagues suggest that in Revelation we have the final exodus of God's people from the bondage of a world controlled by hostile powers.  Exodus 10:21-23 says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.  No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days.  Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived."  You can see why I draw a parallel between this plague, which only lasted three days, and hell, which will last an eternity: first, it is a darkness that can be felt; second, there is no leaving or even seeing anyone else (suggestive that even if they tried to light a candle during this period, it shed little or no usable light); and third, the chosen ones of God did not suffer in this way.

Ezekiel 32:7 says, "When I snuff  you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light."  Nowhere is this imagery of darkness more stark than in the second chapter of Joel.  Joel 2:1-2 says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy hill.  Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.  It is close at hand--a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.  Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come." Joel 2:10 says, "Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine."  Joel 2:31 says, "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

Many today say that they look forward to the Day of the Lord, but they are not ready.  Amos 5:18 says, "Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!  Why do you long for the day of the Lord?  That day will be darkness, not light."  The time when God will show himself to be the victor over the world, vindicating his claims to be the Lord over all the earth, will not be a happy time for those who have not made Him Lord of their lives.  Israel expected to be exalted as his people and longed for that day to come.  Amos warned that the day would come, but not as Israel expected--it would be a day of "darkness, not light" for her, because she had not been faithful to God.  Zephaniah 1:15 says, "That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness."

Today in my daily Bible reading, I was in Revelation chapter 21.  The verse that stands out to me is verse 8: "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice the magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death."  Note it does not say those who are not Jews; it does not say those who don't belong to a certain church; it does not say those who fail to take the sacraments, or tithe, or do good works.  It DOES say the cowardly (those who are unfaithful, who fall away), and those who do not believe (that Jesus is the one and only Savior of mankind), and those who do vile things, like commit murder, or adultery (including pornography, brethren), and those who place their faith in the magic arts (any of you ladies follow your horoscope?), and those who worship anything other than God, and those who do not follow the truth (with their lives as well as their lips)--those are the ones who will be eternally separated from God.

Some Christians believe in the Rapture, the time when God removes the Church from the earth so that Christians will not be subject to the judgments of God on those who dwell in the earth.  Others believe that God knows who we are, and that by the sign of the cross on our foreheads and on our right hands (and in our hearts), we will avoid the judgments just as the Israelites did in the plagues of Egypt.  Revelation 12:12 says, "Therefore, rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!  But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."  Every generation sees more demonic activities, as Satan realizes that the Day of the Lord is ever closer.

Revelation 3:10 says, "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth."  If you call yourself a Christian, rejoice!  You will be saved from the trials and tribulations that the rest of the earth will be subject to, as well as the fiery lake of burning sulfur prepared for the Beast and False Prophet.  Friend, do not be deceived.  The God who promised heaven to the faithful also promised hell to the unbelieving sinners.  Jesus spoke more about hell during His time on earth than He did about heaven.  The idea that a loving God would not send anyone to Hell flies in the face of Scripture.  Open your eyes and read.  Open your heart and receive.  You can know the truth, and the truth can set you free.

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.
On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.
Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.

Wormwood

thanks to ChristArt.com 

You live your life like a tornado.Destruction follows everywhere you go.And you have no plans to stop or slow (oh).I will not let this bitter root grow in me.I will not let you leave that legacy,But it gets so hard when pain is all I see (oh).
And every time I find healing, you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.
And I tried to remove myself from your path,But I keep on waking up in the aftermath.So I pick up again and say I won't look back (oh).And I will not let this bitter root grow in me.I will not let you leave that legacy,But this constant fight is breaking me (oh).
And every time I find healing, you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.
And it hurts when you hit at the hearts of the ones I love;When everything you touch is rubble and dust.And it gets so hard to know how to trust,But I will not let that bitter root grow.I will not let it, no no.But it gets so hard (oh).
And every time I find healing you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.And I could move and never send you a forwarding address,Or I could learn the real meaning of forgiveness. 

 Last week we talked about a fiery mountain falling into the sea as a judgment on the earth.  That imagery is as vivid as the angels who are blowing the seven trumpets--if you close your eyes, you can just see it happening. That image followed the image of fire falling from heaven and destroying much of nature.  In fact, the first four trumpet judgments all deal with acts against nature, with only passing references to their effects on people.  It's almost like each judgment is the undoing of a major miracle found elsewhere in the Bible.  We see this trend continue in Revelation 8:10-11:

"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--the name of the star is Wormwood.  A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter."

This passage is so rich! Again, we see vivid imagery of a heavenly being sounding a trumpet blast, summoning judgment on the earth. And like the second trumpet judgment added on to the first, so the third trumpet judgment adds on to the second.  To recap, the first trumpet judgment brought hail and fire mixed with blood, thrown onto the earth to burn up a third of the trees and grass. The second trumpet judgment brought death to a third of the sea, and to the ships on the sea, and to a third of all the rivers and streams that flow to the sea.  Now the third trumpet judgment brings a meteor or falling star striking the earth and making a portion of the water that is left (that was not turned to blood by the second judgment) unpalatable.  Many people, unable to find sweet tasting water to drink, simply give up and die.

That is a literal translation of the passage.  But many commentaries that I read had a more figurative translation of the passage.  To them, the falling star was a great military leader, like Atilla the Hun perhaps, who brought defeat and devastation to many people, and left bitterness in his wake.

I'll confess I do not know whether to believe the figurative or the literal.  But I do know that there is a parallel passage in Exodus 15:22-25 where the children of Israel complained bitterly about where Moses had led them.

"Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.  For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water because it was bitter. (That is why the  place is called Marah.)  So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"  Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood.  He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.  There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them."

"Marah" means "bitter".  In fact, it is the root word of the name "Mary".  Ruth 1:20 says, "Don't call me Naomi, she told them. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter." So in this passage the Israelites were three days from the victory that God had won for them over the Egyptian army, and three days from the miracle of crossing the Red Sea on dry ground.  But they were thirsty.  Their water supply had dwindled.  So they were bitter.  And when they did come upon a pool of water, it was not fit to drink.  It was bitter.  Moses prays to God, and God shows him a piece of wood to throw into the water to make it miraculously sweet, and good to drink.  What a contrast from the passage in Revelation!  And, by the way, I do believe that this passage in Exodus was a literal event--whether the story in Revelation that mirrors it is literal or not.

Back to the third trumpet judgment.  The star falls--whether it is literal or figurative--it falls from the sky.  Where have I heard that before?  Isaiah 14:12 says, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations."  Now many Bible scholars believe this passage speak of the fall of Satan.  They reference Luke 10:18, where Jesus says, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."  Also, the Hebrew word for "the morning star" is "Lucifer", a name which we have associated with the devil.  But there are other verses that describe Jesus as the Morning Star.  2 Peter 1:19 says, "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."  Revelation 22:16 says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

Numbers 14:17 says, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.  A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.  He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth."  Perhaps this verse was initially fulfilled in King David, but ultimately it is fulfilled in the coming Messianic Ruler.  Israel's future Deliverer will be like a star.  The star that fell to the earth like a comet was a poor reflection, a bad copy of the bright Morning Star that is Jesus.

Wormwood is a bitter herb.  It is also a name that some ascribe to demons.  In his book The Screwtape Letters, "Wormwood" is the name given to the junior demon who is sent to plague the struggling Christian. Bitterness will do that.  Proverbs 5:3-4 says, "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword."  Lamentations 3:19 says, "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall."  So we see that bitterness can  drive you away from God, or at least become a major distraction so that you are spiritually ineffective.  We have all known bitter people--folks that don't have a kind word to say about anything or anyone.  These people are speaking judgment on themselves.  If we speak the name of Jesus and have his praise continually on our lips, then we are speaking victory to sin.  But if we speak nothing but bitterness and complaints, we speak defeat to our spirits and to ourselves.

Judgment in near, people.  Jeremiah 23:15 says, Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land."  Be careful who you listen to; be careful what words you allow into your life.  We do not want to be bitter, or speak bitterness and poison into our lives.  We want to speak the Word of Life to all men.

When we are raising our children, how many times do we tell them, "Be sweet." Usually this is in response to some outburst from them, sometimes consisting of verbal or even physical violence.  To stop them from hurting themselves or others, we admonish them to "be sweet"--use kind words, think better of people, treat others well.  How much more should we do what we encourage our children to do?  Ephesians 4:29, 31 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may be beneficial to those who listen...Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."  Why? Because bitterness ruins our witness. It is not God's will that any should perish; if you constantly stir up bitterness with your words, you may be the Wormwood that keeps someone from partaking in the Living Water.  And we don't want that, do we?

Like a deer that had been panting for the waterI was thirsting for so longI was so drySo I set out on my journeyNot sure just what I'd findBut I found an everlasting river of life
Ooh, it's just life fallin' rainI will never thirst again
Living water, bread of lifeCome and quench this thirst within meFill this hunger deep insideFor so long I have been empty
Nothing else will satisfyYou alone are what I need LordLiving water, bread of life
I had searched this whole world over for the answerWanting just to fill this void insideAll the things that were materialThey could not satisfyFor my hungering was for the bread of life
Ooh, it came like manna from aboveI can never get enough
Living water, bread of lifeCome and quench this thirst within meFill this hunger deep insideFor so long I have been empty