God Breathed

When reading through the last bit of Spurgeon’s work, “When Christ Returns”, I was riveted by one of the concepts that he introduced toward the latter half of his book. In the context of the Second Advent of the Lord, he was listing the many things that will take place. Many of them I was already familiar with because they are either repeated through various passages of Scripture or commonly discussed in Christian circles. However, Spurgeon, citing 2 Corinthians 5:10, devoted about the last third of his book to expositing this verse, phrase by phrase, piece by piece.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” -2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV)

When he got to the second half of this verse (in bold above), I was dumbfounded. I guess I had always glossed over this phrase before, but when Spurgeon slowed me down & approached the verse exegetically, I was challenged and encouraged. After listing the many blessings that the believer has to look forward to, he went on to describe the many things that the unbeliever will face. Spurgeon said:

“But, how terrible for the ungodly it will be! They are to receive the things that they have done, that is to say, the due punishment. Not every man will receive the same punishment: to the greater sinner, the greater doom; to the man who sinned against light, a greater damnation than to the man who did not have the same light…

Not only will the punishment be meted out in proportion to the transgression, but the consequences to be endured will also e a development of the evil actions done, for every man “shall… eat the fruit of [his] own way” (Proverbs 1:31). Sin, in the natural order, ripens into sorrow. This is not blind fate but the operation of a divine law, wise and invariable. How dreadful it will be for the malicious man to gnaw forever on his own envious heart, to find his malice coming back home to him as a bird comes home to roost, to hoot forever in his own soul! How torturous it will be for the lustful man to feel, burning in every vein, lust that he can never gratify; for the wrathful person to be forever raging, with the fire of anger burning like a volcano in his soul; and for the rebel against God to be forever defiant, cursing God whom he cannot touch and finding his curses coming back on himself.

There is no punishment worse than for a man who is sinfully disposed to gratify his lusts, to satiate his bad propensities, and to multiply and fatten his vices. Let men grow into what they would be, and then see what they have become…

Let them give way to their rage and anger, with nothing to check their passions. Let miserly, greedy people go on forever with their greed. It makes them miserable here, but let these things be indulged in forever, and what worse hell could there be? Oh, sin is hell, and holiness is heaven!”

I had never thought of it in those terms before. Never so detailed or thorough. I must confess that I was taken back a bit. It makes perfect sense, but it is heart-breaking just the same, especially as we think of our unbelieving loved-ones suffering this fate. What are your thoughts?

“Some people, when I preach a stirring sermon, feel afraid to come again to hear me. Do searching sermons seem to go through you like a blast of the north wind, chilling you to the marrow and curdling your blood? Friend, if you are afraid of the pastor’s voice, how will you bear His voice who will speak in tones of thunder? Oh, what must it be to stand before that dreadful tribunal? Are you doubting now? What will you be then? Can you not bear a little self-examination now? If not, how will you bear that God-examination? If earthly scales tell you that you are wanting, what message will the scales of heaven give you?

I am writing to you as I would address my own heart, and I entreat you, professing Christians, ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobate?‘ (2 Corinthians 13:5)…

Oh, my I reach some heart right now! I have a notion that there is someone reading this who will not have another warning. Who among my readers will it be who will die this week, beyond hope? Ponder the question well! Will you be the one to dwell in devouring flames if you do not repent right now? Will you abide in everlasting fire? If I knew you, I would willingly cover you with tears. If I knew you who are to die this week, I would find you, kneel down at your side, and urge you to think of eternal things. But I do not know you, and therefore, by the living God, I implore you all to fly to Jesus by faith.

These are no trifling matters, are they? If they are, I am but a sorry trifler, and you may laugh at me. But, if they are true and real, it suits me to be in earnest, and how much more it will suit you to be so. Prepare to meet your God. He is coming, so prepare now for that Day! ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation‘ (2 Corinthians 6:2). The gates of mercy are not closed. Your sin is not unpardonable. you may yet find mercy. Christ invites you. His blood-drops cry to you:

‘Come and welcome,

Come and welcome, sinner, come.’

May the Holy Spirit put life into these simple words of mine, and may the Lord help you to come to Him now. The way to come is just to trust in Christ. It is all done when you trust in Christ. Throw yourselves on Him and His mercy, putting your trust in nothing else… Risk everything with Christ; trust nothing else but Him. If you can get a grip on the Cross and stand there beneath the crimson canopy of the atoning blood, God Himself cannot smite you, and the Judgment Day will dawn upon you with splendor and delight, instead of gloom and terror.”-Charles Spurgeon, When Christ Returns, p. 63, 70-71

It is unpopular (and even down right offensive) in the climate of today’s culture to speak of the “Great White Throne” judgment or the “devouring flames” of hell, but they are a reality. This preacher understood, perhaps better than most others, just how terrifyingly real these things were for those who did not trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Therefore, he felt compelled to plead with the unbelieving soul to spare them this eternal fate.

Why do we not see more of this kind of compassion from the pulpits today? Why do more men not weep for the souls of their lost congregation members? Why do we not hear more of this kind of message? Why is the church today not warned more often of this great and awesome Judgment Day? Where is this caliber of preacher today? Granted, there are definately a few faithful men like this across our vast country, but they seem to be few and far between.

We, the church, should be seeking-out these faithful men and supporting their ministry. We ought not shy away from the self-examination that comes from their faithful proclamation of the Word (Heb. 4:12), but put ourselves under such preaching. Furthermore, let us turn away from watered-down or distorted messages (which do little more than “tickle our ears”) that are so popular in today’s church and turn toward the whole counsel of the Word of God, as proclaimed by such men.

May the Lord be pleased to raise up more faithful men like this for His honor & glory! Amen.

Competent to Counsel by Jay E. Adams

“MAN’S BASIC PROBLEM:

When God created man he gave him a commission to ‘subdue’ the world and ‘have dominion’ over it (Genesis 1:28). Man alone was created in the image of God. One aspect of that image, as the passage shows, was authority and rule. Man was to reflect God’s rule by a kingly rule over the earth. Of course, man’s was a derived dominion; God’s is natural to him as the Creator of all things. When Adam sinned, man lost that dominion, and to this day he has not fully regained it…”

“Sin brought the reversal of man’s rule over the earth, so that the earth gained dominion over man. The earth began to fight back; it brought forth thorns. Man’s task no longer was to trim and dress the garden, but now, in the sweat of his face, he found it necessary to toil against the earth in order to eke out an existence. Whenever man fails to do so, the impact of the reversal becomes evident. Naturally enough, the problem in [biblical] counseling is that contrary to God’s mandate, clients have allowed the environment to control them (‘Naturally enough,’ because of the sinful orientation of the ‘natural man.”–cf. 1 Corinthians 2). The client who whines, ‘I can’t; I’m helpless’ is simply submitting to the rule of sin in a warped universe set against him. No Christian has a right to act that way. The Christian’s task is to ‘subdue.’ God’s command is till in force; the Christian is called to master his environment. By God’s grace he can. In this way he may once again reflect the image of God by subduing and ruling the world about him (emphasis added). The picture of a man crippled by and in subjection to his environment, cowering before it, crying out that he is helpless under its pressure is, of course, a pitiful distortion of the picture of God’s all-powerful rule. This distortion of God’s image is so gross that it vitiates the very concept of the rule of God. Christians, whose basic orientation has been reversed so that they now seek to glorify God, must learn to take the initiative, subdue and rule. To do nothing is to do something. To fail to bring biblical solutions to bear upon problems is to allow sinful conditions to continue. To accept them and adapt to them is contrary to God’s mandate. The concept of adaptation to sin is non-biblical (emphasis added).” p. 128-129

Undoubtedly, many celebrated the recent passing of this year’s Independence Day with the patriotic anthem, “God Bless America”. But, do people really think about the words that they are singing? I confess that I had not really given much thought to the lyrics until I read a little book, which really caused me to question the overall theme of the beloved song.

In the spirit of Independence Day, I recently began reading a book by Pastor John MacArthur entitled “Can God Bless America?”. The title caught my eye immediately as I browsed my husband’s book collection at home, but it was ultimately the dynamic content that kept me reading.

MacArthur begins the book by posing a series of questions that few have dared to ask:

“Will God bless America? Can God bless America? Should God bless America? Or is our society on the brink of judgment rather than blessing? Are the recent catastrophes merely harbingers of something worse yet to come?

Given the moral bankruptcy of modern society, it seems fair to ask such questions. Are we fit for blessing, or has our nation forfeited any claim to divine blessing? If God did bless America, what would He be saying about His holiness? What would He be saying about our morality? What would He be saying about our spiritual condition?

Can God bless America without compromising His reputation as a holy God? This is a vital question.

Of course, God can always do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. But when it comes to blessing, he has clearly and repeatedly set down conditions.

Listen carefully to the song, ‘God Bless America,’ and you will see that there is no verse that identifies the conditions for divine blessing. Nor do Americans seem to be opening their Bibles to try to find out what the conditions are. I don’t hear anyone asking, ‘God, what do we need to do to be blessed?’

In fact, to raise that question might be seen by many as serious intrusion. Do the American people really want to know what the conditions are that precede God’s blessing? The sentiment sometimes seems to be, ‘Don’t tell us what to do; just bless us,’ as if God were not suppose to ask anything of us. Many would prefer blessing without any conditions being imposed. Give us protection. Give us safety. Give us freedom. Give us prosperity. Just don’t meddle with our morality… The reproofs, rebukes, and exhortations of God’s Word are simply not what most people today want to hear. They won’t tolerate it (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3).”

Then, MacArthur, in his usual direct approach, answers the question dead-on:

“Frankly, our nation is in no position at the moment to be blessed. We’re actually more likely to be cursed by God.

So is our prayer for blessing futile? I don’t believe it is futile. But we need to understand that a prayer for divine blessing presupposes a willingness to cultivate the conditions under which divine blessing can come.”

He goes on to provide a clear, systematic outline of the biblical conditions for blessing from the Scriptures. The following is a brief summary of his main points, which are drawn from the imperatives of the text, in James 4:7-10:

“7 Submit therefore to God and He will draw near to you.”

• Submitting one’s life to the Lord through saving faith in Him is the first and primary condition of the Lord’s blessing

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

• Before we can expect to be blessed by God, we must turn away from the evil that hinders His blessing.

“8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.“

• The greatest blessing a believer can know is that which comes from intimate fellowship with the Lord.

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.“

• The more we repent of our sins, the more intimate our fellowship can be with the Lord and the more we will be blessed.

“9 Be miserable and mourn and weep;“

• As we grow more intimate in our relationship with the Lord, the more we ought to be grievfed over our sins. Lamentation over sins is a necessary condition for true blessing because the more we are grieved over our sins, the less likely we are to pursue them. The less sin we pursue, the more intimate we can fellowship with the Lord

“let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.“

• As we contemplate our sin, it ought to make us sorrowful, sober, and serious-minded. Those who realize their sin and mourn will be comforted (Matthew 5:4), but the mourning is the necessary prelude to the blessing of divine comfort.

“10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.“

• This point summarizes all of the previous… we must humble ourselves before the Lord and be broken over our sin if we are really to receive the Lord’s blessing.

To conclude, MacArthur states, “Can God bless America? Yes, but if we are to be the recipients of His blessing, we must be humble and repentant over our own sin.” Are we?

When Jesus taught on prayer for the first time (as recorded by the gospel of Matthew), He instructed:

 ”Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.“

-Matthew 6:9

It is a peculiar thing that the very first thing that Jesus teaches His followers to address in their prayers was their Father’s name, with particular respect to Its “hallowed-ness”… not empty words of lofty gradure; not petitions for health, wealth & prosperity; not prayers to bind demonic forces; but that the Lord’s name would be revered. In fact, Jesus was so concerned about the holiness and reverence of the Lord’s name, that He emphasized that fact by instructing His followers to make that the foremost issue in the order of priority when praying.

There are others recorded in Scriptures, who prayed this way as well. For example, Moses, the Old Testament prophet, was so concerned for the holiness of the Lord’s name that it was actually the main thrust of his plea for the salvation of Israel at the time when the Lord, Himself, threatened to anialate them:

“7 And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ 9 And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.’

11 But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, ‘O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot agianst your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ 14 And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.“

I find this passage so facinating because of Moses’ response. The Lord was completely justified in His reaction to the Israelites’ idolatry and He could have destroyed them in a moment, riding Moses if his responsibility to lead this “stiff-necked people“. Furthermore, the Lord offered to transfer the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant over to Moses (“… and I may consume them in order to make a great nation of you.“-verse 10). In a blink of an eye, Moses could have been rid of the his responsibility to lead the people of Israel AND he could have inherited a great name for himself…. all he had to do was nothing. In fact, the Lord had specifically asked him to NOT do anything that would get in His way (“let me alone“-verse 10) from carrying out this proposed plan. 

This was a pivotal moment for Moses, as he was faced with 2 fundamental options: either (1) he could take the easy way out and exalt himself or (2) he could continue to bear-up under the awesome responsibility of leading the way-ward nation of Israel and allow the Lord to be exalted. This decision is not unique though by any means. These are the fundamental options that we all face really whenever we are tempted to sin. It was the option that Adam & Eve faced in the garden (see Genesis 3:1-7), Jesus faced when Satan tempted Him in the desert (see Matthew 4:3-10), and it is the same option that you & I face everyday as we choose to either serve self & our selfish interests, or serve the Lord & His perfect purposes.

But, Moses didn’t even flinch. He was so zealous, so passionate about ”hallowing” the Lord’s name before the nations that he didn’t even take time to think about it. He immediately interceded on Israel’s behalf and pleaded with the Lord, on an account of His name’s sake (“Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?’ “-verse 12). He pleaded with the Lord to keep His Word so that His name might not be defiled before the nations.

We find another example of this from Moses’ predicessor, Joshua. The seventh chapter of Joshua begins shortly after Israel had won the battle at Jericho, but was beaten by a lesser army at Ai. Joshua, confused and grieved, sought the Lord’s counsel:

“6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, ‘Alas, O LORD GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!… 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off  our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?“-Joshua 7:6-9

 Again, he pleaded with the Lord for victory, based on the reputation of the Lord’s “great name.”

How often do you think about the reputation of the Lord’s name? How often do your prayers begin with a petition for His name to be “hallowed”? Are you zealous for His name to be exalted among the nations? How often do you decisions choose the “hollowed-ness” of the Lord’s name over your selfish desires in life? If you are like me, then it is not often enough. May the Lord grant us hearts & minds to think as we ought about such things & glorify His name before others as we do so.

Well, summer is definately here (as affirmed by the 102 degree tempurature reading on my thermometer) and you know what that means… backyard bar-b-que season has officially begun! Wooo-hooo! =)

To celebrate the occassion, we had an awesome family bar-b-que at my mother’s house this past weekend. We sat in our lawn chairs all afternoon under the shade of her huge tree in the backyard.

 We talked, laughed and lounged the afternoon away.

My nephew entertained us (and the dog …

… while my brother tried to do a few projects around the house.

Then, as the sun lowered, it came time to light the grill! My brother manned the grill in the backyard, while the rest of us enjoyed playing a game of “DUTCH BLITZ” inside (my new favorite card game ) and preped the rest of the meal.

Finally, the happy moment came when my brother brought in the plate billowing over with tri-tip and chicken…. the smell was overwhelmingly delightful (great marinade, Mom)! So we spent the remainder of the evening at the kitchen table filling our little bellies (which weren’t so little by the time we were done ) and carrying on in conversation. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, my mother topped-off the evening with her infamous Capaccino Chocolate Brownies. It was GREAT! =)

After perusing my husband’s massive personal library recently, I discovered a wonderful little book by a brilliant man, named Charles Spurgeon (pictured here). The book is called “When Christ Returns” and the title aptly summarizes the theme of the entire book. After skimming through a few pages, I was riveted. I couldn’t put it down!

I will share one of the passages on death that hooked-me early in my reading. But before you read it below, take a moment to quiet yourself and engage your mind in the text. Dust off your imagination & turn it on full throttle as you follow Spurgeon’s description of the events that follow death for the unbeliever… it is a pretty intense read:

“Horrors are there, indeed, around the deathbed of the wicked, but these are hardly anything compared with the terrors of the Day of Judgment. When the sinner wakes from his bed of dust, the first thing he will see will be the Great White Throne and the Judge seated upon it. (See Revelation 20:11.) The first sound that will greet his ears will be the trumpet sounding this call:

Come to judgement, come to judgment, come to judgment, sinner come.

He will look up to see the Son of Man on His judgement throne with the King’s officers arranged on either side, the saints on His right hand and angels round about Him. Then the books will be opened. (Revelation 20:12). What creeping horrow will come upon the flesh of the wicked man! He knows his turn will arrive in a moment; he stands expecting it. Fear grips him while the eyes of the Judge look him through and through. He cries to the rocks to hide him and the mountains to fall upon him. (See Revelation 6:16.) Happy would he be now to find a friendly shelter in the grave, but the grave has burst its doors and can never be closed upon him again. He would even be glad to rush back to his former state in hell, but he must not. The Judgment has come; the indictment is set. Again the trumpet rings,

Come to judgment, come to judgment, come to judgment, come away.

Then the Book of Life is opened, and the dreadful sentence is pronounced. We discover this in the words of Scripture:

‘14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.‘ (Revelation 20:14-15)

The condemned sinner never knew what death was before. The first death was just a flea bite, but this is death indeed. The first death he might have looked back upon as a dream compared with this taste of death, now that the Lord has come.”

For the believer reading this passage, I pray it has elevated your heart, as it has mine, with lofty praise and adoration to the Lord your God for sparing you an eternal fate such as the one described here. May it also encourage you to spare others from this fate by sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ with them before it is too late!

 For the unbeliever reading this… after reading this passage, my heart is renewed with an intense, deep sorrow for eternal fate that you may be facing. It is my earnest prayer that the Lord would be pleased to draw you unto Himself through a saving faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!