tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91487900121930453072024-03-08T07:25:14.087+00:00Ruminations of an Assistant Pig KeeperOur capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart.
- Lloyd AlexanderTelcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-74164736855942732192013-07-04T23:56:00.001+01:002014-07-03T19:30:14.330+01:00Objections, your honour?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This post is a supplement to <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2013/07/churches-built-on-sand.html" target="_blank">my main one</a> considering the Church of Scotland’s recent decision regarding the
ordination of people in same-sex relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Obviously, mine is not the only view and many objections have been
raised to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the main post I dealt
with what I saw as key attempts to raise biblical objections but as I said
there, those were not the most numerous of the objections I have heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, if the case is not founded on
scripture then I hope it will not change anyone’s mind but given that people do
have other objections I thought I would address those which I have heard.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nothing
has changed</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many people argue that we should
stay because the Church of Scotland has not changed its position (in which case
I refer you to the previous post and the speeding analogy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others argue that we should stay and fight
this until it becomes law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do wish
those people the very best and I pray that they will be able to stand but I do
not think this stands as a solid objection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It seems to me at least that if this issue really is about the authority
of God’s word and not homophobia then we should leave now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say this because the Church of Scotland’s
ruling body has already said that the word of God does not matter to it when it
comes to making decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we stay
until it becomes law it seems to me that our objection lies not in that
defiance of God’s word, but with the result of it (the ordination of practising
homosexuals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am leaving the Church of
Scotland because they do not hold to the authority of God and so I think it
wise to leave now.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New
converts</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This objection is essentially that new
Christians would go the Church of Scotland because it is the
biggest/established church, and that we must stay so they are not led astray<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This argument just does not hold water. New Christians don't generally
just pop into existence unaided. Conversion normally follows either church
attendance (in which case they would presumably stay in that church), personal
witness (in which case the friend would bring them along to their church) or
corporate evangelism (in which case the mission would be based from a local
church, or should be able to point towards one). In none of those cases would
someone just go along to the Church of Scotland because it was 'the biggest
one' or ‘the established church’. Even if we did accept that a new Christian,
who doesn't know the difference between Christianity and Liberalism should
wander down the street with no prior knowledge looking for a church, what
benefit will it be if the evangelical ones have the same sign on the door as
the liberal ones? What benefit will it be if someone happens on a Liberal
Church of Scotland congregation if there is also a Bible-believing one with the
Church of Scotland sign on the door just down the road? Or in the next city? I
know people who grew up in liberal congregations who never knew the truth, and
only found out because someone outside the Church of Scotland told them it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact there were evangelical congregations
in the Church of Scotland did not help them at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Individual evangelical congregations just do
not have any great influence over liberal ones and therefore it seems foolish
to stay in order to have that influence (which we don’t actually have anyway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to me that it would be much easier
if evangelical churches weren't all under the authority of people who do not
believe the Bible, weren't funding ministers who do not submit to God and
didn't have the same sign on the door as the Liberal ones. Besides, if we all
left and joined the Free Church then the Church of Scotland wouldn't BE the
'biggest' anyway…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Facetiousness aside though, in many
ways my main objection to this is that it denies the sovereignty of God by saying
that He cannot work through smaller denominations, or those which are not ‘the
national church’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can, and does,
bring people to other churches and if being faithful to His word means leaving
then He will continue to bless the work that we do and this nicely brings me to
the second objection to leaving.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">God’s
sovereignty</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many people say that God is in
control and He allowed this decision to be made<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which the response has
to be: Yes, and?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is in control, He
chose the general assembly result.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
also chose to allow Jesus to be crucified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did that mean those who did it were right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also chose to allow the Catholic Church
uncontested sway over most of Europe for hundreds of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did that mean the reformers were wrong?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God allows things to happen which are against
His revealed will in the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact
that He allowed this does not mean He approved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It definitely does not mean that we should
stay; there is not logical path to be drawn there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A second, related argument is often
used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is to argue that God is
sovereign and therefore is able to turn the Church of Scotland around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again this is true and again, it is
irrelevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">can</b> do anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We however
cannot and must simply act in faithfulness to His word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God may well be using this crisis to
strengthen the Church <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">in</b> Scotland by
destroying the Church <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">of</b>
Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not know.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Reformation</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I mentioned the reformers while
discussing the previous objection and that brings me to what is, to me, one of
the most bizarre objections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Namely that
in the time of the reformation Calvin, Luther and Huss (among many others) all
faced worse heresies in the Church than we do now, and yet they did not try to
leave. Rather they stayed, surrounded by disregard for God’s word until they
were forced out by the authorities of the church at their time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is worth taking some time to unpack
because I think it provides several useful lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again I have to stress this debate is not
about sex. This debate is about whether the Church has the authority to be the
supreme rule of faith and life or whether God's word has that authority. Which,
actually, was the root of the reformation. The Pope claimed authority over and
above that of scripture, leading to faulty doctrines of salvation. Likewise the
Church of Scotland is now claiming authority to decide whether what God calls
sin is in fact sin. This motion was picked because it suited the Church of Scotland
as an institution, not because of any scriptural backing. So I disagree that
they actually faced more important issues then as we do know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the situation of the church at the
beginning of the reformation was also not the same as the situation of the
church today. In the reformation there was an established church which had held
unbiblical positions, mainly from a position of ignorance, for many years. In
our situation we have a church which is moving away from a biblical position,
in full knowledge of what the word of God says on the matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Secondly, the RC church was the only
one in most of the world. There was no Bible-affirming denomination that Luther
and Calvin could have left to join. In Scotland I could name 5 Presbyterian
denominations off the top of my head, all of whom believe in the Bible as the
supreme rule of faith and life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course if it is biblically wrong to stay then where to go is not an issue!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thirdly, the reformers took the
whole city of Geneva out of the Roman Catholic church and Calvin took it over
for years! How can that be used as an argument for following his example and um,
staying in the church? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fourthly, (and here is a challenge
for those who do want to stay within the denomination) if you want to follow
the example of the reformers, fine. But actually do it. Stop submitting to the
authority of Presbytery wherever their decision is unbiblical, stop giving
money to the Church of Scotland as a whole to fund unbiblical ministries. The
reformers refused to submit to the authority of the Pope, they utterly rejected
the church's authority over them and while some didn't officially leave until
they were kicked out, they effectively ignored the church hierarchy and went
God's way instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fifthly, and I've touched on this
but I cannot stress it enough, the RC church as a whole had not rejected the
Bible and their official position was not that it was irrelevant. Rather, their
absolute leaders had rejected the authority of the Bible and everyone else was
ignorant. That is not our position today. In the Presbyterian system we have
voted to allow this twice already, and no doubt will again. This decision has
been taken by people who have the Bible in their own language and have, hopefully,
read it many times. It is taken, not from ignorance, but from a position of
knowledge. If anything I would say that the Church of Scotland is in even more
trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From those who know much, much
will be asked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lastly, referring back to the Biblical
arguments from the original post, I think Luther and Calvin would turn in their
graves if we dared to use them as an example to follow in the face of Biblical
teaching to the contrary.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Money
Matters</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At its most straightforward the
objection is that it will cost you to leave<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i>
This is possibly the most common argument from both evangelicals and liberals
and also the easiest to refute. To put it simply, it doesn’t matter. If we
think leaving is the God honouring decision then you bet we'll leave; whatever
it costs. Seek first the Kingdom of God. As Jesus promises: "everyone who
has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or
lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal
life." What is a church building compared to furthering the glory of God?</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leaving
others in the lurch</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some say that there are evangelical
congregations who can’t support a minister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again this argument holds a challenge for us as evangelicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my firm belief that it takes 10 people
tithing to support a minister on the same salary as those 10 enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one specific example I was told of was a
church with around 50 members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If 50
evangelical members cannot support a minister, in a reasonably well off region
of the country, then there is something wrong with our giving!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Besides, why do we have this idea
that we can only give money to people within our denomination?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why can’t we continue to fund those
evangelicals who actually cannot afford their ministry (if there are such) even
when we don’t belong to the same denomination?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let us take this opportunity to break denominational boundaries and fund
Baptist church plants, or Free Church congregations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even those who stay, if they honour God and
obey His Word.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
don’t agree with the other guys</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The objections here being that we
can’t leave the Church of Scotland for the Free/Associated
Presbyterian/International Presbyterian Church; they disagree with us about
Women Elders/Hats/Worship style!<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Now
I’m being a bit facetious there, obviously the issue of hats and female elders
are not equally important but I could not fully credit it when someone first
said something along these lines to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is the presence or absence of women elders really more important than
the authority of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me at least it
seems that if I have to be part of a church which disagrees with me on
something I would rather it be a relatively small issue of interpretation than
one of the very authority of God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
will of course be difficulties involved in a change of denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issue of women elders is a major one for
many people but even such an important issue is inconsequential compared to the
compromise needed to remain in the Church of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will require sacrifice for some in giving
up their ability to hold a certain position within the church but is that not
worth it to be a part of a denomination that agrees on the primary matters of our
faith? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No doubt there are objections that I
have missed, these are just those which I have heard. As I say, I do not think any of them carry weight when compared to the biblical case, but perhaps for some they may be important and I hope this has helped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you missed the link at the start, my other post can be found at the following address: </span>http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2013/07/churches-built-on-sand.html</div>
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Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-30489408833449817772013-07-04T23:55:00.001+01:002013-09-09T18:22:04.874+01:00Churches Built on Sand<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> A Little Background</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is a weighty topic for my first blog in a long time but I thought it worth
addressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is written hopefully to
both inform and challenge those who are considering where they stand in relation
to the Church of Scotland after its recent decision at the General Assembly in
May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For anyone who comes to read this
and is not from my corner of the world you may not be familiar with the
situation facing the Church of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even for those who are from here, even for members of the Church of Scotland,
the situation may still seem confusing and bizarre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What exactly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">has</b> happened?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before I
embark on an attempt to say something about this situation I will try to give,
as briefly as possible, a summary of the crisis which has hit the denomination.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Our
story starts in 2009 when an openly practising homosexual was appointed as the
minister of a church in Aberdeen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
appointment, being approved by the presbytery of Aberdeen, was objected to and
brought before the General Assembly (the ruling body of the Church of Scotland)
in 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The objection was not upheld
and a ‘special commission’ was set up to look into the matter and report in
2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following this report, the general
assembly decided to begin on a ‘revisionist’ trajectory, moving away from the
plain word of God in scripture and from the Kirk’s historic position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A theological commission was then established
comprising both traditionalist and revisionist members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This commission reported back in May 2013 (the report can be found <a href="http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/13811/20_THEOLOGICAL_2013.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two motions were proposed: the revisionist
position would allow the ordination of ministers in a same-sex relationship,
the traditionalist position would not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead of either of these recommendations from the commission the Assembly
chose instead to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">affirm the Church’s
historic and current doctrine and practice in relation to human sexuality;
nonetheless permit those Kirk Sessions who wish to depart from that doctrine
and practice to do so</i>”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
then, is the situation the church is now in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The official governing body of the Kirk has de facto stated that the
Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is no longer </b>to be the
supreme rule of faith and life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
the supreme rule of faith and life is the decision of individual kirk sessions.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A Fog of Myths</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Before
I get into commenting on this I do just want to dispel a few common myths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly, this issue is not about
homosexuality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has presented itself
in that context and sadly there will be some people who oppose the Assembly’s
decision due to homophobia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However for
the majority the real issue is that of the authority of scripture. The general assembly’s decision was taken in
the full realisation of what the Bible said in regards to human sexuality. Both
the Traditionalist and Revisionist sections of the report made that very clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To quote just from the revisionist report: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Despite all these various considerations –
some more widely accepted, some more controversial than others – the majority
view among scholars is that most, if not all, of the Biblical texts which
mention homosexual practice are against it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, that is not the end of the discussion…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>This is no issue of interpretation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Secondly,
many people take the view that if this is really about the authority of God in
scripture then we should have left years ago when there were first ministers
who denied the resurrection or other such major Christian doctrines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However the reason a line is being drawn here
by many is that this is the first time such a flagrant flouting of God’s word
has become the official position of the Kirk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a difference between a failure of church discipline and a
failure of church doctrine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the press
release of my own church puts it “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
issue which we cannot accept is the Church's departure from its Scriptural
foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the past individuals may
have departed from this foundation, but now this change is endorsed centrally
rather than being tolerated locally.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, more should have been done to deal with these problems over the
last few decades but it wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need
to learn from our past mistakes in that regard (and there is room for another
blog on that alone), we were complacent and we are paying the price of that
complacency now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
on to deal with some aspects of the decision, and offer some thoughts on the
future of the Church of Scotland.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Did we compromise or
have we been compromised?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
I think is a key question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decision
reached by the assembly has been lauded by many as a compromise which maintains
the unity of the denomination. The Moderator of the General Assembly even said:
"This is a massive vote for the peace and unity of the Church” and the
minister whose appointment kicked off the whole shebang called it a "fair
compromise".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Is
it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
analogy of the government setting a speed limit of 30mph but allowing anyone
who wishes to drive at 60mph has often been used to describe the ‘mixed
economy’ set out by the General Assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To take that analogy further it seems to me the recent debate was like
having two groups opposing each other about the speed limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One attempts to have the speed limit lifted so
that they can drive at 60mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second
group claims that it would not be safe or right to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After debate and discussion however they come
to the position that the signs will all say 30mph but anyone who wants to drive
at 60mph can do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first group gets
the ability to drive at 60mph as they wanted, and the second group?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well they get the pretty “30 miles per hour
maximum speed” signs to look at but in actuality, to use the colloquial, they
get squat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that a compromise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I fail to see how it is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is the situation the Church of Scotland has reached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The evangelicals can sit quietly in the
corner and admire their pretty rulebooks which still say that they are
right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile everyone else can just
get on with what they want to do because the rulebooks mean nothing at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rules you can opt out of are just empty words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
we, as evangelicals within the Church of Scotland, are left with a church
position which is simply revisionist by another name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many cases, those who call themselves
evangelical even voted for this revisionist position. Regarding an issue this
crucial even a compromise situation is bad enough but the more I think about
the decision and the options before the Assembly, the more I have to conclude that
this ‘compromise’ position is in fact worse than the revisionist one and is
functionally a bigger step away from the authority of God than the initial
revisionist position was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Allow
me to summarise the three options again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The traditionalist case was that, based on the Bible, it is clear that
God does not condone any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, as the church should not ordain
those living in unrepentant sin, it should not ordain those in same-sex
partnerships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The revisionist position
was that, despite the clear words of the Bible, God actually does condone
committed homosexual relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore, the church should ordain those in same-sex partnerships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, the Church chose the following
position: it is clear that God condemns any sexual activity outside of
heterosexual marriage but, despite that, churches should feel free to ordain
those living in unrepentant sin (and yes, the church still regards that as
unrepentant sin before God, it just doesn’t care).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have said as a denomination that we will
permit and even encourage that which we know to be sinful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Who
can seriously call that a compromise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The options were: God objects therefore don’t do it; and God doesn’t
object therefore do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Church of
Scotland however chose “God objects, do it anyway” and called it a compromise.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Compromise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You keep using this word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not think it means what you think it
means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is no compromise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is capitulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Capitulation to the revisionist agenda, to
the prevailing spirit of the age and to those who value the wisdom of men over
the words of God.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What now?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
then do we do in response to this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
is the God-honouring and Bible-believing response to the crisis within the
Kirk?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people think it is to stay,
no matter what.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others think it is to
stay a while and fight this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others
think that enough is enough and that we should not be part of a denomination
not subject to the word of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which
option then is right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will come as no
surprise to any who know me that I think the right decision is to leave as soon
as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even then questions
remain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do we go?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do we do about our building, our funds,
our manse?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Every
question in the preceding paragraphs is a worthwhile question to ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if our criticism is that the Church of
Scotland no longer listens to God, surely that has to be our main
question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does God say about this?</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Building our house
upon the rock</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone then who hears these
words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the
rock</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. And the rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall,
because it had been founded on the rock. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand</b>. And the rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and
great was the fall of it.</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 7:24-27</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thinking
about the recent decision of the General Assembly, this is the passage that
immediately jumps out at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus says
that the Church of Scotland, in hearing and refusing to obey His Word, is like
an idiot who thinks that the shifting sands of public opinion are a solid
foundation to build on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trouble will one
day rain down, the flood of God’s anger will one day rise and the winds of
judgement will one day blow unabated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
that day, how will a church which has upped sticks and moved from the rock which
it was built on stand?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cannot build
a house of men on sand, let alone the house of God!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
parable though does not just contain condemnation for the liberal element of
the Church of Scotland, but also a stern warning to the evangelicals within
that same denomination (and outwith it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we are to be wise, if we are to survive the oncoming storm, we must
build our house on the rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must
hear the words of God and do them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have discussed and debated with many people over what the right path to take in
this situation is and I have heard many objections to leaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of those objections are scriptural ones
but sadly, of all the objections I’ve heard, those based on the Biblical text
perhaps make up 10-20%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is from
talking to evangelicals!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is
calling us here to base our lives, our churches and the paths we take, not on
insubstantial practicalities and preferences, but on His word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regarding those other objections, I have addressed
them in a separate post which can be found <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2013/07/objections-your-honour.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,<br />
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!<br />
What more can He say than to you He hath said,<br />
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John Rippon</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A Biblical case for
staying?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Despite
the fact that other arguments are more commonly used it is worth touching on
those verses which I at least have heard used to justify remaining in the
denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One verse which I have
heard quoted as grounds for staying is 1 Corinthians 1:10 where Paul says: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be
united in the same mind and the same judgment.”</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But
to take that verse and use it as an argument for remaining in a church which is
divided on the very authority of God does not strike me as sensible exposition
at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul calls for no divisions, yet
if we remain in the Church of Scotland we are divided over the Bible
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He calls for us to be ‘united in
the same mind’ and of ‘the same judgement’ and yet we cannot even agree on what
sin is or whether it is God or us that would decide that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is that unified? My second issue
regarding using that verse as an argument for staying is that it is by no means
saying to continue putting on a united face despite deep doctrinal division. If
you read the context of the verse you soon see that Paul here is talking of
divisions over leaders within the church: some following Apollos, some Paul,
etc. He is not talking of the substance of the faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact earlier in the passage, concerning
the substance of the faith, he commends them for holding to it (something which
I think he would not say of the Church of Scotland in our day). As Paul says in
2 Timothy 2 we should not quarrel over minor matters but major issues of life
and doctrine <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">must</b> be corrected.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">He put
another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him,
‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in
gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both
grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn.’”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 13:24-30</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
parable of the wheat and tares is the other passage which has been referred to
as being in favour of staying in the Church of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The argument is that as it is God who
separates the wheat and tares at the end of time, doing so now by leaving an
unbiblical church is not the right decision. I believe however that is
interpreting it completely wrongly. It seems most likely (in the light of the
rest of Biblical teaching) that the field in question is the world (not the
church) and that Jesus is teaching here that God will allow unbelievers and
believers to live side by side in the world and that the church should not seek
to 'uproot' the unbelievers by force. It cannot, however, mean that unorthodoxy
is permitted in the church because that would expressly contradict the many
passages which make clear statements to the contrary and it is to some of those
that we turn to next.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In fact, since writing this my attention has
been drawn to the rest of the passage, where in verse 38 Jesus says “The field
is the world” – which seems pretty conclusive to me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The field in the parable, according to the
Lord Jesus himself, is the world – not the church.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A Biblical case for
leaving </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Criticising
other people’s interpretation of the text is easy enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is there really a biblical case for
leaving the Church of Scotland?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
argue that there is, and even if you disagree with me there is certainly enough
in these verses to provoke some serious questions!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider the following verses:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I say
this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in
the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and
the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but
that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in
the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has
both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this
teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes
them shares in their wicked work.<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">2
John 1 v 10 – 11</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Is
anyone seriously arguing that we can share a denomination with those who John
expressly commands us not to even welcome into our homes?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i><sub><br />
</sub>Or consider that Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14 that we are not to be
yoked together with unbelievers in marriage because light cannot have
fellowship with darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we cannot
do so in marriage, how can we do so as a church? Or consider 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
which says:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I wrote
to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all
meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or
idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am writing to you not to associate with
anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or
greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler</b>—not even to eat
with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those
inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the
evil person from among you.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Paul
commands you not to even associate with those who call themselves Christians if
they are guilty of flagrant, unrepentant sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Can you really argue that sharing a denomination is not in any way
associating yourself with those who call themselves brother or sister and yet
live in unrepentant sin?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is this
decision but idolatry on the part of the Assembly and a vindication of the
swindlers who call good what God calls bad and the unrepentantly sexually
immoral ministers that they wish to be ordained?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another place Paul writes:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">In the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep
away from every believer who is idle and disruptive <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and does not live according to the teaching you received from us</b>.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">2 Thessalonians 3:6</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">None
of us are perfect; no Christian has it all together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, according to Paul, living (or at least
striving to live) our lives according to the teaching of the gospel is a vital
part of being a part of God’s family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
also calls us to keep away from those who profess faith but do not try to live
it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Lastly
I would return to Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we try to have our little rock-founded
room in the house otherwise built on the sand or will we leave our comfort zone
and build a house on solid ground?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But I’ve been in the
Church of Scotland for 50 years!</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
have not been in the Church of Scotland for long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been at Logies for about eight years I
think but that is nothing compared to some.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is hard to understand the depth of attachment that some people feel
as a result of their long years of service in the denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all I can say is to go back to that
passage from 1 Corinthians 1:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What I mean is that
each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow
Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
is Apollos?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Paul? What indeed is
the Church of Scotland? Is Christ divided? Was the Church of Scotland crucified
for you? Were you baptized in the name of the Church of Scotland? Given that
the answer to all of those is no, the Church of Scotland is nothing. It's a
denomination, a name, a history, nothing more. God calls us to fight for the
Church <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">in</b> Scotland, to promote the
gospel and to increase His glory here. I don't see Him calling us to compromise
on Biblical truth in order to try and save one aspect of the Church because
it's the one we happen to be part of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is hard to leave the familiar and it is hard to admit that the church many of
us grew up in and came to faith in has strayed so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Locum Minister has been in the Church of
Scotland for 68 years now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For nearly 40
of those years he was a minister and since retiring he has been locum in 2
other congregations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father and
grandfather before him were elders in the Kirk and both his sons have followed
in his footsteps as ministers in the Church of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three, however, are now leaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot imagine what that decision must have
cost them to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To step out into the
unknown, faithfully trusting God, having counted up the cost of following
Christ wherever He leads and having determined it is worth any cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is an example I can follow.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Paul
and the Church of Scotland both have one thing in common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were not crucified for me and I was not
baptised in their name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is one
who was crucified for me, and in whose name I was baptised. Jesus the lamb of
God, who takes away the sins of the world. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the
Root of David, who was oppressed and afflicted and by whose stripes I am
healed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many who love that
Lamb and yet feel compelled to remain in the Church of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they are wrong but may God be with
them in that fight nonetheless, and give them the courage and the boldness to
proclaim His word in the midst of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For me, I cannot be a part of a church which has broken its marriage
vows to the God who loved it and gave himself for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is not a battle I want to fight, not here, not now. There are so many
better things for the Church to be doing than warring over this and I would
much rather that the presenting issue was one which would not cause so much
pain and difficulty for so many. However this is the issue where the
battle lines have been drawn and as Luther says:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">If I
profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the
truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil
are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may
be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier
is proved and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and
disgrace if he flinches at that point.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
we must echo the words of Shakespeare's Henry V:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The sum
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">We
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Nor, as
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
do not know where this road will lead but no matter what the cost is, it is
nothing compared to what he paid for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore we stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Putting on
the whole armour of God and firmly rooted in His word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will not be easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following Christ never is – but He is worth
it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<<This was going to be a short post, given that it is
my first in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to
say, it wasn’t… Despite its great length, it is not comprehensive and may well have missed a great deal. There are several other great articles on this.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.christianstogether.net/Articles/358093/Christians_Together_in/Christian_Life/Current_News/Senior_minister_takes.aspx">http://www.christianstogether.net/Articles/358093/Christians_Together_in/Christian_Life/Current_News/Senior_minister_takes.aspx</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1759368810"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://coffeewithlouis.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/an-open-letter-to-the-general-assembly-of-the-church-of-scotland-2013/">http://coffeewithlouis.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/an-open-letter-to-the-general-assembly-of-the-church-of-scotland-2013/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/the-trajectory-of-god/">http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/the-trajectory-of-god/</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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And I have also written another post on some of the objections to leaving: <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2013/07/objections-your-honour.html">http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2013/07/objections-your-honour.html</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-29701143229371254732013-03-15T23:02:00.000+00:002013-03-15T23:08:41.545+00:00Abide With Me<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The Prayer of the
Broken Heart</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Great
hymns often make great prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
richness of the lyrics and, especially with the old ones, the realism and
dependence on God they exhibit cry out to be turned to prayer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely none more so than ‘Abide With Me’ by
Henry Francis Lyte.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Written as he lay
near death at a young age it cries out to God to never, ever leave, even in the
face of death and the loss of all life’s pleasures. It is a beautiful prayer of someone who has lost all his illusions about the treasures of this world and broken-hearted, cries out for the constant presence of the God who never leaves.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Abide
with me; fast falls the eventide;<br />
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.<br />
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,<br />
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Father,
abide with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stay with me Lord as the evening
grows ever closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Darkness deepens
Lord, it threatens to overwhelm me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
not leave me now Father, not now when those I care more about have left
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not leave me now when all the
comforts and treasures of my life here on earth have vanished like the ebbing
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh Father stay with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so helpless, so broken and weak Lord and
yet You are the one who helps the helpless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You are the one who gives grace to the humble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been so greatly humbled Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give me grace I pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abide with me.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Swift
to its close ebbs out life’s little day;<br />
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;<br />
Change and decay in all around I see;<br />
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Oh
Lord this life is so short and I have wasted so much time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much time chasing the things of this world
when I could have sought You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive me
Lord, forgive me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see now, at the
close Lord, I see now how dim and faded earth’s treasures are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How pointless, how cold, how weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord all these things I have sought:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>money, popularity, relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All for nothing now, they fade and grow
dim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord all in this world is change
and decay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All but You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relationships end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Money is spent or lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Financial institutions collapse, health and
strength fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearts are broken and
trust and friendship betrayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing
remains constant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing but You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord, all changes, all decays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All but You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lord you never change, you never decay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Abide with me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Not a
brief glance I beg, a passing word;<br />
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,<br />
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.<br />
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Oh
do not less this be a fading, passing lesson Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not let this realisation of Your
importance and the reality of Your presence leave me when the sun again shines
briefly to warm my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let this be a
lasting memory, searing my heart with the knowledge that You are worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not leave me Lord, when times are
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Live with me, in me by Your
Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord be like the closest of
family; come down to my level and endure, patiently, all my many flaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord do not but briefly stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abide with me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Come
not in terrors, as the King of kings,<br />
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,<br />
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—<br />
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Lord
I see you as so often I forget to see You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Lord of all. El-Elyon na Adonai, God Most High my Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The King of kings and the Lord of lords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seated above the cherubim, the judge of all
the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Your Son seated at Your
right hand, ready to return to judge the living and the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh come not thus to me Father!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come not as judge, with terror and
wrath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come instead with healing for my
broken heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come and weep, as Your Son
did for the death of Lazarus two thousand years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weep for my woes, be moved with pity for me
and answer my cries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come, Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Send your Son to comfort me, my saviour, brother,
friend. Come in love. Abide with me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thou on
my head in early youth didst smile;<br />
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,<br />
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,<br />
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Oh
Father I came to You so young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Your
great grace I was not long in this world before You called me to be Your
servant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a useless servant I have
been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You called me Lord and I came to
You but so often I have strayed since then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have fallen so many times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have rebelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have run away from You,
from Your goodness, from Your will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have sought happiness and pleasure in the things of this world and not in You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a fool I have been!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh Father I thank You for Your great grace
that despite how often I have left You, despite how often I have betrayed you, still
You welcome me back with open arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still You walk beside, even when I am running away from You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank You Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not cease to show Your mercies to me
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stay until the end Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abide with me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I need
Thy presence every passing hour.<br />
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?<br />
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?<br />
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
ask not because I feel it would make my life a little easier, or even a little
happier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ask because I need it
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot live without it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every right step I take is solely by Your
grace Father. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were it not for Your presence
I would have fallen into every temptation I passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no strength of my own Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only weakness and dependence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You alone can guide me, You alone can hold me
fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh Lord my God, whatever befalls
me, whatever trials come, do not leave me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even when sunlight sings its song in my soul Lord; even in those rare
moments of joy, do not leave me even then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even then I would forget You Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Abide with me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I fear
no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;<br />
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.<br />
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?<br />
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">On
my own I cannot face so much as a breath of temptation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With You at my side I fear none of the wiles
or the might of the devil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh Lord how foolish
it is for me to continue to fret and worry when You are at my side, ready to
bless and to protect me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord I fail to
remember this so often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have nothing
to fear while You are here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord God,
many are the ills upon my back in this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many, many are my tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Father I
struggle so much with bitterness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Send
Your cleansing presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I could only
see what I have gained, to have You at my side, truly then ills would have no weight
and tears would lose all their bitterness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Death has no sting, no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have
taken that sting, all death brings me is to see You face to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What glorious victory!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To lie on earth, this feeble body mouldering
in the grave and stand in heaven, my soul cleansed by your grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Face to face with my Saviour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The grave has no victory over me, even in death, your presence brings me
triumph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abide with me!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Hold
Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;<br />
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.<br />
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;<br />
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Do
not ever let me lose the wonder of the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So easily it slips beneath my gaze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lord such a thing should never be forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How easily I forget Father, Your mercy has
cleansed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have nothing left to live
for but this grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How easily too I
forget, you call me to carry a cross of my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To live that cross-shaped life that Your son lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To suffer in this brief life I have in order
to further the cause He died for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
easily I forget and fall into guilt or complacency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hold now that cross in front of me, do not let
me forget, even until I die Lord!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh Father,
break through the gloom that surrounds me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shine Your glory into my life and lift my eyes heavenwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not let me become distracted with this
life but always glory in the joys of the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oh Father I see it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see heaven’s
gates standing open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see the Son of
Man standing at Your right hand, waiting to welcome me in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shadows of earthly things fly away as I
see that sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What matter they to me
when that is my future? To be welcomed in and to sit with my God at that great
heavenly banquet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To have my tears wiped
away and to see You face to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh
Lord everything, everything in me cries out for that moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come Lord Jesus Come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But until you send Him back Father, whether I
live or I die I ask for your presence with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In everything this, this is my prayer.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Abide
with me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<<For more backstory and free download: <a href="http://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-abide-with-me">http://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-abide-with-me</a>
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t something I’ve done before,
but it did strike me that this hymn (which has been a great comfort to me) is
meant to be prayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I did.>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-48142763916078874222013-03-05T00:02:00.000+00:002013-10-26T21:32:25.099+01:00Wonderful Hymns<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Singing God's Praise</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">There
is a lot of music produced by the church today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of it is rubbish, some of it is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will blog on that some other time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discussing it with a friend recently though
they asked for a list of my favourite hymns so for now though I just want to
briefly look at what I consider to be important in a good hymn before looking
specifically at some of my personal favourites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
is more focused on God than it is on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a reason why it is called a him and not a me (sorry, that pun
was awful). But seriously, any hymn that puts more stress on me than God is no
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that doesn’t mention it can’t
mention me, my struggles, my feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I really do think it should mention God’s help and goodness
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideally when I’m singing about
myself it should be in relation to what God has done for me.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
needs to be profound and true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colossians
3:16 says “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let the word of Christ dwell
in you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">richly</b>, teaching and
admonishing one another in all wisdom, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">singing
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs</b>, with thankfulness in your hearts to
God”.</i> According to this verse singing is part of letting Christ’s word
dwell richly in us and I cannot believe that singing empty platitudes does
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equally so, singing untruth is in
many ways even worse than preaching it (due to the ease of memorising).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">As
a corollary to the above it needs to not be too repetitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some repetition is fine (and biblical) but
often in modern songs you find yourself singing the same line time and time
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I challenge you to find a Psalm
that repeats the same line consecutively 10 times! <a href="http://www.worshipmatters.com/2007/08/31/qa-fridays-is-repetition-a-help-or-a-hindrance/" target="_blank">Here </a>is an excellent article
on the use of repetition.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
needs to be realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to
sing a song about how much I feel love for God; I want to sing about how lovely
he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to sing about how
much I’ll do for God; I want to sing about how much he has done for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to sing songs I can <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">always</b> get behind, even when I’m
feeling crap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs that are realistic
about the hardship of the Christian life and songs that are realistic about the
fact my heart is messed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the
reason my favourite hymn is the one it is (nearly at that part…).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
needs to be singable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left this until
last because the words are more important but I firmly believe hymns are
written for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">congregational</b> worship
and not for a band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a place for
band-based and biblical music (like Casting Crowns) but it is not in a church
context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs sung in church should be reasonably
easy to pick up and sing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They shouldn’t
be so high you need to have a microphone or be a girl to sing with any sort of
volume and vigour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They should also make
sense musically and not be too complex so that anyone can sing them without
needing to be an expert singer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
have to practice it a dozen times in order to sing it, it is probably not going
to be on my list…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
there are my 5 main criteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will
just stress that most of them are negotiable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am happy for you to like a simpler song, or a repetitive one, or
indeed a super complicated one (but obviously not if it is unbiblical).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are my criteria though, they aren’t
necessarily the best ones, but they are what I like to see in a hymn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So with that in mind, a few of the best (with
reasons why).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It happens that most of
these are older ones, not because older necessarily means better but just
because the older ones have been test run through decades of church history and
the rubbish ones got filtered out (well, most of them, Jerusalem I am looking
at you…). In no particular order:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Come Thou Fount</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Robert
Robinson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comethou.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comethou.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">(note
that the ‘usual’ version misses the first half of v2 and the last of v3, as
well as the last verse of this version)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
love this because it is just a marvellous call to God to rescues us from our
own self absorbance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention the
beautiful pictures of the power of grace and reliance on God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O to
grace how great a debtor<br />
Daily I’m constrained to be!<br />
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,<br />
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O the Deep, Deep Love
of Jesus</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">S.
Trevor Francis</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/t/othedeep.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/t/othedeep.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is just a wonderful reminder of how great and immeasurable Jesus’ love for us
is and that no other love even compares to this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As well as that beautiful last two lines,
with their assurance that heaven is simply being where he is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O the
deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!<br />
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!<br />
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;<br />
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The Love of God is Greater
Far</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Frederick
Lehman</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/o/loveofgo.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/o/loveofgo.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Again,
this is just a beautifully poetic description of the indescribable nature of
God’s love.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Could
we with ink the ocean fill,<br />
And were the skies of parchment made,<br />
Were every stalk on earth a quill,<br />
And every man a scribe by trade,<br />
To write the love of God above,<br />
Would drain the ocean dry.<br />
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,<br />
Though stretched from sky to sky.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Approach, My Soul, The
Mercy Seat</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John
Newton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/p/approach.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/p/approach.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John
Newton writes the best hymns on prayer (this isn’t the only one on the list)
and this is no exception to that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thy
promise is my only plea,<br />
With this I venture nigh;<br />
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,<br />
And such, O Lord, am I.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Love That Wilt Not
Let Me Go</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">George
Matheson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/l/oltwnlmg.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/l/oltwnlmg.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Another
beautiful hymn about the love of God which stresses the fact that when all other
loves prove false he still loves you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This hymn has helped me an awful lot in tough times (I wrote a blog
about how good it is /shameless self-plug).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Love
that wilt not let me go,<br />
I rest my weary soul in thee;<br />
I give thee back the life I owe,<br />
That in thine ocean depths its flow<br />
May richer, fuller be.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">All I Have is Christ</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jordan
Kauflin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Songs/All_I_Have_Is_Christ/35">http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Songs/All_I_Have_Is_Christ/35</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
newest hymn currently on this list, a beautiful reminder that Christ is everything;
if you lose all you hold dear you still have him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But as
I ran my hell-bound race<br />
Indifferent to the cost<br />
You looked upon my helpless state<br />
And led me to the cross</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Come My Soul, Thy
Suit Prepare</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John
Newton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://articles.ochristian.com/article8160.shtml">http://articles.ochristian.com/article8160.shtml</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Another
marvellous prayer hymn from John Newton, this time on the confidence we have in
prayer and moving beautifully through the various things we need to pray for.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thou
art coming to a King,<br />
Large petitions with thee bring;<br />
For his grace and power are such,<br />
None can ever ask too much.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">In the hour of trial</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">James
Montgomery</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/n/inthehou.htm">http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/n/inthehou.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
love this so much I wrote a blog based on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This time it is about prayer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for</b>
us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">In the
hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me,<br />
Lest by base denial I depart from Thee.<br />
When Thou seest me waver, with a look recall,<br />
Nor for fear or favour suffer me to fall.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I Asked the Lord that
I Might Grow</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John
Newton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Songs/I_Asked_the_Lord_That_I_Might_Grow/35">http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Songs/I_Asked_the_Lord_That_I_Might_Grow/35</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is my second favourite hymn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
attest to the truth of it through bitter and joyful experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love its realism and its quiet confidence
in God’s guiding hand in the mess and strain of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like so many of Newton’s, it is worth reading
in full due to the wonderful progression he makes from wondering to being
satisfied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I asked
the Lord that I might grow<br />
In faith, and love, and every grace;<br />
Might more of His salvation know,<br />
And seek, more earnestly, His face.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">’Twas
He who taught me thus to pray,<br />
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!<br />
But it has been in such a way,<br />
As almost drove me to despair.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I hoped
that in some favored hour,<br />
At once He’d answer my request;<br />
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,<br />
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Instead
of this, He made me feel<br />
The hidden evils of my heart;<br />
And let the angry pow’rs of hell<br />
Assault my soul in every part.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yea
more, with His own hand He seemed<br />
Intent to aggravate my woe;<br />
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,<br />
Humbled my heart, and laid me low.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Lord,
why is this, I trembling cried,<br />
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?<br />
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,<br />
I answer prayer for grace and faith.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">These
inward trials I employ,<br />
From self, and pride, to set thee free;<br />
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,<br />
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Be Thou My Vision</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Dallan
Forgaill/Mary Byrne</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://nethymnal.org/htm/b/t/btmvison.htm">http://nethymnal.org/htm/b/t/btmvison.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is my all-time favourite hymn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter
how many great hymns I discover I always come back to this because it so aptly
describes my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t often find
that God is my vision, that my eyes are fixed on Christ and that he is all I
long for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But oh how I wish I did!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is what this hymn conveys.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Be Thou
my Vision, O Lord of my heart;<br />
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.<br />
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,<br />
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
that then is a short list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so
many more (Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted, Man of Sorrows, Abide with Me, I
Will Glory in My Redeemer etc) but it is getting late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will try and add them some time but that is
enough to be going on for now. If you do think of any I haven't mentioned here then please do tell me!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Sing to
the LORD, all the earth!</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Tell of
his salvation from day to day.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 Chronicles 16:23</span></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-27001168384528561542013-01-27T22:51:00.000+00:002013-01-29T12:01:58.108+00:00Ae Fond Kiss?<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">‘Till Death Do Us
Part</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">As
part of celebrating Burns night we always stand around the piano for a while
and sing some old Scottish songs, some by Burns, some not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of nationalistic songs proclaiming the
many virtues of Scotland, and lots of love songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of which are incredibly sad ones,
there’s something about this country that lends its poets to melancholy…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I think one of the most poignant and
beautiful of the many love poems Burns wrote is this one:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Ae
fond kiss, and then we sever</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ae
farewell, and then forever</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Deep in
heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Warring
sighs and groans I'll wage thee.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Who
shall say that Fortune grieves him, </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">While the
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Me nae
cheerful twinkle lights me,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Dark
despair around benights me.</span></i></div>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I'll
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Nothing
could resist my Nancy</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But to
see her was to love her</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Love
but her, and love for ever.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Had we
never loe'd sae kindly,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Had we
never loe'd sae blindly,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Never
met - nor never parted -</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">We had
ne'er been broken-hearted.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Fare thee
weel, thou first and fairest</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Fare thee
weel, thou best and dearest</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thine
be ilka joy and treasure,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Peace,
Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ae fond
kiss, and then we sever</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ae
farewell, alas, for ever</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Deep in
heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Warring
sighs and groans I'll wage thee.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A
song of two lovers, parted for ever, never to meet again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is it about Scotland that all our best
songs are heartbreakingly sad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always
loved this one because even in the black despair of being parted the poet still
looks and hopes for the happiness of his beloved: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thine be ilka [every] joy and treasure, Peace, Enjoyment, Love and
Pleasure</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a great Christian
sentiment to have, care for even the people that hurt you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’ll come back to that in a later blog but
that isn’t what I want to look at now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead, consider the main theme of the song: the despair of
separation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We find that heart-breaking in
both song and life yet it is the common theme of all human relationships
because when all is said and done, all of them end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every year in Scotland alone around ten
thousand marriages are broken up and countless more relationships split.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We call it ‘true love’ when it lasts through
thick and thin, sickness and health, poverty and wealth but in the end even
‘true love’ is only until death do them part and life itself is fleeting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“O
LORD, make me know my end</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">and
what is the measure of my days;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">let me
know how fleeting I am!</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Behold,
you have made my days a few handbreadths,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">and my
lifetime is as nothing before you.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Surely
all mankind stands as a mere breath! </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">(Selah)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">”</i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Psalm 39:4-5</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
a depressing blog this is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet it is
an important message to get across in today’s sex-driven world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church is so quick to absorb the culture
around it and maybe it sanitises it a little for the sake of the gospel but a
romance-driven life is no better or more Biblical than the world’s more
explicit version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my good friend Ben
keeps on saying: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We think that sinner plus sinner might actually equal happiness, that
one flawed person plus another flawed person will somehow create something
perfect.”</i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ben Mildred, <a href="http://notatthedinnertable.weebly.com/2/post/2012/05/better-is-one-day-in-gods-courts-than-a-thousand-in-a-relationship.html" target="_blank">Not at the Dinner Table</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Not
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was never so, will never be so,
can never be so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no
relationship on earth that can complete you and even if it did it wouldn’t last
forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I didn’t write this blog to
be a grumpy old man and complain about the fickleness of human emotions or the
futility of life or any of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was another song we sang that night, after the Burns section was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A better song to sing, a song with a hope and
a future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A song with no tinge of
sadness, only hope.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">‘Till Death Do Us
Join</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Love
that wilt not let me go,<br />
I rest my weary soul in thee;<br />
I give thee back the life I owe,<br />
That in thine ocean depths its flow</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">May
richer, fuller be.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O light
that followest all my way,<br />
I yield my flickering torch to thee;<br />
My heart restores its borrowed ray,<br />
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day<br />
May brighter, fairer be.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Joy
that seekest me through pain,<br />
I cannot close my heart to thee;<br />
I trace the rainbow through the rain,<br />
And feel the promise is not vain,<br />
That morn shall tearless be.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Cross
that liftest up my head,<br />
I dare not ask to fly from thee;<br />
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,<br />
And from the ground there blossoms red<br />
Life that shall endless be.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">George Matheson</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Like
the book of Ecclesiastes so wonderfully shows, the main gain of reflecting on
the futility of our earthly idols is to turn our eyes then to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As looking out at the dull grey skies make
the fire in the hearth burn more brightly, as a child’s drawing makes Van Gogh
look so much greater, as the majesty of Everest is only shown the more by
comparison to lesser peaks so also looking at the feeble bonds we have in this
life should only make us the more eager to glory in the beautiful love of Jesus
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is better than any
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is more forgiving than
any other. Love that lasts forever. Love that will not let us go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Is
this not a better, more glorious, song to sing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love that will never leave us, never say farewell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that pledged itself to us in heart wrung
tears in the garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that wages us
constant prayer before the throne of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love that never leaves us without a star of hope, love that always
lights our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is truly
irresistible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is indeed the very
foundation of our own love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is
never blind, but always kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that
will never part, never break our hearts yet is always broken-hearted to see us
come to harm or fall into sin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that
cried out ‘forgive them’ as it bled and died on a cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that indeed always wishes us well even
when we reject it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that brings us
real peace, eternal enjoyment and happiness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
love is not a mushy feeling for us; it’s not a nice warm sensation in his heart
when he sees us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that dies for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feelings fade and flicker, wax and wane but God’s
love is a solid commitment to us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“In this
is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 John 4:10</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John 3:16</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“But
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Rom 5:8</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
quite literally loved us to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was willing to die for us and he kept that commitment throughout his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is love!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How could he now, having died for us, reject us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could he turn away from us after paying
such a price to win our hearts to himself?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">"The
poets themselves said, that </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">amor Deum gubernat<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, that love governed God. And, as Nazianzen well speaks, this love of
God, this </i>dulcis tyrannus<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, —this
sweet tyrant,—did overcome him when he was upon the cross. There were no cords
could have held him to the whipping-post but those of love; no nails have
fastened him to the cross but those of love." </i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thomas Goodwin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">How
we deceive ourselves! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are but
strangers here on earth, foreigners, passing through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why seek our happiness in fallible folk in
our temporary home when real, eternal, unfailing love is offered to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why seek fulfilment in an emotional ‘connection’
when we have solid love, demonstrably shown in the cross?</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">By all
means, get into a relationship, as Genesis 1 says ‘it is not good for man to be
alone’ but don’t make it your everything. Make Christ your everything, get into
a relationship to glorify God and be drawn closer to God, get your heart
straight on the matter and make sure God sits in first place. Even in a
relationship make sure that Christ is first and so that if your human
relationship is taken away from you (as well it might) you recognise that you
still have your first and greatest love: Jesus Christ. Seek God out in prayer
over this, ask him to sanctify your heart, invite him to take first place,
confess that often he isn’t and above all rejoice greatly that you weren’t made
to find your all in all from another flawed human being but in the perfect
relationship you can have with God through the work of Jesus Christ!</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ben Mildred, <a href="http://notatthedinnertable.weebly.com/2/post/2012/05/better-is-one-day-in-gods-courts-than-a-thousand-in-a-relationship.html" target="_blank">Not at the Dinner Table</a></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Another
quote then:</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And
there's no concept of abandonment</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">For I
am safe within Your arms</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And in
this marriage of our hearts</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">There
is no death do us part</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">For You
are eternal</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And I
am eternally Yours</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Sanctus Real</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Get
that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the love of Christ, there is
not even space to entertain the concept of abandonment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once loved always loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But do not take my word for it, after all,
surely our experience shows no love can last forever?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“I have
loved you with an everlasting love;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">therefore
I have continued my faithfulness to you.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jeremiah 31:3b</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 1.5pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Give
thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. <sup>2</sup>Give
thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. <sup>3</sup>Give
thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Psalm 136:1-3<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“For
the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to
all generations.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Psalm 100:5</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But
really forever? What if someone or something else gets in the way?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? <sup>36</sup>As it
is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are
regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” <sup>37</sup>No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. <sup>38</sup>For I am sure
that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor
things to come, nor powers, <sup>39</sup>nor height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 8:35-39</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
will never, can never, give you up for someone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Mike Reeves points out so often, we are
adopted into God’s family and “<i>Children are not ‘unchildrened’ because they are
naughty</i>”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>To quote Thomas Watson:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">"When
God calls a man, He does not repent of it. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God
does not, as many friends do, love one day, and hate another; </b>or as
princes, who make their subjects favourites, and afterwards throw them into
prison. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This is the blessedness of a
saint; his condition admits of no alteration</b>. God's call is founded on His
decree, and His decree is immutable. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Acts
of grace cannot be reversed.</b> God blots out his people's sins, but not their
names." </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
then when we die?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely all that
changes then is our perception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ’s
love knows no change, and could not be greater than it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However when we die, then we will truly see
it with eyes unclouded with worldly love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This then is why I titled this section ‘till death do us join because our
love will be all the greater when we pass that final gateway and enter into new
life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">"Most
men need patience to die, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">but a saint
who understands what death admits him to should rather need patience to live.</b>
I think he should often look out and listen on a deathbed for his Lord's
coming; and when he receives the news of his approaching change he should say,
'The voice of my beloved! Behold, He cometh leaping over the mountains,
skipping upon the hills' (Song of Solomon 2:8)."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John Flavel</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Let
us remember always the love of Christ and in the light of it, never shirk the
cross that lifts us closer to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let
us long for the ground to blossom red and from it spring ‘life that shall
endless be’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us yearn every day that
we might see the love of God more clearly, and love him therefore more dearly. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Imagine that day when we actually <b>see</b> Christ for what he is. The first (and the last), the fairest, the best. Then, as now he should be, shall he be dearest of all to us. Then, as now he should be, will he truly be our peace, our enjoyment, our love and our treasure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Love
is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant <sup>5</sup>or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; <sup>6</sup>it
does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. <sup>7</sup>Love
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. <sup>8</sup>Love
never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will
cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. <sup>9</sup>For we know in part and
we prophesy in part, <sup>10</sup>but when the perfect comes, the partial will
pass away. <sup>11</sup>When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought
like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish
ways. <sup>12</sup>For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now
I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 Corinthians 13:4-12</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is the love of God, oh for the day when the perfect will come, the partial pass
away and we shall fully know it even as we have always been known by it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
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Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-55616573770686311172013-01-08T20:30:00.000+00:002013-01-08T20:30:03.471+00:00In the Hour of Trial: Or why I don’t believe that the saints persevere.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>14</sup>And
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">31</span></sup></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have
you, that he might sift you like wheat, <sup>32</sup>but I have prayed for you
that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your
brothers.” <sup>33</sup>Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you
both to prison and to death.” <sup>34</sup>Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">39</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount
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that you may not enter into temptation.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">47</span></sup></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">While he was still speaking, there came a
crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew
near to Jesus to kiss him, <sup>48</sup>but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would
you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> <sup>49</sup>And
when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall
we strike with the sword?” <sup>50</sup>And one of them struck the servant of
the high priest and cut off his right ear. <sup>51</sup>But Jesus said, “No
more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. <sup>52</sup>Then Jesus
said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come
out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
<sup>53</sup>When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay
hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” <sup>54</sup>Then
they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house,
and Peter was following at a distance. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>55</sup>And
when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together,
Peter sat down among them. <sup>56</sup>Then a servant girl, seeing him as he
sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with
him.” <sup>57</sup>But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” <sup>58</sup>And
a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But
Peter said, “Man, I am not.” <sup>59</sup>And after an interval of about an
hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for
he too is a Galilean.” <sup>60</sup>But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what
you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the
rooster crowed. <sup>61</sup>And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter
remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster
crows today, you will deny me three times.” <sup>62</sup>And he went out and
wept bitterly.”</b></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Luke 22:14-15, 21-23,
31-34, 39-62</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
what then is the result of this tragic story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Obviously for Jesus it leads to the cross and the resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there are two other main characters here,
two men who both betrayed Jesus that night yet who are remembered very
differently today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judas and Peter –
where does their story end?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Two conclusions</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>3</sup>Then
when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and
brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, <sup>4</sup>saying,
“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us?
See to it yourself.” <sup>5</sup>And throwing down the pieces of silver into
the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 27:3-5</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>38</sup>And
Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. <sup>39</sup>For the promise is for you and for your children
and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” <sup>40</sup>And
with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying,
“Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” <sup>41</sup>So those who
received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three
thousand souls.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Acts 2:38-41</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>17</sup>And
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. <sup>18</sup>And I
tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 16:17-18</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Two
betrayals took place that day – Judas betrayed Jesus to his face, Peter behind
his back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judas betrayed him with a
kiss, Peter with a denial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judas for
money, Peter for ‘street-cred’ and out of fear of reprisal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judas Jesus’ disciple, Peter his friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two agonising betrayals – both foreseen by
Jesus, both betrayers forewarned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And
the consequences?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judas hangs himself
rather than live with the guilt and Peter becomes the rock Jesus chose to build
his church on – converting three thousand people with his first sermon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
was the difference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is in the
first passage there in Luke 22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See it
wasn’t that Peter was a better person than Judas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t that his betrayal was less serious
or less hurtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly wasn’t
that he had more excuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t that
he was more holy or that he loved Jesus more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of those may be the case but the fundamental difference is this:
Jesus prayed for Peter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
prayed for Peter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">At
the end of the day <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">that</b> is what made
the difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both betrayed Jesus
but Jesus prayed for Peter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">31</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that
he might sift you like wheat, <sup>32</sup>but I have prayed for you that your
faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Luke 22:31-32</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Has
the sheer magnificence of that verse struck you yet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simon Peter, the brash, bold, ‘always puts
his foot in it’ fisherman from Galilee was attacked by Satan – sifted like
wheat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus prayed for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He withstood all the assaults of the powers of hell and returned again
because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took to his knees to pray for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord of the universe knelt, interceding
before the throne of God to save the soul of a grubby fisherman from Galilee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Wow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And
that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is just the groundwork so to
speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real wonder of it is yet to
come.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus prays for you</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
prays for you, for me, for all his ransomed people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He intercedes before his Father’s throne for
all of us in our trials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has done
since even before he came to earth in his pre-incarnational form as the angel
of the LORD:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">12</span></sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how
long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which
you have been angry these seventy years?’ </span></i><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">13</span></sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to
the angel who talked with me.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Zechariah 1:12-13</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Even
now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Job 16:19</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">He
did so when he walked this earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Knowing what was about to befall him, knowing what he would suffer this
was his prayer before he went to Gethsemane; this was his first concern before his
death:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am praying for them<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. I am not
praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.</b>
</i><sup>10</sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All mine are yours, and
yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. </i><sup>11</sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And I am no longer in the world, but they
are in the world, and I am coming to you. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Holy
Father, keep them in your name</b>, which you have given me, that they may be
one, even as we are one… </i><sup>20</sup><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I do not ask for these only, but also for
those who will believe in me through their word</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i><sup>21</sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that they may
all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be
in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”</i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">(John 17:9-11, 20-21)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Sadly
there is not space here to quote the whole of that great prayer but I encourage
you to go and read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That quoted here
though is sufficient to show it, Christ’s great concern the night before his
death was to pray for his disciples, and to pray for all who would believe in
him that God would keep them and protect them and deliver them safely to
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus, on the night he was
betrayed, prayed for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">you</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this interceding work by no means stops
at his ascension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Thomas Goodwin
wonderfully puts forth in his book ‘<a href="http://www.icmbooksdirect.co.uk/product/15262/Heart-of-Christ-Puritan-Paperback" target="_blank">The Heart of Christ</a>’ Jesus is no less
loving towards us in heaven as he was on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His heart he says “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is as
graciously inclined to sinners as ever it was on earth</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ cares just as much if not more, than
he did that day in the garden when the first thing on his agonised mind was his
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intercession for his people is a
significant part of the reason for his return to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is our advocate, our intercessor, the
one who represents us before God’s throne.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“My
little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But
if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 John 2:1</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And
we have his Spirit here with us as well, also offering up prayers for us:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Likewise
the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
words.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Rom 8:26</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">As
Goodwin so helpfully puts it: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Spirit
prays </i>in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> you because Christ prays </i>for<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is an intercessor on earth, because Christ is an intercessor in
heaven.</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How Christ intercedes is a
subject of debate among scholars but as the nineteenth century Scottish
theologian Dr William Symington said it ought to be enough for us “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to know that the intercession of our Divine
Advocate is conducted in the best possible way, for promoting the glory of God,
his own honour and the good of the people.</i>”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
then we have a divine advocate, Jesus Christ who prayed for us while he was
here on earth and continues to intercede for us in heaven today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like he did for Peter, interceding to
save him, he does for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just as it
was for Peter, that intercession is effective and powerful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Consequently,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">he is able to save to the uttermost</b>
those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make
intercession for them.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Hebrews 7:25</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
then, is why I dislike that old term ‘the perseverance of the saints’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only reason you or I ever make it through
the trials and temptations we face is the fact that we have a great high priest
who stands before the throne of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
who is more filled with grace and mercy towards us than we could even dare to
imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One who loves us so much that: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“your
very sins move Him to pity more than to anger... yea, His pity is increased the
more towards you, even as the heart of a father is to a child that hath some
loathsome disease... His hatred shall all fall, and that only upon the sin, to
free you of it by its ruin and destruction, but His bowels </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">[we would say heart]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> shall be the more drawn out to you; and
this as much when you lie under sin as under any other affliction. Therefore
fear not, ‘what shall separate us from Christ’s love?’”</i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thomas Goodwin, The
Heart of Christ</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
answer to that is obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as Christ stands before the throne
there is nothing that can keeps us from his love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No amount of sin can ever keep us from his
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old doctrine that those called
by God can never fall away is obviously true, how could they with such an
advocate and protector as they have?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet
calling this truth the ‘perseverance’ of the saints, as if we had anything to
do with the fact that we continue in faith through hard times, is just not
helpful at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could not persevere
for long if it were not for Christ’s intercession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better then that it should be called the
preservation of the saints for that is what it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unimaginable grace, shown to us every
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grace to forgive us our sin and
mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grace to heal our wounds and
scars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grace to call us back when we stray,
to welcome home the prodigals, seek the lost sheep, find the lost coins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grace greater than all our sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grace that asks every day that we be spared
the trials we cannot cope with, helped through the trials we face and forgiven
the trials we fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Preserving grace,
shown through the prayers of Christ for lost and weary folk below.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Looking
honestly at my heart I know it is not a persevering heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a Judas heart that prefers material
wealth to the riches of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
Peter heart that would rather be thought well of by the people around than by
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet looking up I see the heart
of Christ and it is more full of grace than I of sin, more full of love than I
of betrayal and I am overcome with gratitude that such a God would set such a
heart on such a man as I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of
Christ, this is a melted heart, a preserved and prayed for heart that cannot
but win out in the end because he works so wonderfully on my behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so all I can do is pray, in the words of
that wonderful hymn:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">In the
hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me,<br />
Lest by base denial I depart from Thee.<br />
When Thou seest me waver, with a look recall,<br />
Nor for fear or favor suffer me to fall.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">With
forbidden pleasures would this vain world charm,<br />
Or its sordid treasures spread to work me harm,<br />
Bring to my remembrance sad Gethsemane,<br />
Or, in darker semblance, cross-crowned Calvary.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Should
Thy mercy send me sorrow, toil and woe,<br />
Or should pain attend me on my path below,<br />
Grant that I may never fail Thy hand to see;<br />
Grant that I may ever cast my care on Thee.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">When my
last hour cometh, fraught with strife and pain,<br />
When my dust returneth to the dust again,<br />
On Thy truth relying, through that mortal strife,<br />
Jesus, take me, dying, to eternal life.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">James Montgomery</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<<For a long time I’ve though that preservation was a better
term than perseverance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t remember
what first made me think of it but this particular blog was inspired by a
sermon from Jeff Haskins at Compass Christian Camps on Christ’s ascension and
also from the hymn quoted above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much
thanks to him and to James Montgomery.>></div>
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<br /></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-27523310020097084052012-12-31T17:51:00.002+00:002012-12-31T17:54:55.949+00:00The Unchanging God Who Changes Everything<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
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change our ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God never does. He is
the same yesterday, today and forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is that not an encouraging thought?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
God who protected the Israelites from every foe is the same God who protects us
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The God who delivered Joseph from
his brothers and raised him to power in Egypt is the same God who promises to
deliver us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The God who died on the
cross for us is the same God who loves us today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his words to those in ages past are just
as certainly promised to us today.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“For<br />
<br />
"All flesh is like grass<br />
and all its glory like the flower of grass.<br />
The grass withers,<br />
and the flower falls,<br />
<sup>25</sup>but the word of the Lord remains forever."</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> And
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">this word</b> is the good news that was
preached to you.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 Peter 1:24-25</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">God
never changes and neither does his word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But when you know him everything else does because our God is a God of
new things, mercies new every morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He promises many new things: new birth, new life, new family, new home
and so much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And each one of these
promises is certain because the God who promised them has not changed since the
words were first uttered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human promises
are feeble things, lasting only as long as the person who promised them is
willing to keep to their word but God does not change like we do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
then are these promises?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New Birth</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Jesus
answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he
cannot see the kingdom
of God." <sup>4</sup>Nicodemus
said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother’s womb and be born?" <sup>5</sup>Jesus answered,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom
of God. <sup>6</sup>That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. <sup>7</sup>Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born
again.'."”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John 3:3-7</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">To
be born again, renewed by the grace of God, is truly one of the greatest
changes possible in anyone’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
longer of this world, suddenly we are citizens of a greater kingdom, with all
the responsibilities and privileges which that brings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being born again leads to many things
changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are no longer just flesh
and blood, but living spirit as well, we can know God’s kingdom, accept God’s
truth and do God’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are, in
short, completely remade.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New Life</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">2 Corinthians 5:17</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">When
God saves us, when we come to know Christ, we are born again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then we are made new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer are we blind slaves to sin, but now
we can see again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer are we dead
to God, but now we live in Christ.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“We
were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 6:4</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“For
while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law,
were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. <sup>6 </sup>But now we
are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that
we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written
code.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 7:5-6</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Once
we were constrained to living as the world does, as Matthew Henry puts it in
his commentary on Romans 7:</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Our
desire was towards sin, as that of the wife towards her husband, and sin ruled
over us. We embraced it, loved it, devoted all to it, conversed daily with it,
made it our care to please it. We were under a law of sin and death, as the
wife under the law of marriage; and the product of this marriage was fruit
brought forth unto death, that is, actual transgressions were produced by the
original corruption, such as deserve death.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But
now, we are made new, in newness of life to walk according to the way of
Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New Family</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light. <sup>10</sup>Once you were not a people,
but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1 Peter 2:9-10</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">We
are now part of a people, called by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His church, the bride of Christ, the royal priesthood, the holy nation,
the body of Christ. Wherever we go we have brothers and sisters, people who
care for and love and support us because of what Christ has done for them. As
the old hymn says so well:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Blest
be the tie that binds<br />
Our hearts in Christian love;<br />
The fellowship of kindred minds<br />
Is like to that above.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">We
share each other’s woes,<br />
Our mutual burdens bear;<br />
And often for each other flows<br />
The sympathizing tear.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New Home</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New
birth, new life, new family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
blessings alone are too much for us to comprehend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet they are only the beginning, for ours
is the God who makes<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> all</b> things new.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Then I
saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more. <sup>2</sup>And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. <sup>3</sup>And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. <sup>4</sup>He
will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things
have passed away."</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">5</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I
am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these
words are trustworthy and true." ”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Revelation 21:1-5</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">God
is planning to remake the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remake it even better than it was before we ruined it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will live with mankind and there will be
no tears, no suffering, no pain and no death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Read verse four again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no
more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the
former things have passed away</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Revelation 21:4</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">If
that doesn’t make you pause for thought, then read it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realise what it is saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It says that one day; God will wipe the tears
from our eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you realise who this
God is? This is the God who burned the stars into the sky with merely a
word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the God who created the
universe, who created man, microbes and mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the God who made you, and knew your
every action before you were born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
God is going to personally wipe the tears from our eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine that day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arriving at the gates of heaven, with the
tears of earthly pain still running down our cheeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tears from broken relationships, tears from
persecution, tears from our own failures and from the failures of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arriving broken hearted and downcast, and
then God steps down from the throne and comes towards us, towards you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stoops down, and gently wipes the tears
from your face, lifts up your drooping head and welcomes you in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a day to look forward to, but when it
seems so far away, when relationships fail, friends let you down, you can’t
seem to win against your sin: what then?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">New mercies</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“The
steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; <sup>23</sup>they
are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. <sup>24</sup>“The LORD is my
portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Lamentations 2:22-24</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Here
is hope that does not disappoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s
love will not let us down, no matter how many times we stumble and fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter how many times we fail him, fail
others, fail ourselves: he will not let us down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great is his faithfulness!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">We
have a God powerful enough to create and recreate galaxies with a whisper, and
we have a God kind and gentle enough to wipe the tears from our eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a God who calls us to a new life, and
a God who reaches out with mercy whenever we fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a God who will not let us fail
forever, but will one day perfect us and bring us home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These words are trustworthy and true, coming
from the unchanging and eternal God: He will make all things new.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">My life
flows on in endless song; </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Above earth's lamentation,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn </span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">That hails a new creation;</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Thro'
all the tumult and the strife </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I hear
the music ringing;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
finds an echo in my soul— </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">How can
I keep from singing?</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What tho' my joys and comforts die? </span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The Lord my Saviour liveth;</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">What tho' the darkness gather round? </span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Songs in the night he giveth.</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">No storm can shake my inmost calm </span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">While to that refuge clinging;</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, </span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">How can I keep from singing?</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I lift
my eyes; the cloud grows thin; </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I see
the blue above it;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">And day
by day this pathway smooths, </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Since
first I learned to love it;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A
fountain ever springing;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">All
things are mine since I am his— </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">How can
I keep from singing?</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Anon</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5uc1smOOs7A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<<In keeping with my resolution last new year not to
procrastinate any more, here is the completed version of my New Year 2011 post
that I finally finished (and combined with the note I did offer up back then,
not that anyone will remember that far back).>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-28928333580015102622012-12-11T23:06:00.000+00:002013-03-15T23:04:27.570+00:00 The CoE: England’s Notional Church?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">National church</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
am not one to comment on the affairs of Episcopalians as a rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issue of whether women can be bishops in
the Church of England is one that I honestly could not care less about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not because I do not have an opinion
on the question of complementarianism. (Word would like me to change that to ‘complement
Arianism’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would rather not complement
Arianism if it is quite alright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.theologynetwork.org/blog/2010-12/christ-vs--claus" target="_blank">Santa has the right reaction to that particular nonsense</a>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is rather for the simple reason that as a
plain and simple Baptist I do not think there should be bishops of any
gender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or for that matter a Church of
England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still ‘the best laid plans’ and
all – there was one thing I heard on the matter that made me think perhaps I
would mention it after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being a
quotation from Sir Tony Baldry MP:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“If the
Church of England wants to be a national church, then it has to reflect the
values of the nation.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Hmm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is an interesting statement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Here
are another couple of statements:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“I have
given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of
the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John 17:14-15 ESV</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 12:2 ESV</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“And he
put all things under <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b> feet and
gave <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">him</b> as head over all things to
the church, which is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b> body, the
fullness of him who fills all in all.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">That
first one of course is from Jesus, the second two from Paul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Sir Tony says that to be a national church
the CofE must embrace national values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God
says to be a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">church</b> you have to be
prepared to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">reject</b> national
values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sir Tony may disagree but I
rather think that the Apostle is more qualified to speak on the church than an
MP is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Notional Church</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">If
the Anglican Church just ‘gets on with the program’ and does what the Prime
Minister, Sir Tony, and just about every other grumpy journalist or news
presenter wants them to and embrace ‘national values’ then it will quite
frankly cease to be a Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For all we
may debate the theology behind it the fact remains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can have a church with female Bishops in
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you can’t have is a church with
female Bishops in it because the Prime Minister says so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or because the Guardian says so, or anyone
else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only reason to do anything as
a church is because Jesus says so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is
the definition of a church – the body of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as my body does not just automatically
do what a passing stranger says, but rather does what I say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the body of Christ does not what the world
says but rather what Jesus says.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Any
Church which has ceased to take Jesus’ word seriously is no church at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At very best it is a notional church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Church in theory, church by name but call it
what you want it is not a church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same
problem faces the Church of Scotland and the whole mess here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Christians
do not agree on whether there should be a national church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think we all agree that being a
notional church is a bad idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider
the word of Jesus to that church in Sardis which held to him in name only:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“And to
the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead</b>. <sup>2</sup>Wake
up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your
works complete in the sight of my God. <sup>3</sup>Remember, then, what you
received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come
like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. <sup>4</sup>Yet
you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their
garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. <sup>5</sup>The
one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot
his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and
before his angels. <sup>6</sup>He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.’”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Revelation 3:1-6 ESV</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">There
are indeed still a few names in the CofE and the CoS who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“have not soiled their garments”</i> and God be praised Jesus yet holds
out the opportunity for reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hear those words!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hear the
challenge and rise to it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die,
for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.”</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
have no great affection for the idea of a national church but oh I do pray that they
would yet wake up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wake up and face reality,
wake up and follow the real head of the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A rose has fallen from our chaplet, we who were called to stand against
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us, from every
denomination, have been sleeping instead of fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But oh especially the national church, how
far it has fallen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the hymn says:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“As we
have slept, this nation has been taken</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">By
every sin ever known to man</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So at
its gates, though burnt by fire and broken</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">In
Jesus' name we come to take our stand”</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">But
we must not despair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very verse
before that in the hymn says it well:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Your church once great, though standing clothed in
sorrow</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Is even still the bride that You adore</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Revive Your church, that we again may honour</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our God and King, our Master and our Lord”</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I used to think that would be better if it said ‘as
we again do honour’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that gets it
all wrong, the original is indeed best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can't do this. God needs to remake the church so that by his grace we can wake up,
strengthen this dying church and do our duty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not as a notional church but as a national church in the best sense of
that phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A church that stands before
God among the nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A church that
stands, seeking and longing and working to bring this nation, our nation, to
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A church that stands for the nation
but not like the nation.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Let us be the church again.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“The
one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot
his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and
before his angels. <sup>6</sup>He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<<Hooray I’m back to writing again after a busy summer
and a busy term and a crazily busy exam period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This piece may have wandered a bit, I’ll try and tidy it up later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I have a website now: <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.weebly.com/">http://assistantpigkeeper.weebly.com</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is basically there for the sake of
organisation, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Current plan is to use this as more of a blog
and tidy up some of the older posts for an articles section on the site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knows.>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-87014627116452272072012-09-24T22:48:00.000+01:002012-09-24T23:31:25.867+01:00A Theology of Weeding<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>1</sup>The
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">2</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Day to day pours out speech,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">and
night to night reveals knowledge.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">3</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">There is no speech, nor are there words,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">whose
voice is not heard”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Psalm 19:1-3</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"> A Theology of Everything</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">There
is theology in everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not
to say that we take our theology from anywhere except from the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor is it to say that everything is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Daniel Hames says:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Far
from being a sort of polytheistic belief that there is a ‘divine spark’ in
everything, or that everything is god, the Christian view of creation and
indeed all of reality is that it bears the fingerprints of the one who formed
it.”</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Rather
it is that in everything we can see reflections of theology, images of God and
his nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is somewhat like the fact
that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are both material events which nevertheless
reflect great spiritual realities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Likewise, the mundane things in life can be seen to reflect profound
truths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The case for forming such a ‘theology
of everything’ is laid out more fully by Daniel Hames in his article on
Theology Network: <a href="http://www.theologynetwork.org/theology-of-everything/starting-out/why-and-how-to-do-a-theology-of-everything.htm" target="_blank">Why and How to do a Theology of Everything</a> from where the previous quote comes from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I want to do here is not to cover that
ground again but rather just to offer some of my own application of that
principle.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The <s>wheat</s>
lettuce and the <s>tares</s> nettles.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
Bible often used weeds as a picture of sin and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all they are a direct result of the
fall:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>17</sup>And
to Adam he said,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Because
you have listened to the voice of your wife</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">and
have eaten of the tree</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">of
which I commanded you,</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">‘You
shall not eat of it,’</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">cursed is the ground because of you</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">in pain
you shall eat of it all the days of your life;</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">18</span></sup></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">thorns and thistles
it shall bring forth for you</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">;</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">and you
shall eat the plants of the field.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Genesis 3:17-18</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
himself often used weeds as an image in his parables:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>7</sup>Other
seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them… <sup>24</sup>He
put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a man who sowed good seed in his field, <sup>25</sup>but while his men were
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away… <sup>38</sup>The
field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are
the sons of the evil one”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 13:7, 24-25, 38</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
weeds are clearly an apt picture for sin. What lessons can we then learn from
this picture?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In what ways do weeds
really reflect sin and what similarities do they share?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to consider seven similarities here.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">1. Weeds start out
small</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Weeds
don’t turn up in the garden fully grown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather they start off small, innocuous and helpless looking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard to see and seemingly harmless, yet they grow
and become more established, becoming harder and harder to eradicate and then
seed more weeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just so with sin, the
seemingly harmless transgressions, the look, the glance, the thought… are easy
to uproot and yet it seems so harmless to us that it seems not worth the bother
of uprooting them and so we don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
thought becomes action, action becomes habit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our conscience rusts with lack of use and with no more gatekeeper, the
sin keeps rushing in as our heart becomes hard to God and soft and fertile for
more and greater wrongs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
lesson is simple: Sin, like weeds, must be stopped in its youth. For</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>14</sup>…each
person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. <sup>15</sup>Then
desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown
brings forth death.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">James 1:14-15</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Which
leads to point 2:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">2. Weeds choke plants</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
is a well observed truth which even the least apt of gardeners knows: a garden
chock full of weeds will not grow lovely flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Six foot high nettles do not a prize-winning cabbage
patch make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you keep on weeding your
garden then the weeds will grow strong and fast and the plants will wilt and
die, if they ever show at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
used this very illustration in his parable of the sower:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>3</sup>And
he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow… <sup>7</sup>Other
seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them… <sup>22</sup>As
for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the
cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it
proves unfruitful.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 13:3, 7, 22</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus
used the illustration to represent the “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cares
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches</i>” but it applies equally well
to sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Persistent, endemic sinful
habits will choke our good intentions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pride blinds us to our faults, selfishness will block any willingness to
sacrifice for others and slothfulness will choke back any attempt to
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Jesus said:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<sup>43</sup>“For
no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, <sup>44</sup>for
each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from
thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. <sup>45</sup>The good
person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person
out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaks.”</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Luke 6:43-45</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Likewise,
you cannot have both flowers and weeds in the same patch, either the weeds
thrive or the flowers do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never both.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup>13</sup>No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and money.</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Luke 16:13</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">3. A field of weeds
can look great from the outside</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Consider
these two scenes: A lush green field full of rows of vegetation or a messy bit
of ground with yellowed piles of rubbish decaying in the sun and a few scraggly
seedlings struggling to grow in sparse rows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The former, for all its pleasant appearance, is full of weeds and latter
is the aftermath of attacking those same weeds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">It
is perfectly possible to have a heart full of sin and hypocrisy and yet seem
fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is equally possible for a fruitless
life of separation from God to seem attractive from the outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only when you get into the thick of it
that it starts to sting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember Jesus’
words to the Pharisees:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup>27</sup>“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are
full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. <sup>28</sup>So you also
outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 23:27-28</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
lesson to be learned is that dealing with your sin and hypocrisy will involve
breaking your masks, being honest with other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be messy, painful (more on that
later) and it will lose you friends and admirers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So which is more important to you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Popularity? Or Fruitfulness?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">4. Weeding hurts</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Nettles
sting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weeding isn’t fun at the best of
times but it’s even worse when the weeds are stingy or thorny ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine many people have seen a hawthorn bush
in their garden and left it for later because the pain of the thorns
discouraged them from pulling it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And meanwhile it grows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise
uprooting sinful habits will be painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unlike weeds, no sin is without its sting or its thorn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all hurt to remove, and the longer we’ve
cherished them the more painful it is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
first costly, and now painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not
doing the best job of selling this then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it is vital that we understand that fighting sin is a struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So often we think it will be easy, try, fail
and give up in discouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need
to realise that it will be a long, slow, painful fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fallen human heart loves our sins and it
hates to see them go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We love their
pleasures and that makes it so difficult for us to fight to remove them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be deceived: fighting sin is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b> easy, nor is it enjoyable, but it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> necessary.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">5. Growing weeds is
easy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Standing
in stark contrast to the pain and difficulty of keeping them out, growing weeds
takes no effort at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t need
to plant them, water them or feed them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All that you need to do is to stop pulling them up and they’ll take over
pretty quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weeds are the natural
state of the garden – just take a look at any abandoned stretch of ground and
you’ll see what I mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise sin is
the natural state of the fallen human heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As soon as we stop tending our hearts, stop studying the word, stop
praying for help and forgiveness, stop listening to our conscience and guarding
what we watch and read and do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as
we lose sight of God, even for the briefest of moments, the devil will jump in
with his sin filled seed packet and the weeds will start to grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only solution is, in the words of that
esteemed theologian Mad Eye Moody: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Constant
vigilance!</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep on watching and,
as we considered in point one, keep on plucking them out as soon as they
appear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">6. Weeds don’t stay
in your garden</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Weeds
spread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not just from rose bed to
border to rockery but from garden to garden, field to field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is this relevant to sin?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No man is an island,<br />
Entire of itself.<br />
Each is a piece of the continent,<br />
A part of the main.</i>”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">John Donne</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Just
as a garden full of weeds makes it harder to keep the gardens around it weed
free so the sin in your life <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">will</b>
affect those around you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No man is an
island, no man stands alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All sin has
ramifications far beyond those you see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All sin causes harm far beyond that which it causes to you either from
the direct effects of sin, or from the spread of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many obvious examples: like people
who starve because of the selfishness of those who have plenty; or the victims
of murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there are less
immediately obvious examples too: like a cruel word spoken that fosters hate or
anger in someone’s heart; or passing on gossip to people that pass it further,
spreading the judgemental attitude attached to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even things we view as our private problems,
like struggling with lust, affects others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every click on the internet only serves to encourage those who make the
content you watch, perpetuating the cycle of objectification and leading so
many other people astray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s more,
the taint of hypocrisy often persuades us to stay silent when we should speak
out, leading to people not hearing the good news that they need to hear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin is no private matter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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back</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">The
fight against sin is looking pretty bleak at this point. But I’m afraid not
only is it easy to be lulled into a false sense of security; not only will any
weeds choke your good intentions; not only is it costly, painful, and easier
just to give up; not only will any failure in the fight hurt those around you
but the fight is also futile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend,
you can pull out every nettle in the garden, sooner or later they’ll be back in
force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin is a persistent thing and for
as long as you live you will never, ever be rid of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will always be back, always be attacking and
always be there, looking over your shoulder and just waiting for a moment of
weakness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">So
why bother?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not saying all this to
be discouraging, but rather to paint a realistic picture of the problem we
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bleak reality is why the
grace of God is so important to grasp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you hold any delusions at all about earning favour by killing sin
then when the weed you thought dead comes back and takes over it will crush you
with the weight of guilt and hopelessness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But only remember the grace and the love of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember that the blood of Christ covers all
your sins, even the recurring ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
the judge of all, the weed choked garden of your broken heart appears to be the
finest of rose beds because all that he can see is the beauty of Christ that
covers you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So fight sin, but fight it
in the knowledge that every time you fall, you will rise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will pick you up and if he has to, he will
carry you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no sin that the
Christian cannot come back from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
number of failures that God cannot forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He paid an unimaginable price to make you holy and acceptable to him and
he will <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">have</b> what he has paid for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ did not die to forgive you for past
sins, leave you on your own to struggle and then abandon you when you
fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, he paid that price to bring
you home, to make you new and he is with you every step of the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">A
true understanding of the price that bought your freedom, of the grace that was
given to you, will act like holy weed killer for your soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin cannot exist in the light of the beauty
of Christ because sin is placing something else before him and no one who truly
sees him; his grace, his love for us, his suffering in our place; can ever do
anything but love him above all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
life we will never see him fully but oh, pray that we may see him better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray that God would instil such a grasp of
his glorious grace that we would never, ever forget it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the only way that we will ever triumph
in any meaningful way in this life: fixing our eyes on Jesus and weeding with
his glory and his grace in mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup>1</sup>Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, <sup>2</sup>looking
to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right
hand of the throne of God.</i>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Hebrews 12:1-2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Amen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Further reading/listening: </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4uIyz_d90" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Turn your eyes upon Jesus</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt;">Considering the <a href="http://notatthedinnertable.weebly.com/1/post/2012/09/the-beauty-of-holiness.html" target="_blank">Beauty of holiness</a> as opposed to the ugliness of sin, great post from Not at the Dinner Table.</span></div>
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<<I know this is a horrendous gap between posts but
unfortunately the very job that inspired this post from long hours of weeding
also left me very tired and not at all in the frame of mind to tackle such a
weighty issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it came together
in the end and hopefully I’ll write with increasing regularity as I get back
into the swing of Uni life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully.>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-85876827261797817402012-03-31T19:18:00.002+01:002012-09-24T23:32:31.929+01:00The attractive holiness of loving.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The sour centre to a sugar coated gospel?</span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, <sup>2</sup>“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Leviticus 19:1-2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">As I <span style="background-color: black;">discussed</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_415262284" style="background-color: black;"> </a><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/our-good-god.html" target="_blank">last time.</a> the tr</span><span style="background-color: black;">inity is a doctrine which we tend to either try and ignore or ‘grin and bear it’. Holiness is another of those and so mayb</span>e writing a blog post on both of those together is just going to put people off… But as I discussed last time, the trinity is good news, and it makes God’s holiness good news too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">You see we often see the holiness of God as a bad thing, something not to be mentioned in front of non-believers (and ideally, not in front of us either). We like to think of God as love, God as Father and Jesus as a nice guy who taught good things and saved us. But we don’t like to think about the fact that this same God is described as “a consuming fire” and “Holy, holy, holy”. This doctrine of holiness is a clear focus in the Bible – R. C. Sproul, in his book “The holiness of God”, says</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">So this then is important, this holiness. Yet often we ignore it, we think it means that God is boring and stuffy and doesn’t <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">really</b> love us for who we are. It seems to us to be the nasty, unexpected sour centre in what we thought was a sweet gospel confection, the bitter after-taste of cranberry juice. I mean alright, some people like it but it’s not all that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">good</b> is it? The thing is if God was a one person dictator in the sky then that would be a true estimation of it; such a God could only be holy in an aloof, forbidding sense. Holiness would be a matter of keeping the rules that he made. That is not our God however, and viewed through Trinitarian glasses, we see a very different story indeed.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What does holiness mean?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What is holiness then? R. C. Sproul again sheds some light:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“The primary meaning of holy is ‘separate.’ It comes from an ancient word that meant, ‘to cut,’ or ‘to separate.’ Perhaps even more accurate would be the phrase ‘a cut above something.’ When we find a garment or another piece of merchandise that is outstanding, that has a superior excellence, we use the expression that it is ‘a cut above the rest.”</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“When the Bible calls God holy it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us. To be holy is to be ‘other,’ to be different in a special way.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">To be holy then is to be separate, set apart. Not really helping the case that the holiness of God is a good thing, it seems as if it could as easily be called the aloofness of God. It seems like God’s holiness is like a wall around him, keeping us out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">So many Christians make that very mistake; they see verses like Leviticus 19:2 (that was quoted at the start) and think that God clearly just has a very high opinion of himself, and okay it’s deserved but he doesn’t really want to associate with us lowly folk. And yes, that is pretty deserved as well, we’re not that great but it doesn’t really make him seem all that lovable now does it? What then is the remedy for this?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">As if you hadn’t already guessed from the introduction, it is to see God as He is. Trinity. Fellowship and unity, three persons bound together in love. As we saw last time, God is defined by love. He is love. Practically we see this in the cross, in the wonderful work of Trinitarian salvation – God the Father, willing to give up his only Son in order to bring us back into fellowship with him. That is not the sign of an aloof God! That is not the sign of someone who doesn’t really love us, someone whose love is only a cover for his holiness. It is the sign of someone who is set apart from us, above us and beyond us and yet who so desperately longs to be with us that he is willing to give up everything, to cut himself off from the son that he loved for all of eternity in order to bring us back home to be with him. Now that we know what the word holiness means, perhaps we can ask a better question.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What is it about him that sets God apart from us? Why can we not come near him? After all he so clearly wants to be with us, we see that in the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus. So many people would answer that question with ‘His holiness’ and yet that just doesn’t make sense. God is set apart from us by his set apartness? Really? That just starts to sound like mysticism and mumbo jumbo.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Set apart by love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The real reason that we are separated from God is that he is perfect. His holiness is a result of his perfect nature, a result of one simple fact. God’s foundational nature is love.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 John 4:8</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">And we cannot ever forget that God is love because he is Trinitarian in his character. If God existed alone before the dawn of creation then there was nothing for him to love. But because God is three in one Jesus can say of the Father in John 17 and verse 24 that “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you loved me before the foundation of the world</i>”. God is first and foremost a Father, a loving, gracious and kind being – not a powerful creator and lawgiver (although He is also that). And there is the heart of it, a single person God would be first and foremost creator and lawgiver. Such a God, if also holy would be so because they were set apart by their creative power and their adherence to their own moral strictures. Such holiness would indeed be aloof and unattractive. To be holy like that God would be to follow their rules, never quite matching up. But our Trinitarian God who is love is set apart by that love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">But how? How can love possibly set you apart? Surely love draws you in? Surely a perfectly loving being would be one who would be ready and willing to accept everyone?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is set apart because he is perfect and we aren’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is set apart because he is love and we are unloving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is set apart because he is light and we are darkness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is set apart because he is good and we are evil.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The root of our problem with the idea of God’s holiness is that, with our flawed perception of God and ourselves we always see the fault as lying with God. We need to open our eyes to the fact that the God whom we worship is a Trinitarian God, a God who is perfectly loving. And we need to open our eyes to the fact that we are broken, arrogant fools to think that the problem in our relationship with God is all his fault. The problem is not that we are really actually quite lovely and God is silly and prudish to reject us but that we cannot exist in his presence. Light <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cannot</b> exist in the same place as darkness; either there is light, or there is darkness. You can have a little light in a room with shadows, but where the light is perfect the darkness is non-existent. You cannot have both perfect light and darkness. God’s holiness is not a wall that keeps us out, but a light that we run from. A light that we cannot coexist with in harmony because it is so alien to our fallen nature. There was a time when we did live in harmony with God but no longer, because we decided we preferred our own way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is set apart because he is perfectly lovely. He is clean and we are dirty. And yet he shows his love by sending his son to make us clean, to bring us safely into the light. Because he wants to welcome us back, he wants to lavish his love upon us again. This is not a picture of an aloof, unattractive, prudish holiness. This is sheer perfection that far transcends us and yet longs to call us sons.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What about us?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What has it all got to do with us? God is holy, we get that, so? Hebrews 12:14 says this:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">without which no one will see the Lord</b>.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">This has <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">everything</b> to do with us. Holiness is something which we are called to, it is a Christian command. I want to take a slight detour here before we unpack that some more and consider a story from Numbers 20 when the people of Israel had no water. As they’d done a hundred times before, they gathered round Moses and moaned. We pick up the story as we see God’s response:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them, <sup>7</sup>and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, <sup>8</sup>“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” <sup>9</sup>And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>10</sup>Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” <sup>11</sup>And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. <sup>12</sup>And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> to uphold me as holy</b> in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” <sup>13</sup>These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarrelled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Numbers 20:2-13</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">In what way did that not uphold him as holy? Most commentators argue that it was the infraction of the command to tell the rock, Moses going ahead and doing it his way (the way it was done before) and disobeying God’s commands. Yet it always bewildered me that a God who had shown himself to be so inestimably patient with the people of Israel, and with weak-willed Moses and idolatrous Aaron, should react so strongly to Moses’ temper tantrum here. Surely this is only a minor slip? After all he forgave Moses for murder earlier…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">And yet remember that Moses and Aaron are God’s mouthpieces here, they are the ones who are called to represent him to the people. To uphold him as holy. What is the fundamental nature of holiness shown by the triune God? Love. When the Israelites grumbled, God’s response was in love to give them water even thought their ingratitude deserved to remain thirsty. Yet Moses’ response was to throw a temper tantrum, accuse them of being rebels and beat up an innocent rock. Maybe I’m way out here but I think the commentators have the wrong end of the stick. The major error that Moses made was not to fail to obey the letter of the law (although he did fail in that regard) but that he did not accurately represent the loving God to the people and that, that is serious. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Be holy for I am holy</i>” is the call that God made to Moses and Moses failed to uphold that holy standard of love. But surely, we’re not prophets or leaders, are we called to the same standard?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. <sup>14</sup>As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, <sup>15</sup>but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct</b>, <sup>16</sup>since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 Peter 1:13-16</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We too are called to be holy, and not just holy (set apart from the people around us) but holy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">as God is</b>. That means firstly that our holiness is to be of the same standard as God’s holiness. Perfect holiness. So no slacking. Secondly it means that our holiness is to be of the same type as God’s holiness. Holiness due to love. That means we don’t set ourselves apart as better people that everyone else but that we love them selflessly, sacrificially, like God does. If we do that, we will be set apart – not by desire, but by difference. There’s a fundamental fact here that we have to grasp. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You do not set yourself apart in order to be godly. Your godliness sets you apart. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The world sees Christian ‘holiness’ as an unattractive thing because we have failed to immerse ourselves in a trinitarian view of holiness. If God is not trinity then he is first and foremost (as we’ve said before) a lawgiver and creator. Such a God’s holiness demands that the rules are kept, that people respect him for his power and glory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">This non-trinitarian view says that you have to keep the rules to be holy and so therefore you should get out of society where they encourage you to break them. A trinitarian view of holiness is all about relationship, and you can’t be in relationship with people who you try and distance yourself from.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">A non-trinitarian view of holiness says that holiness is all about wearing the right clothes, doing the right evening activities, not drinking certain things, or watching certain films, or using a certain Bible version or reading certain books. A trinitarian view of holiness says that the most important thing is to love people in how you dress, in how you spend your time, in what you eat, or drink, or watch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The non-trinitarian view is clean and easy. Church things are good, other things are bad – stay away from worldly people and you’ll be fine. A trinitarian view of holiness is messy and unpredictable and difficult to live out. It involves real people living real lives in a real world. Set apart not by dress sense and walled communities but by sheer goodness in a world gone bad. And that is so much more difficult a life to live.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I’m going to repeat myself here because it is important: You do <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b> set yourself apart in order to be godly. Your <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">godliness sets you apart</b>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Just look at the rest of that chapter in Leviticus!</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, <sup>2</sup>“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. <sup>3</sup>Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. <sup>4</sup>Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">5</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. <sup>6</sup>It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. <sup>7</sup>If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, <sup>8</sup>and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">9</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. <sup>10</sup>And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">11</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. <sup>12</sup>You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">13</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“You shall not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. <sup>14</sup>You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">15</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour. <sup>16</sup>You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbour: I am the LORD.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">17</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbour, lest you incur sin because of him. <sup>18</sup>You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Leviticus 19:1-18</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Listen to <a href="http://www.uccf.org.uk/download/mike-reeves-leviticus-19-forum-nw-2011" target="_blank">this talk</a> from Mike Reeves to understand the offering part; if I try and explain that here this blogpost will turn into a book… But just look at that list of the practical applications of this God-like holiness:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Leave food for the poor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Don’t steal, or cheat, or lie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Don’t oppress the weaker folk around you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Pay fair wages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Be kind to the disabled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Be fair.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Be forgiving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">That is the holiness to which we are called. Don’t let anyone ever tell you it’s stuffy or boring (or easy!). Don’t let anyone ever say that the holiness of God, or of Christianity, is an unattractive thing. Remember that great summary of all the law that Jesus quoted as the greatest commandments?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is love. His whole law depends on love. Holiness is a good thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Amen, I leave you with the words of a man who understood that holiness is a Trinitarian pursuit:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!<br />
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; <br />
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!<br />
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, <br />
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; <br />
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, <br />
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see; </b><br />
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee, <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perfect in power, in love, and purity.</b></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!<br />
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea; <br />
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!<br />
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!</span></i></div>
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<<Written for Theology Network’s Trinity Month and blatantly ‘inspired’ by Mike Reeve’s talk on Leviticus 19 (linked above) and his book <a href="http://10ofthose.com/products/11870/The-Good-God/" target="_blank">The Good God</a> >></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-53502187920645223792012-03-09T15:52:00.001+00:002012-09-24T23:33:13.884+01:00My Daddy is bigger than your daddy.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The reality of the Christian life</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We often make the mistake do we not of thinking that the Christian life should be easy, as soon as we put our faith in God we expect Him to clear the way forward in front of us – to remove all the trouble and difficulties ahead of us. The problem with this view is that it’s simply not true and sometimes when that idea is challenged we stumble because it’s so unexpected. Maybe we confess with our mouths the existence of the devil, maybe we say that we expect persecution but really, deep down it comes as a shock. And yet the Bible talks candidly about these things:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 Peter 5:8</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">they will also persecute you.</b> If they kept my word, they will also keep yours”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">John 15:20</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Scary stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">But I’m not writing some sort of Christian horror story to scare people (although we do need to be woken up from our spiritual complacency) but rather to encourage and equip for those moments when our troubles seem too much to bear. For all that prowling lion wants to eat us, and the world to break us, we have nothing to fear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Why is that? Why is it that when supernatural forces are aligned against us, when the whole world stands opposed to us, yet we can stand there unafraid? Let’s think about it, beginning with an assessment of the enemy, moving on to a playground argument and lastly seeking encouragement from the words of children.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Snake, Lion, Dragon</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">There is an obvious danger of persecution, intolerance and bigotry from the world without but there is a much bigger problem to consider. The Bible teaches that we have an enemy, who as the quote above says is “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like a roaring lion</i>”. Charles Caldwell Ryrie says this:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Even as great an angel as Michael the archangel did not dare take on Satan alone but called on the Lord to rebuke him.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">This enemy is big. Way way bigger than us and so as he goes on to say we should never ever think that we can go this alone. We are no match for the Devil. Like the playground bully of the cosmos he towers above us and we cannot resist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Satan has three titles in the scriptures, setting forth his malignity against the church of God: a dragon, to note his malice; a serpent; to note his subtlety; and a lion, to note his strength.</i>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Edward Reynolds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I don’t want to spend too much time here considering the Devil but to briefly unpack those three points:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Malice:</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> the Devil exists to thwart the purposes of God, to twist His words, trip His people and keep people as far from Him as possible. He caused Adam to fall in the beginning, attacked Job to try and break him too and tempted Jesus in the wilderness.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></i><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Subtlety:</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> The Bible calls Satan the ‘father of lies’ and as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz2LTIkWIB0" target="_blank">The Arrows sing</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “Oh and there is a lie that works for everyone, everyone”</i>. He’s been at this since the beginning and He <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">knows</b> just what stumbling block will make you fall. As Percy Bysshe Shelley said: “Sometimes the devil is a gentleman”.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></i><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Strength:</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> As noted before we are but scrawny weaklings compared to he who was once an angel of light and still retains that power. Think about it, it was Satan who took Job’s livestock, children and health from him. He has real power and should never be taken too lightly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">So then our enemy is powerfully malicious and Jesus tells us that the people of the world are his children. As He said to those who rejected Him in His day:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">John 8:44</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> What hope remain then for us? Consider the words of a child and take heart!</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">A playground lesson</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Have you ever heard two kids arguing and then something is said along these lines: “I’ll tell my daddy on you!” “Yeah? Well I’m not afraid of your daddy because my daddy is bigger than yours!” Childish perhaps, but talk about out of the mouths of babies and infants…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">You see even as children we know this fundamental fact that often we forget as we grow. It’s not about how big and strong you are, but how big and strong your protectors are. How humbly the little child clings to its parent for support and yet how feebly we in our pride try to fight battles in our own strength. The world may be the child of the father of lies, there may be unseen forces lined up against us that we can never match but we are not alone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Who then is our father, our protector? Who stands for us when all else is arrayed against?</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Who’s the Daddy?</span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">sons of God</b>. <sup>15</sup>For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’</b>”</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 8:14-15</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are</b>. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. <sup>2</sup>Beloved, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we are God's children now</b>, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 John 3:1-2</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Our Father is the one in heaven, the God who reigns. The one who protects us is the one who upholds the universe. Consider the words of God to Job:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me, if you have understanding.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">5</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Who determined its measurements—surely you know!</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Or who stretched the line upon it?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">6</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">On what were its bases sunk,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">or who laid its cornerstone,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">7</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">when the morning stars sang together</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and all the sons of God shouted for joy?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">8</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Or who shut in the sea with doors</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">when it burst out from the womb,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">9</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">when I made clouds its garment</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and thick darkness its swaddling band,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">10</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and prescribed limits for it</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and set bars and doors,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">11</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">17</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Have the gates of death been revealed to you,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Job 38:4-11, 17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">This, this is our protector, our Father, our God. The one who laid the foundation of the earth, tells the sea when to stop. The one who made the clouds, who thunders from on high. As the passage goes on to say, the one who made the mighty creatures of the earth, the one who made us. No created thing can stand against this great and glorious God, nothing can resist His power and majesty. The psalmist asks:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Why do the nations rage</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and the peoples plot in vain?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">2</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The kings of the earth set themselves,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and the rulers take counsel together,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">3</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Let us burst their bonds apart</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and cast away their cords from us.”</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">4</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">He who sits in the heavens laughs;</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">the Lord holds them in derision.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">All the power of earthly kings and princes is but a source of laughter for our God. So the first response to the nature of our Father protector is humility, God is God and we aren’t. We need to remember that, to remember His majesty and power, to remember our weakness and frailty and to come before Him and ask for His aid. Later in that passage from Job God says:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">clothe yourself with glory and splendor.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">11</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Pour out the overflowings of your anger,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">12</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and tread down the wicked where they stand.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">13</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Hide them all in the dust together;</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">bind their faces in the world below.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">that your own right hand can save you.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Job 40:10-14</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We cannot save ourselves, we cannot protect ourselves – we simply need to rely on the power of God. To admit that we are not capable of helping ourselves and that God is so much greater than we are. As Isaiah says:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We are but insects to this God, and yet it is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">this</b> God who says in 2 Corinthians 6:18</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The God of all creation, the awesomely majestic being who created the universe, who calls the stars and planets by name and who sustains all life by the power of His word calls us. We, broken human beings, fallen and weak to be are called to be His children. How incredible is this truth!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">So then our second response is this: confidence. We come before Him not as our creator, but as our Father. And our Father will not turn us away or leave us to fall. He will guard us, protect us and keep us. We can face down anything because really, what could stand against us? The creator of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">universe</b> is standing behind us with a ready arm. We are weak but He is strong. We are broken but in Him we are whole. To return to our initial playground metaphor – our daddy is way, way bigger than anyone else's.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">To let the apostle Paul write me conclusion for me:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>31</sup>What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? <sup>32</sup>He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? <sup>33</sup>Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. <sup>34</sup>Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. <sup>35</sup>Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">37</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. <sup>38</sup>For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, <sup>39</sup>nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 8:31-35, 36-39</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Boom.</span></div>
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<<Further reading: Job 38, 39, 40 and 41...<br />
Further listening: <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/o/p/soprotih.htm" target="_blank">A sovereign protector I have</a> (If anyone can find me a version of this with words on Youtube or something, I'd be grateful...>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-54269302376686294562012-02-21T23:25:00.005+00:002012-09-24T23:33:47.322+01:00Our Good God.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The Ineffability of the Trinity</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">If ever there was a topic for making anyone feel<a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-title.html"> like an assistant pig-keeper </a>it must be this, the doctrine of the Trinity. Three, and yet one. The Father, the Spirit and the Son. All three fully God and yet this God is one God, not three. The sheer impossibility of it defies our feeble mortal minds – how can there be three who are one?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Truly anyone who claims to fully understand the nature of the Trinity is either mad, foolishly arrogant or just lying. Such a grasp is beyond the reach of human intellect, we can understand the nature of insects – how they function, how each part fits together to create the organism, what drives them and motivates them – because we are greater than insects. They are simple and lowly compared to us. Yet surely trying to understand the nature of the God who sits enthroned above the earth and to whom we look like little grasshoppers is madness. To expect fallen human minds like our own to understand God is like expecting insects to understand us.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>8</sup>For my thoughts are not your thoughts,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">9</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">For as the heavens are higher than the earth,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">so are my ways higher than your ways</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">and my thoughts than your thoughts.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Isaiah 55:8-9</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Grasshoppers do not grasp the ways of men, nor do men ever fully understand the ways of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">So surely then we should not even try to grasp the Trinity at all? After all if it is an impossible truth about a God we could never understand then why bother? Surely those who do are merely trying to ‘effor’ the ineffable?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I cannot hope to convey the intricacies of the Triune God in a way that could be understood, perhaps I’ll do a blog post on it when <a href="http://10ofthose.com/products/11870/The-Good-God/" target="_blank">‘The Good God’</a> comes out and I can more easily plagiarise the wisdom of Mike Reeves… Until that day however, I just want to briefly consider some reasons why it’s worth grappling with this truth, why truly the doctrine of the Trinity is the most wonderful and beautiful doctrine that the Bible teaches.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The uniqueness of the Trinity</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Put simply, the doctrine of the Trinity is possibly the sole doctrine of Christianity that is found nowhere else. Many religions believe in one God, many in a whole pantheon of Gods. But not a single other religion believes that there is one God who is three persons. You couldn’t make the trinity up, and if you wanted anyone to believe you then you wouldn’t even if you could… Surely if this truth is one of the great distinguishers of our faith then it is worth knowing, studying and pondering! This glorious truth sets Christianity apart from all other faiths. Almost every other aspect of the Christian faith is seen in some other belief bar this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">But this uniqueness is not the only reason to get to know the triune God, nor is it even the best reason.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The character of the Trinity</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The Triune God is simply the most beautiful picture of God. If we look at the Bible we see something about God, He has many emotional attributes, many characteristics but only one of those characteristics or attributes defines who He is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is just, but He is not defined by His justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is merciful, but He is not defined by His mercy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is kind, but He is not defined by His kindness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is angry at evil, but He is not defined by that anger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is powerful, but He is not defined by His power.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is not defined by any of these, by power, or justice, or mercy, or wrath. Simply this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God loves, and He <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> Love.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 John 4:8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">You see many of these attributes of God's character that are in that list above flow from this defining characteristic. God is just, because He loves the vicitims. God is merciful, because He loves even those who turn away from him. God is kind, because He loves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">God is angry at evil, because He loves the people whom evil hurts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">All of the above is fairly familiar to us all, but this thought may not be. God is love, because He is Trinitarian in His character. And here lies the key to it, because if God existed alone before the dawn of creation then what was there for Him to love? What could there be? If He is not triune then He is first creator and lawgiver – not lover. But because God is three in one Jesus can say of the Father in John 17 and verse 24 that “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you loved me before the foundation of the world</i>”. God is first and foremost a Father, a loving, gracious and kind being – not a powerful creator and lawgiver (although He is also that).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">And so the doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to the basic character of God - His love. This is not a take it or leave it doctrine but the very core of what we believe about God! </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Our Salvation through the Trinity</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">All Christian essays or sermons have to have 3 points, how much more so one on the Trinity… So I will conclude with this. If God were not Trinity, we would not be here today. As Christians we believe ourselves to be the eternally loved children of God the Father, ransomed through the blood and death of God the Son and brought to know that sacrifice through the saving work of God the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">If God was not a Father, whose child would you be?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">If God was not a Son, who would have paid that sacrifice?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">If God was not Spirit, who would dwell in us and change our hearts from within?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Father, Son and Spirit work together in salvation, as in everything. Our very lives rest on this doctrine. And what a glorious foundation it is to rest upon! Because if God <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> our Father then we, as his Children can never ever be ‘unchildrened’. And if God the Son died for us and intercedes for us then will His Father deny us anything? And if the Spirit lives in us then we have true hope for change in our fallen broken lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I would like to write on about this but my time is short so I will leave you with wiser words than mine:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“The doctrine of the Trinity is of incalculable importance for the Christian religion.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The entire Christian belief system, all of special revelation, stands or falls with the confession of Gods Trinity.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It is the core of the Christian faith, the root of all its dogmas, the basic content of the new covenant…</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Our salvation, both in this life and in the life to come, is bound up with the doctrine of the Trinity.”</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Herman Bavinck, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 2: God and Creation</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">As Bavinck says there, the Trinity is absolutely the core doctrine of the Christian faith. Even so, perhaps it is true that if Christianity was a mere system of beliefs then the Trinity would be too complex to bother with, but it's so much more than that. The Christian faith is all about relationship, relationship with a God who is above all else Love. A Good God, <b>THE</b> Good God. And if we are to be in relationship with this God then we must get to know him. Who (of the guys among us) would claim to understand women? And yet who would use that lack of understanding as an excuse for not trying?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">How much more then should we strain to grasp as much of the nature of the Good God as we can in the time that remains for us here?</span></div>
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<<Written in more of a hurry than I’d like for the Theology Network <a href="http://www.theologynetwork.org/christian-beliefs/doctrine-of-god/starting-out/win-a-copy-of-the-good-god.htm">competition</a>. That's the trouble with landing it in the middle of events week... I've edited it to improve it a bitty since.>></div>
Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-67895747300752258092011-11-11T23:55:00.005+00:002012-02-22T10:54:56.106+00:00Lest we forget.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A different Remembrance day</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">11/11/11</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. 93 years since the beacons were first lit, the nation stopped and silence fell to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War. No doubt all across the country people are writing about today, I was going to. I was going to write about sacrifice and courage, about the nobility of these men and other great heroes. However there is no doubt in my mind that many people will and that they will do it far greater justice than I ever could. Also it occurred to me that maybe tales of great valour are not what everyone needs to hear. On a day when people consider great men, and remember their heroism, let us consider them, and remember their humanity. Turn with me now to Hebrews 11, the heroes of our faith and let us learn what manner of men (and women) these were.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>4</sup>By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>5</sup>By faith Enoch was taken up…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>7</sup> By faith Noah... constructed an ark…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">8</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Abraham obeyed…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">11</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Sarah herself received…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">20</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Isaac invoked future blessings…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">21</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Jacob… blessed each of the sons of Joseph…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">22</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Joseph made mention of the exodus…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">24</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Moses… refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter…</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><sup>29</sup>By faith the people crossed the </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Red Sea</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">… </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">31</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By faith Rahab… did not perish…”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Hebrews 11 4-31</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">These are the heroes we aspire to be, and measure ourselves by. What mighty folk these must have been, to be lauded in such a way here. Surely they were paragons of virtue, the like of which we cannot be. Let us look at some of them now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Noah</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A man of great virtue in a time of great evil. God called him and he answered, he suffered mockery, endured to the end what must have seemed like folly. He lived through a flood that wiped out everyone he knew apart from his family who were saved by his steadfast obedience. And then what? He went out and got drunk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup>20</sup>Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. <sup>21</sup>He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.”</i></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> Genesis 9:20-21</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It’s a bit of an anti-climax, but compared to some of these other heroes it’s not too bad.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Abraham and Sarah</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Abraham! The patriarch, father of the nations through whom all would be blessed. So full of faith he gets mentioned twice in the list! And yet he’s a coward and a liar, more concerned with his own safety than anything else.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>11</sup>When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, <sup>12</sup>and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. <sup>13</sup> Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”… <sup>15</sup>And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Genesis 12:10-20</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">He would rather let another man take Sarah to be his own wife than risk his own skin. Rather trust his own lies than the God he follows. And then, a few chapters later he does it again! And Sarah, well she just laughs at God when He promises her a child. Some faith.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Moses</span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Moses, the shepherd of </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Israel</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">, leading them from slavery into freedom – so many great works were done by him. Well where do we start? Murder?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>11</sup>One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. <sup>12</sup>He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Exodus 2:11-12</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Temper?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>7</sup>The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, <sup>8</sup>“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” <sup>9</sup>And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">10</span></sup></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” <sup>11</sup>And Moses lifted up his hand <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and struck the rock with his staff twice</b>, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Numbers 20:7-11</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The people were grumbling (again) and Moses was fed up to the back teeth. So he ignores God’s instructions and starts whacking the rock with a stick in frustration. Why did God even bother with him? It’s not like he was any good at his job, he originally refused to even speak in public without Aaron around…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And the Israelites themselves? Don't even get me started. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Great faith?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The heroes mentioned here are flawed and full of failings, so imperfect and sinful. I’m not bringing these things up to slander their name, to slag them off for being absolutely useless. I merely want to remind us of this fact: These heroes are human to the core. So often we forget, do we not? We see them as giants; they were but men, standing on the shoulders of a giant God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We forget so often that these men and women failed. They were, like us, hopeless specimens of humanity</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Truly Inspirational</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So then, if our heroes are broken, what have we left to cling to? Who should inspire us? What stories do we remember in the times when we need encouragement, something from which to draw strength? The answer is simple.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Noah, the drunkard. Lying Abraham, the coward. Angry Moses, the murderer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Those are the people we should look to as our inspirations. Yes they are broken people, yes their lives were wrecks half of the time. But oh the grace of God shone through their faults all the more! Groucho Marx once said:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Blessed are the </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">cracked</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">, for they shall let in the light.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">If I may rephrase that here:<b> blessed are the broken, they let out the light</b>. God’s grace is never seen so strongly in the life of those who’ve 'got it all together' as it is in the lives of the broken sinners who cling to Him for grace. So if I can start to wrap up here with these two great lessons we can learn from these broken heroes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Be realistic. So often we become discouraged because we’re struggling. So often we are overcome by all our faults and failings, we think we should be so much better than we are. These men weren’t, they were full of flaws and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God used them anyway</b>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Be honest. Admit your flaws, admit when you failed, tell people about it. Don’t hide behind a mask – God works through brokenness. And yet, don’t think you’re worse than the people around you. You’re not. You’re not worse than Abraham, David, Noah, Moses, your minister, or me. We all struggle, we need to stop pretending we don’t and start struggling together.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I couldn’t find a place to say this, but I feel it’s important. Having read Hebrews 11 and read everything I have to say here please, don’t make the mistake of thinking that these men were chosen for great works because of their great faith and that if only you could gain such faith you too could be used by God. Yes, by faith these folk did great things. But here is where we so often go wrong. We think that they had great faith to do such things, they didn’t. Look at Abraham and the fact that he lied instead of trusting God to protect him. Or Sarah, laughing at God’s suggestion that she would have a child, and trying to do it her way instead by using Hagar as a surrogate. Heroes of the faith are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b> those who have great faith. Rather, they are those who have faith in a great God. As I’ve quoted countless times:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Strong faith in a weak plank will get you wet, but even weak faith in a strong plank will get you over the river”</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jesus said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we would be able to move mountains. It is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">never</b> the size of our faith that matters, but what we have that faith <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">in</b>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Lest we forget</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So then, my final words. Do not ever think that you are too small, too faithless, too broken for God. Whether it is your sin that ensnares you, or the sin of others to you that has brought you down God has a plan for you, a purpose. Look at the people whom God has used!</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. </span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Noah was a drunkard,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Moses was a murderer,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">David was an adulterer,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Rahab was a prostitute</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jacob was a cheat,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Joseph was abused and abandoned</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Moses couldn’t do public speaking,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Aaron was a wimp,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Samson was a womaniser,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jeremiah was celibate,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Elijah was suicidal</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Samuel was adopted,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Ehud was left-handed,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Gideon couldn’t make up his mind,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Barak had to be led around by a woman, </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jonah ran from God,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Naaman had leprosy,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Bartimaeus was blind,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Hezekiah was a whiner,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Saul was very tall, Zaccheus too short,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Abraham was too old, Timothy too young,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Job was bankrupt,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew was a tax-man,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Paul was too religious,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Peter was too violent,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Daniel was a vegetarian, </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John the Baptist ate bugs</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The disciples all fell asleep,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And Lazarus was dead!</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We must constantly remind ourselves what manner of servants our God calls. Don’t expect too much from yourself or those Christians around you. To put this in the simplest words I can, and if you take nothing else from this post remember this:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We are small people, with little faith, in a big God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">If we are to continue in the Christian life we must remember we are all human. Grace is not for the blameless, but for the broken.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And so I have written this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Lest we forget.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<This is not what I meant to write when I sat down to write a blog post called ‘Lest we forget’. Sometimes I have a great idea for a blog or a talk or something but God has a different one, it’s quite annoying – I was talking at CU once before we went out for Hot Chocolate (funnily enough on Hebrews 11…) and I had no idea what was coming next. I was probably just babbling… Still, what can you do eh? Sorry it’s been so long, I’ve been busy. I’d love to write more regularly but no promises!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB">Also, the list of folk that I've quoted above is edited from a few others I found on the internet :)>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-85928561861006753862011-08-03T22:07:00.000+01:002011-08-03T22:07:12.582+01:00God Bless Anders Breivik<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Searching Tragedies</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere you will have heard by now of the tragedy in Norway of Anders Breivik killing over 90 innocent people as part of his ‘Christian’ crusade against what he saw as the Muslim takeover of </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Europe</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a time like this there will be much mud-slinging, blame shifting and many condemnations of Breivik from various leaders and public figures, particularly from those in positions of leadership within the church.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">I may not be a great Christian leader, but I hope to offer here what I think is the biblical response to this great tragedy.</span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Let me first of all say that I do not want to reduce in any way the seriousness of what happened in </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Norway</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;"> last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor do I feel anything but horror at the devastation that Anders caused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is great danger in dwelling on his deeds, a danger of pride in our own moral uprightness and a danger of beginning to hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead what we must do is to let God’s searching tragedies lay bare our souls and strip us of our complacency and apathy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">A Bad Approach: “You shall not murder.”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Generally speaking, people don’t like it when you kill innocent folk, especially young ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people right now hate Breivik for what he has done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are angry and they are hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Donne wrote: “No man is an island” and everyone is feeling vulnerable right now and a feeling of vulnerability can often show itself in anger at the person causing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while the world can (and is) hoping for Anders Breivik to suffer for what he did, that should not, and must not be the Christian Church’s response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our response to his pro-‘Christian’, anti-Muslim massacre must be this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God bless Anders Breivik</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God bless him, not for one moment because we approve of what he did but precisely <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">because </b>we are so opposed to it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Our Lord’s most famous instruction from his time on earth is simply: “Love your enemies” but not many people seem to realise what that actually means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means taking someone such as Anders Breivik who has tarnished the name of the church and spat in Christ’s face with his claim of the name Christian; someone who has murdered innocent young people and shown no remorse; it means taking someone like that and showing the same care and compassion towards them that you would for your friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means praying, not that he would suffer, but that he would turn to Christ and be forgiven.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">It is not easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To give in to anger and hate is to commit the same crime that Anders did and to be guilty in the eyes of God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ <sup>22</sup>But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 5:21-22a</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12&version=ESV#fen-ESV-28249i" title="See footnote i"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">i</span></a>] to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." <sup>20</sup>To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." <sup>21</sup>Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 12:19-21</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">We must feel anger at the evil in the world, but that anger must not control us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must above all be ruled by love and compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must always be willing to forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Anders Breivik was to come to know Christ as Lord and Saviour tomorrow, and to attend your church service on Sunday, would you welcome him in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not then perhaps you should look at your anger again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it righteous anger, motivated by a horror at this violation of God’s law?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is it a frightened anger, anger at someone daring to upset your idea of a nice happy world?</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Psalm 4:4</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">A Worse Approach:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’m the king of the castle”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Remember that little rhyme from childhood? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I’m the king of the castle, and you’re the dirty wee rascal!” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used to shout it out every time we took the high ground, be it slide, fort or climbing frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be harmless fund for kids in the play park but this is the second, and by far the most deadly error we can make in dealing with Anders Breivik – taking the moral high ground.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yes, it is morally better not the massacre people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we must understand this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were no better than Breivik before Christ found us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is not sin in him, no wrong thought or deed that does not also appear in us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The seed of every known sin lies within each of our hearts”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps your anger does not express itself as violently as Anders Breivik’s did but it is still there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is still wrong in the eyes of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You and I do not have the right to condemn Breivik as less worth than ourselves because we are not worthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one is.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“Judge not, that you be not judged. <sup>2</sup>For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Matthew 7:1-2</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Romans 3:23</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Neither my warning against pride nor anger are to say that we cannot state that this is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor to say that Anders should not be tried and punished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I merely warn that we must look deeply at our own state before anger and pride lead us to condemnation and to hate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">A biblical approach:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice, compassion, Godly meekness.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">There is one verse which I think sums up what our actions must be in response to this massacre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Micah 6 and verse 8:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">“He has told you, O man, what is good;</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">and what does the LORD require of you</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">but to do justice, and to love kindness,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">and to walk humbly with your God?”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">So then there are three things we can draw out here in relation to the </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Norway</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;"> killings and our response to Anders Breivik:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Do Justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice must be done, Anders Breivik must be tried by the courts and he must be punished for what he has done, for the lives he has ruined and for the pain he has caused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God calls us to do justly, to be a people who yearn for justice to be done and we must do so in this case, as in all others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practically therefore we must pray for justice to be done.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Love Kindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kindness, compassion, mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These must be the things that we love above all, although we call for justice to be done we must not take joy in the punishment of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our response to Ander Breivik must be one of love and kindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice born of love, not anger or hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practically therefore we must pray for Anders, pray that Christ will make himself known to him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Walk Humbly with your God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above all we must never never ever lose sight of the most important thing in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what happens in the world the most important thing is that we walk with God, that we are ever drawn into closer fellowship with him and we must not let anything distract us from that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That will lead naturally to a humility that guards against pride and arrogance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practically therefore we must pray that God will draw us to Him, keeping us humble and preventing us from becoming puffed up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">So therefore there are several things that we can learn from the </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">Norway</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;"> killings, I apologise for the rambly way that I have presented them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To recap:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must not hate, but rather love kindness and pray for our enemy, Anders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must not become proud, but rather walk humbly with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet we must not allow ourselves to lose our sense of justice in such a morally messy world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">I pray for justice to be done for the evil in this world and as I do I pray also that God shows me my own heart, shows me my own sin and keeps me humbly walking with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray for Anders Breivik.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray that his heart would turn to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I know that God’s grace is so amazing, so wonderful that were Anders Breivik to turn to him for rest, he would have it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">I know that if Anders Breivik were to repent tonight, then when the time came for him to die, that very day he would be in paradise with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray that one day I find myself there and meet him, walking down those gold paved streets, hand in hand with the Christian people he killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ransomed, healed, restored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stains washed away by the blood and the sacrifice of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgiven.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt;">I fear it is unlikely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I know God’s grace is sufficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sufficient for Anders Breivik.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sufficient for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sufficient for you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. </span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-55223380187645575102011-07-11T23:11:00.002+01:002011-07-23T22:19:29.280+01:00Only Once.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"></span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A difficult question</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is a really old question that keeps on coming up: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It would be completely impossible to address this question fully in just one short post. There are whole libraries of material written about the topic of suffering and pain which are written by far more experienced and more qualified people on this topic. We will only attempt to unpack a few small things here which will hopefully be somewhat helpful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">As we endeavour to scratch the surface of this big question we will consider it in two parts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Why do bad things happen?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Suffering and death have been around since the beginning and so it is to the beginning that we have to go if we want to find some answers. As we do so we discover that actually death and evil haven’t been around since the very beginning:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Genesis 1:31</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So God made the world perfect, humanity living in harmony with its creator, peace and life for everyone. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Paradise</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">! But then we messed it up, rejecting the one command God gave us (Genesis 3) and going our own way. We rejected our creator and the life that He gave. The result?</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 5:12</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And to Adam he said,</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; <sup>18</sup>thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. <sup>19</sup>By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Genesis 3:17-19 ESV</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">From this point onwards, nothing is as it should be. Humanity is broken, our close relationship with God is lost, even the very ground is cursed to grow weeds and thorns. Everything is messed up and all seems hopeless. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Paradise</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> lost.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">But is that really the end? Are we truly condemned to live life futilely working to eke out our existence in this miserable life, hoping only to prolong death and the inevitable confrontation with an angry God? What can we possibly look to when we’re overwhelmed with suffering and pain?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">To answer that we must move on to the second part of our question.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Why do bad things happen to good people?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Why do bad things happen to good people? They don’t. You see the simple truth is that bad things happen to bad people. People like you. People like me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For there is no distinction: <sup>23</sup>for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 3:22B-23</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Maybe you should be asking why so many good things happen to bad people? Why do so many of us get to draw breath each day, enjoy love, happiness, wealth and prosperity? We’ve rejected our Father’s offer of life, spat in His face and ran away from Him. We were given life and we left it behind because we wanted things our way. It seems that we deserve so much worse than anything we get in this world. And yet we have the cheek to complain when something goes wrong?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So we’re back where we started. Messed up people messing up in a messed up world. It’s not really an encouraging picture. But that’s not it, surely? Surely there is some hope for our world? Some hope for us?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That verse up there is one of the best known verses in the Bible. But not so many people quote the verse that comes right after it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, <sup>24</sup>and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>25</sup>whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood</b>, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 3:23-25 ESV</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You see one in history; some 2000 years ago the unthinkable happened! A good man walked this earth. A man who stood as a pillar of incorruptibility amidst the ruins of our morality. A man who, like us, didn’t get what He deserved. We get a measure of life, when all we deserve is death – He deserved nothing but life and glory and He got pain and death. Jesus was His name, and in return for his moral uprightness in a morally twisted world he was shunned, beaten, flogged and nailed to a cross to die in agony.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tragedy, right? It sounds like one, a brutal travesty of justice, a complete inversion of what should have happened. But when we look at those verses in Romans again we find that it was entirely expected. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christ Jesus, <sup>25</sup>whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood</i>”. What does that mean? Propitiation means turning away God’s wrath, and reconciling people to Him. So God put Jesus there, as an atoning sacrifice for our sin, to turn away His wrath, satisfy His justice and bring us back home. He couldn’t ‘just forgive’ because that would be a denial of His justice and holiness. And so instead of destroying us He made the ultimate sacrifice, giving His son. Jesus was no ordinary man, He was God made man. Fully man and Fully God. He offered Himself for us, God dying for man.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So when we are confronted with suffering and overwhelmed with pain our answer is to lift up our eyes and look to a hill. When we do we will see three crosses standing there. On one of those crosses hangs our God. We see Him there, the blood dripping from His pierced limbs, the breath coming in ragged gasps, the cry of agony as He is separated from His Father for the first time in eternity. We lift up our eyes and we see that our God is no impersonal force that doesn’t care. We list up our eyes and we see that He too suffered. We see a God who cares.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Are you in pain? He went through far greater pain to bring you home. Are you suffering? He suffered more. Have you lost much in His name? He freely gave far more for you. Do you hurt to see your friends, your family in pain? He bled and died for us His enemies, to make us His children once more. There is nothing we can go through that He does not understand.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Amidst the pain and confusion of life in a broken world remember the cross my friends and know this: God cares. Let that be your comfort. Let that be your hope. Not some vague idea of better things to come, or some pious statement that “it’s all for the best” when you don’t really believe it. Let this one thought be your comfort: God cares. He knows what it’s like to suffer, He suffered for you. That is something concrete we can grasp throughout the storms of life: God hung on a cross for us, God bled and died for us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Remember the cross – and remembering it come, bow and worship Him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And I'll praise you in this storm <br />
and I will lift my hands <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for You are who You are <br />
no matter where I am</b> <br />
and every tear I've cried <br />
You hold in your hand <br />
You never left my side <br />
and though my heart is torn <br />
I will praise You in this storm”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWbmtbzDno&feature=related"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Casting Crowns, Praise You in this Storm</span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once and He volunteered."</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">R.C.Sproul</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Thanks be to God that He did.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. </span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-91309337799798967772011-04-24T00:46:00.001+01:002011-04-24T23:12:37.553+01:00Sunday<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"></span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Easter</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Thursday brought betrayal, grief and abandonment. Friday brought the agony and darkness of the cross. Saturday brought the cold silence of the tomb. But Sunday brought hope. Sunday brought life. Sunday brought resurrection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Sunday brought Easter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We saw on <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2011/04/friday.html">Friday</a> the darkness and despair of that day we now celebrate as “Good” Friday and the hope of Sunday to come but the thing about Good Friday is that without Easter Sunday it just doesn’t make any sense.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“The incarnation was a necessary means to an end, and the end was the putting away of the sin of the world by the offering of the body of Christ.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Thomas Hewitt</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jesus came into the world to leave it. Easter is the reason that Christmas happened. But why? He said that He had come to bring life, how does dying do that? I’m afraid I’m going to use long theological words here but it’s the best way to summarise it, I’ll explain them as best as I can.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The term theologians give the death of Christ is ‘Penal Substitutionary Atonement’, let’s take that one word at a time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Penal</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">: That means punishment. Christ suffered on the cross, physically, mentally, spiritually. It was an agonisingly painful and slow death.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Substitutionary</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">: That means that Christ died in our place. He didn’t deserve that death; He didn’t deserve any death at all. As the thief nailed beside him said: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“And we indeed [suffer] justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong”</i>. The only sinless man gave up His life so that we could have life instead. But why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Atonement</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">: Basically ‘At-one-ment’. Jesus suffered and died on the cross on Good Friday so that we could be made one with God again, so that we may once again live in fellowship with God, forgiven of the sin and cured of the rebellion that keeps us apart.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Peter </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3:18</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> ESV</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That’s the simple version. The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">very</b> simple version, whole books have been written on this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Saturday</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jesus lay in the tomb, His spirit with His Father in Heaven. Not in Hell (when He said ‘It is finished’ He meant it). When the Apostle’s Creed says “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He descended into hell</i>” it literally says ‘Sheol’, that is, the place of the dead. We would say ‘He really did die’. They put that bit in because some people were saying that Jesus just swooned. I’ll do a post on why that’s a silly idea sometime.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Sunday</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Atonement is great and all but how do we know it actually worked? How do we <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">know </b>the sacrifice was enough? How do we <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">know</b> that we can have life?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That’s where Sunday comes in, that’s where everything fits together. We know because Jesus rose. He broke the power and dominion sin on the cross and then he broke the power and dominion of death by rising from the dead. Our Lord conquered death; we <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">know</b> that we too will rise with him. The language of the resurrection leaves no room for ifs, buts or maybes. It is clear, complete and decisive. Paul speaks at length on the importance of the resurrection and the certainty of hope it gives us:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>12</sup>Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? <sup>13</sup>But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. <sup>14</sup>And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. <sup>15</sup>We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. <sup>16</sup>For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. <sup>17</sup>And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. <sup>18</sup>Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. <sup>19</sup>If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>20</sup>But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. <sup>21</sup>For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. <sup>22</sup>For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. <sup>23</sup>But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Corinthians 15:12-23 ESV</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Boom. Is there anything else I can say? Let’s just draw a few points out of this, things to consider especially as we read it through.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We need to remember that the resurrection <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">matters</b>. No matter what any self-professed ‘Christian’ Scholar says about how it’s all about the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">meaning</b>, whether it actually happened or not is unimportant etc etc. There are people who claim to be authorities of theology who say that truth of the historical event of the resurrection is unimportant. I am no great theologian, I don’t claim any great authority and certainly not any great wisdom. However, it seems to me that when the apostle Paul, speaking with the inspiration of God says: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. <sup>14</sup>And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain</i>” (1 Corinthians </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">15:12</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">-23 ESV) then he should <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">probably</b> be taken fairly seriously… The resurrection matters, anyone who denies that denies everything.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The resurrection matters because to deny the resurrection is to deny redemption; Paul says in verse 17 of our passage<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”</i> No resurrection, no redemption. It’s as simple as that. Without Christ’s cross we would have no forgiveness yes, but Paul says here that the same is true of the resurrection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The resurrection matters because to deny the resurrection is to deny life; Paul says in verse 18: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Then those also who have fallen asleep [died] in Christ have perished.”</i>. It only stands to reason – if God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ couldn’t rise from the dead then how on earth are we meant to? Mere mortals, capable of defeating death, the enemy that brought God down? I think not. But Christ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">did </b>conquer, He <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">did </b>rise and we <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">will </b>have life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The resurrection matters because to deny the resurrection is to deny hope; verse 19 states that: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied”.</i> Did you take that in? If you believe in Jesus today and yet that belief doesn’t impact eternity then Paul says you are pitiable. You are wretched and hopeless my friend, without the resurrection. With it we can rejoice! But without the foundation of our faith we cannot stand. To reject the resurrection is to exchange our hope for other people’s pity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The resurrection matters. An atheist friend of mine once asked me what one piece of evidence would disprove Christianity for me and destroy my belief in God. My answer was that if Jesus’ body was found, then I could no longer believe. If Jesus’ body is found, then the scriptures lie, God is not good, Jesus cannot save.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">But rejoice! Jesus <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is </b>alive. The resurrection did happen. What a glorious hope my friends, what a wonderful hope. To know that our master and our Lord is not dead, but alive! As Christians we do not follow a God whose body lies rotting in a tomb in </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Palestine</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">, we follow a God who rose! A Lord who now stands and intercedes for us before the Father’s throne.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. <sup>23</sup>But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”</i></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">(1 Corinthians 15:22-23 ESV)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">What a glorious hope! What a glorious day!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Easter</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Without the resurrection the cross was a hopeless tragedy, a failure.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Without the cross the resurrection was just another neat miracle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Together they form the Easter story. Together they are hope for lost sinners. Together they are grace so free, so rich, so full.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That is what Easter is all about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The cross of Good Friday is the only place where we find our salvation but the empty tomb on Easter Sunday is the vindication of that salvation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Sunday proves that Friday worked. Sunday gives us hope.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The cross, the grave, the resurrection. Never forget any of them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Friday, Saturday, Sunday</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Salvation, Resurrection, Vindication.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Now that’s a good weekend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<Written solely because a friend read Friday and said ‘it sounds like it’s a trailer for something epic on Sunday’. In a way I guess it was, perhaps more of a prequel. Whatever it is, they need to be taken together.>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-6014860590076586872011-04-22T22:18:00.001+01:002013-03-29T19:12:06.481+00:00Friday<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">1 Corinthians <st1:time hour="15" minute="14" w:st="on">15:14</st1:time> ESV<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Friday, not so good<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday. The creator of the world, the God who upholds the planets in their orbits cannot even lift His own cross. Blood runs down the back of the man who promised us a lighter yoke and an easier burden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Friday. The King of kings is mocked and beaten. ‘King of the Jews’ they jeer. The one who supports every king, every throne, the one by whose word governments stand and fall is himself crowned with a crown of thorns. Soldiers mock, those who pass Him sneer and spit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Friday. The man who said to love your enemies like you do your friends is abandoned by His friends in His time of need. His enemies are all around, His friends nowhere to be seen. He said to treat others as you would be treated. Seems like no one is listening to that this Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">He also said He was God, come to give hope and new life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Some God He is today – He can’t even free himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Some hope He is bringing – He cannot even hope for a quick end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Some life – He goes to die.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday. The God of justice is executed, flanked by common criminals. The saviour of mankind can’t even save himself. What hope is there for us on Friday?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Friday. The light of the world is extinguished. Darkness wins. The shadows gather, covering the earth. Night falls when the sun is at its highest. The God who breathed life into Adam’s lungs struggles to breathe. Nails pierce hands that flung stars into space. Those nail-pierced feet will surely never walk again after Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday. The only man who ever lived a good life. The only perfect man is dying. The only man who truly trusted God in everything, the only man who loved God with all His heart is now crying out to God, asking why He has been forsaken. How will we stand, when He fell that Friday?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday. The suffering ends at last as He breathes His last breath. Jesus is dead. The spear pierces His side; His lifeless body is taken down. Friday. The stone seals Him in the tomb. The Lord of life is dead. Is this the end on Friday?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope is there now for those He promised to save?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope is there now for this little band of disciples, this fledgling church? Its head cut off, it cowers in a locked room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope is there now for sinners in the hand of an angry God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope is there now for mankind, trembling in the face of death?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday. Death wins and Satan laughs. Surely even the angels must tremble before the sight of that tomb. Is God not strong enough?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, yes it is. But Friday isn’t the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, the creator who gave us life is dead but Sunday is coming! He will rise again; death cannot hold this King of life! The rock and dirt of a tomb cannot hold the God who made it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, the saviour is not saved, but Sunday is coming! We are saved through His suffering. God judges Jesus and says His work is done. He is sinless. Pure. The sacrifice is accepted, there is hope for us on Sunday!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, shadows extinguish the light, but Sunday is coming! A light that shines forever is lit on this day. A fire that will never be put out is set alight on Sunday. Darkness could not hold the light of the world forever in its grip and it will reign no more!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">It’s Friday, death and the Devil have won but Sunday is coming! Death was strong but this living Lord is stronger, the Devil is mighty but God is mightier. On Friday Jesus was bound by death but on Sunday death is bound forever. On Sunday Jesus rises, in resurrection power, in glory, hope and life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Hate and death may win on Friday but Sunday <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope there is now! Jesus’ claim of salvation is vindicated at last.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope there is now for this mighty church! Its head lives forevermore in heaven, seated at the right hand of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope there is now for sinners before the wrath of God! Justified!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope there is now, no more fear of death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What hope!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Death is not the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Not any more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Not after <a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/sunday.html" target="_blank">Sunday</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;<br />
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;<br />
Stronger than the dark, the light;<br />
Stronger than the wrong, the right.<br />
Faith and Hope triumphant say, <br />
Christ will rise on Easter-Day.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Bishop Phillip Brooks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<<Based on a brief story from Tony Campolo about a sermon he heard given with the repeated refrain “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming”. That got me thinking, how often do we fail to realise this important truth: Good Friday is not <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">good</b> until Easter Sunday comes. The sacrifice of Friday saves, but the resurrection of Sunday <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">vindicates </b>that salvation. </div>
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P.S. How many people saw the title and thought it was going to be based on that song by Rebecca Black everyone’s moaning about?>></div>
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Apparently Tony Campolo’s story is on YouTube: </div>
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Some further listening:<br />
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Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-59955140910454312612011-03-30T23:44:00.002+01:002011-03-30T23:46:01.367+01:00The Beatitudes, not what you think.<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Some happy people?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The beatitudes – possibly one of the most well known passages in the Bible. They’re a beautiful collection of different sayings about various people (the poor in spirit, the mournful, the persecuted etc) who seem to be losers on earth but will eventually win out when they die and go to heaven. Isn’t it an encouraging thought when you fit into one of these nice little categories? Shall we read them? <a name='more'></a></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> .</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></b></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<sup>2</sup> And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>3</sup> “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>4</sup> “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>5</sup> “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>6</sup> “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>9</sup> “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>10</sup> “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>11</sup> “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. <sup>12</sup> Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>13</sup> “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>14</sup> “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. <sup>15</sup> Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. <sup>16</sup> in the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">(Matthew 5:2-16 ESV)</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Wait, I’m sorry, did I say well known? Ah, I meant to say most <b>misunderstood</b>. You see that lovely little paragraph that I wrote up there? That’s a load of rubbish. It’s what I thought until quite recently, but I’ve been shown the error of my ways.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The beatitudes are not just a collection of platitudes, a nice mantra to repeat when you’re stressed or in trouble. The beatitudes are no feel-good, ‘it’s all going to be okay’, sayings. They are not an anthology of people who will be happy in heaven. The beatitudes are a wonderful summary of salvation. They call us to have renewed hearts and minds that live to worship God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A joy filled life</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The beatitudes are not a random collection of wise sayings, rather they are a structured whole. Firstly, they do not refer to different people. There are not people who are poor in spirit and those people will be happy, and then there are some other people who’re mournful and they will be happy. There are people who are poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemaking and persecuted and those people will be blessed. Who are these people? They are those who follow Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Sermon on the Mount as most of you will know is an intensely practical sermon filled with solid teaching on how to live the Christian life. But here at the very start of it Jesus gives a list of the characteristics of the Christian. He’s saying that the first thing we have to do is sort out our hearts – after that then we can worry about the practicalities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So what about these characteristics? So they’re all about the same people, rather than being about different individuals who fulfil one of the ‘categories’. Does that then mean that it’s an anthology of various random Christian traits?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That brings us to our second point: The beatitudes form a structured picture of the Christian life. Look at the order they are given in:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Blessed are:</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The poor in spirit</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Those who mourn</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The meek</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The merciful</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The pure in heart</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The peacemakers</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You when others revile you and persecute you</span></i><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">They split up nicely into four sections that describe the different stages in the Christian life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Humility before God (poor in spirit, mourning and meek). This is where the Christian starts; this is always God’s starting point. Before we are raised up first we must realise that our own goodness is not enough to put us right with God. We must become beggars, relying on God’s goodness and generosity. We must mourn our sinfulness and swallow our pride. James says to <i>“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” </i>(James 4:10, ESV). First the humbling, then the exalting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Seeking God’s goodness (hunger and thirst). After realising our own sin and depravity we long for something more, something better. We long for God and for his righteousness and glory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Bearing righteous fruit (mercy, purity, peace). Jesus said <i>“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”</i> (Matthew 7:7, ESV). God does not withhold blessings from his people and as we strive for increasing holiness we will act increasingly holy. As we struggle we become more like Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Attacked for our righteousness (persecuted, reviled). Paul wrote to Timothy<i>: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”</i> (1 Timothy </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3:12</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">, ESV). If we show these fruits in our life, if we are meek and pure and merciful then Jesus says we will be persecuted. <i> “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” </i>(John 15:19, ESV). The world does not understand behaviour like Jesus calls us to and so it cannot accept us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In summary:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"The Christian is first of all someone who is humbled before God - verses 3 to 5, poor in spirit, mourning, meek. Then he is someone who is seeking. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And he is someone who finds, and begins to bear the fruit of righteousness in his own life. Mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking. And because of what these people are, and do, in this fallen world - they experience persecution."</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">-</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> Gilbert McAdam</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So the beatitudes are not only a portrayal of the Christian character as it is meant to be but also a structured depiction of the process by which we become and continue as followers of Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A concluding challenge.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Verses 14-16 of Matthew 5 are often separated from the beatitudes but I think they are really part of the same whole. If you are humbled before God then you will be salt and light. If you are seeking, finding and practising righteousness you will stand out like a city on a hill. When you are persecuted for your faith it will be tempting to hide your light under a basket but that’s not what this light is for! This light is for changing lives. Take it out! Shine it where everyone can see, be salt and light where you live and work and study. Glorify God in your life. Humble yourself, and He <b>will</b> lift you up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">My friends, the beatitudes leave us also with a challenge. They are there as a description of character. Our character as children called by God. Do we match up? Look at your life:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you view yourself as a beggar before an almighty God – or as a ruler of your own little life, sufficiently good to pass muster?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you mourn your sinfulness, do you weep for God’s lost glory – or do you look on sin and evil with apathy and indifference?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you act with gentleness to others, knowing that you are a sinner too – or are you harsh, arrogant and unkind?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you hunger for new life and increasing righteousness – or are you unconcerned with your lack of holiness?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you show mercy to those around you – or do you hate those who have wronged you, never forgiving, holding grudges?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you have a pure heart – or is your mind taken up with sin?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you bring peace and wellbeing to those around you – or do you stir up trouble, never helping others, not showing love?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you feel like an outsider in this world, are you persecuted – or are you compromising on your Christian life in order to fit in?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Do I?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">If you don’t tick all these boxes, and I know I don’t, then pray – pray for God’s grace, that amazing grace which surpasses all understanding, grace which covers our faults in Jesus’ blood and grace which corrects them through the Spirit’s work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Amen.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<Heavily based on a series of sermons (well, the first two of the series) on The Sermon on the Mount by Gilbert McAdam of Calvary Reformed Church Manila. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_3ANSv-cSc&feature=channel_video_title">Available on Youtube</a>. My thanks to him for correcting my mistakes… I heartily reccommend that you listen to at least the first two sermons.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">For an excellent Story by Ben Mildred of Not at the Dinner Table on being a light see <a href="http://notatthedinnertable.weebly.com/4/post/2010/03/the-lamp.html">'The Lamp'</a>>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-12143104885737907942011-01-29T20:35:00.002+00:002011-01-29T23:06:52.747+00:00Salvation and Grace.<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">An inspiring truth</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace. No matter what I write about, it always comes back to this single, central, splendid truth. Maybe because I digress too much, or maybe just because in the end everything is about grace. I think the latter, J.I. Packer says that:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“This one word ‘grace’ contains within itself the whole of New Testament theology.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And if you disagree with J.I. Packer, then you’re probably a heretic…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">But what does grace MEAN, it can’t be covered in a mere blog post, the subject is too vast and too glorious – a lifetime’s study would not exhaust the doctrine of grace. However, the impossibility of fully grasping something is a terrible excuse for not starting, so let us briefly scratch the surface of what grace is, and then in more depth consider what grace means for salvation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A definition of grace</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">One of the best definitions I’ve heard is that grace is an unmerited gift, from an unobligated giver. God gives us salvation, something we don’t deserve and which he has no requirement to give us. We don’t deserve it and we definitely don’t earn it. Edward Norman said that:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“The whole point about the divine redemption of humanity was that humanity did not deserve it”</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That’s important to grasp, grace that you somehow ‘earn’ even just by ‘choosing to believe’ in Jesus is not grace. It is works. Works won’t save you, they never can.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So that’s what grace is, God gives. We don’t deserve it, but he gives anyway. He gives life, salvation and hope. But what does grace mean, practically? What does it mean in regard to our salvation, to our eternal destiny?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace means that salvation is absolutely free</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Salvation is free. Like we said in our definition of grace, we can’t earn our salvation. Instead, God gives us it freely. This is a unique message indeed, all other faiths claim some form of works based salvation. Either you have to do certain things or not do certain things. The Bible says no, all your good works are useless.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“All of us have become like one who is unclean, <br />
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; <br />
we all shrivel up like a leaf, <br />
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Isaiah 64:4-9 (NIV)</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Isaiah there says that the best things he and the Israelite nation have done are just filthy rags to God, they’re worse than worthless – they disgust Him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That hits us where it hurts; the doctrine of grace leaves no room for our pride. There is no room left for pride when your salvation is completely from God. If you didn’t DO anything, there’s nothing to be proud of; and that hurts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace is humbling, it’s radical and it’s free. It’s not just generosity, although that is part of it. Generosity is giving more than we deserve. Grace is giving us what we <b>don’t </b>deserve.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Think of it like a car, if you wash my car and I give you £5 that’s pretty fair. If you wash it and I give you £10,000 that’s generous – but it’s not grace because you did something to deserve part of it. If you steal my car and wrap it round a lamppost and then I give you £10,000 then that’s grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Doesn’t that make you want to weep? We have stolen God’s car and we’ve wrapped it round every spiritual lamppost that we can find. In repayment, he sent his son to die. Jesus was crucified in agony for people who deserved to be in his place; for people who didn’t want his gift; for the people who put him on that cross. That is grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Salvation is absolutely full</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace means that salvation covers everything. Works-based righteousness means that there would always be little bits you didn’t quite manage. Grace is different, grace is complete. This is an amazing thing, it means that there is <b>nothing </b>that cannot be forgiven, and there is <b>no one </b>that cannot receive forgiveness! Jesus said:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew 12:31</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Every sin and blasphemy. Every single one. Every theft, lie, angry thought and rebellion against God will be forgiven through his grace. Except for one thing, <a href="http://www.logies.org/mp3/080210am-mark3v20-25-andrew-randall.mp3">rejection of the Holy Spirit’s saving work</a>. The only thing that will not be forgiven is rejecting grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Salvation is absolutely finished</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 19:30</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">What were Jesus’ last words as he hung there dying? ‘Sheesh, I hope they manage to do enough good works to make this worth something’? ‘I sure hope this is enough to save them’? No. His last words were a cry of victory: “It is finished!” It is done! Salvation is complete, it is finished – there’s nothing left to do. The battle is won, the journey is over. It is finished. We are assured our deliverance and welcomed into the presence of God. It is finished.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It is finished.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Salvation is absolutely firm</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It is finished doesn’t just mean it’s done. It means it’s certain. If it’s finished, if it’s full, if it’s free – what could go wrong? How could it possibly fail? God planned it, God executed it and God has finished it – how could anyone fear that they could be lost? Once saved always saved, there is no room for doubting or fear in the kingdom of grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 10:28</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;<br />
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;<br />
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,<br />
and the flame shall not consume you.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Isaiah 43:2</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Everyone knows that the doctrine of grace means you can’t add to your salvation – but so many forget that it also means you can’t take away from it. There is nothing you or I can do that would make God forsake us when he has saved us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The old hymn says it best:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><br />
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;<br />
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,<br />
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Some practicalities</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Just to briefly outline four of the practical consequences of this beautiful doctrine of grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is hope for the worst of us – if grace is full then there is noone beyond forgiveness. Jesus says that if only we come to him, he <b>will</b> forgive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is humility for the best of us – if grace is free and full then we did nothing to deserve our place with God. Paul says in Ephesians 2 verse 9 that we are saved not “as result of works, <b>so that no one may boast</b>”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is one place for all of us – if grace is true at all then every Christian will stand before God equal in Christ, there is no favouritism, no ‘better’ Christians. When Christians meet together there are no ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ people among them. Just sinners saved by grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is glory for God – If God’s grace saves, God is glorified. We must learn humility and everyone must honour the glory and majesty of the one who saved them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">An alternative to grace</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is always another option. You can choose works over grace. You can stand before a perfect and holy God on the day of judgement and you can tell him of the door you opened for your mum, or the old lady you helped across the street. You can tell him of the meal you cooked when your friend was ill, you can tell him of the money you gave to Oxfam, or the sponsored walk you did to raise money for Christian Aid. You can tell God of the times you went to church, or the prayers you prayed, or the passages you read, or your devotion to religious rituals. You can tell God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And God will answer. He will tell you of the times you messed up. He will tell you of your sinfulness, He will tell you of your rebellion against Him. God will tell you of a life lived, not for him, but for your own security. God will tell you of his love, and your coldness. He will tell you of your arrogance, that you <b>dared</b> to think his sacrifice insufficient, that you <b>dared </b>to think your works enough.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You can tell God of your good deeds.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I will tell him of my sin, I have nothing else.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I will tell him of the fact that I’ve failed, I've never succeeded.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You can tell him of a life lived not as badly as that guy over there.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I will tell him of a life lived worse, because that's the life I lived.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">But I will tell him of another life, a perfect life – I will tell him of Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">On judgement day you can talk about works but I will talk about grace, about God's love covering my failure and wretchedness. And the thing is, without grace I would still be relying on my works. Only God could change my heart, to swallow my pride, however hard I still find that, and rely on his grace. And such grace it is!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace, so free that even I can take it, so full that it covers even my sin, so finished and so firm that there is nothing I could do to lose it. Thank God for that grace.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace, ’tis a charming sound,<br />
Harmonious to mine ear;<br />
Heaven with the echo shall resound,<br />
And all the earth shall hear.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace first contrived the way<br />
To save rebellious man;<br />
And all the steps that grace display<br />
Which drew the wondrous plan.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace first inscribed my name<br />
In God’s eternal book;<br />
’Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb,<br />
Who all my sorrows took.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace led my roving feet<br />
To tread the heavenly road;<br />
And new supplies each hour I meet,<br />
While pressing on to God.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace taught my soul to pray<br />
And made mine eyes o’erflow;<br />
’Twas grace which kept me to this day,<br />
And will not let me go.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace all the work shall crown,<br />
Through everlasting days;<br />
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,<br />
And well deserves the praise.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">O let Thy grace inspire<br />
My soul with strength divine<br />
My all my powers to Thee aspire,<br />
And all my days be Thine.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Thanks be to God for his indescribable grace!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Further listening: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6lhilgWXIE&NR=1"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By Grace Alone</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Amazing Grace, the original 6 verse version - if you find it online tell me!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">For more on the unrepentable sin: <a href="http://www.logies.org/mp3/080210am-mark3v20-25-andrew-randall.mp3">Andrew Randall's sermon on Mark 28-30</a> (linked in the text) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><< My heartfelt thanks to Andrew Randall, now minister at Larbert Old who preached the sermon that inspired this post. Those four points have echoed in my mind nearly every day since I heard it four months ago. That talk really showed me grace, like I’d never grasped it before and it changed my life. I say inspired by, there are a few differences – mainly the inferior quality of my writing to his sermon but oh well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Feel free to suggest any improvements/correct any mistakes.>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-13977012384252629922011-01-22T23:33:00.001+00:002011-01-22T23:34:50.142+00:00Rebellion, repentance and the religious reaction.<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell Me the Old, Old Story</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Tell me the old, old story, tell me the old, old story,<br />
Tell me the old, old story, of Jesus and His love.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in,<br />
That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">When I was a child, that hymn was one of my favourites. It still stands as a great instruction to all of us, we need to be told that story again and again don’t we.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon;<br />
The early dew of morning has passed away at </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">noon</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And so I’m going to tell it again, by using an old, old story that Jesus himself told. A story of rebellion, of repentance and of the religious reaction to them both. A story of a prodigal son and a prodigal God, a story of the gospel, a story of love and rejection.<a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Are you sitting comfortably?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Then I’ll begin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Rebellion</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And he [Jesus] said, "There was a man who had two sons. <sup>12</sup>And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. <sup>13</sup>Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. <sup>14</sup>And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. <sup>15</sup>So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. <sup>16</sup>And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Luke 15:11-16</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Rebellion, not always a good start. The ‘younger son’ decides he doesn’t care that much for his Dad, he’d rather just have his stuff. So he goes up to his Dad and says ‘Dad, I don’t love you at all. I hate the responsibilities of being your son but having said that I’d be happy to have the privileges – so could we just pretend you’d died and give me my share of the money you’d leave behind right now?’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It sounds abhorrent. It also sounds familiar. Isn’t that what we do every day? Isn’t that what we do every single time we reject God’s word, his authority? We keep saying to God that we can do without his rules, but we expect to still get all the rewards that come of being his children. We take life, breath, success, happiness, friendship, love and all without a word of thank-you. Instead, we spit in God’s face, wish he was dead, and storm out of his house – taking all we can carry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Then this ungrateful kid, like us, wastes everything he’s been given. Suddenly trouble comes and it’s all shown to be worthless – his ‘friends’ abandon him, his money’s gone and he has nothing to eat. He becomes a lowly worker. Worse even – this is a Jew, serving unclean pigs. Likewise, we bankrupt ourselves morally and spiritually, serving the unclean and squandering the gifts God gives us. Truly we, along with the son, are in a terrible state – but the story doesn’t end there!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Repentance</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! <sup>18</sup>I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. <sup>19</sup>I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' <sup>20</sup>And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.<sup> 21</sup>And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' <sup>22</sup>But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. <sup>23</sup>And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. <sup>24</sup>For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Luke 15:17-24</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Repentance. The younger son’s life turns around at this point. Finally, he realises how messed up he is, how futile life is taking his own path. He decides that actually, his father’s workers are doing better than he is. Maybe there’s hope? Maybe he can get a job with his Dad and at least have food to eat. He knows he doesn’t even deserve that – but anything is worth trying.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">But the father’s love is so great that he won’t allow it – he throws a party, rejoicing that his son is home! So it is also with us, when we realise our sin and in humility come to God. He doesn’t just allow us to work for a place in his presence. He adopts us as children and treats us as if we’d never left.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in,<br />
That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">If rebellion was a bad place to start, repentance and reconciliation are great places to end! But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He still has one more group to introduce us to: we’ve seen the prodigal son, the wasteful sinner; we’ve seen the prodigal father, the recklessly generous God. But there’s still that second son. Jesus’ nice, rosy gospel talk has a sting in its tail.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Religious reaction</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. <sup>26</sup>And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. <sup>27</sup>And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' <sup>28</sup>But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, <sup>29</sup>but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. <sup>30</sup>But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' <sup>31</sup>And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. <sup>32</sup>It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Luke 15:11-32</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The older son comes in; see his brother being reconciled with his father and rushes in to hug him too. Right? No, he stands outside in a sulk – angry that what he sees as his inheritance is being spent on this idiot. The elder brother represents the religious people; he’d followed God his father’s law, well, religiously. And what Jesus says here is that he didn’t love his father either, He’s saying that the cold religious man is just as lost as the wasteful sinner. If anything he’s more lost because unlike the younger son he can’t even see his own lostness. He’s wandering, cold and alone, futilely and frantically trying to earn his way into his father’s love. You know the thing that angers him the most? The fact that he’s been so holy, so self sacrificing, and yet this foul brother of his is still loved – despite having done nothing to deserve it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jesus is slapping the religious leaders in the face with this last section of the parable. He deliberately leaves the ending ambiguous – the sinner is comprehensively saved, but the religious man stays outside in the cold. Will he go in to the presence of his father, will you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">3 personalities, 3 lessons</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is so much more to be drawn out of and learned from in this passage, but for now we will just take one lesson from each of the characters in the parable. One thing to learn from the prodigal son, the proud brother, and the prodigal father.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Prodigal Son.</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> You can’t have the rights of God’s children without the responsibilities. Taking our own path will always destroy us; it always leaves us mucking out the pigs. With God, we can be so much more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Proud Brother.</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> Perfect obedience can leave you just as lost as perfect disobedience. God isn’t interested in your model family, your well-mannered children or your position as church elder. When it comes to salvation He doesn’t care what you’re doing. He cares who you’re doing it for. He wants your love.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Prodigal Father.</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> No matter what you’ve done that’s wrong, God’s grace is enough. No matter what you’ve done that’s right, God’s grace is still needed. Take it! The free gift of salvation is there, paid for by Christ, and offered to us for free. Whether our problem is blatant sinfulness, or prideful religion, God is willing to take us back to him. Are you willing to go?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That is the gospel we believe! That is the old, old story that we must be told again and again and again. There are three paths to take: rebellion, religion or grace. You can either deny God, earn God, or allow God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I pray you allow him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above,<br />
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.<br />
Tell me the story simply, as to a little child,<br />
For I am weak and weary, and helpless and defiled.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in,<br />
That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin.<br />
Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon;<br />
The early dew of morning has passed away at </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">noon</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the story softly, with earnest tones and grave;<br />
Remember I’m the sinner whom Jesus came to save.<br />
Tell me the story always, if you would really be,<br />
In any time of trouble, a comforter to me.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the same old story when you have cause to fear<br />
That this world’s empty glory is costing me too dear.<br />
Yes, and when that world’s glory is dawning on my soul, <br />
Tell me the old, old story: “Christ Jesus makes thee whole.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Amen.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Further reading:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Prodigal God, Tim Keller.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Further listening:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Tell me the old, old story.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><< There is so much more to be said but that’s all there’s time for today. I heartily recommend Tim Keller’s excellent book ‘The Prodigal God’ for a more comprehensive and altogether more coherent treatment of the parable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">And yes, I just sprung a gospel talk off an old hymn while also springing it off a parable. It confused me too, hopefully it worked.>></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-54679194549837347712011-01-10T14:13:00.002+00:002011-01-10T14:18:59.361+00:00Jesus and Karma<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Christ on Karma</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I’m sure everyone knows someone who, whenever some tragedy happens, instantly reacts with something along the lines of ‘they must have been really bad for THAT to happen to them’. The idea that many have is that good things happen go good people, and bad things happen to bad people. It’s only fair.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Isn’t it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Nearly two thousand years ago some Jews came to Jesus with the same idea:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. <sup>2</sup>And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? <sup>3</sup>No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. <sup>4</sup>Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Jerusalem</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">? <sup>5</sup>No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Luke 13:1-5</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%209&version=ESV">In another incident</a> his disciples asked him whose sin was responsible for a man’s blindness from birth. Was it his sin, charged against him before he committed it? Or was it his parent’s wrong? Jesus answers them clearly:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 9:3</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So we clearly see from the teaching of Jesus that karma has nothing to do with it. Jesus is having none of this false doctrine. However, there are always some people who cling to their idea despite Jesus’ teachings to the contrary. And so, I propose a test.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Karma on Christ</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Let us see if karma works. If it does, surely someone who lived a perfect life would have nothing bad happen to them. You know, someone like Jesus, he was perfect – what happened to him? Well he was abandoned by his friends and family, rejected by his people, spat upon, beaten, scourged and mocked. <i>“He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, although He was innocent of crime”</i>. The only perfect man who ever lived was crucified in agony.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Karma. Jesus. They don’t mix.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Much ado about nothing?</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">What’s the big deal? No Christian really believes in karma anyway, right? Besides, it’s not like it really matters – all karma does is make people be nice to each other. What’s the problem?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The problem is that it’s wrong.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The problem is the reason WHY Jesus suffered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The problem is that karma contradicts and replaces grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Karma is all about good things for good people, paid for by their good works. It’s all about bad things for bad people.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace is good things for bad people, paid for by a bad thing happening to the one good person that ever lived.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I am a sinner; I have rejected God and rebelled against his authority. Every single day I commit treason against the king of kings. I deserve death. Note that Jesus didn’t say that the people in Siloam didn’t deserve death; He said that nobody else deserved life. I certainly don’t, none of us do and every single day we need to be thankful for one thing. We need to rejoice in one glorious truth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God doesn’t do karma.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<Funny how everything I write turns into grace, normally without starting out with that intention. I’m slowly learning that the reason I can’t write about anything but grace is because there isn’t. Grace isn’t a part of my faith, Grace IS my faith.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Note that this post is not to say that there isn’t justice, one day there will be. But for not there is patience and mercy, for now there is the chance to accept God’s grace. One day there will be judgement, and on that day only grace will stand up to the strength of God’s fury at our sinfulness.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZvkO34U8A">Thanks to Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church for inspiring this post</a>>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-29338012234563203832011-01-07T15:50:00.004+00:002011-01-07T17:24:10.906+00:00A New Year Thought.<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A brief note</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It’s a new year, a new day. 2010 gave way to 2011. Here’s a thought to think on, as the year begins.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. <sup>2</sup>And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. <sup>3</sup>And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. <sup>4</sup>He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">5</span></sup></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." ”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 21:1-5</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">New world, Better world</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There is a day coming, we know not when, we’ll not realise until it happens. But on that day, God will remake the universe. He will live with mankind; there will be no crying, no suffering, no pain and no death. Read verse four again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“<i>He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away</i>”</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 21:4</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">If that doesn’t make you pause for thought, then read it again. Realise what it is saying. It says that one day; God will wipe the tears from our eyes. Do you realise who this God is? This is the God who burned the stars into the sky with merely a word. This is the God who created the universe, who created life, microbe and mountains. This is the God who made you, and knew your every action before you were born. That God is going to personally wipe the tears from our eyes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Now that is a thought to think on, as we go into 2011. We have a God powerful enough to create and recreate galaxies with a whisper, and we have a God kind and gentle enough to wipe the tears from our eyes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That is a God worth following, is it not?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!"</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And he replied:</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Desert, Marie Louise Haskins</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> .</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><<Further </span><strike style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">reading</strike><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> listening>></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/YZuU2wPms38?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. </span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-10970867610289775542010-12-28T13:48:00.001+00:002010-12-28T13:49:29.302+00:00The Meaning of Christmas.<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A festival of giving</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Christmas is fading away, the trees are coming down and the lights are switching off. Time then to consider, as the last of the Christmassy feel leaves the country, what is Christmas really all about? Is it about overindulging yourself and overeating or is it about family? Is it all about having a good time, or celebrating some old religious festival that nobody really cares about? I would say it’s none of these things. In jest, two of my friends said this to me at Christmas time:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Hope the Christmas holidays are going well. Remember the real meaning: presents.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And remember, Christmas is all about the presents.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I’ve been considering that and they’re right. Christmas <b>is</b> all about presents, there’s simply nothing else to it. <a name='more'></a> Yes there are some stuffy religious types who think it’s all about tradition, or some wishy-washy chaps who think it’s about love and good cheer but really, practically, it’s all about the presents. Not the paltry gifts we offer to each other, but the glorious gifts God gives. Let us consider a few of those gifts now, and then how God gives them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Wonderful present number one</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, <sup>9</sup>not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Ephesians 2:8-9</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God gives salvation. We don’t earn it, we couldn’t – Isaiah says that the best of our righteousness, the very best things we do are like filthy rags to God. No matter how hard we try, we can never save ourselves. But God can, and God has, and God will.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Our sin leads to destruction, but God offers salvation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Wonderful present number two</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> <sup>18</sup>Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. <sup>19</sup>For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 5:16, 18-19</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God gives renewal. He doesn’t just pay off our debts; he gives more and more and more. That is truly grace. If we pictured our lives as a car which we’ve wrapped around a lamppost somewhere and completely trashed it, then God doesn’t just shake his head and fix the car for us – he buys us a bigger, better, more expensive one. We don’t just get a reprieve, we get righteousness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We can’t fix our lives, but God makes us right.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Wonderful present number three</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 6:23</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God gives new life, eternally. Not only are we saved, forgiven, remade, renewed but we get eternity thrown into the bargain! Now that’s a pretty good present.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Our sinfulness deserves death, but God gives life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">There's no such thing as a free lunch</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Everything has a cost somewhere. Free education is paid for by taxes, free phones by contracts, free television by the license fee. Everything costs, nothing is really free. Gifts have to be bought by the giver and the bigger the gift, the bigger the cost. Contentment, salvation, renewal, eternal life: These things are costly. What price did God pay, that we might live?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Galatians 2:20</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 3:16</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 5:8</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In a word: Christ. Jesus came, and died, he suffered in our place so we could live free. And so in Christ we have salvation:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, <sup>10</sup> who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Thessalonians 5:9-10</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In Christ we have new life:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2 Corinthians 5:17</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In Christ we have eternal life:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 John 5:11</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">All because of a death, but surely that’s not Christmas? Christmas is a happy time; it’s all about a baby that never cried and a manger and cattle lowing…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">It’s about a birth yes, but a birth with a purpose. That little baby – who cried just as lustily as any baby despite what the carol says – that child was God. That little child, born in a dirty stable, grew up to live a perfect sinless life. That perfect sinless man died an agonising death and rose again. That death delivered a world of sin from its bondage and opened up the way to God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Timothy 1:15</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And it is not so much the birth of Christ we celebrate, but his life. It is the purpose of that life and its result that we celebrate at Christmas time. It is the great giving of God that we rejoice in each year. Remember God at Christmas time, and remember the presents. It’s all about the presents.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2 Corinthians 9:15</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<I’m convinced that Christmas doesn’t truly end until you celebrate Hogmanay on the 31<sup>st</sup>, so another post about Christmas is perfectly acceptable. Thanks to Ben Mildred of <a href="http://notatthedinnertable.weebly.com/">Not At The Dinner Table</a> fame, whose jesting quote originally inspired this post.>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-22377940842364193942010-12-25T00:38:00.001+00:002010-12-25T00:38:46.988+00:00Santa Claus Theology.<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A celebration of coming</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“You better watch out <br />
You better not cry <br />
Better not pout <br />
I'm telling you why <br />
Santa Claus is coming to town <br />
He's making a list <br />
And checking it twice; <br />
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice <br />
Santa Claus is coming to town”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You can tell its Christmas when that song starts blaring from every shop you pass. Well, you can tell it will be Christmas soon anyway. Well, within the next month at least. Or two…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Wait though, Santa Claus is coming? Is that what Christmas is all about? Or is it about God? God, who came as a child in a dingy stable, lived and died on a cruel cross and rose again for our salvation. Or a jolly fat man with a few reindeer and some singing elves? Don’t get me wrong, Santa, presents, trees, lights, reindeer – it’s all brilliant, Christmas is great. But so many of our problems are caused when we mix up God and Santa Claus – and not just at Christmas, but throughout our lives.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You see there are two dangerous ways in which we mix up God and Santa Claus. Firstly, we make Santa – all he brings and represents – into God, and secondly, we make God into Santa Claus.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Santa Claus is not God</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Money, possessions, presents. These are all wonderful things but so often we make them more important than they are. We turn them into Gods without even realising we’re doing it – tell anyone that they worship money, or Santa, and they’ll probably laugh at you. The problem is that whenever we look to something outside of God to save us, to give us happiness, we begin to erect an altar to it in our hearts. We sacrifice things to it, or for it. Whatever it is, it becomes far too important to us, it becomes our life and our driving goal. Whenever something stands between us and God we have a serious problem. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew 5:30</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Strong words, but necessary – we must not allow our love of money to overcome our love of God. As Switchfoot ask in their song ‘Company Car’:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Have I won monopoly to forfeit my soul?”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You could have the world, but what good is it without God? Don’t make Santa Claus into your God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 3:17</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God is not Santa Claus</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">This second problem harks back to the song quoted at the beginning:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“He's making a list <br />
And checking it twice; <br />
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You better watch out! When Santa is around you better be good. If you’re not, you’ll be punished – you certainly won’t get anything good from him. Better be ready to earn those presents boys and girls because if there’s one thing Santa Claus does not believe in, it’s grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God does. God believes in grace. That fact ought to make us weep with joy, and yet shake with fear. Joy! Because we can be free, we don’t have to buy our way to God. Fear! Because we insist on trying to earn it ourselves and that pours mockery on God’s goodness and kindness and love.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace is not one of the important issues for a Christian to ponder. No. Grace is <b>the</b> issue. It is the one thing that sets the Christian message apart, the one thing you need to be saved. “<i>Repent and believe!</i>” the Bible says and God will deliver you. He will forgive those who repent – but if you don’t have grace, how can you possibly repent? If you’re trying to earn your salvation through your good works then you’ve not grasped how much you need saved. Grace is the centre and heart of our faith.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God is not Santa. Whether people think you’re “<i>naughty or nice</i>” or just something in between is completely irrelevant to him. There are only two types of people to God. Sinners and Jesus. If you are in Him, then you are God, your salvation is free and certain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">When you have a measure of spirituality without grace, you get left with cold, empty religion. All that that leads to is hypocrisy, pride and despair. Religion isn’t good enough for God, and it isn’t enough for us. The Pharisees were the most fervently religious people of their day and look what Jesus had to say about them:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. <sup>28</sup>So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew 23:27-28</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Pharisees were wonderful; they were great teachers and leaders. They were the epitome of religious dedication. They were great. Oh and they crucified God. That’s not so good. The thing they’d missed was grace. God’s free gift. They’d turned God into Santa Claus, centuries before Santa even existed. They were determined to earn their way to God and determined to make God owe them something. Contrast this picture with that of the thief on the cross. A broken man. A criminal. The lowest of the low. Everyone admired the Pharisees and their Santa Theology, everybody but Jesus. Nobody loved the thief, nobody but Jesus. Contrast now their reception before God, the answer to their lives that Jesus gives them:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew 23:33</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And he [Jesus] said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Paradise</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">." ”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Luke 23:43</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Grace saves. Religion doesn’t. And that is why Santa Claus theology is so dangerous, so poisonous to our walk with God. But why? Why do we give up this beautiful doctrine of love and sacrifice, and replace it with a broken lie of works and a cruel, demanding God?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Two problems that cause each other</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We’ve made Santa our God – chasing after money and wealth, viewing ourselves as great and God as small.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We’ve made God a Santa figure – a God who views us in the light of our deeds, who demands that we earn our own way and pay him back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In short, we don’t like grace simply because <b>it leaves us with nothing.</b> We give nothing to God. We are nobody. God has paid our debt, “<i>by his wounds we are healed</i>” – there is <b>nothing</b> we can add to that and don’t we just hate it. Our grand view of our own self importance, our desire to prove ourselves, earn our own way and be able to hold God in our debt has corrupted our view of grace. Our feeble view of grace has led us to believe that God demands payment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Our view of Santa as God makes us see God as Santa. Our view of God as Santa makes us revere Santa and what he stands for as God. When salvation becomes all about earning, all about us, materialism and despair are not far behind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We hate grace because, as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=690DKM7RrM4">Switchfoot</a> said:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“In the economy of mercy<br />
I am a poor and begging man”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We don’t like to be poor. Being poor is losing when Santa reigns.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God’s remedy for our mistakes</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">God has an answer to our problem. It’s Grace. Grace is God’s salvation song. Look to Jesus, look to the cross. See him there, hanging in agony for your sin. Freely and without cost. And don’t you dare try and earn your salvation. Can you add to that sacrifice? Can you, by offering your seat to the elderly, paying a fraction of your money to the church, can you possibly add to that? Can you add to the death of God by being a bit nicer and going to church? Can you top God’s sacrifice with a bit of prayer and a Bible reading? No you can’t. And that, that is the beauty and the wonder of God’s grace. A salvation that is firm. And yet a salvation that is completely, and utterly free.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Look to Jesus, look to his throne. See him there, ruling and reigning in love. He died for you my friend. He died for me. How can we replace that majesty, that love, that sacrifice with money, presents and exotic holidays? Grace is free, but if grace is true we must respond in love. Love not for money, but for him who died. “<i>There is a higher throne. Than all this world has known</i>” – Bow before that throne, don’t worship Santa Claus.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Get your theology straightened out. Ours is a theology of grace. Not a theology of Santa Claus.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound<br />
that saved a wretch like me.<br />
I once was lost, but now am found, <br />
was blind but now I see.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, <sup>9</sup>not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Ephesians 2:8-9</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><<Grace is a pretty big topic. My thanks to <a href="http://www.larbertold.org/">Andrew Randall</a> who inspired me to dwell on it more, and who gave me the term ‘Santa Clause Theology’ to describe a life without it. One day I’ll write more on it, but if there’s ever an ‘<a href="http://assistantpigkeeper.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-title.html">assistant pig-keeper topic</a>’ then this is it. Woefully unprepared for writing on this, but by God’s grace may I speak the truth, with clarity, in love. If I can improve, do tell me – the comment box is there for a reason.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone. Merry Christmas indeed.>></span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9148790012193045307.post-5960259660914967662010-12-21T17:17:00.000+00:002010-12-21T17:27:20.431+00:00Many roads, one destination.<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">An unhelpful statement</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">‘All roads lead to God’ – The battle cry of our pluralistic age, the rallying call of all those who view Christianity as intolerant and narrow for claiming a universal truth which is the only way to salvation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">‘All roads lead to God’, do you agree?<a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I do. All roads do lead to God, every person whether Buddhist or Hindu or Christian will find God but really, it’s the experience when you get there that matters. Allow me to explain: Say you’re standing on the top floor of a skyscraper; there are fourteen windows and a single door which leads to the lift. As you can see, there are fifteen exits to that room and they all lead to the ground but only <b>one</b> of them will give you a pleasant arrival. One destination yes, but two very different outcomes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Bible is very clear that every road that anyone takes will lead them to God:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">2 Corinthians 5:10</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 14:12</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“To me every knee shall bow, <br />
every tongue shall swear allegiance.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Isaiah 45:23</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The question we must all ask is not whether all roads will lead to God, but rather ‘What will happen when my road leads me to God?’ And that is a different question entirely. One which God has answered clearly:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Hebrews 9:27</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A single destination</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The penultimate destination of mankind is shared by every one of us, to stand in the throne room of Almighty God, creator and judge of heaven and of earth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"> <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. <sup>12</sup>And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 20:11-12</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">This throne room of God is the point to which all roads lead. The Atheist, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the Christian, the Agnostic, The Deist will all stand before God’s judgement seat. On that day only one question remains – on what do you stand before this throne? On what have you put your trust? What foundation have you built your life, work and future hope on?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">This is truly an important question because all these roads will not meet for long. The problem with the pluralistic statement ‘all roads lead to God’ is not what it says that is wrong, but what it does not say, yet should. What it leaves out is that while all roads lead to this throne room of God, they soon diverge. The difference now is that there are only two roads, and they will never meet again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A choice to be made</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The great thinker and writer C.S. Lewis described this choice in these words:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"There will be two kinds of people in the end: Those that will say to God 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God will say 'Thy will be done.'"</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Both types of people met God, but both leave on very different terms. To those who choose their own way God has strong words of warning to give:</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Matthew 25:30</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, <sup>48</sup>'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Mark 9:47b-48</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 20:15</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Hell is a place of no return, there is no escape from it. It is the natural destination of every soul. It is the absence of God, and with his absence, the absence of every good thing which comes from him. It is the absence therefore of love, and life, and happiness, and selflessness, and hope, and kindness, and mercy. It is our ultimate end, eternal death. But why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 3:23</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">We deserve hell because we rejected heaven; we deserve death because we rejected life. We deserve lovelessness because we rejected the love that was given to us. C.S. Lewis says elsewhere that:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Calvary</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And there Lewis touches on the other option. The other destination, the very opposite of this eternal, loveless death. Life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A foundation to stand on</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Certain condemnation and guaranteed judgement await all who stand before God on the foundation of their own works and righteousness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Corinthians 3</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">However, there is hope, a hope that does not disappoint. We cannot lay our own foundation, we cannot save ourselves but God has laid a foundation for us, he has set us free. Again and again the Bible tells of this glorious future:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Romans 8:1</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, <sup>15</sup>that whoever believes in him may have eternal life... <sup>18</sup>Whoever believes in him is not condemned”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 3:14-15, 18</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. <sup>2</sup>And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. <sup>3</sup>And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. <sup>4</sup>He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">5</span></sup></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." <sup>6</sup>And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. <sup>7</sup>The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Revelation 21:1-7</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In short, heaven is being with God and in his presence for all of eternity. It is the opposite of hell, the greatest joy possible. It is indeed unimaginably great:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“But, as it is written,<br />
<br />
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,<br />
nor the heart of man imagined, <br />
what God has prepared for those who love him" ”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 Corinthians 2:9</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">So how can this infinitely preferable alternative be reached? Well, to return to C.S. Lewis’ words, we must say to God ‘Thy will be done’. We must accept that God’s plan for salvation is greater than ours and it is here that the statement ‘all roads lead to God’ breaks down. Because only one road leads to an eternity with God, only one foundation stands the scrutiny of God’s judgement and that is Jesus Christ:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">John 14:6</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. <sup>12</sup>And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Acts 4:11-12</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. <sup>12</sup>Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”</span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">1 John 5:11-12</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Christ is the sure foundation on which we must build; he must be our hope and our salvation. The old hymn by Edward Mote says it well:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">On Christ the solid Rock I stand, <br />
All other ground is sinking sand; <br />
All other ground is sinking sand.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">A decision to make</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">All roads lead to God, but when you arrive at that throne, when you bow the knee at last you do it either in love, or in trembling. At that moment, many roads converge, but only two leave again. It is in this life that we choose which path we leave God’s presence on. It is a decision we all must make, it is a decision which determines eternity. Do we trust in ourself for salvation, reject God and follow our own path. Or do we trust in Jesus for our salvation, submit to his authority and follow him everything in this world and eventually into life eternal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">One destination, two very different outcomes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">By God’s grace may we choose the latter.</span></div>Telcontarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934918394160043090noreply@blogger.com0