“Be Anxious for Nothing”

The night is coming when no one can work.

John 9:4

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Psalm 11:3

This world is coming apart at the seams, but when Jesus said, “Be anxious for nothing,” he meant not to be anxious about it.  More important than the world falling apart is many believers are coming unglued, too, under the pressure of the gross immorality being adopted as normal by this culture.  This is what Jesus foretold when he said that near the end of this age, the love of many of God’s children would wax cold because wickedness would be so prevalent that it would influence their spirits.  The foundations of faith in Christ are being undermined, destroying many saints’ love for truth.  When that love is gone, God’s servants will not be able to work, for there will be nothing to work with.

But Jesus said not to worry even about that.  He saw the night coming.

Sin is being redefined now in order to accommodate detestable lusts, and righteousness is dismissed, sometimes even made illegal.  And men are not doing this in secret, but openly and proudly.  Tragically, weak saints are yielding to the pressure to fit in with the world.  (Build yourselves up by praying in the holy Ghost!)  We are seeing for ourselves the truth of Paul’s words concerning people in his day (including God’s people) who once had a conscience: “claiming to be wise, they were turned over to foolishness” (Rom. 1:22).  Foolish people will not tolerate the truth, and where no truth is welcome, God’s servants cannot work.

But Jesus said not to worry about it.  He knew the night was coming.

We can rejoice because in spite of all that men do, God is faithful.  He has given His children promises which neither the world nor backslidden believers can nullify.  In Him is not even a hint of turning.  He is entirely unaffected by anything humans say or do, and He has made the way for us to be just like Him.  When Jesus said the night was coming when we could not work, it was because men would become so blackhearted that God would stop working to try to save them.

I cannot adequately describe the fury and supreme contempt I felt from God the evening He said to me, “What difference does it make, what men say about anything‽”  It was as if the word men was, to God, a filthy “four-letter word”.  And He continued, with great rage, “If men call a man a pastor, does that make him a pastor‽  If men call a man a prophet, does that make him a prophet‽  If men call something the body of Christ, does that make it the body of Christ‽” etc.  And at last, He added, “Am I confused by your delusions‽”  So, what of it, if men call good evil, and evil good?  What of it, if men call us evil?  It means nothing to God.  What of it, if we can’t work, if there is nothing we can do for some people?  God still loves us, and He has not changed.

Set your eyes on Jesus, and rejoice that you have been chosen for the honor of bowing low at Jesus’ feet.  Whether or not we can do any work is not up to us, but up to God.  That is why we may be anxious for nothing.

Blessing a Robber

The wicked man blesses a robber, and spurns the Lord.

Psalm 10:4

All who have ever come before me are thieves and robbers,

but the sheep did not hear them.

John 10:8

The world loves those who love the world, but God calls His children who love the world adulterers and adulteresses: “You adulterers and adulteresses!  Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity against God?  Therefore, whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God!” (Jas. 4:4).  Likewise, the world rewards those who say what they want to hear about God, but God condemns His children who reward such ministers: “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and your portion is with adulterers!” (Ps. 50:18).

Worst of all is when one of God’s own children becomes a thief, teaching for money what men want them to teach.  We can hardly bring ourselves to think of ministers hired to teach about Jesus as wicked, but God has no such qualms: “To the wicked man, God says, ‘How dare you declare my statutes, or take up my covenant into your mouth!’ (Ps. 50:16).  To teach people about God for money is the sin of Balaam, and it is one of the greatest sins that a servant of God can commit.  Jesus was still angrily speaking of Balaam’s sin in the last book of the Bible, over three thousand years after Balaam committed it, because there were men among the saints doing as Balaam did (Rev. 2:14).

  Ministering for hire makes a man a thief because a minister who is hired is stealing from God’s people the money that should be given to Jesus’ faithful servants.   Paul had to warn the saints not to encourage such men, for many had already begun to follow Balaam’s example in Paul’s day: “There are many rebellious, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things they should not for the sake of base gain” (Tit. 1:11).  By “whole houses”, Paul meant whole congregations, for the saints met in houses at that time.  John also warned the saints, “If anyone comes to you not carrying this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, and do not offer him a greeting, for he who welcomes him partakes of his evil deeds” (2Jn. 1:10–11).

Jesus said that all who came before him were thieves and robbers, and I will add that all who have come after him are thieves and robbers –– unless he has sent them.  When the sheep see a thief, that is, a minister who is following Balaam’s example by being hired to teach about God, they will not bless him!  They know that those who bless robbers make themselves adulterers and adulteresses in God’s sight.

Frustrated

Israel’s false prophets and priests were prosperous and respected, and it frustrated God’s true servants, such as Jeremiah, to see it: “You are righteous, O Lord, though I complain to you.  Nevertheless, let me speak with you about your judgments.  Why does the way of wicked men prosper?  All those who deal treacherously are at ease.  You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are near in their mouth, but far from their hearts” (Jer. 12:1–2).  As far as we know, God never answered Jeremiah’s question as long as he lived.

David’s friend, Asaph, felt the same frustration: “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.  But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; my steps were almost gone.  For I was envious of those who are praised.  I saw the happiness of wicked men, for there are no bonds on them until death, and their bodies are stout.  They are not in trouble as other men are; neither are they plagued along with other men.  Their eye stands out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish.  They mock and speak wickedly of oppression; they speak loftily.  Therefore, His people turn away [from truth] after them, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.  Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease; they increase in wealth.  Truly, I have kept my heart clean for nothing, and washed my hands in innocence, for I am plagued all day long, and correction comes to me every morning.  When I tried to understand this, it was hard for me, until I entered into God’s sanctuary; then, I considered their end” (excerpts from Ps. 73:1–17).

The end is all that really matters, and in the end, both Asaph and Jeremiah found eternal rest, while the false prophets and priests who prospered on earth were cast into Torment.

Who Will Be Able To Stand?

The wicked shall not stand in the Judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psalm 1:5

Moved by the Spirit of God, David declared that in the Final Judgment, not one ungodly person will escape the wrath of God; not one ungodly soul will be able to stand before God.  It will not be possible.  David said again, “You alone are to be feared, for who can stand before you, once you are angered?” (Ps. 76:7).  Other prophets asked the same rhetorical question.  Nahum: “Who can stand before His indignation?  Who can withstand the fury of His anger?” (Nah. 1:6).  And Malachi: “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who will stand when he appears?” (Mal. 3:2).  The obvious answer is, only the righteous.  To be judged worthy to stand in God’s presence will be a very great blessing, and Jesus exhorted his disciples to pray for it: “Stay alert and always pray, so that you might be counted worthy to escape all the things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36).  

But David did not limit his declaration to the Final Judgment; he said also that the ungodly will not stand in a righteous congregation.  God’s children who drift away from righteousness can no more stand in a congregation of godly people now than they will be able to stand in the Final Judgment.  For just as God will be the Judge in the end, so “God presides in the Assembly of God, and He judges among the gods [His people]” (Ps. 82:1).

If any group of saints will keep themselves pure, God will not allow an ungodly person to stand for long among them.  And if any member of that congregation becomes ungodly, and sets his mind to it, he will not be able to stand among them, either.  God will give him a “good” reason to leave.  That judgment of God has always been, is now, and will always be the same.  That is why “the wicked shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

In Psalm 15, David asked God to reveal to him who would be allowed to stand in His presence.  Take good heed to God’s response:

Psalm 15

1. O Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle?  Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

2. He who lives blamelessly, and does righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart,

3. he who does not gossip with his tongue, nor does evil to his fellow, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

4. in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt, yet does not change;

5. he who does not lend his money at interest; and a bribe against the innocent, he does not take.  He who does these things shall never be moved.

Lawlessness, Part 3

“To the Son, God said, . . .

‘You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;

therefore, God, even your God, 

has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.’”

Hebrews 1:8–9

Recently, the Lord put the above scripture together with another one that I had never associated with it.  That second scripture is from 2Peter 2, where Peter is describing self-willed believers, saying, “The Lord knows how . . . to preserve the unjust under punishment until the Day of Judgment, but especially those who walk after the flesh in corrupting lust and despise government.  Bold and self-willed, they do not tremble when speaking evil of authorities” (2Pet. 2:9–10).  It was a new thought to me that to be “without law” is to despise government, but that is exactly what it is.  And to be lawless, that is, to despise government, is a damnable offense in the kingdom of God.  It is rebellion, and in God’s sight, “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (1Sam. 15:23), and as we know, witches “are an abomination to the Lord” (Dt. 18:12).

Paul exhorted the elders in the Assembly in Thessalonica to “warn the unruly”.  To be unruly is to be lawless, or we could say, to despise government.  But because God rules among the saints through men He anoints to be visible representatives of His Son, for a believer to be unruly means to refuse to submit to those through whom God rules.  And to be lawless means to refuse to submit to those through whom He administers His law.  And to despise government means to refuse to submit to those through whom He governs.  There is no rule, law, or government in God’s kingdom as a thing; God’s rule, God’s law, and God’s government are a person, Jesus Christ, and Jesus governs the saints through his ministers.  That has always been and will always be true, and because of that, the unruly, the lawless, and the despisers of government are those who do not have a right relationship with those who are over them in the Lord.

You can only love and obey the true God by loving and obeying Jesus, His Son, whom God has anointed to be over us all.  And you can only love and obey His Son by loving and obeying the ministers he appoints to be over you.  To think otherwise is to be lawless.

Lawlessness, Part 2

“To the Son, God said, . . . 

‘You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;

therefore, God, even your God,

has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.’”

Hebrews 1:8–9

Because the King James translators preferred to translate anomia (lawlessness) as “iniquity”, the  apostles’ emphasis on the goodness of the law of Moses is missed.  Lawlessness (anomia) is certainly iniquity, but the apostles’ point was to condemn deeds that were contrary to the law which God gave to Moses.  The following are our translations of all the New Testament verses which contain the word anomia.  We have tried to make the meaning clearer by adding the emphasis on the law that the apostles had in mind.

Matthew 7:23 (concerning the Final Judgment): “Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.  Go away from me, you who work lawlessness [KJV: iniquity]!’”

Matthew 13:41: “The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who do lawlessness [KJV: iniquity].”

Matthew 23:28 (to the Pharisees): “Outwardly, you appear very righteous to men, but inwardly, you’re full of hypocrisy and lawlessness [KJV: iniquity].”

Matthew 24:12 (concerning the end times): “Because of a great increase of lawlessness [KJV: iniquity], the love of many will grow cold.”

Romans 4:7 (quoting Psalm 32:1): “Blessed are they whose lawless deeds [KJV: iniquities] are forgiven and whose sins are covered.”

Romans 6:19: “Just as you once presented your members as slaves to uncleanness, and lawlessness upon lawlessness [KJV: iniquity unto iniquity], so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto holiness.”

2Thess. 2:7a–8 (concerning the antichrist): “For the mystery of lawlessness [KJV: iniquity] is already at work.  And then, the lawless one [KJV: that Wicked] shall be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the appearance of his coming.”

Hebrews 1:9 (the Father to the Son): “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness [KJV: iniquity].”

Hebrews 10:17 (quoting Jeremiah 31:34): “Of their sins and their lawless deeds [KJV: iniquities] will I never be reminded again.”

Titus 2:14: “[Jesus] gave himself for us so that he might redeem us from all lawlessness [KJV: iniquity] and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good works.”

2Peter 2:16 (concerning Balaam): “He had been rebuked for his lawless conduct [KJV: iniquity]; a dumb ass, speaking with human voice, restrained the madness of the prophet.”

Next:  Lawlessness and Government

Lawlessness, Part 1

“To the Son, God said, . . . ‘You have loved righteousness

and hated lawlessness;

therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness above your fellows.’”

Hebrews 1:8–9

In the King James Bible, the word “iniquity” is used sixteen times in the New Testament.  Ten of those times, “iniquity” is a mistranslation of the Greek word anomia, or “lawlessness”.  The King James translators almost always translated anomia as “iniquity”, but that translation comes short of what was in the apostles’ minds concerning the law of Moses.  Long after the Spirit came, the apostles were still defining sin as any deed contrary to Moses’ law, for they understood that sin is contrary to the kind of life prescribed by that law.  In one verse, 1John 3:4, the King James translators did communicate the emphasis upon the law which is contained in anomia: “Whosoever committeth sin also transgresseth the law (anomia): for sin is the transgression of the law (anomia).”  This is our translation of that verse: “Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”  The apostles all understood well that the law which God gave to Moses was holy and good, that the kind of life it prescribed was holy and good, and that if any person in any nation was living a righteous life, he was living as the law of Moses said to live.  Paul plainly said this in a letter to the Romans: “Whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves” (Rom. 2:14).

The New Testament standard for God’s people which Jesus instituted is not contrary to Moses’ law; it cannot be contrary to it because the law was “holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12).  The new standard confirms that the law was of God by taking it even further.  Jesus loved the law and taught that it would not be destroyed (Mt. 5:17–18), but said that what he taught was better.  Several times, concerning what the law taught, Jesus declared to the people, “You have heard it said, . . . but I say . . .” (cf. Mt. 5:21–48).  He was not saying that what the people had heard was evil; he was only saying that God was about to give them a higher version of it.

To love whatever is righteousness is to hate whatever is not in accord with the law that God gave to Moses, and God richly rewarded His Son for doing so: “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”

Next: Some New Testament scriptures where anomia is used.

Keeping God’s Judgments

You must keep my statutes and my judgments,

for the man who does them shall also live by them.  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 18:5

God’s judgments are the way, the only way, to eternal life.  Wise people desire them and walk in them.  We should keep in mind the following truths concerning God’s judgments.

God’s judgments are found only among His people.

Dt. 4:7–8: “What great nation has God so close to it, as Jehovah our God is in all that we call upon Him?  And what great nation has righteous statutes and judgments as all this law which I am setting before you today?”

Ps. 147:19–20: “He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel.  He has not done the like for any other nation, and they have not known His judgments.”

God’s favor is upon His people when they live according to His judgments.

Lev. 26:18–19: “You shall do my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them, and then you will dwell safely upon the land.  And the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat to the full and dwell safely in it.”

Dt. 7:12: “And it shall come to pass that because you take heed to these judgments and keep them and do them, Jehovah your God will keep with you the covenant and lovingkindness which He swore to your fathers.  And He will love you, and bless you, and multiply you.  He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground – your grain, and your new wine, and your fresh oil, the offspring of your cattle, and the offspring of your flock – in the land which He swore to your fathers to give to you.  You shall be blessed above all peoples.  There shall not be a barren male or female among you or your livestock.  And Jehovah will turn all sickness away from you and all the malignant diseases of the Egyptians, of which you know.  He will not lay them upon you but will put them upon all who hate you.”

If God’s judgments do not satisfy us, He will give us other ones.

Ezek. 20:23–25: “I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them among the nations because they did not execute my judgments. . . .  So, I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments by which they could not have life.”

God makes His people able to keep His judgments.

Ezek. 36:26 –27: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and I will enable you to walk according to my statutes and my judgments, and you will diligently keep them.”

My prayer is that one day, we will all be together on the new earth with Jesus, enjoying the peace that God has promised to those who keep His judgments.

The Honor of God

“Now, it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites to fight against them?’  And the Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up.  Behold, I have given the land into his hand.’”

Judges 1:1–2

“And no one takes this honor upon himself, but one called of God.”

Hebrews 5:4

In Judges, if any tribe other than Judah had attempted to go up first against the Canaanites, they would have failed because God had chosen Judah to receive that honor, and nobody can annul God’s choices.  When some wicked men tried to stir up envy in John the Baptist’s heart toward Jesus, he sharply answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given to him from heaven” (Jn. 3:27).  What a wise man!  John knew that if Jesus was accomplishing a holy work, then God had chosen him to do it, and that if Jesus was doing his own will, whatever he was doing would amount to nothing.  That understanding left no room for envy of Jesus, for all true honor comes from God alone, and it cannot be stolen.

Some years ago, some of us were listening to an old reel-to-reel message by my father to the congregation in Louisville, KY.  In it, he made this statement: “I may not always be right, but I am always pastor.”  That bold and humble statement struck me, and I have never forgotten it.  He was saying, in effect, “Even if I have failed at times to perfectly fulfill my office, God chose me for this honor.”  That is a very humbling thought because it is more than just a thought; it is real life.  I know my own foolishness, weakness, and faults, and I have confessed them to God many times in prayer.

Paul’s confession in 1Corinthians 15:10 means a lot to me.  After admitting that he was unworthy to be an apostle, he said, “Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am.”  That is all that anyone can truthfully say who has been chosen by God to receive any honor.  Wise souls walk worthy of the honor that has been given to them by God.  And because that is true, I desire your prayers, that I might be found faithful in handling the honor that God has given to me to be your pastor and teacher.

With a Pure Heart

Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,

along with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

2Timothy 2:22

God once told Isaiah that the people of Israel “seek me daily, and delight in knowing my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God.  They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in approaching God” (Isaiah 58:2).

That kind of people sounds like good company for sincere people to keep.  It is good to seek God every day, to delight in knowing God’s ways, to ask for God’s righteous judgments, and to enjoy approaching God.  But God was sending Isaiah to these deeply religious people to show them their wickedness, not to congratulate them for their religiousness!  He was angry with these people and commanded Isaiah, “Cry aloud!  Do not hold back!  Lift up your voice like a shofar and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins!” (Isaiah 58:1).

God is not a beggar, grasping after and thankful for any praise He can get.  He is the Creator, and a very great King.  It is a great honor for us if He accepts our prayers and our worship, and wise saints offer praise with humility and fear.  Our God is worthy of more devotion than we can even offer, but He is good, and He will humble Himself to accept worship from a pure heart, a heart completely subdued before Him.

We get no “brownie points” for worshipping God; what we get is a blessing if He accepts the worship that we offer Him.  Knowing this, David cautioned God’s people to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling!” (Ps. 2:11).  God will, and has, rejected the worship of many, many people around the world.  People of the earth can be impressed with the appearance of devotion, but God never is.  He is impressed only with genuine, obedient faith.

In Isaiah’s day, Israel had become proud of what God had given them, of being His chosen people, of how often they gathered to seek His face, and how often they asked Him for more revelation.  Yet, they were neglecting to live according to His judgments, which they knew.  Theirs was a life that was “like righteousness”, but they were not righteous within.  They had all the appearance of a holy people without hearts that were after the holiness of God.  May God save us from an appearance of holiness and to learn to live truly, from the heart, in the holy way of Christ!

Every Yoke

“If you put away from the midst of you the yoke. . .”

Isaiah 58:9b

On several occasions, I have reminded my congregation that the “yoke” within us, mentioned by Isaiah, represents the desire to impose our will upon others.  A yoke is an instrument used by a man to control an animal, but the yoke Isaiah is talking about is spiritual; it is one person manipulating and controlling another.  I have known people who stay unhappy if others do not do as they want them to do; they are not content unless they have hitched up someone else to their will.

God is not like that.  He would rather we have our way than His – except that He loves us and knows that if we do our own will, we will end up hurt and sad.  So, He counsels us to do His will.  If you have been around very long in Christ, you know that God will back off and allow you to do things your own way if that is what you insist on doing, and you have no doubt learned better than to do that.  God has no yoke in His heart that He will impose on us; on the contrary, He has love in His heart and is willing for us to learn that His way is best.

Other Yokes

But that yoke is not my point in this message, for as I said, I have taught that message a number of times.  Though I have read Isaiah 58 often, I noticed this morning for the first time that other yokes are mentioned which may burden God’s people.  Here is what Isaiah said: “Is this not the fast that I have chosen? to undo the bonds of wickedness, to loosen the thongs of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you remove every yoke?” (Isa. 58:6).  The “bonds of wickedness” are spiritual ropes that bind people, and ungodly men use those “thongs of the yoke” to oppress and control others.  And there are other yokes, or influences, upon God’s people which NOTHING but the anointing of God will destroy.  And thankfully, God has promised that someday, His anointing will destroy every yoke that burdens His people:  “It shall come to pass in that day that He will remove [the evil man’s] burden from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck!  And the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isa. 10:27).

God’s point in Isaiah 58 is that we may “be about our Father’s business” now, before that final, complete deliverance from all yokes, by removing the yokes that evil men have put around the necks of His people.  These yokes are superstition, sickness, false teaching, fear of man, and whatever else that His children are moved by besides the Spirit.  To be led by the Spirit is life and peace, and we have the opportunity now to show God’s people the way to live that happy life.

Jesus said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.  My yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  His yoke is not a yoke at all; it is a new heart that wants nothing but what God wants.  His yoke is to make it our nature to agree with God and love to do His will.  Every other yoke is against us and leads us astray, and Jesus came to set us free from every one of them.  This is the liberty he was talking about when he said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

May God give us all the wisdom and power, first, to destroy any yoke that is within us toward others, and second, to destroy every yoke we see that has been hung around the necks of God’s children.  That is part of what God considers to be a true fast, and fasting that way produces wonderful fruit.

Works, not Feelings

 Greetings everyone.

My son John and I have recently been discussing a matter related to the Final Judgment that will interest you.  It is a thought that I had never thought before, and it has benefitted me.  He pointed out last week that if a person keeps his eyes on the single, unalterable fact that he will be judged solely on the basis of what he does, not on the basis of how he feels, then that person can ignore the spirits of depression, doubt, fear, etc., because they cannot control his actions.

Psychological diagnoses are irrelevant to the person who truly believes that what he does, not how he feels, is all that will matter in the Final Judgment, for he will keep his mind on doing good in God’s sight instead of being obsessed with how he is feeling.

We all feel the spirits that are in this world, but we will not be judged on the basis of what we have felt!

Here’s the latest communication from John.  I thought it was worth passing on:

“I’ve been thinking about the uselessness of feeling encouraged, blessed, etc., without deeds.  Those feelings are as useless as depression, without deeds.  Tonight while reading James, I’m realizing it’s not just feelings [that are worthless without deeds] but it’s also understanding and wisdom.  Everything that is intended to bring about worthy deeds is unperfected without those deeds.  ‘Do you see that faith was working together with Abraham’s works and that faith was perfected by his works?’ (Jas. 2:22).  We’re looking for something from Jesus, just as he is from us.  When we are being blessed and encouraged by Jesus, he is doing something.  In that moment, we can see more of who we really are, but those feelings must mature into deeds.  Any understanding or feeling that doesn’t mature into deeds is lost.  I think that goes for depression as well as blessings.  What we DO decides where we end up:

James 1

21. Wherefore, laying aside all filthiness, and every wicked excess, receive with meekness the implanted word that is able to save your souls.

22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man contemplating his natural face in a mirror,

24. who observed himself and went away, and immediately forgot what he was like.

25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in his doing.

I think Jesus wants us to judge him by his deeds.  We are supposed to learn to judge everything he does as good.  But we have to judge what he did in order to judge it to be good – no doubt, judging it to be wrong many times as we learn.  This feels so good!  We think we are going to decide if something is good or bad when we judge it.  But when it is Jesus, the verdict comes with the action.  He is always good, but we will miss it if we judge it otherwise.”

This is what Jesus was talking about in John 12:48: “The word that I have spoken, that will judge [you] on the last day.”  The only thing that will matter on that day is, did Jesus’ word produce good works in us who heard it, or not?

Some of us are struggling with feelings of depression, fear, doubt, etc., but so what?  Those spirits are real, and they are around us, and we feel them.  As long as those feelings do not determine our actions, and our faith keeps us doing what is good in God’s sight, we will be OK because our actions, not how we feel, will determine our judgment from God.  And in time, if we keep doing the will of God, we will no doubt lose sight of those spirits, and have peace.

John 5

28. Don’t marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear [Jesus’] voice,

29. and they will come out, those who did good things unto the resurrection of life, but those who did bad things unto the resurrection of damnation.

Pastor John

Why Many Turn Away

From a sermon by Preacher Clark in late 1975

This is a very valuable lesson that will help save your soul.  May God help us take it in!  Preacher Clark was talking during a Sunday afternoon meeting about that Sunday morning’s "lesson", as he called it. Apparently, after we had read the Bible that morning, he taught us this great truth which, thanks be to God, sank down into my heart.  I have never forgotten it, though I had forgotten it was during that morning’s Bible reading that he taught it to me.  Here is the excerpt of his sermon which I just listened to:

“Why did the angels fall away from God?  They had no sinful nature about them.  Why did Lucifer himself turn?  He wasn’t made with any sin in him.  Why did Adam and Eve, why did they turn back?  They weren’t created evil.  You know, every one of them missed God the same way that you’re going to miss God if you miss Him, the same way you have missed God.  They believed they were right in what they were doing.  They believed they’d get wise like God.  They believed they’d go forward, not backwards.  They believed they were in the right and that they were going the right way, until they found out.

“The Devil is not going to come up to you when you’re on fire for God and show you something evil.  He’s not going to do that.  He’s not going to start off by getting you to do something bad.  He’s going to let you start off by sympathizing with somebody, or doing this or doing the other.  First thing you know, it’s going to lead into something, and you won’t know how in the world you got there.  All you know is that you’re not feeling good.  And then he’ll come around and justify you, or try to make you justify yourself.”

Just about every child of God I have known who wandered from the right path believed they were doing the right thing when they left, even those who have ended up in gross sins, far from what even some sinners know is good.  My own siblings, those brought up with me and taught the same precious truth, thought they were doing the best thing when they drifted out of the way and joined a religion they once knew was not of God.  “The desire for other things”, as Jesus said it, entered their hearts and gave them a different perspective on life, and after some time, they came to believe that the simple and pure way of Christ, which they were taught as children, is not true.

My dear friends, remember what David told his young son Solomon: “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”  Stay full of the Spirit of truth, for if a wrong idea enters your heart, the truth which Jesus has shown you will stop thrilling your soul, and wrong things will begin to feel right.  The appeal of the forbidden fruit will increase, and you will begin to lose your taste for the sweet produce of the garden of God.

I hope that we will all be saved from the coming wrath.  That is God’s plan for us and for all His children everywhere.  But He requires that we walk in the light that He has given us.  If you ever find that the light is losing its luster and you begin to see why it would be good to withdraw yourself from it, I beg you to spend time on your knees asking your best friend, Jesus, to show you the wrong thing that has entered into you heart.  And then pray to be willing to believe what he tells you.

Giving Jesus Credit

God does a good job with his children.  He gives us His Spirit, and His holy Spirit changes us and teaches us to be like Him – friendly, honest, generous, and kind, and to be that way even when life gets hard.  When we follow after the Spirit and are made that way, we not only please God, but also people: “The kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit, and he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17–18).  In return for having His sweet, humble Spirit within us to mold us and guide us through this life, all that God asks is that we be faithful witnesses for His Son.  The temptation we all face is to take God’s gift and win friends with it, but then try to keep those friends by not giving Jesus the credit.

When I was in college, a friend of mine whom we called “Shag” told me about a sweet woman in her small hometown whose husband treated her like dirt.  Everybody in town knew about it and felt sorry for the poor soul.  But that woman endured for so long and with such grace the public abuse and infidelity of her wretched husband that Shag just had to approach her in a store one day to ask her what her secret was.  How was she able to keep doing good and remain at peace in spite of her horrible situation?  “Then she ruined it,” Shag said to me. “She started talking about Jesus!”

By her kindness and sweet attitude, which her heavenly Father had taught her, that abused child of God had earned the right to testify about what Jesus had done.  Shag was indignant about it, but she had asked that woman to tell her how she was able to be the kind of person she was.  And that woman, no doubt long since gone to be with the Lord now, gave all the credit for her strength and good spirit to the One who had given it to her.

That’s all God asks us to do: let His Son make us good, and then, when we have won the respect of people around us because of His work in our lives, give His Son the credit for it that he deserves.

Two Reactions to Hearing the Word of the Lord

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart,

and they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

‘Men and brothers, what are we to do?’

Peter started telling them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, 

in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,

and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit!’”

(Acts 2:37–38)

“When they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts,

and they began gnashing their teeth at him…. 

They cried out with a loud voice, covered their ears,

and rushed at him with one accord,

and they threw him out of the city and began stoning him.”

(Acts 7:54, 57–58)

Both of the above groups discerned that the man of God was speaking to and about them.  The different reactions revealed what kind of hearts the people in each group had.  When someone desires the truth and fellowship with God, it is a relief to hear the truth.  When someone has a hardened heart, it is an affront to hear it.

Years ago, a brother whose heart was beginning to harden was approached by a dear elder, and then a sweet sister, about a fault in him which they both, at different times, had seen in him.  Later, when I asked him about their conversations, he angrily replied, “The only reason they said those things is because you talk so bad about me!”  That accusation was not true, but truth was not what he wanted anymore.  The truth was an affront to him, not a relief, and he was using me as an excuse to dismiss it.

In other cases, I have seen when brothers and sisters corrected each other, there was repentance and renewed fellowship and joy.  What a blessing for the whole body that response is, every time that it happens!  Solomon said, “Iron sharpens iron; likewise, a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Prov. 27:17).  And Paul complimented the saints in Rome because they had sufficient love, wisdom, boldness, and humility to both give and take reproof (Rom. 15:14).  That is a very great compliment for a body of believers.

When you are being talked to, the way Peter talked to his fellow Jews in Acts 2 and the way Stephen talked to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7, you will either take heed, be thankful, and do what God wants you to do, or you will stiffen your neck and refuse it, and find someone to blame for your stubbornness.  It all depends on the heart.  That is why David told young Solomon, “Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).

One Human Condition

    There are no political divisions in the kingdom of God, and the life of every believer who walks in the Spirit reflects this truth, for he refrains from engaging in earthly political partisanships. Being citizens of a heavenly country, believers are “ambassadors for Christ”, operating in this foreign land. They are “foreigners” and “pilgrims” temporarily living on this dying planet. This world is not the believer’s home, and those who act as if it is, those who pursue its benefits and pleasures, “pierce themselves through with many sorrows” (1Tim. 6:10). Jesus commanded his followers to “turn the other cheek”, and he was the perfect example of doing so. While on trial for his life, he explained to Pontius Pilate, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight” (Jn. 18:). We are not here to improve earthly conditions for humans; that is for human governments to strive to do. God’s saints are here, just as Jesus said he was, only to bear witness to the truth. 

    No purely human condition exists in the kingdom of God. That is why earthly socio-political partisanships are contrary to the Spirit. The life of godliness is neither conservative nor liberal, neither free-market nor communistic. God’s way is simply not of this world, in any respect. We find God’s men and women serving Him on earth as kings and queens sitting on thrones (David, Esther), and we find them serving Him as fugitives, running from authorities (David, Elijah). We find them on earth as slaves (Eleazar, Onesimus), and we find them as slave-masters (Abraham, Philemon). We find them among the richest people in the world, and we find them living in caves, wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, maltreated (Heb. 11:37–38). We find them on earth as Jew and as Gentile, as male and as female, as young and as old, as educated and as uneducated. We find them sick, (Elisha died of a sickness) and we find them healthy.

    But in God’s kingdom, all human conditions are irrelevant. Paul touched on this when he wrote to the Galatians that in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

    There is only one purely earthly condition that is promised to all believers, at all times, in all places, only one earthly condition commonly experienced by all who have ever believed and served the true God: persecution. Paul left his young protégé, Timothy, with no illusions; he warned him plainly that “all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” This admonition mirrors that of Jesus himself, who warned Paul as a young man when he first was called, of all things he would suffer for the sake of the gospel (Acts 9:16).

    Peter exhorted the saints not to be discouraged when they obeyed Christ and suffered for it: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is coming to try you, as though a strange thing is happening to you. On the contrary, rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also rejoice and be glad at the revelation of his glory. If you are being reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part, he is blasphemed, but on your part, he is glorified” (1Pet. 4:12–14).

    We who believe are promised but one thing on this wicked planet, that is, we will be misunderstood and unwanted by all who belong to this world. Nevertheless, our sure hope of eternal life and peace overrides all the hurt that this world can inflict upon us. That precious hope has sustained millions of hurting saints through the ages as it did Paul: “I consider the sufferings of this present time to be unworthy of comparison with the glory that shall be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). So, hang in there, fellow sojourner. How things are in this world is not how things will always be.

True Parables

From a conversation with “Preacher Clark” in the late 1970s.

The one thing that makes any parable true is that the example used in the parable to illustrate the point is true and real.  A parable based on science fiction is worthless.  In his parables, Jesus always used real-life events, such as rainfall, the birth of a child, a man robbed on the road to Jericho, birds not sowing or reaping, rushing water eroding the foundation of a house, and so forth.

This principle, that parables are true only if they are based upon real things, should be remembered when reading this parable from the Lord, found in Luke 16:

19. “There was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.

20. And there was a certain beggar by the name of Lazarus, covered with sores, who had been laid at his gate,

21. and he longed to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  And dogs even came and licked his sores.

22. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  And then the rich man also died, and was buried,

23. and he, being in torment in hell, lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off, with Lazarus in his bosom.

24. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me!  Send Lazarus so he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue!  I am in agony in this flame!’”

If hell is a religious fantasy, as many in our time believe, then this parable is meaningless and Jesus was wasting his breath in telling it.  We all, individually, must decide whether that was the case, or if Jesus was giving us a warning that is worth listening to. 

A Merciful Warrior

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

Matthew 5:7

“I will pursue my enemies and overtake them,

and I will not turn back until they are destroyed.”

Psalm 18:37

The man in Psalm 18:37 doesn’t sound very merciful, does he?  He said he would wage war against his enemies until he destroys every last one of them.  That sounds vicious.

But that man is the Son of God, who is indeed very merciful – toward those who confess their sins and turn to him for mercy.  People who repent and turn to Jesus are not his enemies, and he will never wage war against them.  It is those who rebel against God’s mercy and reject His Son Jesus as their Savior who will be utterly destroyed forever, every last one of them.

It is wiser to repent and receive God’s very great mercy than to refuse His Son and suffer God’s very great wrath.

“A Man”, Not Nicodemus

Now, there was a man of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to him by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that you are doing except God be with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Don’t marvel that I told you, ‘You must be born again’ ” – John 3:1–7.                                                                    

From a sermon by “Preacher Clark” in about 1974

I used to think that Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless you are born of water and of Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God,” but in 1974, Preacher Clark pointed out that that was not the case.  He had noticed that Jesus’ message to Nicodemus was only that Nicodemus had to be born again, and the reason for that was that Nicodemus had already been born the first time (“born of water”).  What Jesus told Nicodemus is that “a man” had to be born twice, once naturally and once spiritually.  Nicodemus and his fellow Jews had already been born the first time, obviously.  Therefore, Jesus told him, “You [plural, in Greek] must be born again.”  We might say it like this: “You people [who have been born already] must be born again.”

A man who pays careful attention to the Scriptures, as Preacher Clark did, and is helped by the Spirit to see what is really there, will notice things that the rest of us miss.  How grateful I am to have sat at the feet of such a teacher.  Doing so has saved me more times than I can count from being led off the right path by what I thought the Bible said.

My Testimony from the early 1980s

I recently found this handwritten testimony in a folder, and it reminded me of the wonderful feelings that were created in my heart by the word of God that came to me on August 24, 1981.  I think it was one of my early attempts at an introduction to the Suffering and the Saints book, when I was thinking about writing it.  I hope you can feel some of what I was feeling in those days right after the Lord spoke to me.

A common cause of suffering among the people of the Lord is our own error.  In this sense, we determine the amount of suffering we must face, just as a child determines the severity of his own punishment by the degree of his own disobedience.  We tell our Father, by our lives, how much discipline we need.  And you may be assured that it is the Father of the family, the Head of the household of faith, who administers the chastisement, and no other.

Exactly one day after the Spirit of God opened the eyes of my spirit to these things, I delivered this message to the believers who met in my home for our regular Monday evening meeting.  And in the following days, it seemed that the more I taught it, the broader its implications spread.  The more I read the Bible, the more of this truth I found.  In the midst of discussions, new insights would burst into my consciousness.  I was, in a sense, ecstatic.  It was as if the Devil had been taken off my back and cast into a foreign land.  I lost sight of Lucifer and saw only the hand of God working everything for my good – because I loved Him.  And now, I surely do love Him more than I ever dreamed I could.  I love Him more because I see more of Him – in everything for me, in every place, in every person, doing only what He sees I need done.  Praise God!  What a wonderful love is welling up in my heart right now toward my Father!  What a thanksgiving it brings into one’s life to see Him as He really is – so wise, so strong, so good.  Certainly, the more we know of God, the more we love Him.

In the days following this revelation, when its depth and breadth and height were constantly unfolding to me, I would find myself laughing – a deep laugh of the soul – a laugh of relief and joy and praise beyond praise.  I remember looking up at the stars and seeing what seemed to be a new heaven – and laughing with sincere praise to Him who alone sits on the circle of the earth.  I felt such a love that it seemed I had never loved before, a joy so complete that it seemed I had been its stranger, a peace so deep that nothing, I knew, would move it, and a faith now so sure that nothing, I knew, could quench it.  This was life!  Real, spiritual life!  If the truth makes one free, then surely this was the truth.  I wanted everyone to know it.

It was an experience beyond committing my life to Christ, beyond the baptism of the Spirit.  Now I know why Jesus told those who were already his disciples that if they continued with him, they would come to know the truth, and then they would be made truly free.  I was already freer than I had been when I was in sin, but this new freedom seemed so much richer, so much surer, so new, so fresh, so pure that it almost seemed that I had never been free before.  I hope that freedom is given to you as well.