Blessings from God and from His word

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. --Matthew 5:6

One of the earliest prayers uttered by a child might be, "God bless Mommy and Daddy."  This simple supplication might be the purest expression of both faith and love--entreating the Almighty (the Giver of life and Creator of all things) for favor and happiness to those whom the child holds most dear.

This simple word "bless" holds a great deal of meaning.  After all, who among us does not want to be blessed?  According to The Discovery Bible by HELPS Ministries, the biblical definition of the word "blessed" comes from the Greek word makários.  This describes a believer as being in an enviable position for receiving God's provisions (favor)--as being an extension of His grace.

When Jesus began His public ministry, one of His first soliloquies is called The Sermon On The Mount, and it begins with what we call The Beatitudes (see Matthew 5:1-12).  Jesus listed nine ways to pursue the blessings of God and happiness in His holiness.  We must remember, however, that instruction in the blessings of God did not begin with Jesus.  Many references to blessed living are found in the Old Testament; 25 of them are in the Psalms alone.

Today we want to examine Psalm 1, the first of perhaps many devotions to be found on this platform from the Psalms.  This chapter starts with the same phrase as the Beatitudes: "Blessed are."  However, the instruction that follows is a negative command, as in "thou shalt not."  It lists ways to avoid wickedness, for, as we will see in a few minutes, the wicked are not blessed.

The holiness and happiness of the Heaven-bound--Psalm 1:1-3

Let's read what the Scripture says.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields it's fruit in season, and it's leaf does not wither.  In all that he does he prospers.

 Actions To Avoid

Please note the three main verbs in this warning, especially the natural progression.  When dealing with the wicked world, walking in their counsel is dangerous, for it may lead to standing in the way of sinners.  "Going along to get along" may lead not just to our associating with sinful people, but becoming like them, listening to them and becoming like them.  Soon, we may be in danger of the third peril listed, sitting with those who scoff at Christians, and by extension, their Christ.  

C.S. Lewis, in his Reflections on the Psalms (1958), writes, "I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful, and so forth.  Not because we are 'too good' for them.  In a sense because we are not good enough. We are not good enough to cope with all the temptations, nor clever enough to cope with all the problems, which an evening spent in such society produces.  The temptation is to condone, to connive at; by our words, looks and laughter, to 'consent'."

You may counter that we are to be like Jesus, and that Jesus ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners of all stripes.  The difference here is two-fold: first, we are not Jesus; and second, Jesus did not condone the sins of those He sat with.  To the first point, as Lewis pointed out, we are much more prone to be drawn into worldly thinking and sinful conduct than Jesus was.  To the second, the world may look at us, as the Pharisees looked at Jesus, accusingly.  "This man eats with publicans and sinners," was an accusation levied against Christ to get the people to turn away from Him.  Anybody who listened to Jesus preach knew that His aim was to call those "sinners" to repentance, to leave their sinful ways.  We may also preach the same message, but guilt by association is so much easier to convey these days.  What do you think when you see a photo of a Christian evangelist with a notorious criminal, womanizer, pornographer, or atheist?  Photos were not available in first century Rome when Jesus lived, much less all the print and electronic media available today.  Guilt by association is so much easier to come by in the 21st century.

Attitudes We Aspire To

Rather than spend our time with sinful people, we should set our minds on higher things.  Psalm 119:9 and 11 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word.  I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

Again, from C.S. Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms:

In chapter 1 verse 2 we are told that the good man's 'delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he will exercise himself day and night'.  To 'exercise himself' in it apparently does not mean to obey it (though of course a good man will do that too) but to study it, as Dr. Moffatt says to 'pore over it.'  Of course 'the Law' does not here mean simply the ten commandments, it means the whole complex legislation (religious, moral, civil, criminal, and even constitutional) contained in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  The man who 'pores upon it' is obeying Joshua's command (Josh. 1:8), 'the book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.'  This means, among other things, that the Law was a study, or we should say, a 'subject'; a thing on which there would be commentaries, lectures, and examinations.  There were.  Thus part of what an ancient Jew meant when he said he 'delighted in the Law' was very like what one of us would mean if he said that somebody 'loved' history, or physics, or archaeology."

Do you remember your favorite subject in school?  I'm not talking about the one with the prettiest teacher on whom you had your first crush.  I mean the subject which you couldn't get enough of.  You couldn't wait to get to class, and after class you might look for other sources on the subject.  According to the Psalmist, in order to be good (meaning to avoid being wicked) and to ultimately be blessed, we must make Scripture reading our favorite pastime.  If we love Jesus, we will read more of His words.  The more we read the words of Jesus, the more we find that He often quoted the Old Testament.  The more we read the Old Testament, the more we realize that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law.  Praise God for His unspeakable gift! 

We are to be grounded, rooted like a mature tree, bearing much fruit.  If we stand near the source of pure water (the water of the word, Ephesians 5:26), our "leaf does not wither" and we are assured success in our  spiritual life.  There is then no chance of a non-believer accusing us of associating with sinful men, or of being "inclusive" of their sinful ways.

The Woeful Way of the Wicked--Psalm 1:4-5

Let's go back to our text.

The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff that the wind drives away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Poetically the psalmist uses a parallel idea with verse one.  The righteous and blessed man is to avoid walking with world, because the world is blown about by "every wind of doctrine." (Ephesians 4:14).  They are not guided by the Truth, but define truth within themselves with absolutely no moral compass.  We are not to stand with sinners, because sinners will not stand in the judgment.  We are not to sit with scoffers, because sinners would never sit in our congregation.

As C.S. Lewis wrote, "What makes this contact with wicked people so difficult is that to handle the situation successfully requires not merely good intentions, even with humility and courage thrown in; it may call for social and even intellectual talents which God has not given to us.  It is therefore not self-righteousness but mere prudence to avoid it when we can.  The Psalmists were not wrong when they described the good man as avoiding 'the seat of the scornful' and fearing to consort with the ungodly lest he should 'eat of' (shall we say, laugh at, admire, approve, justify?) 'such things as please them'.  As usual in their attitude, with all its dangers, there is a core of very good sense.  'Lead us not into temptation' often means, among other things, 'Deny me those gratifying invitations, those highly interesting contacts, that participation in the brilliant movements of our age, which I so often, at risk, desire'." 

The Justice and Judgment of God

Let's read the final verse of Psalm 1, verse 6

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

The wicked are not like a tree, firmly planted by streams of water.  They are dried up husks, mere chaff driven away by the wind.  When Jesus spoke of separating the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12), He foretold the judgment awaiting the wicked.  "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  Wheat and chaff both are grown on the same stalk.  How much better to be fruitful, useful, nutritious wheat than to be useless chaff, of no benefit to anyone. 

God knows your heart.  Do not lean your heart to sinful ways or sinful men.  "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33), and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).  Make the study of Scripture be your favorite subject.

 

Blessing like water

 

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my blessing on your descendants.  They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.  --Isaiah 44:3-4

Water is essential to life.  Cities are built beside lakes and rivers for a reason.  Wells are dug beside farmhouses for a reason.  Desert caravans follow paths that lead from oasis to oasis for a reason.  What is that reason? Because water is a blessing.

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is given a vision of the heavenly temple.  Starting in chapter 40, Ezekiel is led by a tour guide whose identity is kept secret, but who could have been an angel or even the pre-incarnate Christ.  The tour guide gives the dimensions, and paints a beautiful picture of the house of God.  Of particular interest is the eastern gate of the Temple, because in chapter 43 this is where the Lord stands.  "And behold," he says in verse 2, "the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east.  And the sound of His coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory."  

Take note here, because he describes the glory of the Lord using multiple senses.  Not only could he see God's glory as light, but he could hear God coming.  What did it sound like?  Like rushing water.

No man could enter the Temple from the east gate, because that was where God was (see chapter 46).  I could go on, but I want to get to my favorite passage, Ezekiel 47:1-12.

The Source of Blessing 

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east).  The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.  Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold the water was trickling out on the south side.  --Ezek 47:1-2

The water began to flow from the east gate of the temple, where we have already seen is the throne of God.  God created all things, including water that in this passage signifies blessings poured out from His holy presence.  Jeremiah 14:22 says, "Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God?  Therefore we hope in You, for You are the One who has done all these things." 

The Scope of Blessing

Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.  Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep.  Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist deep.  Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen.  It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.  And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?"  Then he led me back to the bank of the river.  --Ezek 47:3-6

Ezekiel's tour guide led him through the water at intervals of about 500 yards, and each time the water was a little deeper.  An obvious parallel is that the further we follow Jesus, the deeper His blessings become.  At the end of the measuring, the water was deep enough to swim in, but flowing so fast it was impassable.  Can you imagine the blessings of God so deep and so wide that it is difficult to take it all in?  It is easy to see with the eyes of faith.  Take a good, long look at your life.  If you have food and clothes and shelter, you are blessed. If you have friends and loved ones, you are blessed.  If you can see and hear and smell and touch, you are blessed.  Not a day goes by that all these blessings come at you, fast and furious.

Do you want to know how I know God is bigger than our problems?  Because He is with us in the big middle of it all. James 5:13-16 says "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

The Sway of Blessing

There is an old hymn that goes like this:

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I'd rather be His than have riches untold
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land

I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

Than to be the king of a vast domain
And be held in sin's dread sway
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today

When it uses the word "sway", it is a poetic word meaning "influence", but it is more than that.  One can say in a court of law that a certain witness helped sway the jury.  Let's look at our text and consider how the blessings of God sway us.

As I went, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.  And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.  And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish.  For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.  Fishermen will stand beside the sea.  From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets.  Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.  And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food.  Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary.  Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." --Ezek 47:7-12

This is the influence of God's blessing: cleansing, food, and healing.  Wherever God's blessing goes, it is made cleaner.  It's easy to imagine the cleaning of the air after a rain.  It's easy to see the cleansing of people or things that are washed with clean water.  It is not easy to imagine fresh water cleaning the salt out of the sea.  How can this be?  It is the same as the heart change of a sinner turned saint.  God's blessings can change people at their very essence.  He can change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

What about those who reject the blessing of God He so freely offers?  Look back at verse 11: "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.  What does that mean?  To be left for salt means being left desolate.  Psalm 107:33-34 says, "He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants." Jeremiah 17:5-6 says "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabitable salt land."

Do not dwell in the swamp or the marsh.  Do not think you can live unclean, because the water may not always be there.  In a drought, the swamp becomes desert, and the marsh becomes a salt land.  Without the blessing of God that flows like a river, you will be desolate, alone, withing for death.  Remember the parable Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus?  Lazarus was blessed, even though he was poor and without possessions or wealth.  When he died, he went to heaven.  The rich man died without the blessing of God.  And what was his desire? "Have mercy on me," he said, "and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." (Luke 16:24). 

Get up, let God wash you and make you clean.  Take advantage of the blessing of God before it is too late.  Ephesians 5:26-27 says this about the Church: "That He might sanctify her (the Church), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

 

Of sheep, and goats

 

And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord.  --Ezekiel 34:31

A classic barbershop quartet song speaks about an adventurous goat owned by a man named Bill Grogan.  If you have heard it, you may sing it in your head every time you read it:

Bill Grogan’s goat,
Was feeling fine.
Ate three red shirts,
Right off the line.

Bill took a stick,
Gave him a whack,
And tied that goat,
To the railroad track.

The whistle blew,
The train grew nigh,
Bill Grogan’s goat,
Was doomed to die.

He heaved a sigh,
Of awful pain,
Coughed up the shirts,
And flagged the train!

Yes, goats are adventurous and curious, and those traits sometimes cause them to eat things they shouldn't.  While sheep like to graze on grass and clover, keeping their heads down, goats prefer leaves, twigs, and shrubs.  Because of their agility, they will often stand up on their hind legs to reach the tops of plants. Coupled with their curious and inquisitive nature, their liking for anything they can get in their mouths often gives them a bad name.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the differences between sheep and goats.  The Bible surely makes a distinction, often equating sheep with God's chosen and preferred people, and goats with evil-doers, sinners, and those left behind on the last day.  One of the distinctions, obviously, is diet.  Is it any wonder, then, that one of the identifying marks of God's people in the Old Testament was their diet?  Kosher dietary laws prohibit Jews, God's chosen people, from eating anything and everything.  It's one of the things that sets them apart.

There are other differences between sheep and goats.  Aside from their genetic make-up (sheep have 54 chromosomes, goats have 60), there are four distinct, observable differences between the two animals.  Without belaboring the point, I want to show a correlation with the physical and spiritual differences outlined in Scripture.

First, an obvious outward sign is the tail.  A goat's tail points up.  A sheep's tail hangs down.  It is usually cropped or shortened for health and sanitary reasons.  A shepherd that cares for the sheep will cut off the tail because he cares for the sheep, and this is usually done when the sheep is young.

In the Old Testament, an identifying mark of His people was circumcision.  It was a physical alteration done, some might say, for health and sanitary reasons.  God, who cared deeply for His people, ordered the practice to set His people apart, and it was usually done when the baby was very young.  Romans 2:25-29 says, "For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the Law, but if you break the Law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.  So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  Then he he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but breaks the Law.  For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.  His praise is not from man but from God."

A second outward difference is the glands.  Goats have glands in the tail which emit a strong odor during rutting (mating) season.  The purpose is sexual, to attract a mate and procreate.  Sheep, on the other hand, have glands on their feet.  Their scent can be followed by others who keep their heads down, who search deeply and earnestly.  Romans 10:14-15 says, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"

I had always thought of 2 Corinthians 2:14 in terms of a conquering Roman parade, leading the procession with the captives trailing behind.  "But thanks be to God," it says, "who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere."  How different it is to think not of a conquering general, but of a gentle shepherd, who leads His sheep out of harm's way.  Because a sheep's glands are on its feet, the fragrance of the knowledge of the Good Shepherd is spread with every step.

A third physical difference is the wool.  Goats are covered in hair that does not need grooming or shearing.  Goats are independent in that way, but they are selfish, too.  Sheep need to be shorn every year or so to keep them healthy.  This accomplishes two things at once:  First, it means a dependence upon the Shepherd.  A sheep cannot shear himself, nor can he count on other sheep to help him in this way.  Second, it is for the benefit of the Shepherd that wool is harvested and sold.  The wool is made into clothing to cover others, and to keep them warm.

When cleaned thoroughly, wool is often bright white.  In Scripture, it can symbolize purity.  Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  Daniel 7:9 says, "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire."

A fourth physical difference is found in the eyes.  A goat does not have tear ducts, but a sheep does.  Goats must keep debris out of their eyes in other ways, while sheep can wash their eyes clean.  Humanly, tears denote sadness, shame, and emotional distress.  Spiritually dead people show no emotion.  

Ezekiel 11:19 describes a spiritual awakening. "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Fred Rogers died of stomach cancer in 2003.  He read scripture in the hospital, the story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.  His last words before slipping into a coma were when he asked his wife, "Do you think I'm a sheep?"

I have been reading Ezekiel in my daily Bible readings.  Over the first 33 chapters, Ezekiel preached the wrath of God toward Israel and other nations.  But in the 34th chapter, the tone changes.  "For thus says the Lord God," he writes in verse 11, "Behold I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out."  He will look for those with physical differences, who are marked for His service.  He will look for those He cares deeply about, even those who may have suffered short term pain for His glory.  He will look for those who leave a pleasing odor wherever their feet step.  He will look for those who humbly submit to Him, and who share of themselves with others.  He will look for those who sincerely repent with tears deep from the heart, not those with a heart of stone.

Why did Ezekiel spend so long preaching against the nation of Israel?  Because they had intermingled with the other nations, nations who were genetically different from them.  Most of the time, sheep and goats cannot mate, at least not with any success.  I read one online article that said when sheep and goats hybrids are created in a lab, they are called chimeras.  A chimera is a mythological creature that combines parts taken from several different animals.  God meted out His divine discipline, as prophesied through Ezekiel, to His sheep that had taken on too many characteristics of her neighbors.

"Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?" (Ezekiel 34:18).  Be set apart, true to your calling.  Be in the world, but not of the world.  Follow the Good Shepherd, not the siren song of sin.  "My sheep hear my voice."

Being hardheaded

 

But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, or they are not willing to listen to Me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.  Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.  Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead.  Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.  --Ezekiel 3:7-9

 Author and business leadership guru Peter Drucker once wrote, "Over the years I have made a career out of studying the most challenging management roles out there.  After all of that I am now convinced the two most difficult jobs in the world are these—one, to be President of the United States, and two, to be the leader of a church."

It's easy to compare the two. The US President makes half the nation mad at him with every decision he makes, gets many of his quotes taken out of context, and just about everyone thinks they could do a better job.  A Pastor or church leader is criticized and misquoted and belittled in much the same way.  The President is elected by the people, overseen by Congress, limited by the Courts and bound by the Constitution.  A Pastor is called by God, managed by a Board of Elders or Deacons, hemmed in by a limited budget, and bound by the Bible.

When God called Ezekiel to take His message to the nation of Israel in Ezekiel 3, he warned that the people were going to be hard-headed.  God told Ezekiel to stand his ground, to be even harder-headed in defense of the Word of God.  "Behold," He says to Ezekiel in verse 8, "I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads."  The point is emphasized again in verse 9.  "Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead."

The word translated "emery" in the English Standard Version is difficult to convey in English.  You all know that an emery board is a kind of nail file.  Emery is made with a mixture of corundum and magnetite, used for polishing, smoothing, or grinding.  This translation conveys the purpose, but not the true meaning.  The New King James Version translates this word with an archaic term, "adamant stone."  This term refers to a legendary rock or mineral to which many, often contradictory, properties were attributed, formerly associated with diamond or lodestone.  We now know that diamond is the hardest naturally occurring mineral on earth.  In essence, God is telling Ezekiel that the people have hard heads, but I'm making yours harder, so that you can withstand their falsehoods and wear them down with God's truth.

This is what a Pastor is called to do: preach the Gospel, and stand for Truth.  It may not be popular in this day and age to take a Biblical stand against abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and a host of other sins, but a true minister of the Gospel will hold up Biblical standards.  To do so will undoubtedly hold him up to ridicule, which is why Spurgeon said a Pastor must have thick skin.

Many Pastors try to grow the congregation by pandering to people or watering down the Gospel message. They measure success by the size of their congregation rather than the adherence to the word of God.  Megachurch pastors who preach about "living your best life now" are described in Ezekiel 13:10-14

Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, "Peace" when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall!  There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out.  And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, "Where is the coating with which you smeared it?"  Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.  And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare.  When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

If you try to sugarcoat the Bible, it is like putting whitewash on a condemned building.  It may look good on the outside, but inside it is rotten; when it tumbles, what good will the whitewash be?  A good coat of paint will not hold up a collapsing building.  If God calls your Pastor to tell you the building is collapsing, wouldn't you rather have a leader who will tear down the rotten substructure and help you rebuild it from the ground up?  Yet the world loves to hear a message that tickles the ears.  They prefer to be fed pabulum rather than the hard truth. 

Lest we forget the heart of God, we must remember that God is gracious.  His purpose is to rid us of sin, not to obliterate us completely.  There is always a remnant, a small group of faithful men and women who are chosen by God to take His message to the next generation.  Ezekiel 11:17-20 speaks to this.  He gave this message to Ezekiel, the one He called to Pastor His people:

Therefore say, "Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the  peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."  And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.  And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

We are heard headed and hardhearted, obstinate and impudent.  God may have to call a harder man to wear us down, to break the chains that weigh on us, but His purpose is redemptive.  He wants to replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.  He wants to take away our hardhearted nature and replace it with a tenderheartedness so He can have fellowship with us.

Support your local Pastor.  If he is doing what God has called him to do, he will get enough push-back from outside the church; he doesn't need to get grief from within the church too.

Doing the work of the Holy Spirit

 

Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?  --Amos 3:3 (Berean Standard Bible)

Last month my sister was watching her two grandsons, while visiting with the boys' other grandmother.  The conversation drifted to preparations for the upcoming Thanksgiving celebrations.  "What are you having for Thanksgiving?" the woman asked innocently.  

"Well," my sister sighed.  "This past year my brother and his wife moved to Wisconsin.  My niece and nephew moved to Colorado.  Both of my children got divorced.  I'm not sure that Thanksgiving dinner will be anything like I wanted it to be."

The other woman smiled meekly.  "I meant what will you be serving?"

The past year may have been a trial for you, as well.  Maybe you lost a loved one, or lost a job, or had problems with health or finances or had any number of other issues.  in John 16:33, Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

This morning I attended a men's prayer breakfast, and the young pastor read 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ out comfort overflows. (Berean Standard Bible).  

 There are two themes in these three verses: suffering, and comfort.  We all know about suffering.  The Greek words used for "troubles" and "sufferings" can mean tribulation, affliction, trouble, anguish, persecution, and burdens.  In short, sin's curse leaves us in a world of hurt.

Praise be to God, those of us who know Him also know His comfort.  The Greek word translated "comfort" comes from the root word parakaleō, "to comfort", or the noun form paraklēsis, meaning consolation, exhortation, or comfort.  It brings with it the idea of coming alongside.  

In fact, the same root word is used for the Holy Spirit.  Jesus called Him "the Comforter" or paraklētos. The idea of a "paraclete" is one that comes alongside to be a helper.  It also carries with it the idea of an advocate, pleading our case before a judge or higher authority.

Read our text again.  "Blessed be God...the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort."  When we have trouble, when we need comfort, our souls reach out to God, who is our source of consolation.  Jesus said to His disciples, "My yoke is easy."  Animals in a double yoke are forced to walk the same directions, so they can pull the load together.  If we are yoked together with Christ, He will help us bear the burden, provided we do not try to go our own way.

If we submit our wills to Him and walk with Him daily, He will bear our burdens.  Similarly, we are called to walk alongside others, to encourage them and give them hope and comfort.  This does not mean we should be led astray by them--rather, we should show them the Way.  We can do the work of the Holy Spirit best when we help bear one another's burdens, submitting to the will of God and agreeing to walk in His ways.

We can also do the work of the Holy Spirit if we pray for one another.  Romans 8:26 says, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."  As we intercede for other people, we are helping them in their weakness by advocating to the Father on their behalf.

Paul's advice to a young pastor in 1 Timothy 2:1 includes praying for others.  "First of all, then," he says, "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people."  Isn't that what the Holy Spirit does for us?  We can be a comfort to other people in their suffering by praying for them.  There is no better way to exhort one another than to truthfully tell someone that you are praying for them.

James 5:16 says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."  That power comes from the Holy Spirit as we do His work with Him.  We cannot prevail over sin, suffering or strife without His help, and the help of other people.  Lift up one another, therefore, so that in so doing we can walk in the way of God the Father, in the grace of Jesus the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Auspicious Mark

 

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.   --Song of Solomon 8:6.

I have never been to an Indian wedding, but I have heard that Hindu brides make elaborate markings on their bodies in preparation for the wedding.  Getting a henna tattoo, or mendhi adorned on her palms and feet means much more than basic tradition: it is marked as the symbol of solah shringar, which means, "the auspicious mark."

If you have ever been to a traditional wedding setting in India or seen one, you would notice how henna plays a significant role in their marital bliss. The night before the wedding, a Mehndi ceremony takes place. All the guests from both families gather in the home of where the bride and the groom will live, in all dressed in an attire called the “binalli” while the bride puts on a red veil. According to their belief, the darker the henna the more love develops in their marriage. Either a Mehndi artist or a relative applies intricate designs on the bride’s palms and feet while the names of the groom are somewhere hidden in the mehndi designs. (Guardian Nigeria, 27 September, 2020)

No one knows for sure when this Hindu tradition started, but it may have its roots in ancient Middle Eastern religions.  In fact, the prophet Isaiah alludes to it in our text today:

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!  FOr the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted.  But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." 

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.  --Isaiah 49:13-16

The majority of commentaries I consulted said that this idea of "engraving" on the hand refers to tattooing.  This indelible marking means that every time He raises His hand to do anything, the image and name of His people are visible to Him.  Perhaps this gives new meaning to John 10:28-30:  "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."

His grasp on us, His people, is not tenuous.  His hold on us is not like an earthly father lifting a child with his hands, with some danger (although ever so slight) of dropping them.  Isaiah tells us that His grip on us is even stronger than a human mother cradling her child to her breast.  There is yet danger of that mother dropping her child, or even forgetting the child, putting her out of mind.  Yet God will not forget us.

Another commentary, MacLaren's Expositions, says this:

When Israel came out of Egypt, the Passover was instituted as ‘a memorial unto all generations,’ or, as the same idea is otherwise expressed, ‘it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand.’ Here God represents Himself as doing for Israel what He had bid Israel do for Him. They were, as it were, to write the supreme act of deliverance in the Exodus upon their hands, that it might never be forgotten. He writes Zion on His hands for the same purpose.

If you are a Christian, it should be obvious to all that you are set apart, that you are different.  Your name is written in the Lamb's book of life, and His Name is written on your heart.  Revelation 2:17 says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it."  This is a reference to Moses, to whom God gave the manna, and to the stones which Moses carried on which the Law of God was written.  Just as God wrote on the stone tablets with His own hand, He promises to write your new name on a stone that only you and He know.  The relationship He seeks is that intimate, and that lasting, for no one can break the stone, or erase the name written on it by God's own hand, just as no one can scrub the name He has tattooed on the palm of His hand.  Your name.  My name. 

Auspicious mark, indeed.

Eureka!

 

As threshing separates the wheat from the chaff, so does affliction purify virtue.  --Christian Nestell Bovee

Over the last two weeks in my study of Isaiah, I have felt like a California prospector in 1849.  Usually having limited resources, a gold prospector used a simple pan or sluice to extract gold from the sand.  He would scoop up a small amount of sand from a river or stream, and let water run over it to wash away the lighter minerals.  Gold was heavier, and would be left in the bottom of the pan when the sand and other minerals would be washed away.  Panning for gold was a process used as far back as Roman times, and was used by Spanish conquistadors in their conquest of South America in the 1600s.

A great deal of sand and other minerals would have to be sifted and washed downstream before gold was found.  However, whenever a miner or prospector found gold, he knew it was precious and valuable.  Finding nuggets of gold while sifting through tons of sand and washing with thousands of gallons of water made the whole process worthwhile.

Isaiah chapters 13 through 23 contain a series of pronouncements or prophesies concerning the enemies of Israel.  Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus (Syria), Egypt and others were warned by God that they would be judged severely for their sins.  Ironically, these nations had all been used by God to bring judgement upon Israel.

At this time, Israel was feeling oppressed.  Using an agrarian term, they were being threshed like wheat.  For those of us who did not grow up on a farm, in order for grains such as wheat and barley to be used for food, they must be harvested, and then the grains must be separated from the plant stems.  The most efficient way to do this without modern tractors and combines was to violently strike the heads of grain against a threshing floor, and then blow away the chaff, or remove anything left that was not grain.

2 Kings 13:7 described some of the persecution that Israel had endured. "For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing."  A variant spelling of the word threshing is the term thrashing, which usually describes corporal punishment or a severe loss at the hands of an opposing team.  Israel felt like they had been taken behind the woodshed and had endured a severe beating at the hands of their enemies.

Reading about the judgment of God, the wrath of God being meted out to His people--well, it's not fun.  It may bring to mind unpleasant things that have happened to us in the past: beatings we have taken (either deserved or undeserved), trials we have endured, or that we are going through currently.  Many of us may feel that we are being buffeted about by forces beyond our control.  After we are broken to pieces, then a storm comes with hurricane force winds, and all we can think is, "God, why?  Why me?"

It is at this point we need a Eureka moment, a gold nugget of scripture to give us hope.  Isaiah provides one.  Isaiah 21:10 says, "O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you."

Stop.  Read that verse again.  Threshed is violently pounded and broken into pieces.  Winnowed is the removal of useless or unwanted debris (aka "chaff") so that all is left is the grain, the kernel of who you are and what you were meant to be useful for.  If you feel you have been threshed and winnowed, God has a message for you.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  You can have peace in your suffering if you keep your eyes on God.  If you remain faithful, God will overcome your enemies and will bring to pass His purpose for you.  To Him, you are more precious than gold, but even gold and silver must be refined by fire, so that the dross can be removed and the precious metal purified.

God will overcome, and His people will be used greatly by Him.  Micah 4:11-13 says, "Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, 'Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.'  But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand His plan, that He has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."  Jeremiah 51:33 says, "For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:  The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come."

Eureka.  The time will come, and may now be, when God will use you for His purpose, and you will be purified for that purpose.  Psalm 30:4-5 says, "Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy Name.  For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime.  Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning."  Take heart, my friend.  Joy is coming.