If you want to get to heaven, wash your clothes

In sin I wander'd sore and sadwith bleeding heart and aching head,'Till Jesus came and sweetly said,"I'll take thy sins away."

That washes white as snow.
I gave my heart, my life, my allTo Him who drank the cup of gallTo raise the guilty from the fallAnd take their sins away.

The water, Spirit and the blood

Agree, if we but understood,In making sinners pure and good,And take their sins away.

We cannot know, we may not tell

How we are sav'd from death and hell;Thru faith we know that all is well - He took our sins away.

CHORUSThank God for the blood!Thank God for the blood!Thank God for the blood! 

 When I was growing up, there were some stains that were especially hard to get out of clothes: grass, grape-juice, and especially blood.  If you didn't pre-treat a blood stain carefully, the garment was marked for life.  Yet in the Old Testament, God commanded animal sacrifice; blood was shed to wash away the stain of sin.  Similarly, in the new testament, particularly in the book of Revelation, the redeemed were said to have washed their garments with the blood of the Lamb of God.  The result of this washing is that the garments worn by the redeemed appear as white as snow.

In the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, John sees a vision; he is taken by the Spirit of God into the very presence of God.  There are sounds like a trumpet, and sights of all different colors, but everything is centered on the throne in the middle.

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders.  They were dressed in white, and had crowns of gold on their heads. (Revelation 4:4)

 The elders represent either the whole company of believers in heaven, or an exalted angelic order worshiping and serving God there.  The number 24 is often understood to reflect the twelve tribes of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament.  Let's pause a moment to reflect on these elders:

• Their purpose was to praise God.  Revelation 4:10 says, "The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever."
• Their position allowed them access to God.  Revelation 5:6, 8, and 14 say: "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders....And when he had taken it (the scroll), the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints...The four living creatures said, "Amen!", and the elders fell down and worshiped."
• Their purity is represented by the white robes that they wore.  Revelation 3:4,5 says, "Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels."
• Their perseverance is rewarded by God.  Revelation 6:11 says, "Then each of them (those who had been slain because of the Word of God) was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."

Martyrs and missionaries will be dressed in white, standing before the throne of God.  So will all who overcome evil, who do not fall prey to sin.  Those who worship Him in word and truth will be found worthy by Him to come into His presence, clad in white robes.  Too drab, you say? Remember, all the colors that catch our attention are surrounding God and His throne.  He is the one who stands out, not us.  All attention will be focused on Him.

Okay, you say.  How do I know that we will be there in the presence of God, dressed in white?  Doesn't John say he saw only 24 select elders there?  Where will all of the rest of the believers be?  Look at Revelation 7:9, 13-14: "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?' I answered, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said, 'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb'."

Now, I could be wrong, and this multitude of people from every corner of the globe, speaking every known dialect on earth--they could be the ones who survived the Great Tribulation described later in the Revelation.  But I believe that every one who elects to clothe himself with the righteousness of God will be rewarded with a heavenly home in close proximity to the Savior.  Those who clothe themselves in sin will be forever separated from Him:

• Psalm 109:29 "My accusers will be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak."
• Psalm 109:18-19 "He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.  May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him."
• Psalm 35:26 "May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace."
• Psalm 45:3 "Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty."
• Psalm 73:6 "Therefor pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence."
• Psalm 104:1,2 "Praise the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent."
• Psalm 132:9, 16, 18 "May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy....I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy....I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent."
• Job 8:22 "Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."
• Job 29:14 "I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban."
• Job 40:10 "Then adorn yourselves with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty."
• Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."
• Isaiah 59:17 "He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak."
• Isaiah 61:3, 10 "And provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair....I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
• Ezekiel 7:27 "The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them.  Then they will know that I am the Lord."
• Ezekiel 26:16 "Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments.  Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you."
• Ezekiel 31:15 "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the grave I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained.  Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away."
• Zechariah 6:13 "It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne.  And there will be a priest on his throne.  And there will be harmony between the two."
• Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
• 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the moral with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'."
• Galatians 3:27 "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ."
• Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
• 1 Peter 5:5 "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

I urge you to clothe yourselves in the white garment offered by Christ to cover you nakedness and shame.  Put off the sin that separates you from Him, and be washed in His blood.

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow'r?Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

• Are you washed in the blood,
  In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
  Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
    Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
  
  Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
  Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
  
  When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white!
  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
  Will your soul be ready for His presence bright,
  And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
  
  Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
  And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
  There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
  O be washed in the blood of the Lamb.

The Revelation of John and the rainbow connection

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Rainbows are a natural phenomenon, a scientific splitting of light into its elemental colors.  It was created by God, and designated to be a sign of an everlasting covenant.  It is visible in nature only after a rainstorm, or a heavy dew; I've even seen one in a waterfall.  Each time you see one, it is after a cleansing of the earth with water.

In the fourth chapter of the Revelation, John describes his vision of heaven, beginning with a description of the throne of God.  "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.  And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.  A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne." (Revelation 4:2-3)

What does it mean to be "in the Spirit"?  It means to be in a state of spiritual exaltation by the power of the Spirit of God--not a dream, but a vision like Peter's in Acts 10:10.  If you look up that verse, it speaks of Peter being in a trance, i.e. a state of mind that God produced and used to communicate with Peter.  It was not merely imagination or a dream; Peter's consciousness was heightened to receive the vision from God.  And so it was with John.  Revelation 1:10 says, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet." I discussed God's trumpet-like voice in my last blog entry; but today I just want to point out that to experience God, you have to dwell in the Spirit.  And you must be willing to go places you have never been, and see things that you have never seen.  Revelation 17:3, 6 says, "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert.  There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns...I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus."  In the desert, John saw the blood of the martyrs. Then in Revelation 21:10, it says "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."  So when John was in the Spirit, he saw great and terrible things, both good and bad.

So we see how John arrived at his vision; now let's look at what he saw there: a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.  Revelation 4:9-10 says, "Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say, 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being'."

When you approach the throne of God, you must acknowledge:

• He is holy.  "God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne." (Psalm 47:8)
• He is high and exalted.  "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:1)
• He is lofty, holy and glorious.  "Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us."(Isaiah 63:15)
• He is indescribably beautiful. "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man." (Ezekiel 1:26)
• He is the source of brilliant light.  "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.  His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.  His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."

Since God dwells in "unapproachable light" and is one "whom no one has seen or can see (see 1 Timothy 6:16), he is described in terms of the reflected brilliance of precious stones--an emerald rainbow around the throne.  Revelation 21:11 says, "It (the City of God) shown with the Glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."  Revelation 21:19-20 says, "The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.  The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."  The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain, but since carnelian is mentioned specifically in the verse we are studying, I looked it up.  Wikipedia says that carnelian is a brownish-red mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone, similar to sard (which is generally harder and darker).  Both carnelian and sard are varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony colored by impurities of iron oxide.  The color can vary greatly, ranging from pale orange to an intense almost black coloration.  So this is how John described his vision of God, seated on the throne--in terms of precious stones: beautiful, mysterious and lovely.

Encircling the throne of God was a rainbow, resembling an emerald.  Ezekiel 1:26-28 says, "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.  I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.  Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him."

It must have been terrifying for John to be taken up in the Spirit.  It must have been blinding to see the very throne of God--John must have wondered if he would live to tell about his experience.  Yet the word he chose to describe the radiance of God, the aura that surrounded Him, was full of hope and promise.  Genesis 9:13 says, "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."  The rainbow became a sign of God's pledge never to destroy the earth again by a flood.  And in the future that John's vision allowed him to see, the rainbow was a prominent sign.  Revelation 10:1 says, "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.  He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me. 

The trumpet of the Lord, the voice of God

The judgement day is drawing nigh
Where shall I be
When God the work of men shall try
Where shall I be.

When east and west the fire will roll
Where shall I be
How will it be with my poor soul
Where shall I be.

Chorus
Oh, where shall I be
When the first trumpet sounds
Oh, where will I be
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
Oh, where shall I be when it sounds.

When wicked men his wrath shall see
Where shall I be
And to the rocks and mountains flee
Where shall I be.

When hills and mountains wear away
Where shall I be
And all the work of men decay
Where shall I be.

Oh, where shall I be
When the first trumpet sounds
Oh, where shall I be
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
Oh, where shall I be when it sounds.

When the savior reigns from shore to shore
Where shall I be
When God's angry Presence roars
Where shall I be.

Well, I'll be sleeping in my grave
When the first trumpet sounds
I'll be sleeping in my grave
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
I'll be sleeping in my grave when it sounds.

There is great significance to the sound of a trumpet.  When an elephant, the greatest land animal on earth, lifts his trunk and shrieks, it is said that he is trumpeting.  Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl on earth, and their call sounds like a trumpet.  In theater and television, the approach of royalty is heralded by a trumpet fanfare.  But the greatest allusion to a trumpet comes in the book of the Revelation, where John describes the voice of God:

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.  And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

First, let's look at the phrase "door standing open in heaven."  Matthew 3:16 says, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.  At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."  So when heaven is open, we can see God.  Ezekiel 1:1 says, "In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God."  So when heaven is open, we can see visions.  John chapter one tells about Jesus calling the disciple Nathaniel; he had declared that Nathaniel was an Israelite in whom there was no guile.  Nathaniel wondered aloud how Jesus could discern this from just watching him.  But in John 1:51, Jesus replies, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."  So when heaven is opened, we can see visions of angels, with Jesus acting as the Way, or the access to God.  Acts chapter seven describes the stoning of Stephen, and Acts 7:56 says, "Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  So when heaven is opened, we can see Jesus at God's right hand, welcoming home His saints.  Acts chapter ten describes Peter's vision telling him to go preach to the Gentiles.  Acts 10:11 says, "He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners."  So when heaven is open, we can see visions of our shared responsibility with Jesus to grant access to God to all men.  And Revelation 19:11 says, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and makes war."  So in the last days, heaven will stay open, and Jesus, who is called Faithful and True (his eternal nature) will act as a warrior on a white horse, rescuing his elect, and making war against sinners.

Now, let's look at my favorite part.  John said he heard a voice from heaven speaking to him like a trumpet. This simile is repeated in Revelation 1:10: "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet."  Let's follow this melodious thread.

• Exodus 20:18 (when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments) says, "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountains in smoke, they trembled with fear."  Why did they tremble? Maybe because they heard a trumpet so loud it shook the earth.  Maybe it was because they heard the trumpet, but no one in the camp was sounding the trumpets.  Or maybe it was because they heard the trumpet voice saying, "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me..."
• Exodus 19:16-19 gives a prelude to God giving the Ten Commandments.  "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast.  Everyone in the camp trembled.  Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.  The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.  Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
• Deuteronomy 4:36 reminds the people of that great and terrible day at Mount Sinai: "From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you.  On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire."  Did his words sound like a trumpet to them?
• Isaiah 58:1 says, "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.  Raise your voice like a trumpet.  Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins."   When the prophet spoke the words of God, he was encouraged to raise his voice like a trumpet so all could hear.
• Jeremiah 6:17 says, "I appointed watchmen over you and said, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'  But you said, 'We will not listen'."  The watchmen stood on the wall to warn the citizens of danger.  The sound of the trumpet could be the impending approach of an army.  If the watchmen were derelict in their duty, the city could be overtaken and could fall to the enemy.  In the same way, God sets watchmen (prophets, preachers, pastor/teachers) to stand on the wall and warn of spiritual danger.  But if those men will not listen to the voice of God (that sounds like a trumpet to their ears), then the nation will fall to sin and will be destroyed.
• Ezekiel 33:3 and 4 speak of a watchman who does his job, but who is ignored: "And he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head."  The faithful watchman speaks for God, but if his message falls on deaf ears, it is not God's fault, nor the fault of the watchman.  Like the story of a pious man whose house was in a flood.  "God will save me from this flood," he thought as the rains came down and the floodwaters rose ever higher.  A man drifts by on a raft and invites him to join him.  "No," says the pious man.  "God will save me from this flood."  Soon, the Coast Guard sends a speedboat to rescue him.  "No," says the pious man.  "God will save me from this flood."  Finally a helicopter buzzes over his house.  "Grab the rope ladder!"  The pious man shakes his head.  "No, God will save me from this flood."  Eventually the pious man drowns in the flood water.  He is taken up to heaven and stands before God.  "Why didn't you save me from the flood?" he asks.  God answers him, "I tried three times, but you wouldn't take my help."
• Hebrews 12:18-24 describes our hope in God: "You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because  they could not bear what was commanded: 'If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.' The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, 'I am trembling with fear.'  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."  Wow!  What a contrast.  We can either come to God as a frightened sinner, seeing the fire and smoke and darkness and gloom, and listen to the voice of God sounding like a loud trumpet that hurts our ears, so much that we beg it to stop as we tremble with fear before our Creator; or we can approach God with confidence, joining the angels in their praises to the Father, joining other righteous believers who have been made perfect in His presence, joining Jesus who has granted us access to God with his blood that cries out (but in a good way, not like the blood of Abel that cried out to God in an accusing way, causing God to curse Cain and put a mark on his head showing he was cursed--no! the blood of Jesus calls to God, marking us as cleansed and forgiven, free from the bondage of sin.) Amen!

Now let's look at the final phrase: Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.  Revelation 11:12 says, "Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on."  When we are obedient to God, he will bring us to a higher plain, as our enemies watch and wonder.  Revelation 1:19 says, "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later."  I want to pursue this last part in future blog postings; I want to know and understand what will take place later.  Revelation 22:6 says "The angel said to me, 'These words are trustworthy and true.  The Lord, the God of the spirits and of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."  Pick me!!

Where shall I be when the trumpet sounds,
When it sounds so loud till it wakes up the dead,
Tell me where I shall be when the trumpet sounds.
Sinner, please don't let this harvest pass.
Oh, in that judgement day the sinner will run.
Where shall I be when the trumpet sounds,
In that great judgement day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We buried my father last week

Last week my Dad passed away.  His home-going was a relief to his family, as he had suffered for so long.  He wanted some specific things at his funeral--he had it all planned out.  He wanted eulogies from five Baptist preachers, and a long-time friend who is a retired publisher and politician.  Needless to say, it was a long service!

One of the preachers reminded me of a term often used by my Dad to describe someone as uncouth, or an oaf.  He used to tell me, "Get your feet off of the couch, you clod!"  Apparently he used this term to describe many people, not just his immediate family--the preacher said my Dad had called him a clod, too, for some long-forgotten misdeed.  My brother-in-law also reminded me that Dad would sometimes call himself a clod, especially after he would belch.

The preacher used the term "clod" to show how close to the earth we all are.  Man was created from the clay, and Woman was created from flesh.  "All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." (Ecclesiastes 3:20)

It is amazing how we were created.  It is even more amazing that God, the Spiritual Head, would send His Son to live among us clods, us "dust bunnies" to redeem us and make us like Himself.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.  As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15: 42-49)

A seed is a wonderful thing, full of potential.  But it is not capable of realizing that potential until it is covered with dirt and water.  So it is with us; we hold on to the shell, when the glory and honor belong to the imperishable spirit.

At my Dad's home-going celebration, when he lay at the altar of the church, there were no tears.  There was rejoicing and encouragement from everyone who spoke.  It was only at the grave-side, when the family bade him farewell, that we wept for him.  There was dirt and rain; there was flesh and tears.  But we know that he shed the dusty shell, and his spirit dwells with God the Father, the Spiritual Head.

The theology of an atheist

 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. --Hebrews 11:6

Alain de Botton was born in Zurich and now lives in London and is the author of Religion for Atheists.  This essay appeared on NPR on March 16 under the title, "The Wisdom of Faith: What Religion Can Teach Us."

A survey published in the U.K. in January predicted that within 20 years, the majority of the British population will define themselves as having no religion. In the British isles, religion has become something of a sideshow, even a joke. Remember that this is the land that gave us The Life of Brian. Even the BBC has caught on with a satirical series called Rev., about a hapless comedic clergyman who has no faith but has a strong inclination to be good.
Of all the cultural differences between the old world and the new, this is perhaps the greatest. We think it rude to talk of money or sex: you think it rude to bring up religion. In both cases, at issue is what it might take to tread on sensitivities and cause offense. Euphemisms abound in the U.S.: "Do you come from a large family?" for "Are you Catholic?"
And yet, surveying the bitter religious disputes in the U.S., an outsider like me thinks just one phrase: the Jefferson Bible.
One of your greatest presidents famously tried to overcome the divisions between theism and atheism by rewriting the New Testament — with all the supernatural bits left out. Thomas Jefferson's new version emphasized Jesus' wisdom, ethics and consoling power. In so doing, he appealed to the entire nation, even those of different or no faith at all. It was a move of intellectual deftness which I can appreciate: I was brought up an atheist, and while I still don't believe, I've lost my cynicism. Now I long only for Jefferson's spirit of conciliation.
But where is that spirit now?
Unfortunately, recent public discussions on religion in the U.S. have focused obsessively on the most polarizing point of them all — whether or not the whole thing is true: a hardcore swathe of believers pits themselves against an equally strong band of atheists. Think of Christopher Hitchens' and Douglas Wilson's legendary book tours around the Bible Belt, where rallies would take place outside normally sedate lecture halls.
But, Jefferson in mind, I prefer a different tack. To me, the real issue is not whether God exists, but where one takes the argument to once one concludes that he might not. I believe it must be possible to remain an atheist and nevertheless to find religions sporadically useful, interesting and comforting — and be curious as to the possibilities of importing certain of their ideas and practices into the secular realm.
The error of modern atheism has been to overlook how many sides of the faiths remain relevant even after their central tenets have been dismissed. Once we stop feeling that we must either prostrate ourselves before them or denigrate them, we can discover their occasionally ingenious concepts.
Ultimately, atheists need to rescue some of what is beautiful from all that no longer seems true. With Jefferson's example before us, I propose that the wisdom of the faiths belongs to all of mankind, even the most rational among us, and deserves to be selectively reabsorbed by the supernatural's greatest enemies.
As your great president knew, religions are intermittently too useful, effective and intelligent to be abandoned to the religious alone.

Now, with all due respect to Mr. de Botton, his sentiment is naive at best, and dangerous at worst.  It appears that he is no longer a true atheist, but rather an agnostic, open to "truths" from all religions, and rejecting those that one cannot prove--the definition of agnostic is one who cannot know, or is "without knowledge" of the supernatural.  But more to his point about wanting to open up a dialogue between atheists and the religious sounds very much like Rodney King asking, "Why can't we just get along?"

To take his premise to its logical conclusion: if everyone would just realize that there is no god, then there would be less violence in the world--no sectarian strife, no religious wars, no Crusades--and on the flip side there would be less reason for atheists to be belligerent in their arguments.  Then men would be free to take the best from every tradition, and assimilate those traditions into our daily lives, without prejudice or bigotry or strife, because ultimately there would be no one alive to say, "you are wrong."

Respectfully, Mr. de Botton, you are wrong.

Let's examine your statement, "To me, the real issue is not whether God exists, but where one takes the argument to once one concludes that he might not."  I propose that if there is no God, then there is no goodness, no hope.  If there is no God, then there is no truth, and no accountability.  If there is no God, then there is no order to the universe, and we are left with chaos.

No God, no Good; without Him, no Hope
C.S. Lewis, himself a reformed atheist, wrote, "This is the fix we are in. If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion."

What would be the point of assimilating religious traditions into society without acknowledging the God of that religion?  Wouldn't that be an empty exercise?  Let's reduce the Ten Commandments to just Eight, because the first two deal with the authority of God.  So all we are left with are platitudes--do not lie, do not steal, do not kill.  But without the moral authority of God, why would we follow those rules?  If there is no Supreme Being, then there is no ultimate consequence to my lying, or stealing, or killing.  It's every man for himself.  Sure, the society I live in may imprison me, lock me up away from the general population, but not because I have committed a "crime", but because it is in their interest to do so--to protect persons and property from theft and murder.  There are no more morals, but rather societal norms.  Emptiness.  Loneliness. Suspicion.  It's a wonder more people don't go "off the grid".

To that point, C. S. Lewis said this: "My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning"

Atheists accept no accountability, as there is no Absolute Truth
Robert Laidlaw has written, "God exists whether or not men may choose to believe in Him. The reason why many people do not believe in God is not so much that it is intellectually impossible to believe in God, but because belief in God forces that thoughtful person to face the fact that he is accountable to such a God."  C.S. Lewis wrote, "If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be; if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives him no help at all."

If there is no Absolute Truth, then it is every man for himself.  But as William Murray says, "Humanism or atheism is a wonderful philosophy of life as long as you are big, strong, and between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. But watch out if you are in a lifeboat and there are others who are younger, bigger, or smarter."  And that leads to my final point.

Without God, we are left with chaos
Douglas Wilson wrote: "If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions… … Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else."

Peter Kreeft said, "Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance. But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don't wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys. Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe? Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist. At this point we need a psychological explanation of the atheist rather than a logical explanation of the universe."  And that is ultimately the point.  Somebody once said that the atheist can't find God for the same reason that a thief can't find a policeman.  Rejecting God is a conscious act.  You must want to believe.  It takes faith to be an atheist.

It is much easier to have faith in something rather than to place your faith in nothing.  It is like trying to prove a negative--it is very hard to do.  You read the children's nursery rhyme "the cow jumped over the moon," and you say, "That can't happen."  But if I say "prove it," you can only show by your own experience that you have never seen, in your own experience, a cow jump over the moon.  You may even say that in your own research, in books, magazines, periodicals, and even on the internet, that you have not seen any other eye-witness accounts of an actual cow jumping over the moon.  But that proves nothing.  You have to know the physical limitations of cows, how they are created, to come to the conclusion that it is impossible for a cow to jump that high.  Then why is it so easy to say that God does not exist?  Prove it! "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'." (Psalm 14:1)

So no, Mr. de Botton, Jefferson did not make the world a better place by removing all evidence of the Divine from the New Testament.  That is not something to emulate in all of society.  Rather, the purpose of the Church is to invite debate, and to show the World the ultimate Truth.  For those who reject the Truth, they are free to live as they please.  But again quoting C.S. Lewis, "The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded."

A beautiful tapestry with intertwining threads--joy, grief, faith & revelation

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and  honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. --(1 Peter 1: 6-9)

Joy, even through suffering; faith, even in what has not yet been revealed; salvation, the ultimate prize worth keeping the faith and the source of our joy.  These are the threads Peter weaves through his narrative.  It's as if Peter has so many ideas in his mind that his head is about to explode, and the tapestry that is left is what we read in this passage.

"In this..." verse 6 starts with a reference back to the threads he was talking about in verses 3-5: through mercy we have been given a new birth, and that new birth makes hope alive in us; we have hope because Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  This mercy also allows us to share an inheritance, sealed by God--imperishable, kept in heaven for us.  We, the heirs of God, by faith are protected by God's power until his salvation is fully revealed.  Whew! Are you following this?  So whether the "this" refers to mercy, new birth, living hope, resurrection, God's inheritance, heaven or salvation, we have no choice but to ..."greatly rejoice."

"Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."  The days, weeks, months, or years that we grieve in this life pale in comparison to an eternity with God in heaven.  Romans 5:3 says, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance."  Note that in this verse Paul did not say we rejoice because of our sufferings, but in our sufferings--he does not advocate a morbid view of life, but a joyous and triumphant one.  James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."  The same Greek root word lies behind the word "trials" here and the word "tempted" later in the text--one represents difficulties from outside us; the other refers to inner moral trials such as temptation to sin.  But Peter doesn't dwell on the suffering of trials and temptations; he encourages us to rejoice.

"These have come..."  Again, "these" in verse 7 refers back to the trials in verse 8.  "...so that your faith...may be proved genuine."  Have you ever known anyone with a genuine faith?  I guarantee they didn't get there without going through a living hell.  Peter says this kind of faith is worth more than gold, "which perishes even though refined by fire."  What happens to gold when it is put in a crucible? It runs.  It takes a liquid form and does not stand.  But through Christ the faithful can stand through the fire, just like Shadrach, Meschak and Abednego.  Remember the story? These three faithful Hebrew men refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar, so he had them thrown into the fiery furnace.  Not only that, but he was so angry that he asked his attendants to increase the heat seven times hotter than usual.  But after the men were thrown in, and the soldiers who threw them in died because of the heat, "King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, 'Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like the Son of God.' "

If you read my last blog entry, the one about Solomon dedicating the Temple, you might remember I Kings 8:51, "For they are your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace." Moses, who led them out of Egypt, is revered and given honor even now.  Peter says your faith, too, "may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."  Yes, we will praise the Son of God when He comes back to Earth, but He also will give us honor, saying "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Won't that be exciting! 

Peter now segues into a dissertation on the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Verse 8 says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him."  Why? Because he is God.  How do we know? By faith.  See how these threads continue to intertwine?  "Even though you do not see him now, you believe in him."  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul concludes his chapter on the subject of love this way: "Now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  Peter describes our love borne of faith in Him and the hope of salvation in this way: "you believe in him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."  Remember your first love? How you felt when that person entered the room?  Nothing else mattered--your beloved was there.

Peter had been in the room when Jesus appeared to Thomas, the doubting disciple.  John 20:29 says, "Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe'."  John 3:15 says, "that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."  John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will  not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  Genesis 15:6 says, "Abram belived the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."  Romans 4:11 says, "And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.  So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them."  Hebrews 11: 7 says, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”  How rich are the scriptures when they speak of faith leading to righteousness.  Maybe this is what Peter was thinking when he wrote verse 9: "For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Isn't that what it's all about? That is why we put up with the sufferings of this life; that is why we rejoice.  Faith, like gold, must be purified in the fire, but results in genuineness and purity.  By our genuine and pure faith, we see Jesus revealed in us to a dying world.

What a friend we have in Jesus, 
 all our sins and griefs to bear! 
 What a privilege to carry 
 everything to God in prayer! 
 O what peace we often forfeit,
 O what needless pain we bear, 
 all because we do not carry 
 everything to God in prayer. 
 

 Have we trials and temptations? 
 Is there trouble anywhere? 
 We should never be discouraged; 
 take it to the Lord in prayer. 
 Can we find a friend so faithful 
 who will all our sorrows share? 
 Jesus knows our every weakness; 
 take it to the Lord in prayer. 

 Are we weak and heavy laden, 
 cumbered with a load of care? 
 Precious Savior, still our refuge; 
 take it to the Lord in prayer. 
 Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? 
 Take it to the Lord in prayer! 
 In his arms he'll take and shield thee; 
 thou wilt find a solace there.

A Person, A People, A Prophetic Prediction

"Teacher,which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the  Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." --Matthew 22: 35-40

One of the greatest sermons delivered in the Old Testament is found in 1 Kings chapter 8.  Solomon  has completed his work on the Temple, a permanent House of God, where men could go and meet Him face to face.  Solomon called all the people together for a dedication service, and this is what he said:

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.  You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is today.

Now Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you have made to him when you said, "You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done."  And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

But will God really dwell on earth?  The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.  How much less this temple that I have built!  Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God.  Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day.  May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, "My Name shall be there," so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.  Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place.  Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act.  Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done.  Declare to the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence.

When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.

When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because  you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel.  Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

When famine or plague comes to this land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel--each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple--then hear from heaven, your dwelling place.  Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name--for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm--when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, "we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly"; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.  And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; for they are your people and your inheritance, whom  you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.  For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O Sovereign Lord, brought our fathers out of Egypt.

 Wow! What a prayer for God's people.  All those who heard Solomon's words could hear his heart, how he loved the people, and how he yearned for them to follow God's ways.  But he knew our failures; he could predict our falling short even before it happened.

In the first paragraphs of this sermon, we hear of the attributes of God--He keeps His promises; He has made a covenant with us, a promise or contract, that He will not break; this covenant of His is not to keep us enslaved to Him, but rather it is "a covenant of love" (verse 23); and most importantly, if we, as the weaker partner, fail to keep up our end of the bargain, the covenant may be suspended, but it will not be revoked: over and over again, Solomon predicts that man will fall short, but his prayer is that God will restore the covenant as soon as our hearts are made right with Him.

• When we commit a wrong against our neighbor (verse 31).  Wise Solomon knew that a man's interest would sometimes clash with the interest of another man.  Even if we try to do the right thing, someone might get hurt.  But if we allow God to be our judge, He will show us a better way.
• When we are defeated by the enemy (verse 33).  In his own mind, Solomon was probably thinking in military terms: he knew that their nation had enemies, and that at some point in time their enemies might be stronger than their nation.  This is not slighting God--even God's people would be defeated by other peoples; but God will never be defeated by other people's gods.  Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  God knows we will fall into sin; yet He stands ready to forgive and rescue us from spiritual bondage, if only we will "turn back to You and confess Your Name, praying and making supplication to You." (I Kings 8:33).
• When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain (verse 35).  Again, Solomon was probably thinking of periods of drought, that naturally occur over time.  At those times, the people could pray to God for rain, and if they brought their umbrellas (believing with all their hearts and minds that God would answer their prayers and send rain), then God would respond.  But the spiritual application is no less true: when we, as travelers in a foreign land, experience spiritual drought; when it seems like the blessings of God have been turned off from the source; or when through our own choices we find ourselves far from God and outside of His protection--these are the times when we should pray with all our hearts and minds and souls, so that our thirst for Him is quenched, and our need for blessing is met.  Just as we will die without water, our spirits crave fellowship with His Holy Spirit.  Whether the famine is sent by God as a test, or if it is self-inflicted, the solution is the same: call out to God, openly and honestly, without reservation.
• Whatever disaster or disease may come (verse 37).  Solomon gets very specific here: he says in verse 38 that each of us is aware of the affliction of our own heart.  What gets you down may not affect me; what knocks me to my knees may just brush past you.  But in every case, the solution is the same.  In our humbled state, we can only lift our hands to the Father.  And our Father, who knows the hearts of all men (verse 39) will respond rightly.  He knows whether we are sincere in our repentance.  He knows when we are sorry only that we got caught, or when it is all for show, or if we are only getting caught up in the moment.  Yes, we are only human; but God will always keep his covenant with us, because He loves us.
• When the foreigner has come from a distant land (verse 41).  Praise God, the covenant is not just available to the Jews, but through Jesus is offered to all men.  We are all offered to be a participant in the covenant blessing.  If we choose not to participate, He will not force us, but will instead allow us to live in an eternity without Him.  But if we do choose to participate in His covenant, we are covered by the Blood of the Lamb, that takes away the sin of the world.
• When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them (verse 44).  Solomon was probably thinking in military terms.  Some of you may have friends or family members in the military, or some of you may have even felt the call to service to your country.  Take heart in this verse.  For the rest of us, whatever enemy we face, whatever task we are sent to do, we have the grace by God's power to overcome.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.  For those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who can bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:29-35, 37-39).

• When they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin (verse 46).  Romans 3:23 re-states this truth: "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."  But Romans 6:23 gives the solution: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Solomon intercedes for the people in his prayer of supplication.  I Kings 8:47 says "if they have a change of heart...and repent and plead with you...and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly' ": verse 48 says, "if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul...and pray to you"; verses 49 and 50 say, "then from heaven, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.  And forgive your people who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you...show them mercy."  This, then, is the solution for our sin.  Sin separates us from God, but God provides a path to mercy and forgiveness.
• May your eyes be open...and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you (verse 52).  Here is the best part--no matter how far away from God we find ourselves, He sees us; no matter how isolated we feel, He hears us.  All we have to do is call on Him in faith.

After Solomon had prayed this prayer in the hearing of all the people, he stood up and faced the people and raised his hands out over all of the people and made this benediction:

Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised.  Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.  May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us or forsake us.  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees, and regulations he gave our fathers.  And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.  But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time. (I Kings 8:56-61).

Amen.