March 26, 2006
IN Affliction

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

Notice that the Psalmist here does not say he is comforted from his affliction, but rather in it. He is not looking for deliverance from affliction, but he has comfort in it from God's word.

People often mistakenly think that we will "live happily ever after" as Christians. This false teaching was actually promoted in the 1950s or so in various Christian songs (and maybe in preaching). We are never promised this. In fact, we read in 2Timothy 3:12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And also, Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Our blessing and treasure is that we have comfort in afflictions. We have the word of God which quickens us and gives us confidence that the Lord is in control. We have the promise that the God of all comfort will work all things together for good to them that love Him.

2Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is our comfort IN affliction, not our escape from it. And, notice that God comforts us in our tribulations for the purpose that we may comfort others also. So, our affliction is not a waste of time. It inclines us be more cast upon the Lord, to look forward to the next life, and it also allows us to partake of His comfort which He wants us to minister to others. Thus, every saint who has been through the furnace of affliction has been entrusted with a ministry to pass on God's comfort to others.

No wonder Paul could say, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1Thessalonians 5:18

2Corinthians 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

CA

March 20, 2006
For All Nations

Psalm 117:1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.

It struck me for the first time recently that this Psalm is truly "international." Notice that it is addressed to all nations and all people.

Thus we see that even in the Old Testament, with the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants in place, all nations and people were still invited to praise the LORD. The reasons are that His merciful kindness is great toward us and His truth endures forever. (We can see in Naaman and Nebuchadnezer that all nations were welcome to praise Jehovah, and believe on Him.)

But, these things are true in any era and under any covenant. They are timeless and eternal. How great they are now through the blood of Jesus Christ which places us in the beloved and makes nigh those of us who were far off! Praise ye the LORD!

Ephesians 2:11 � Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

CA

March 7, 2006
Will A Man Rob God?

We read an interesting verse in Psalms last night.

There is a form of robbery, or rather attempted robbery, going on in the Lord's church and Christendom today which mostly goes unnoticed. There are many who preach doubt and question other believer's salvation, thus robbing them of their assurance. This is devilish, for Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), and those who do this are serving his purposes, even if they don't realize it. But, there is another way that attempted robbery is going on.

Psalm 3:8 tells us, Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. Salvation is the private property of God Almighty. No human can give it or remove it. It is personally ours in one sense, and yet it is not. It belongs to God from whence it came. He paid for it with His own blood, Acts 20:28.

David said, Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. While David obviously knew he was saved personally, yet he calls it "thy salvation". In a very real sense it belongs to the Lord. In fact, it is quite amazing how many times the scriptures speak of "thy salvation" in reference to God owning it! Look it up in Sword Searcher or your computer Bible program. I was surprised.

The last, and perhaps most significant reference to "thy salvation" is in Luke 2:30, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Simeon was speaking here of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom he saw in the temple.

Acts 28:28 tells us ...that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. Note that it is God's salvation. It is also Christ.

Consider this verse - Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. We might think, "Why would God need salvation? Why give that to Him?" Well, in the context of what we're considering here, salvation belongs to Him. Power belongs to Him also; so does might. They are given to Him in other places in Revelation. Why not give Him salvation? It is His. He owns it. He was the only one that could ever pay for it!

Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So, salvation - which belongs to the Lord - is applied to individuals by belief and confession of Jesus Christ. Who then decides who is saved and who is not? Only GOD. Can it be possible that a man or woman could take someone's salvation away? John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. It is God's salvation and eternal life, and He gives it. Ultimately it does not belong to the person the thieves are trying to rob! It belongs to God! So, in essence, they are trying to rob God of what is rightfully His. They are also trying to rob Him of the right to apply it in accordance to His word. When they begin to make lists of works that are "necessary" to prove salvation, they are actually trying to take salvation into their own hands. Horrible thought! There isn't one of them I would trust to save me!

Just a few "requirements" man uses to rob people of their salvation - ultimately attempting to rob God: church attendance, standards (many, many different issues), denominational membership, church membership, baptism, "holy communion," penance, submission to man's authority, "holy" living, acceptance of scholarship, speaking in tongues, observance of the Old Testament Law,  Sabbath keeping, etc. ad nauseam.

When a man says, "If I can talk you out of your salvation, you weren't saved to begin with" he is a hireling and a thief. He is trying to steal what is not his to take, nor ours to lose! Sure, we might be weak enough to think we lost something we never earned in the first place, something that was given to us as a free gift. What does that prove? Our salvation belongs to God, and NO ONE can get it out of His hand. Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to God!

Perhaps one reason some people indulge in this attempted thievery is because of the end of Psalm 3:8, ... thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. It galls some people that God would bless folks who "aren't right with God" by their standards. It infuriates some. I'm not entirely sure, but I cannot help wondering if really these folks are mad at God and so they take it out on people by trying to rob them of the hope of their salvation. I suppose it could be. Nevertheless, the LORD gives salvation and He gives blessing according to His word. We need not fear man. Psalm 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? Man cannot take our salvation - it belongs to God.

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

CA

March 2, 2006
Imitation Glory

2Chronicles 12:9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house. 11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. (Also see 1 Kings 14:25-28)

This passage interested me the first time I really noticed it. (You know how you read something many times and don't really notice it, till one day it just jumps off the page at you.) The thing that struck me about it is how Rehoboam, because of his sin, lost the glory and majesty of his father's kingdom symbolized in the golden shields and so replaced them with brass ones. Of course, he had already lost most of the kingdom by this point, but the shields gave a certain prestige and opulence. They must have been really impressive to see in use. Now they were gone.

Rehoboam, instead of just accepting that from the Lord, had brasen shields made to take their place. Brass is much cheaper than gold. It is also more trouble to keep it looking good, which may be one reason they were carefully put away after each use. At any rate, it strikes me as a feeble attempt to retain some dignity and reminder of the past glory which was lost. It was a cheap imitation designed to keep up appearances.

Now the scripture does not say this was actually wrong. It merely gives the account. It is interesting, though, how many people are doing this today in different ways. Preachers and evangelists preach "convicting" sermons and rant and scream to "fill the altar" hoping to give the impression they have "the power" of the preachers of bygone eras. Wives buy "pre-manufactured" meals that "taste just like homemade" to cover up the fact that they are no longer keepers at home and don't have time to cook homemade meals. Parents plan "quality time" with their kids to try to cover up the fact that they don't have "quantity time" for them.

In Rehoboam's case, he could not get the glory back. Really, he was living in denial. In some cases today, people could get the glory back by simply returning to the Lord's ways. In other areas it is not God's will for the glory to be recovered. It would seem that men today will not have the power God gave some in times past, because we are at the end of this age. (Examples: Jeremiah did not have the power of Elijah. Daniel could not return to the land of Israel.) There are some things we must then be content with, and stop putting up "brasen shields" to pretend that "something is happening" when it is not, in fact cannot.

Can you think of other ways this applies today? How could Rehoboam have used the resources that he had more wisely? How could people today?

Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things?... 1Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

CA