Waiting for the King

Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

In the earliest days after Israel had taken possession of the land, the people rejected the kingship of the Lord, and followed after whatever seemed right to them. They chased after other gods, stole from their neighbors, killed one another, and defiled themselves sexually. The narrator of the book of Judges reminds the reader several times that these things were a result of there not being a king in the land. This sets the stage in 1 Samuel where one is chosen (as anticipated in Deuteronomy 18), eventually bringing the lineage of David to the throne. God's desire was that He would be the King of His chosen people, and even through Israel's rejection of Him, God providentially establishes Himself as the eternal king for His people. His plans are not foiled by their rebellion. They are established by it, as He is sovereign over all. It is through the covenant with David (2 Samuel 7) that the Lord promises a king will forever be on the throne, and we know that king to be the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that is foreshadowed by those who come before, including David- the king of war, and his son, Solomon- the king of peace. When the great King returns, He will wage war on those in rebellion against him, much like David, and then there will be peace for the people of God, as in the days of Solomon.

When mankind refuses to accept God's authority, he will pursue whatever seems right to him. Scripture and history are replete with illustrations. If we're really honest, we know this is true of ourselves, too. This is what the unregenerate, unbelieving heart really wants, to be left to itself- to indulge all it desires, without anyone telling it what it can and can not do. It wants to serve as its own authority. If man must have a king, he clamors for one that will lead and legislate so he can legally obtain what he wants, which eases his conscience and makes his actions more acceptable. Nothing is new under the sun. Man needs God as his king just as much today as he did more than three thousand years ago in Israel, and rejects Him still. But like then, God is merciful and patient, providing a deliverer to those who call upon Him. Though they rejected His leadership time and again, God answers the repentant when they cry out, promising their deliverance and salvation from their enemies. God still answers those cries today, promising deliverance and salvation through the Savior of His people, Jesus Christ. He promises not to leave us to ourselves; that He will change our pursuits from those that seem right to us, into new desires that accord with His Kingdom and His wonderful decrees. He is already on His throne, and is bringing hearts into joyful subjection to His rule. Enemies within and those without are still being conquered, but He will be victorious. He will complete the masterpiece of history, and rule the Kingdom of Peace forever. In the book of Judges, there was not yet a king in the land- only the expectation of one. He now rules, and we know of His glory by faith, but the promised Day will come, and we will see with our eyes "the king in his beauty" (Isaiah 33:17). We once clamored for what seemed right to us; now, by grace, we await the return of our King.

To Those Who Would Plan Well

There is great comfort in knowing what our future holds. When we have all of our ducks in a row- everything packed or planned, saved for or scheduled- our minds are set at ease. We like to believe we have everything under control, or at least try to as much as possible, looking to limit potential hazards. There is a reason why you won't find many advisers selling customers on the haphazard life. Planning seems to be good wisdom, and Scripture bears that out (Luke 14:28-33, Proverbs 21:5). We should do whatever we can to plan for the future, but we should never find our greatest comfort in the belief we have it all under control. One phone call or notice in the mail could change everything and shake the world under our feet. So, it's good wisdom to plan, but far better to ask the Lord to guide what we plan- that He would be underneath our thoughts, desires, and choices. The Bible has a great deal to say about this, since it is God who orders the events in His world (Proverbs 16:9, 19:21, James 4:13-16). Whether we'll admit it or not, we forget that He is the trustworthy, merciful, and faithful One. He has no bad days, never wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and is never slothful. Everything He does is for the good of His people. All the days we have left on our calendar (and beyond) can be marked with His promise to be with us, no matter what else happens. Life can change suddenly, but our God never does. His love for those in Christ will never be diminished, even when we fail, since His grace in the Lord Jesus is greater than our sin. We should find the greatest of comforts in Him alone. We may ask that God would make our future clear, but generally what we'll find is that He calls us to trust Him with it, to obey in what He tells us is right for today, and praise Him no matter what tomorrow brings. So yes, plan for tomorrow, but remember who's in control of it.

Spurgeon's Lectures

A recent treasure in my life has been Charles Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students. He taught the contents of this book to those who attended his pastor's college in England with Spirit-wrought wisdom and wit on the many facets of the minister's life and work. No doubt, they are beneficial for all, not just those in vocational ministry.

On Prayer:
"One bright benison which private prayer brings down upon the ministry is an indescribable and inimitable something, better understood than named; it is a dew from the Lord, a divine presence which you will recognize at once when I say it is “an unction from the holy One.” What is it? I wonder how long we might beat our brains before we could plainly put into words what is meant by preaching with unction; yet he who preaches knows its presence, and he who hears soon detects its absence."

On Pride:
"I can, it is true, easily muster a hundred reasons why I should not be proud, but pride will not mind reason, nor anything else but a good drubbing. Even at this moment I feel it tingling in my fingers’ ends, and seeking to guide my pen,” Knowing something myself of those secret Whippings which our good Father administers to’ his servants when he sees them unduly exalted, I heartily add my own Solemn warnings against your pampering the flesh by listening to the praises of the kindest friends you have. They are injudicious, and you must beware of them."

On Praise and Criticism:
"...it is always best not to know, nor to wish to know, what is being said about you, either by friends or foes. Those who praise us are probably as much mistaken as those who abuse us, and the one may be regarded as a set off to the other, if indeed it be worth while taking any account at all of man’s judgment. If we have the approbation of our God, certified by a placid conscience, we can afford to be indifferent to the opinions of our fellow men, whether they commend or condemn. If we cannot reach this point we are babes and not men."

On Gossip:
"There are also certain persons who are never so happy as when they are "grieved to the heart" to have to tell the minister that Mr. A. is a snake in the grass, that he is quite mistaken in thinking so well of Messrs. B. and C...Never listen to such people...Let the creatures buzz, and do not even hear them, unless indeed they buzz so much concerning one person that the matter threatens to be serious; then it will be well to bring them to book and talk in sober earnestness to them. Assure them that you are obliged to have facts definitely before you, that your memory is not very tenacious, that you have many things to think of, that you are always afraid of making any mistake in such matters, and that if they would be good enough to write down what they have to say the case would be more fully before you, and you could give more time to its consideration. Mrs. Grundy will not do that; she has a great objection to making clear and definite statements; she prefers talking at random."


On Sincerity:

"We must—some of us especially must—conquer our tendency to levity. A great distinction exists between holy cheerfulness, which is a virtue, and that general levity, which is a vice. There is a levity which has not enough heart to laugh, but trifles with everything; it is flippant, hollow, unreal. A hearty laugh is no more levity than a hearty cry. I speak of that religious veneering which is pretentious, but thin, superficial, insincere about the weightiest matters. Godliness is no jest, nor is it a mere form. Beware of being actors. Never give earnest men the impression that you do not mean what you say, and are mere professionals. To be burning at the lip, and freezing at the soul, is a mark of reprobation. God deliver us from being either superfine or superficial; may we never be the butterflies of the garden of God!"

God Makes Our Happiness His Own Charge

Have you ever failed to do something good for another person because you were concerned what would happen to you as a result? How will I take care of myself if I'm always concerned about the needs of others? If I give, will I have anything left? Fear often drives our inaction because we're afraid of the outcome. In turn, we focus on ourselves, becoming selfish, rather than living in loving service of others. Jonathan Edwards gives an amazing response concerning the kind of life we should strive to live and why: 

If you are selfish, and make yourself and your own private interests your idol, God will leave you to yourself, and let you promote your own interests as well as you can. But if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ's, and the things of your fellow human beings, then God will make your interest and happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at his bidding, and he can easily command them all to subserve your welfare. So that, not to seek your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of seeking your own in a better sense. It is the directest course you can take to secure your highest happiness.

Doing good is to be the work of the Christian, and as he serves others with love for them and faith in his God, he can be assured that the Lord of the universe will care for him and give the greater happiness. Therefore, go and do good without fear.

 

As a Man Carries His Son

"The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go."
(Deuteronomy 1:30-33 ESV)

In this great book, Moses recounts Israel's experience in the wilderness, and gives another reading of the Law, to those who were preparing to go into the Promised Land. Here, in this passage, he provides a reminder of how the last generation failed to trust the Lord when it had been their turn to enter. God would have led them into the land, as a man carries his own son. He furthers his point by stating  how God proved His faithfulness in their past by keeping His people safe on their desert journeys, as He sought out new places for them to camp. God would "go before" them by fire at night and cloud by day. He was always clearing a path and serving as their eyes, scouting and charting their course. When the time came to trust in His power, by faith, to remove the larger and stronger nations from the land He had promised them, the people wilted in fear, forgetting Who is was that protected them. Two applications come to mind from this passage- (1) God will carry me home safely and deliver to me what He has promised in Christ Jesus. Would-be giants and would-be fortified cities lie in wait as I approach, but my focus cannot be mainly on them. Yes, I could allow fear and anxiety to overtake me. Even now, matters that some day will seem small, appear large. But my God is bigger. He is faithful and trustworthy. I will follow Him wherever His fire and cloud lead, and He will serve as my strength on this winding journey. (2) As I think about the stages in life that my children are currently in, I hope that their early years develop in them, a trust, by God's grace, in their Heavenly Father, but also in those whom He has entrusted them to for a time- their earthly parents. Not just that we would care for them physically, but that they will trust us for wisdom and guidance in more difficult days ahead- when they discover giants and fortified cities outside of their home camp. These early years are the days of manna and water from the rock, but the time will come when they must decide if God will truly carry them into the land, like He has said (and hopefully we have confirmed in word and by action), or if sight seems more practical to them than faith. I do hope that they see, in us, people who live what we speak (and vice-versa), and that they can come to us for wisdom, in the way they should go. Valuable years. Eternal impact. God grant us mercy and grace!

A Death on Friday

Good Friday is a day when millions reflect (more earnestly?) on the death of Jesus than at any other time during the year. Scripture bears witness that there were many who had part in the death of Christ. The Jewish leaders (1 Thess. 2:14-15) and the Roman authorities (Acts 4:27) had their hands stained by His blood. In His providential wisdom, God the Father planned this death so men might know His grace and glory (Isaiah 53:4-6, 10; Acts 2:23). But there is another element to this story that needs to be told as well.

Charles Spurgeon describes it this way:

"There was a day, as I took my walks abroad, when I came hard-by a spot forever engraven upon my memory, for there I saw this Friend, my best, my only Friend, murdered. I stooped down in sad affright, and looked at him. I saw that his hands had been pierced with rough nails, and his feet had been rent in the same way. There was misery in his dead countenance so terrible that I scarcely dared to look upon it. His body was emaciated with hunger, his back was red with bloody scourges, and his brow had a circle of wounds about it: clearly could one see that these had been pierced by thorns.

I shuddered, for I had known this friend full well. He never had a fault; he was the purest of pure, the holiest of the holy. Who could have injured him? For he never injured any man; all his life long he 'went about doing good;' he had healed the sick, he had fed the hungry, he had raised the dead. For which of these works did they kill him? He had never breathed out anything else but love; and as I looked into the poor sorrowful face, so full of agony, and yet so full of love, I wondered who could have been a wretch so vile as to pierce hands like his. I said within myself, 'Where can these traitors live? Who are these that could have smitten such a One as this?' Had they murdered an oppressor, we might have forgiven them. Had they slain one who had indulged in vice or villainy, it might have been his desert. Had it been a murderer and a rebel, or one who had committed sedition, we would have said, 'Bury his corpse; justice has at last given him his due.' But when thou wast slain, my best, my only beloved, where lodged the traitors? Let me seize them, and they shall be put to death. If there be torments that I can devise, surely they shall endure them all. Oh! What jealousy, what revenge I felt! If I might but find these murderers, what would I not do with them!

And as I looked upon that corpse, I heard a footstep, and wondered where it was. I listened, and I clearly perceived that the murderer was close at hand. It was dark, and I groped about to find him. I found that, somehow or other, wherever I put out my hand, I could not meet with him, for he was nearer to me than my hand would go. At last I put my hand upon my breast. 'I have thee now,' said I; for lo! he was in my own heart! The murderer was hiding within my own bosom, dwelling in the recesses of my inmost soul. Ah! Then I wept indeed, that I, in the very presence of my murdered Master, should be harbouring the murderer, and I felt myself most guilty while I bowed over His corpse, and sang that plaintive hymn:

"'Twas you, my sins, my cruel sins,
            His chief tormentors were;
Each of my crimes became a nail,
            And unbelief the spear."

My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorns those bleeding brows. My sins cried, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders. His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity; but my having been his murderer is more, infinitely more grief, than one poor fountain of tears can express."

We also have blood on our hands, but in the amazing Gospel we hold dear by faith, the same blood that could have testified against us, has brought us near to God and made us clean.

Knowing Grace

I've recently reiterated to my oldest daughters that if they can learn two things in school, I'd like them to strive to do well in English and Math. I've generally thought of these as foundational building blocks of learning success. If you can read, write, and understand things written and spoken, your ability to learn more greatly increases. As for math, most kids avoid it like green vegetables, wondering how it could ever be good for them, and fighting against every bite. However, math is a part of everyday life- shopping, bills, bank statements, budgets, time- and it is necessary to understand later subjects, especially the sciences. Learning these two subjects well makes living easier and more enjoyable.

If I can help them learn and truly understand one thing, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because a proper understanding of His person and work is foundational for everything they need for "life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). Sure, I would like for them to have "success" in life- to be well adjusted, confident, making good grades that lead to good degrees, but this success only lasts for a short time, and ultimately not profiting their souls. Godliness, according to Paul (1 Timothy 4:8), has value in this life, but also for the life to come.

 If I can push this a little further, hoping they can grasp something intrinsic to the Gospel-essential for understanding how it applies to them, and thus transforms them into Christ-likeness, I would have them know GRACE. This can't be a fuzzy concept, because it is so important. They have to realize that they do not deserve God's acceptance, His love, His mercy, or His peace, but because of the obedience and humility of Christ, they can have all these and more in Him (most importantly having Him!). Knowing this grace takes our eyes off of ourselves and how well we do, and makes us see the excellence of Jesus Christ and what he has done. Knowing this grace takes our eyes off of everyone else, never using them as a measuring stick for our success, but pointing us to Jesus who alone makes us a success before God. Self-righteousness vanishes because we have none. Guilt fades because we know righteousness comes from outside of ourselves. I'm prone to drift into a performance-based relationship with God, but He calls me to see and trust in His glorious Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me, so that I might joyfully say, "God be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13), and receive grace upon grace.

A few years ago, I read a book by Jerry Bridges (The Discipline of Grace), and the opening three chapters hit me like a thunderbolt, and nothing else I've read on the subject has helped shape my understanding like those pages did. I'll continue to review them, I'm sure, for the rest of my life. I need to know grace, not just how I can explain it, but experientially, that it would transform me. It's foundational for my growth and for my children's. I'll close with a few quotes from Bridges that he makes in the opening pages, and have attached a .pdf version of this first chapter below.

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace" (19).

"It is only the joy of hearing the gospel and being reminded that our sins are forgiven in Christ that will keep the demands of discipleship from becoming drudgery. It is only gratitude and love to God that comes from knowing that He no longer counts our sins against us (Romans 4:8) that provides the proper motive for responding to the claims of discipleship" (21).

"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don’t have to play defensive games anymore. We don’t have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore" (23).

https://www.wtsbooks.com/common/pdf_links/9781576839898.pdf

Grace be with you,
Lonnie Atwood