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Archives for October 2016

From Weeping to Feasting in Babylon

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David” (Isaiah 55:1-3).

Bad Taste
Imagine attending a beautiful banquet to freely feast on a huge array of delicacies, including steak, lobster, cakes, and a large selection of drinks. Thirsty and famished, you proceed to devour the table decorations of wax fruit and wash it down with sand from the jars holding the fake flowers. Ridiculous, you say? Yes, but is it unusual?

Judgment and Compassion in Babylon
God’s gracious invitation to the thirsty and distressed exiles of Israel followed His many warnings through Isaiah and other prophets that they would be judged if they continued their idolatry and disobedience. “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, a people who continually provoke Me to My face” (Isaiah 65:2-3). But, they covered their ears and suffered the inevitable result—Babylon sacked Jerusalem and took them into exile.

Nonetheless, God never abandoned His disobedient people and graciously called them back to Himself—such is God’s way with the objects of His love. As for Israel, they had become predictable. When God blessed them with prosperity, they grew proud and self-confident and attacked God’s messengers. “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked” (Deut. 32:15). But when He judged their sin and removed His blessings they cried for mercy. And despite their chronic infidelity, God would hear, take pity, and restore His people. Time and again they suffered judgement for disobedience, and time and again God looked with compassion and called them back to Himself.

Free and Abundant
Having banished His people to Babylon, God appealed to thirsty people for the satisfaction of their souls. Jesus used similar language with the Samaritan woman at the well: “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give to him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Like the life-giving water, the wine and milk speak of the divine, abundant, and free blessings of God toward His people. They need only “come” with empty hands to receive God’s mercy.

Costly and Worthless
The feast was ready, rich, and free. Yet, not only did Israel prefer that which is “not bread” and worthless, they paid for the privilege and exhausted themselves in the process.

Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame. The man shapes iron into a cutting tool, and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers, and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary (Isaiah 44:9-12).

They wearied themselves even as they invited judgment and calamity. How could they be so foolish? How can we? Christ tells us, “For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26). Does the world rush to bow the knee to Jesus, to partake of the eternally satisfying living water? And while we may not worship statues, our modern substitutes for God are just as common and foolish. We can make an idol out of anything, including religion, money, sex, power, sports, music, achievement, the accolades of others, comfort, pleasure, convenience, an activity, a school or institution, a role, a hope, an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero, you name it—anything we choose to exalt over humble love to God, even if done in His name.

But, even good and necessary things will never satisfy our souls. When we give them more importance than they deserve and expect more than they can deliver, they leave us low and dry. And worse, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12). Alluring and promising, we not only bite and wind up with a mouth of wax and sand, we double down and stuff ourselves as if volume will compensate for the emptiness of it all.

Listen and Enjoy the Feast
Sin brought disaster to Israel. Yet, when God regained their attention, the exiles needed only to “come” and “listen” that they might “live” and delight themselves “in abundance.” And so also with us when we humbly and prayerfully listen to God speak to us in Scripture, lest He get our attention some other way. And listening we need to obey, forsaking hindrances to our relationship with our Creator and Redeemer.

Despite their rebellion and idolatry, God had mercy on His chastened exiles and invited them to feast on the abundance of His grace and be blessed according to His “faithful mercies shown to David.” Thus, He offers us rich blessings as part of His family through faith in Christ alone, calling us to abandon whatever obscures God’s excellence and dulls the satisfaction of our souls. And though we sometimes grab for the table settings, God calls us to a true feast, to forsake evil and put the good things of the world to proper use in service to Him, to be blessed by His infinite glory, forever.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1995. Used by permission.

Click here to download a PDF of this article.

© 2016 Craig Biehl, author of God the Reason, The Box, The Infinite Merit of Christ, and Reading Religious Affections

 

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    What’s So Foolish About the Gospel?

    “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

    Is the Gospel foolish? Do the ideas of a crucified Savior, exaltation by humiliation, the conquering of death by death, the overcoming of the powers of evil by weakness, etc., convey foolish elements that faith must overcome in order to believe in Christ? Or, put another way, does faith involve, to some extent, a belief in the absurd or unreasonable, a disregard or denial of aspects of reality? Does true faith include elements of blind faith, the belief in something without or contrary to evidence?

    “Irrational Faith”
    For some, faith is indeed irrational and blind, the embrace of an ideal despite history, reason, reality, and science. In fact, they view the courage to believe against all odds and opposition as a virtue. Moreover, a faith based solely on personal experience without an objective basis in history, reason, reality, and science, cannot be refuted by arguments of the same—nothing can deny or disprove another’s experience, goes the thinking. Perhaps you have heard people teach such a faith, or maybe you recognize elements of this blind faith as your own? What, then, are we to make of this?

    A Fallen Perspective and Defective Standard
    The Gospel does appear foolish and undesirable to most of the world, but, does that indicate a problem with the Gospel or the world? For instance, does the world exalt holiness? Scripture tells us people who love darkness and reject the light (John 3:19), including the light of the Gospel. Indeed, “the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matt. 7:14).

    At the same time, could unbelief be justified in part by some of the “foolish” elements of the Gospel mentioned above? Perhaps, if according to a right standard, the foolish or absurd could be found in the Gospel. But, it contains no such elements. But what about a crucified Savior, weakness overcoming power and evil, etc., are not these ideas absurd or unreasonable? Yes, but only according to the assumptions of the fallen, unbelieving worldview. In God’s economy, justice demands a payment and sin demands death, while voluntary and infinite humiliation and suffering for the underserving displays the highest and most beautiful love. Moreover, the entire sacrificial system of Israel points to the need of a sacrifice, substitute, and mediator. Such ideas are noble to unbelievers in many contexts, such as jumping in front of a car to save a life, paying another’s debt, or martyrdom for a great cause (though Christ’s sacrifice was far more than mere martyrdom). Regardless, God determines what is right and foolish in the world. Apart from God, no standards of good, bad, wise, or foolish are possible.

    Nothing of the Gospel history or message justifies unbelief. Rather, the heart hostile to God cannot see the beauty of God’s holiness and perfect character it displays. In fact, the world’s foolishness involves viewing the infinitely excellent as unworthy of notice or respect, including the revelation of God’s holiness, justice, love, grace, mercy, and wisdom in Christ.

    Preconceived Notions
    People view Christ and Scripture according to preconceived beliefs about God and the world flow from love or hatred toward the God of the Bible. Those unwilling to acknowledge God’s authority and submit to Him will interpret reality to support their desire to be independent of God. Nothing that points to the God of Scripture and our debt to love and honor Him will be viewed with an objective “neutrality.” Those set on living however they please will reject the Gospel as foolish and explain the world as giving no evidence of its Designer and Creator.

    Reasonable Faith
    Also, a blind faith contrary to history, reason, reality, and science is not Christian faith. We swim in a sea of evidence for God’s power, genius, and goodness. The heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1), the “rains from heaven and fruitful seasons” that satisfy our “hearts with food and gladness” declare His goodness (Acts 14:17). Moreover, all people have an inescapable sense of God’s existence and holiness because God has written His law on every heart (Rom. 2:14-15). The evidence appears so obvious in what God has created that all people “know God” and are “without excuse” for not worshipping and giving God thanks (Rom. 1:18-22). Even as the order, intricacy, and beauty of the universe proclaim its designer in the same way a beautiful painting proclaims the existence and genius of the artist, unbelief suppresses and denies the knowledge of God from hostility towards Him.

    Unwanted Implications
    Moreover, the mere fact that we can reason and conduct science clearly affirms God’s design and power over the universe—random chance produces no “natural” laws by which we think and do science. Reality, as well as science to describe it, cannot exist without God. Indeed, that some scientists observe the amazing order and design of creation and still claim it evolved by time and chance indicates that something other than the scientific method drives their conclusions. The theory of evolution, as impossible and unscientific as it is, serves to explain life without a debt to love and obey the One to whom we owe all things. The same applies to denials of the authority of Scripture. Christ put it this way, “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself” (John 7:17). In other words, if you have a heart to do God’s will, you will know that Christ’s words are God’s words and the expression of God’s will.

    Open Eyes
    Therefore, while true faith involves experience—the heart embracing Christ as God and Savior in love and trust—it also accepts objective reality as created and ordered by God, and the true nature of Scripture. So, what’s so foolish about the Gospel? Nothing. As believers, our eyes have been opened to see and love its excellence, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Thus, with the saints we sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

    Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1995. Used by permission.

    Click here to download a PDF of this article.

    © 2016 Craig Biehl, author of God the Reason, The Box, The Infinite Merit of Christ, and Reading Religious Affections

     

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      Thorns as Windows to the Soul

      Perhaps you have known some folks with an uncanny knack of rubbing you the wrong way. Of course, we have all been that person at one time or another and we can easily find more faults in others than in ourselves. At the same time, annoying people often bring an unexpected gift—a divinely ordered glimpse of our own sin. In His perfect wisdom, God often addresses our blind spots by an encounter with our sinful manners in someone else.

      Divine Sand
      As sinners saved by grace, perfect godliness awaits us in glory. Until then, we learn and grow. And as we serve Christ alongside other believers, we will eventually experience some of the best examples of how to act as a believer—and some of the worst. As we serve with people in positions of responsibility we will see God working in humble hearts helping others for His glory, but with others we may meet an unsanctified arrogance that can be tough to bear: “A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them” (Prov. 27:3). When a little power and authority goes to our head we can forget that our ministry came as a gift from God, and that Christ, the God of the universe became flesh, had nowhere to lay His head and willingly suffered the worst kind of humiliation and suffering imaginable for unworthy enemies, or that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).

      Reflections
      When we are treated poorly by the immaturity and sin of others, a cool head with a little reflection might reveal that the way others treat us sometimes mirrors how we treat them, a picture of the sin we ignore in our own life. And while we should think twice about a ministry of personally giving others a real-time example of depravity for their benefit, the display of spiritual immaturity in others can encourage our own repentance and growth in Christian maturity. We have all encountered more than a few examples of how we should never behave toward others, but our lesson should be that we have often treated people the same way.

      Amazing Grace
      No one escapes pride this side of glory. It ruled the roost before we came to Christ and rears its foul head at the slightest success or indignity. Indeed, the minute we fancy ourselves delivered from its grip we find ourselves puffed up to heaven with our humility![1] Its cure comes in a deepening relationship with Christ and appreciation of His infinite and amazing grace toward one so underserving. We grow in humility as we grow in understanding the nature of the wretch He saved by infinite love and suffering, and by knowing and loving the excellence of the One who purchased our eternal happiness.

      Sanctification can be difficult, especially when helped by walking and talking irritants we meet or hold sway over some aspect of our lives. But God brings them for our good, as windows to the soul. Once we get over our pride in being disrespected by someone else’s lack of sanctification, we can confess and repent of the same in ourselves and grow in our love and knowledge of the One who has paid the penalty for it all. To Christ be all the glory. Amen.

      [1] Edwards put it this way: “Some who think themselves quite emptied of themselves, and are confident that they are abased in the dust, are full as they can hold with the glory of their own humility, and lifted up to heave with a high opinion of their own abasement.” Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986 reprint edition), 245

      Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1995. Used by permission.

      Click here to download a PDF of this article.

      © 2016 Craig Biehl, author of God the Reason, The Box, The Infinite Merit of Christ, and Reading Religious Affections

       

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        Missing the Mark

        “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Why? Because God is infinitely holy and excellent, perfect in every way, the source and sustainer of all things, apart from whom we have nothing, and to whom we owe perfect love and honor, always. God’s “foremost commandment” requires an internal and external response consistent with God’s glory. Sin includes anything less than what He deserves and properly requires of us. Thus, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

        True Virtue
        Which of the following appears to you as virtuous: a selfish bribe given without concern for the recipient, or a gift motivated by selfless love? Or, which of these honors God: service that seeks to earn salvation from a disregard of the perfect saving work of Christ, or service from a heart of love and thanksgiving for the free gift of salvation? The obvious answers illustrate for us that identical outward actions can be good or evil, or pleasing or contemptible before God according to the motive or inclination behind them. At the same time, Scripture contains many warnings that God will judge our every action. Indeed, “every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). Yet, God never judges actions apart from the heart that motivates them. “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds” (Jer. 17:10). We may distinguish internal motives or inclinations of the heart from the actions they produce, but we can never separate them.

        A Guilty Heart
        Moreover, God judges the nature of our thoughts and desires even if we don’t act on them: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). As unbelievers we “lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” and we were “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3, emphasis mine). And while we are cautioned against judging what we cannot see in the hearts of others, God does exactly that, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

        As God requires a pure heart and pure actions, our wicked desires merit condemnation before a holy God. As Christ said, “everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil” (Matt. 12:34-35). Notice that the evil “treasure” produces the evil action. In His condemnation of religious hypocrisy, He points to the heart: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me” (Matt. 15:8).

        Holy and Unholy Attractions
        The heart transformed to love God loves holiness, the perfection that defines God’s perfect character and renders all His perfections lovely. The indwelling Holy Spirit loves holiness and grieves over unholy thoughts and desires, even as He works to cleanse and produce in us holy appetites and actions. Therefore, a holy and redeemed heart recoils at desires contrary to the holiness of its first love. We run to Christ in love and gratitude for His righteousness and plead for deliverance from impurity. We pursue the renewal of our mind by His powerful Word (Scripture) and the other means of grace He has provided for our growth in holiness (prayer, worship, fellowship, etc.). But, we don’t define holiness down or compromise God’s standard of righteousness by proposing that impure thoughts and desires are not sin until we act on them. A healthy cure begins with a proper diagnosis and understanding of the disease, not a redefinition of it.

        A Perfect Heart
        Christ’s earthly ministry was sinless and free of unholy thoughts and desires. He clearly saw and understood the wickedness of the world, but rightly viewed it as a disgusting affront to divine holiness, a horrible perversion of God’s original and righteous design and creation. And while He was tempted in all things, even as we are, He was never tempted by the force of a sinful inclination or desire for unholy things. Perfect holiness cannot be incited by unholy thoughts where no unholy thoughts are possible. The essence and weight of His temptations lie elsewhere (to be discussed in an upcoming post). And once we pass from this life to the next, we will never again have an unholy thought or desire. But until then, our most perfect works and motives are as filthy rags in light of what God deserves and when considered apart from the righteousness of Christ by which we stand.

        The Goal
        “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). As we better understand the depth and breadth of our depravity, we grow in purity, faith, and a greater appreciation of the forgiveness and righteousness we have in Christ. The greater our understanding and appreciation for God’s infinite love of the sinful and unlovable, the greater will be our love, holiness, and service to Him and our neighbor. May we not compromise God’s revelation of our total need of Christ—the greatest need of the church and the unredeemed world—by redefining sin, our greatest enemy. Rather, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). In Christ we have new life, a new love, forgiveness for the worst of our sinful acts and desires, and help for growth in a holy love and knowledge of God. May we seek Him all the more diligently when we struggle with the sin that would dishonor His name and destroy our testimony to His grace and power to change lives. To Him be all the glory in our thoughts and deeds. Amen.

        Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1995. Used by permission.

        Click here to download a PDF of this article.

        © 2016 Craig Biehl, author of God the Reason, The Box, The Infinite Merit of Christ, and Reading Religious Affections

         

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