Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
From Sunshine Valley to Egypt Lake and Back
by Theodore Turner
The pack, all thirty-five pounds of it, weighed heavily upon me. With my legs almost yielding under the weight, and aching and weakness almost driving me to despair, I looked up. Ahead lay the trail and the others. We had just left our vehicles and were beginning a three day hike from the Sunshine Parking lot in Banff to Egypt Lake and back. My feet left the parking lot and mechanically set out on the trail which began its steady ascent from civilisation to that other world. A world with which I was unfamiliar.
I was a product of the late twentieth century. I had lived a life of relative ease. Sure, I had played lots of sports and had jobs that demanded physical labour but there was always a reprieve. I thought I knew what it was to push myself to the limits. I had done long distance running as a teenager but it did not compare to what lay ahead.
I looked again at the others. Should I tell them I was sick and needed to go back? Was I sick? Or was I that out of shape? My body begged me to stop but I did not listen to its common sense pleadings. I focused upon the task. Each step was a singular effort, willed in ignorance. If I had known what lay ahead, I would have turned back.
We made our first stop. It had leveled out somewhat and we found a place where we could sit to have our lunch. I began to notice my surroundings. I was familiar with the outdoors. Indeed, I had lived in the country for most of my life. I had gone on many walks in the woods. I had slept under the stars, letting the heavens speak to me their words of hope and assurance, but now as I looked upon the scene, there was a difference. Nothing seemed real. Who were these strangers I was with? They seemed happy, at ease, unaware as they ate their meal amidst the chatter that fell naturally from their lips. I ate in relative silence.
We set out again, this time on a steeper ascent. The path wound up and away from the creek we had been following. ‘Up,' a word implying progress; ‘away,' indicating that we were leaving someplace behind. I didn’t want to leave the creek behind nor did I feel any progress.
I noticed the weather begin to change. It had been cloudy when we had set out but the sun had greeted us and warmed us through midday. Now the wind began to chill. Some rain fell and then turned to snow as we climbed higher.
The trees began to thin. I picked my way through the rocks and water at my feet. The path was now a single groove that cut a mocking line up through the pass. It was a path fit only for goats but it had been adorned by signs and markers as if it were fit for man. I now felt only pain and weakness. I was sweating. I was freezing. Voices urged me on. They assured me that we were almost to the top.
One of the voices came from a man who was carrying the pack of some poor soul who had ventured on this trail in seeimg ignorance. His double burden seemed nothing to him. Was he human, a vision or was this some evil dream? The physical sensations told me all was real, too real - a dream I could wake from.
The path disappeared and gave way to knee deep snow which sometimes held my weight and at times gave way filling my boots with snow. I tried to follow in the steps of the others whose faint trail revealed that they were far ahead. I pressed on. It had been a long time since the prospect of returning to the cars, and home, had presented itself to me. I had left that thought quite early on but now I sought only a grave. Where on this mountain could they bury my body? Maybe they could leave it for the wild beasts.
The top was now in view. Words of encouragement urged me on. I cannot describe what ecstasy consumed me as I looked down the other side. The pain almost seemed to disappear. I had made it. I screamed shouts of delight and victory.
The victory was short lived, however. Now began the descent. Up, hard; down, easy; or so proverbial wisdom would suggest. The pain, the weakness, the effort; all were greater as I stepped down from my triumph. How much farther?
Somehow I reached the campsite. With one last effort I sat down. It took some time to gather enough strength to remove my pack. I sat on a log. I took my pillow from the top of my pack and hugged my familiar friend. The others busily set up camp. Some had been here for a while and described with what ease they had arrived. Those that noticed me took humour in my pillow. I took comfort knowing my pillow and I would soon be fast asleep. My son Micah, God bless him, after much whining on both our parts, set up my tent. I crawled in.
Sleep did not come. At least not sleep as I had known it. Fragmented and illusionary images passed before my mind’s eye. I saw rocks and water and grass. I marched. I awoke. I ached. I was cold and sweating. I was feverish. I lay there for a long time before I finally slept.
When I woke in the morning it was early. I cooked some porridge and sat there. I could do nothing else. I couldn’t walk as such. Each muscle had decided enough was enough and all had left for vacation at once. I was left alone with my thoughts, that is, no thoughts. As the morning wore on, I sat by the fire. The others had left me as they went traipsing about on their day hikes. I tried to read my Bible but was unable to make sense of a single word. A forest ranger came by and had me put out the fire. I must have been a sorry sight as his anger turned to obvious pity. He gave me some scolding about bears, food, fires and such and then left. I sat there.
After noon I was finally able to stand and cleaned up the site a bit. The others came back. I told them of the adventure with the ranger. I had some lunch and slept awhile. I awoke with a clearer mind.
I walked down to the creek, a distance of about thirty yards. It was cloudy and a light mist fell. I entered another world, a real world, a vivid world. The sound of the water dancing on the rocks, the colours, the trees and plants that surrounded me, that enveloped me, that held me, are hard to describe. The air, I breathed it. It filled me. I breathed again, this time deeper. Life, real life filled me or at least a promise of life. I beheld the living colours that were all around me; rich greens that were not green, or more than green, as if a thousand hues had been added to green. Red, blue, orange, yellow, purple and a thousand other colours, each alive and multicolored greeted my senses. I took it in. The water, the rocks, the moss, the trees, all were alive. The sound that spoke to me came from all around. It was the stream speaking, not with a single voice but with a thousand voices that spoke as one voice.
So much of my life, my life before now, had seemed without purpose. I was a failure. Work, family, church and even my dreams and ambitions were nothing but failure. I had been hanging on, hoping that something would happen to turn the tide. I had always been stubborn in my optimism, proud of the fact that little could discourage me. Now I saw it for what it was. I saw the truth though I did not yet yield to it. I was insignificant. Not that I didn’t matter, just that I could do nothing, understand nothing, know nothing that could be significant. I couldn’t undo what God was doing. God was doing something with my life in spite of my best efforts to ruin it. A different kind of optimism urged itself upon me, a hope that would not let me go.
I went back to the camp. Some of the stiffness had left me and strength returned. I wish I could say that since my moment by the stream I had been forever changed. It had a profound effect upon me but it did not change me, at least not all at once.
The next day we returned to our vehicles. The journey back was easier. I took my time on the ascent back up the pass, worried that the weakness might return. My fears were unfounded. Besides a lot of stiffness, an appropriate tiredness and a few blisters, I was fine. Also, my desire to go back burned within me. What was it I encountered by the river?
Since that trip last summer, the external problems in my life only grew worse. Conflicts and stresses have abounded. Strangely, I am at peace. I did two more trips last summer and one already this year. I have not had any further experiences. I am planning a two week trip at the end of July. I want to have the time alone, to write, to think and to pray. I may have something to write about when I get back or I may not. That is the thing about life; it’s unpredictable. Yet, God has His plan and I want to fit into it. He made it to fit.
Memories of my first backpacking trip in June '03
by Theodore Turner
The pack, all thirty-five pounds of it, weighed heavily upon me. With my legs almost yielding under the weight, and aching and weakness almost driving me to despair, I looked up. Ahead lay the trail and the others. We had just left our vehicles and were beginning a three day hike from the Sunshine Parking lot in Banff to Egypt Lake and back. My feet left the parking lot and mechanically set out on the trail which began its steady ascent from civilisation to that other world. A world with which I was unfamiliar.
I was a product of the late twentieth century. I had lived a life of relative ease. Sure, I had played lots of sports and had jobs that demanded physical labour but there was always a reprieve. I thought I knew what it was to push myself to the limits. I had done long distance running as a teenager but it did not compare to what lay ahead.
I looked again at the others. Should I tell them I was sick and needed to go back? Was I sick? Or was I that out of shape? My body begged me to stop but I did not listen to its common sense pleadings. I focused upon the task. Each step was a singular effort, willed in ignorance. If I had known what lay ahead, I would have turned back.
We made our first stop. It had leveled out somewhat and we found a place where we could sit to have our lunch. I began to notice my surroundings. I was familiar with the outdoors. Indeed, I had lived in the country for most of my life. I had gone on many walks in the woods. I had slept under the stars, letting the heavens speak to me their words of hope and assurance, but now as I looked upon the scene, there was a difference. Nothing seemed real. Who were these strangers I was with? They seemed happy, at ease, unaware as they ate their meal amidst the chatter that fell naturally from their lips. I ate in relative silence.
We set out again, this time on a steeper ascent. The path wound up and away from the creek we had been following. ‘Up,' a word implying progress; ‘away,' indicating that we were leaving someplace behind. I didn’t want to leave the creek behind nor did I feel any progress.
I noticed the weather begin to change. It had been cloudy when we had set out but the sun had greeted us and warmed us through midday. Now the wind began to chill. Some rain fell and then turned to snow as we climbed higher.
The trees began to thin. I picked my way through the rocks and water at my feet. The path was now a single groove that cut a mocking line up through the pass. It was a path fit only for goats but it had been adorned by signs and markers as if it were fit for man. I now felt only pain and weakness. I was sweating. I was freezing. Voices urged me on. They assured me that we were almost to the top.
One of the voices came from a man who was carrying the pack of some poor soul who had ventured on this trail in seeimg ignorance. His double burden seemed nothing to him. Was he human, a vision or was this some evil dream? The physical sensations told me all was real, too real - a dream I could wake from.
The path disappeared and gave way to knee deep snow which sometimes held my weight and at times gave way filling my boots with snow. I tried to follow in the steps of the others whose faint trail revealed that they were far ahead. I pressed on. It had been a long time since the prospect of returning to the cars, and home, had presented itself to me. I had left that thought quite early on but now I sought only a grave. Where on this mountain could they bury my body? Maybe they could leave it for the wild beasts.
The top was now in view. Words of encouragement urged me on. I cannot describe what ecstasy consumed me as I looked down the other side. The pain almost seemed to disappear. I had made it. I screamed shouts of delight and victory.
The victory was short lived, however. Now began the descent. Up, hard; down, easy; or so proverbial wisdom would suggest. The pain, the weakness, the effort; all were greater as I stepped down from my triumph. How much farther?
Somehow I reached the campsite. With one last effort I sat down. It took some time to gather enough strength to remove my pack. I sat on a log. I took my pillow from the top of my pack and hugged my familiar friend. The others busily set up camp. Some had been here for a while and described with what ease they had arrived. Those that noticed me took humour in my pillow. I took comfort knowing my pillow and I would soon be fast asleep. My son Micah, God bless him, after much whining on both our parts, set up my tent. I crawled in.
Sleep did not come. At least not sleep as I had known it. Fragmented and illusionary images passed before my mind’s eye. I saw rocks and water and grass. I marched. I awoke. I ached. I was cold and sweating. I was feverish. I lay there for a long time before I finally slept.
When I woke in the morning it was early. I cooked some porridge and sat there. I could do nothing else. I couldn’t walk as such. Each muscle had decided enough was enough and all had left for vacation at once. I was left alone with my thoughts, that is, no thoughts. As the morning wore on, I sat by the fire. The others had left me as they went traipsing about on their day hikes. I tried to read my Bible but was unable to make sense of a single word. A forest ranger came by and had me put out the fire. I must have been a sorry sight as his anger turned to obvious pity. He gave me some scolding about bears, food, fires and such and then left. I sat there.
After noon I was finally able to stand and cleaned up the site a bit. The others came back. I told them of the adventure with the ranger. I had some lunch and slept awhile. I awoke with a clearer mind.
I walked down to the creek, a distance of about thirty yards. It was cloudy and a light mist fell. I entered another world, a real world, a vivid world. The sound of the water dancing on the rocks, the colours, the trees and plants that surrounded me, that enveloped me, that held me, are hard to describe. The air, I breathed it. It filled me. I breathed again, this time deeper. Life, real life filled me or at least a promise of life. I beheld the living colours that were all around me; rich greens that were not green, or more than green, as if a thousand hues had been added to green. Red, blue, orange, yellow, purple and a thousand other colours, each alive and multicolored greeted my senses. I took it in. The water, the rocks, the moss, the trees, all were alive. The sound that spoke to me came from all around. It was the stream speaking, not with a single voice but with a thousand voices that spoke as one voice.
So much of my life, my life before now, had seemed without purpose. I was a failure. Work, family, church and even my dreams and ambitions were nothing but failure. I had been hanging on, hoping that something would happen to turn the tide. I had always been stubborn in my optimism, proud of the fact that little could discourage me. Now I saw it for what it was. I saw the truth though I did not yet yield to it. I was insignificant. Not that I didn’t matter, just that I could do nothing, understand nothing, know nothing that could be significant. I couldn’t undo what God was doing. God was doing something with my life in spite of my best efforts to ruin it. A different kind of optimism urged itself upon me, a hope that would not let me go.
I went back to the camp. Some of the stiffness had left me and strength returned. I wish I could say that since my moment by the stream I had been forever changed. It had a profound effect upon me but it did not change me, at least not all at once.
The next day we returned to our vehicles. The journey back was easier. I took my time on the ascent back up the pass, worried that the weakness might return. My fears were unfounded. Besides a lot of stiffness, an appropriate tiredness and a few blisters, I was fine. Also, my desire to go back burned within me. What was it I encountered by the river?
Since that trip last summer, the external problems in my life only grew worse. Conflicts and stresses have abounded. Strangely, I am at peace. I did two more trips last summer and one already this year. I have not had any further experiences. I am planning a two week trip at the end of July. I want to have the time alone, to write, to think and to pray. I may have something to write about when I get back or I may not. That is the thing about life; it’s unpredictable. Yet, God has His plan and I want to fit into it. He made it to fit.
Memories of my first backpacking trip in June '03
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The End
And time, time was my best friend
but now I see the end.
And hope, hope would drive me on
but through my tears it seems all hope is gone.
And laughter and tears are both the same
They lift you up and cast you down but you still remain.
I look across the frozen field
but what will all my labour yield?
And you, memory’s distant touch,
I felt and knew too much.
And while the days still linger on
can you linger still? Can you linger long?
And these, these my final words
a leave as seed for birds.
And on silver wings they will rise into the sky
as I lay down, breathe my last, and die.
Let everyone remember and then forget
bury their last and vain regret.
But laughter and tears are both the same
They lift you up and cast you down but you still remain.
but now I see the end.
And hope, hope would drive me on
but through my tears it seems all hope is gone.
And laughter and tears are both the same
They lift you up and cast you down but you still remain.
I look across the frozen field
but what will all my labour yield?
And you, memory’s distant touch,
I felt and knew too much.
And while the days still linger on
can you linger still? Can you linger long?
And these, these my final words
a leave as seed for birds.
And on silver wings they will rise into the sky
as I lay down, breathe my last, and die.
Let everyone remember and then forget
bury their last and vain regret.
But laughter and tears are both the same
They lift you up and cast you down but you still remain.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Apple Philosophy
A is for Apple
Somebody threw me an apple
with a worm in it.
I bit out the worm
and threw the apple back.
I was the only one who knew the worm
had the most nutrition.
This poem, which I wrote as an English assignment in the last month of grade ten, epitomises my state of mind at the time. That state had been brought about by the educational system that had me produce this poem in the first place. Let me explain.
My grade ten English teacher, Mr. Mackenzie, the head of the English Department and notorious for pulling student’s grades out of hats, repeatedly going into rehab and other less noble things, who had given us some rather difficult and long assignment which I remember nothing of having probably not done it, asked us to take our frustration out on him by writing a poem. A is for Apple was the result.
The poem’s title suggests one of the first things we learn in school, the alphabet. The apple itself is a symbol of education. Its bright red shine speaking of the promise of all that is good and noble. Educational Institutions, of the past at least, have promised that our schools will prepare our children for the responsibilities of life. My depiction of the casual and careless manner in which this promise was passed to me was intentional. At sixteen years of age I could see that the promises were hollow, or at least infested.
The worm is a curious creature. It does not attack the apple from the outside but it's egg was put there by its parent while the apple tree was in bloom. It grew only after the apple formed, eating at it from the inside, coming out just when the apple is ready to eat. The educational system’s promises were being challenged within by another insidious promise. I remember the teachers reciting it to my parents all the time, "Teddy can become whatever he wants." I thought I was special. This promise was a lie. My parents bought into it. I bought into it. Who wouldn’t want to believe their son had great potential? But how was it to be developed?
What my parents and I had failed to realise is that the educational system wasn’t really concerned with my learning, as such, but were really practising a philosophy of noninterference. If they left me alone I would become what I wanted. Not all within the school system bought into this philosophy, but enough did to make it difficult for those teachers who saw a correlation between input and output.
I had entered my first year of school ready to learn. School and I were not a fit, however, and I would not be bent to fit. So, school had to bend instead. In some ways it made sense but the world was not like that. I was rarely challenged and little was demanded of me. In Junior High, classroom marks did not matter. Our final marks were based on four quarterly exams on which I always did very well. Well enough to put me in the top ten percentile. I was in the elite without any effort. I was special.
At sixteen, I realised that I did not need to finish school. At the end of grade ten, I promptly dropped out. I perceived the worm as of greater value than the apple. After all, I could be what ever I wanted. I set my sights high. When I grew up I was going to be a fire truck or something just as impossible, like a rock star. I threw the apple right back in their faces. I knew better than they. In reality I had been a good student. I had taken their liberal social philosophy, hook, line, sinker and, of course, worm.
My flirtation with grade eleven and twelve (after four months of doing a job I hated which my parents made me take, since I wasn’t going to continue my schooling) ended after my flirtation with a certain brunette that placed me into the real world unprepared. A wife and child at eighteen, though it gives you a sense of responsibility, does not prepare you for responsibility.
Entering adulthood and family life unprepared is a scary thing. Nothing in the school system had equipped me to take on the responsibilities of a husband and father. From the start I found out that I could get by with little effort. The teachers did not interfere with my inactivity. I met their standards of progress and then some. Aside from the fact I never did my assignments, I was a model student; quiet, happy and my high marks on exams made the teachers feel like they were successful. Real life was not like that, however. When people, governmental institutions or circumstances demanded more of me, I thought it was unfair. When I heaped responsibilities upon the shoulders of that certain brunette (seven children and a useless husband), I didn’t see how unfair I was being to her.
Somehow, I managed to see that God demanded more of me. I didn’t join any of the modern churches that have been infested with the same liberal philosophy. I’m forty-one [written in 2004] and counting and counting on my newly acquired insight to be the start of real change. Consequences have forced me to see my error but the damage that has been done may not be easy or even possible to repair.
This is a warning to all. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Make your own. I’m probably I little näive to think my warning will be heeded. After all, there were many voices out there that I did not heed. Yet, if it helps someone to realise a little sooner, that there is a real world which takes real effort and real choices to succeed in, it was worth the hour it took me to write this.
I want to be clear. It wasn’t that finishing school would have made much difference. If I still had the same attitude, my life would have been the same but different. Maybe I would have grown up to be a useless bureaucrat, a correspondent for the CBC or even a teacher infesting the minds of students with the same apple philosophy. A is for apple. Just watch out for the worms.
The Word of God
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Let us look at this familiar text to see what we can find. What is the Apostle Paul saying about the Word of God? What is it he wants us to understand?
First, God’s Word is living. What is it that makes God’s Word living? What defines something as animate as opposed to inanimate? One thing that comes to mind is the ability to reproduce, or to give life. God’s Word is not only living but is life giving.
That leads to the second point, God’s word is not only living, it is powerful. It has the power to give life. We can reproduce, but the power to reproduce comes from God. We can plant a seed and watch it grow. but we cannot make it grow. We do not give life to the seed. Nor did the seed create itself. It needs outside influences to grow -- sunshine, moisture, nutrients -- and these cannot be provided by the seed itself. These were created and provided by God.
Now this life-giving Word also has another quality -- it can cut. This appears on the surface to be a destructive feature and, indeed, it is. God’s Word is living, powerful and it is destructive to sin. The destructive quality in God’s Word is the natural result of it’s life-giving and powerful qualities. A seed again serves as a good illustration of this fact.
In order for life to come from the seed, the seed must be destroyed. It’s destruction results in an abundance of fruit.
John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
God’s Word is quick, powerful and sharp. This sharpness, this destructive quality that is inherit in God’s Word, works upon the spirit (soul and spirit), body (joints and marrow) and mind of man (thoughts and intents of the heart).
God’s Word divides asunder soul and spirit. I have heard many fanciful interpretations of this text based upon our fanciful interpretations that we attach to the meanings of the words soul and spirit. There are two verses that we can look at the may help shed light upon our understanding of this passage.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
God created man from the dust of the ground. He was not living until God breathed the spirit of life into man. At that point man became a living soul. The difference between the spirit of life, the breath of life, and the life that results from it is hard to discern. So much so, that there are many who see the words soul and spirit as interchangeable. God’s Word distinguishes the difference. It can discern spiritual truths that are beyond our ability. God’s Word alone gives us clear insight into the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
God’s Word sheds light not just upon the spiritual world but upon the physical world as well. It can divide the joints and marrow of the body. All that is seen in the physical world can be better understood when viewed through the truths of the Bible.
Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Many more texts could be quoted. It is clear that the study of God’s Word helps us to think about and see our world more clearly.
More than this, however, God’s Word looks into the human heart and reveals those things that are hidden even to ourselves.
Psalms 139:23 , 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah 17:9, 10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
God’s Word cannot do its work upon our heart unless we read it.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God’s word is living, life-giving, and contains the creative power of God. His word is destructive to sin and transforms the selfish human heart by recreating it into the image of Jesus. God’s Word gives us insight into things that are beyond human comprehension. It sheds light upon this world and imparts practical knowledge. God’s Word discerns the things hidden in our heart. This is true insight. This work needs to be performed before we can enter into God’s kingdom.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
May God’s Word give spiritual insight, knowledge and reveal to you the hidden things of the heart. Amen
Let us look at this familiar text to see what we can find. What is the Apostle Paul saying about the Word of God? What is it he wants us to understand?
First, God’s Word is living. What is it that makes God’s Word living? What defines something as animate as opposed to inanimate? One thing that comes to mind is the ability to reproduce, or to give life. God’s Word is not only living but is life giving.
That leads to the second point, God’s word is not only living, it is powerful. It has the power to give life. We can reproduce, but the power to reproduce comes from God. We can plant a seed and watch it grow. but we cannot make it grow. We do not give life to the seed. Nor did the seed create itself. It needs outside influences to grow -- sunshine, moisture, nutrients -- and these cannot be provided by the seed itself. These were created and provided by God.
Now this life-giving Word also has another quality -- it can cut. This appears on the surface to be a destructive feature and, indeed, it is. God’s Word is living, powerful and it is destructive to sin. The destructive quality in God’s Word is the natural result of it’s life-giving and powerful qualities. A seed again serves as a good illustration of this fact.
In order for life to come from the seed, the seed must be destroyed. It’s destruction results in an abundance of fruit.
John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
God’s Word is quick, powerful and sharp. This sharpness, this destructive quality that is inherit in God’s Word, works upon the spirit (soul and spirit), body (joints and marrow) and mind of man (thoughts and intents of the heart).
God’s Word divides asunder soul and spirit. I have heard many fanciful interpretations of this text based upon our fanciful interpretations that we attach to the meanings of the words soul and spirit. There are two verses that we can look at the may help shed light upon our understanding of this passage.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
God created man from the dust of the ground. He was not living until God breathed the spirit of life into man. At that point man became a living soul. The difference between the spirit of life, the breath of life, and the life that results from it is hard to discern. So much so, that there are many who see the words soul and spirit as interchangeable. God’s Word distinguishes the difference. It can discern spiritual truths that are beyond our ability. God’s Word alone gives us clear insight into the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
God’s Word sheds light not just upon the spiritual world but upon the physical world as well. It can divide the joints and marrow of the body. All that is seen in the physical world can be better understood when viewed through the truths of the Bible.
Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Many more texts could be quoted. It is clear that the study of God’s Word helps us to think about and see our world more clearly.
More than this, however, God’s Word looks into the human heart and reveals those things that are hidden even to ourselves.
Psalms 139:23 , 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah 17:9, 10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
God’s Word cannot do its work upon our heart unless we read it.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God’s word is living, life-giving, and contains the creative power of God. His word is destructive to sin and transforms the selfish human heart by recreating it into the image of Jesus. God’s Word gives us insight into things that are beyond human comprehension. It sheds light upon this world and imparts practical knowledge. God’s Word discerns the things hidden in our heart. This is true insight. This work needs to be performed before we can enter into God’s kingdom.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
May God’s Word give spiritual insight, knowledge and reveal to you the hidden things of the heart. Amen
This Mortal Journey
This Journey Begins
I
This journey that I’m on,
this flight from fancy,
A cold unforgiving dream.
I hurry, quickly scurry,
with haste and fury, scream.
Driven, unforgiven,
mad with fear and hate.
loathing self ‘til self forgets
what reason metes with fate.
Fate’s fleeting glimpse
of futures unseen hand
turning twisting ever learning
all that is unplanned.
All that can’t be seen
cannot be felt
by mind half blind
with terror smelt.
What terror, what dread,
pale face traced with naught
a face from which all colour’s bled,
a leaden face, unknowing thought.
Unknowing, what could be discerned
if knowing meant every thought
quickly, sickly, thickly learned
had I to my conscience brought.
Had I a conscience still,
a presence of mind
a free and reasoning will.
If I had that and only that to find
II
II
This journey would be ended,
this battle for the mind.
A house left untended
a dilapidated mine.
A treasure trove or barren heart
hidden from human sight,
a selfless love or frightful dart,
who will win the fight?
Who will win indeed?
The answer is unclear;
a mirky smoke filled glass
a blurry stained mirror.
Eyes do search, cold eyes,
hardened, piercing gaze.
Impossible to discern
the twisting serpent’s maze.
Again the fear rises up
into the throat and chokes
as last dregs from that bitter cup,
one more breath to coax.
A mind played trick, almost sick,
walks in air of younger days
when freely light burdens bare
and care was the voice of praise.
But now forsaken, shaken,
the path once wide and easy,
If the other had been taken?
I asked which would please me.
I asked of someone unknown,
now knowing what I rather not
that life begun in hope and joy
ends in a stinking rot.
A rottenness that starts within
each choice hidden deep,
that seems but an innocent whim
that on your conscience creep.
A compromise that steals
the promise from His lips
and climbing up the proverbial path
as he downward slips.
III
And I am there
where light cannot be seen.
But the darkness has a glare
to show me where I’ve been.
And that is not a place
where I would want to go
but now in heaven’s disgrace
my choice I do know.
And choice it has been
could my tongue somehow confess,
if confession could cleanse the heart
and make my guilt be less.
But even then to my knees
I’m driven at the thought
As light breaks forth from heaven’s doors
and all His wonder’s wrought.
Wrought of love, I see it now,
if seeing it can be called,
when blinded by the noon day sun
when from dark dungeon hauled.
All around I feel them now
the massive horde of strangers.
Stranger still, that until now
I never saw the dangers.
And He is right not by might
but by a love beyond mortal ken.
Knees bow and tongues confess
at Jesus’ name spoken then.
Our guilt is seen collectively;
individually we see our loss.
I and we crucified our Lord
We nailed Him to His cross.
‘How?’ I ask, ‘Could it be
when I was never there?’
Yet, day by day I nailed Him
though I hardly was aware,
but now I see in totality
though it be too late.
Now is salvation’s day.
Make it choice not fate.
This Journey Continues
I
A light, brighter still
kisses then my brow,
rouses and stirs my will
and awakes me now
to see the dream has ended.
If a dream it can be called,
when like a fortress tended
or a city walled,
it’s truth can be defended
and every word recalled.
Every vision I had seen
was burned into my brain
as though I had really been
and I there remain.
I rise and blurry eyed
face another day
unlike any other seen
and try to find my way.
Picking past each moment ticking
on that eternal clock
that metes each moment’s meaning;
a prisoner in the dock.
Each choice now seemed so real
with eternity in its scope.
I try to think and feel,
to keep my mind on hope
but each step it seems
takes me farther from my goal.
All my human schemes
dye redder still the wool.
If I say I have no sin
my sin remains.
The deeper I look within
the deeper are the stains.
II
Retiring to a place of prayer
I pour out my need.
It’s not from guilt and shame
that on my knees I plead,
but deliverance from the very act.
Remove the selfish deed.
Transform this mind
formed first from dust.
This steeled will
consume with rust.
Remove each thread
of human trust.
As if thrust through with sword
are pangs that pierce the heart,
that shatter every cord
that tears this frame apart.
Destroy it board by board
and that is just the start.
At my weakest point,
gathered about with gloom
while pain racks every joint
he steals into the room
at the time appoint
while my sins before me loom.
This is the moment when
all will be confirmed
or all will be denied
or the truth at least be learned.
His arms are about my chest
before I’ve even turned.
I struggle now not just with mind
but with unyielding foe.
With each effort I find
he matches blow to blow.
His tricks I can’t unwind.
My weakness he does know.
III
III
He knows my every weakness;
he knows my every thought.
Who is this foe I’ve found?
What secret has he brought?
Then with every fiber strained
I tied him in a knot.
Then I asked him why
he came at this time appoint?
Then he placed his hand into my thigh
till it was out of joint
and then with one desperate cry
I asked Him to anoint.
For now I saw my foe
as dawn revealed His face.
I felt hope inside me grow
now enveloped by His grace;
that I would not let Him go
was not to His disgrace.
Then He spoke that name,
I wonder to recall,
to revoke that shame
stored in memory’s hall
and to remove that blame
placed by Adam’s fall
and mine.
For I still fallen am.
Journey’s hill will not decline.
I am but a man,
I am not divine.
Yet, divine is the road
upon which my feet are set.
Unbearable the load
and the trials that are met.
The way He has showed.
He has traveled it.
This Journey’s End
This Journey’s End
I
This journey that I’m on,
the end cannot be seen
with mortal eye.
The living only dream,
behold the sky
and all creation’s wonders
dimly through a glass,
and all heaven’s thunders
in a moment pass.
Faith’s eye only beholds a view
where in earth’s decay
all things are made new,
never from truth to stray.
And truth is the guide
that keeps us on the path.
The road, easy and wide,
though traveled many hath,
does not lead to heaven’s door
or that eternal rest,
but only to Satan’s moor
held at his behest.
And we must choose
lest fate snatch away our choice
and we lose
God’s guiding voice.
Each step is heavy with the weight
of glory in its scope,
burdened by our mortal freight
driven on by hope.
Hate no longer binds us,
free to choose the way,
fear no longer blinds us
or causes us to stray.
Love is all around us
and Jesus leads the way.
II
II
And I follow taking up my cross.
I have forsaken all
counting gain but loss
and all the riches of the world
are to me as dross.
But my steps are not as sure as my intent,
my thoughts are not so pure
or always heaven sent,
and each trial I endure
my strength is almost spent.
But strength enough
is given for each day,
though Satan tries to play his bluff
to steal my peace away
while stumbling at the stuff
he places in my way.
And so the road goes on,
and once again I find
the darkness crowding in
thickly to my mind,
and blind once again
as in the dream before.
Fearing for the end,
searching for the door,
but faith bids me on
and not like fear before.
And though uncertain of myself,
I’m certain of the Voice,
that guides me through the gloom,
guides my every choice.
For choice it is
though it cannot be seen;
not chance or fate.
For only faith has been
my guide through this mirk,
where gins and snares are set
and unseen dangers lurk,
and it’s not over yet.
III
A red leer, a ray not light
parts the gloom and of the gloom apart.
A day more like night
fills the room, deadens the heart.
A vision not like sight
points the way with deceptive art.
With all senses now in disarray
I trust not man, not self, not thought.
With no sense to guide the way
I only know what I ought -
that true to Him I will stay
who with His blood my ransom bought.
He purchased me.
I am His,
and by His hand
I’ll die or live.
You cannot steal what I will give.
And then at last
that piercing horn
awakes the dead
no more to mourn.
And I, at last, see the end
but cannot describe by mortal pen
nor song declare the brightness then.
The light so bright
immortal sight alone can see;
a joy so full, yet room for more,
though no more could be.
More and all and eternity
rolling, moving, growing, filling
all the earth and all creation be light,
and I awake
the morning sun in my eyes.
I saw of what the Prophets spake,
I heard their warning cries,
“Beware which path you take
for in your choice your fate lies.”
Friday, April 17, 2009
In A Moment
In a moment all my stars fall to the ground.
A thought, a dream, a whisper,
and all the hope I found, gone.
Gone are the days when I saw the light,
filtered through the azure blue.
Gone are the times when smiles found the faces of those around me so easily.
Every last word has been forgotten.
Every song that has been sung has faded.
Memory itself has failed me.
I look upon the stone-cold that greets me,
the ground from which I came.
The trees sigh instead of singing with the breath of God in their branches,
My breath has left me,
the Spirit of God that was in my nostrils.
I feel the darkness penetrating deep.
The fingers of death have laid hold upon me.
The Adversary’s sibilance of hate presses upon my ear.
There is nothing left but to rest,
to sleep and perhaps waking brings a brighter day.
A thought, a dream, a whisper,
and all the hope I found, gone.
Gone are the days when I saw the light,
filtered through the azure blue.
Gone are the times when smiles found the faces of those around me so easily.
Every last word has been forgotten.
Every song that has been sung has faded.
Memory itself has failed me.
I look upon the stone-cold that greets me,
the ground from which I came.
The trees sigh instead of singing with the breath of God in their branches,
My breath has left me,
the Spirit of God that was in my nostrils.
I feel the darkness penetrating deep.
The fingers of death have laid hold upon me.
The Adversary’s sibilance of hate presses upon my ear.
There is nothing left but to rest,
to sleep and perhaps waking brings a brighter day.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sit Not Upon the Ground and Weep
Sit not upon the ground and weep.
Weep not, for there’s a time to keep
all the feelings deep inside
to yourself and there to hide.
The secrets of your heart you found,
why do you pour them on the ground?
Throw not your pearls before swine
or even less lest they be twined
by hearts that are not circumspect
and all of their beauty wrecked.
For who indeed can comprehend
when even your nearest friend
beholds your pain with distant eyes
and tries their best to sympathise?
But can they see the depths within
and, like Christ, see past the sin.
Though we may never claim,
we are so quick to see blame,
forgetting what we should see
but for God’s grace, there go we.
And still upon the ground you sit
while you sob and while you spit.
Weep not, for there’s a time to keep
all the feelings deep inside
to yourself and there to hide.
The secrets of your heart you found,
why do you pour them on the ground?
Throw not your pearls before swine
or even less lest they be twined
by hearts that are not circumspect
and all of their beauty wrecked.
For who indeed can comprehend
when even your nearest friend
beholds your pain with distant eyes
and tries their best to sympathise?
But can they see the depths within
and, like Christ, see past the sin.
Though we may never claim,
we are so quick to see blame,
forgetting what we should see
but for God’s grace, there go we.
And still upon the ground you sit
while you sob and while you spit.
I'm an Artist
I need to create a thing for people to see
and I hope all the while that they see me
There’s nothing to lose but everything to gain
maybe I’ll lose the momentary pain
I’m an artist, does anybody care?
I’m an artist
This world needs to understand that everything it sees
Is all illusion draped in unrealities
But there’s something to choose that will remain
Maybe I’ll choose the moments refrain.
I’m a singer can anybody hear?
I’m a singer.
And these thoughts that come to me
are not like the thoughts that come to you.
I pick them from a tree
dripping with the morning dew.
I write down the words that enter my mind
Looking for the clues only I can find
there’s nothing to lose but everything to gain
Maybe I’ll lose the momentary pain
I’m a poet, Does anybody know?
I’m a poet.
And these thoughts that come to me
are not like the thoughts that come to you.
I pick them from a tree
dripping with the morning dew.
I need to create a thing for people to see
and I hope all the while they’re still seeing me
There’s something to lose and nothing to gain
maybe I’ll choose the momentary pain
I’m an artist, does anybody care?
I’m an artist.
(sometimes it feels that way) tjt
and I hope all the while that they see me
There’s nothing to lose but everything to gain
maybe I’ll lose the momentary pain
I’m an artist, does anybody care?
I’m an artist
This world needs to understand that everything it sees
Is all illusion draped in unrealities
But there’s something to choose that will remain
Maybe I’ll choose the moments refrain.
I’m a singer can anybody hear?
I’m a singer.
And these thoughts that come to me
are not like the thoughts that come to you.
I pick them from a tree
dripping with the morning dew.
I write down the words that enter my mind
Looking for the clues only I can find
there’s nothing to lose but everything to gain
Maybe I’ll lose the momentary pain
I’m a poet, Does anybody know?
I’m a poet.
And these thoughts that come to me
are not like the thoughts that come to you.
I pick them from a tree
dripping with the morning dew.
I need to create a thing for people to see
and I hope all the while they’re still seeing me
There’s something to lose and nothing to gain
maybe I’ll choose the momentary pain
I’m an artist, does anybody care?
I’m an artist.
(sometimes it feels that way) tjt
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Stars of Night
Simply take my hand and see
the stars of night with me.
For what? can one imagined thought
tell the tale the heart has wrought?
Or what, can eyes that have never met
remember what they can’t forget?
Shall I hide you in a bower
with falling stars ashower?
Yet downcast is your gaze
as we traverse so dark a maze.
For who am I to cast a gloom
upon your spare and hallowed tomb?
Lift up your eyes to the light and see
awake from your nocturnal reverie.
For every point and every prick
is light and love and quick.
the stars of night with me.
For what? can one imagined thought
tell the tale the heart has wrought?
Or what, can eyes that have never met
remember what they can’t forget?
Shall I hide you in a bower
with falling stars ashower?
Yet downcast is your gaze
as we traverse so dark a maze.
For who am I to cast a gloom
upon your spare and hallowed tomb?
Lift up your eyes to the light and see
awake from your nocturnal reverie.
For every point and every prick
is light and love and quick.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Try As You May
Try as you may,
try as you might,
you may never get it right,
or win the race,
or pass the test,
or ever know what is best,
or reach the moon,
or sail the seas,
or ever find someone to please,
or find the key,
or even the door,
or ever know what life is for,
or see the end
of the sky,
or ever know the answer to ,"Why?"
or find a home,
or place of rest,
and never cease to travel West.
You follow your dreams
to who knows where,
and will you know when you are there?
Try as you may,
try as you might,
you may never get it right.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Every Flower I have Seen
Every flower I have seen
stands among a bower green
and tips its head to the wind.
And every fabric ever spinned
by man’s design that I have seen
cannot compare to the flower mean.
What sights and sounds that all around
display the maker’s love is found
by hearts that see with a lover’s eye
what love only can love descry.
But hearts that by greed are bound
upon such beauty they have frowned.
For the two cannot be mixed
either love or self you must choose betwixt
For it is either black or white
there’s no maybe in wrong and right
though by the devil you are tricksed
upon truth shall thou be fixed.
For every flower I have known
by God’s love was surely sown.
Though planted there by His grace
thorns and briars steal their place.
Their seeds by the wind are blown
But still God knows His own.
Every flower I have seen
stands among a bower green
and tips its head to the wind.
And every fabric ever spinned
by man’s design that I have seen
cannot compare to the flower mean.
What sights and sounds that all around
display the maker’s love is found
by hearts that see with a lover’s eye
what love only can love descry.
But hearts that by greed are bound
upon such beauty they have frowned.
For the two cannot be mixed
either love or self you must choose betwixt
For it is either black or white
there’s no maybe in wrong and right
though by the devil you are tricksed
upon truth shall thou be fixed.
For every flower I have known
by God’s love was surely sown.
Though planted there by His grace
thorns and briars steal their place.
Their seeds by the wind are blown
But still God knows His own.
Monday, March 23, 2009
As a Child I Would Gaze
As a child I would gaze,
behold the heavens in a blaze
of light and truth
understood only by youth,
that God alone can guide the paths
of wandering stars. While a fool laughs,
imagining that this heavenly dance
came of itself and quite by chance.
When men of faith beheld the stars
Mercury, Venus and even Mars
they saw God’s hand unfold his plan
to guide the faltering steps of man.
For the stars guide not our course
or mark our fate by unseen force.
What gravity sets the worlds aspin
cannot touch the world within.
Look up now in the night
and behold with human sight
The divine tapestry
woven in heaven’s loom for thee.
Hear the music of the spheres
never heard by human ears.
Take it in with all thy being.
Become again a child, in seeing.
Sorry.
A sorrow for sin unknown.
Hardly discerned by man
Hardly learned.
But I still sorry am
for sorrow I have brought,
for pain I have wrought
upon the one I loved.
Sorrow cannot remove
what rash and unkind words have brought.
I question every action, motive and word.
I stand before that judgement seat of Christ
and still I wonder what you heard
while my intent you have sliced
and placed upon your scale
and weighed, finding want.
Yet, if you could see with heaven's eye,
discern with heaven’s mind,
what would you see?
The mote that’s in my eye
or does that log blind
from seeing into the heart,
looking into the mind?
Have you a sorrow that cannot be repented of,
a godly sorrow.
Have you ever truly seen what work
the devil has wrought upon your heart.
You seem so sure that I am the one to blame
but have you ever seen your part?
I have said many things that I regret.
I love you still in spite
of all my stupid thoughts
not knowing wrong from right.
Not knowing...
Ignorance is my defense.
That is all of which I’m sure.
Surely, I do not understand.
Sorry.
A sorrow I cannot explain.
It’s wracked my brain.
I can only hope that God can make it right,
That His work will remain,
That His eye can discern the cause and find the cure,
that His love will endure.
But I am still the same.
A frail man of dust
composed of mortal frame
consumed by human lust
wretched miserable poor and blind
but sorry just the same.
A sorrow for sin unknown.
Hardly discerned by man
Hardly learned.
But I still sorry am
for sorrow I have brought,
for pain I have wrought
upon the one I loved.
Sorrow cannot remove
what rash and unkind words have brought.
I question every action, motive and word.
I stand before that judgement seat of Christ
and still I wonder what you heard
while my intent you have sliced
and placed upon your scale
and weighed, finding want.
Yet, if you could see with heaven's eye,
discern with heaven’s mind,
what would you see?
The mote that’s in my eye
or does that log blind
from seeing into the heart,
looking into the mind?
Have you a sorrow that cannot be repented of,
a godly sorrow.
Have you ever truly seen what work
the devil has wrought upon your heart.
You seem so sure that I am the one to blame
but have you ever seen your part?
I have said many things that I regret.
I love you still in spite
of all my stupid thoughts
not knowing wrong from right.
Not knowing...
Ignorance is my defense.
That is all of which I’m sure.
Surely, I do not understand.
Sorry.
A sorrow I cannot explain.
It’s wracked my brain.
I can only hope that God can make it right,
That His work will remain,
That His eye can discern the cause and find the cure,
that His love will endure.
But I am still the same.
A frail man of dust
composed of mortal frame
consumed by human lust
wretched miserable poor and blind
but sorry just the same.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Salvation and the Vindication of God’s Character
by Theodore Turner
Scripture Reading:
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
A Seeming Contradiction
Have you ever felt stupid for not noticing something that was so obvious yet it puzzled you for years?
That happened to me last year during a sermon by Arthur Kiziak. He was talking about the apparent contradiction between Paul’s statements that we are ‘saved by grace’ and yet judged by works. He took the usual stance that we all do -- balance. As he was speaking it dawned on me that we had been missing something. As we so often do, he had started with an assumption that these two concepts were just different ways of expressing the same thing -- opposite sides of the coins of truth , as it were. Yet, what if these statements are talking about to two different things and not dealing with the same topic at all?
I spent some time studying, thinking and praying about the idea. I even mentioned it to a few people but they just nodded their head and gave me a blank stare as if they didn’t really know what I was talking about.
The following study takes a fresh look at the verses in question and is an attempt to generate some discussion on the issue.
Judged by Works
The most famous verse that relates mankind being judged by works is in the final chapters of the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 20:12, 13 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
It can easily been seen that in the final judgment of the wicked they are judged by their works. It has been assumed by some that, based upon this verse, only the wicked are judged by works -- the righteous are not judged by works but rather saved by God’s grace ( I even entertained this view for awhile). This conclusion is untenable when viewed under the light of all scripture.
Solomon has something to add to this debate. After displaying the futility of man trying to find truth and meaning by observation alone (‘under the sun’ -- humanistic science), he states one of the most simple and profound ‘observation’ in all of scripture.
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Solomon does not intimate that there is a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, but includes "every work... whether... good or evil" Unless Solomon is a Catholic, and thinks that we are saved if our good works ‘outweigh’ our evil works, the good works talked about could only be those of the righteous.
Jesus even states it more plainly
Matthew 12:34 - 37 "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
He plainly says that our words can otherwise justify or condemn us -- and this happens in the day of judgment. Both the righteous and the wicked will be judged by their works. Solomon says this earlier in Ecclesiastes 3:17, "I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."
Paul himself describes the judgment that will take place in the last days and includes both the righteous and the wicked, with their attendant works, in that judgment.
Romans 2:1-10 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [they shall receive] indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Saved by Grace
This statement of Paul’s occurs one chapter before this next statement:
Romans 3:19-26 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Does Paul not see the contradiction in his own words? Maybe that is why Peter states, "in all his [Paul’s] epistles... [are] some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16
Actually Paul is trying to make himself understood in the clearest terms. Notice in the first passage, Paul is talking about the judgment. It is a future event. It is "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." In Chapter three, he is talking about ‘redemption’ which happens ‘at this time’. The justification that Paul is talking about here refers to the persons present standing before God. All of us are sinners. All of us stand outside of salvation because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." In order for man to stand as righteous in the judgment, something must have to happen between now and then.
Saved by Grace and Judged by Works
John is very clear on this point. He describes, in beautiful metaphor, the condition of mankind apart from God and what happens to man once Jesus performs the work of salvation.
John 3:17-21 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Obviously then, The work of salvation is transforming in its power. He that rejects light -- a light that does not only reveal sin but also its remedy -- will remain in his sinful state and be unprepared for the judgment. [ note: He is already condemned because of his sin. The rejection of light does not make him condemned.] The one ‘that doeth truth’ accepts light. He has been transformed by it. This is revealed by his deeds that are ‘manifest, that they are wrought in God’. The righteous are righteous because they have allowed God to work righteousness upon them. Their righteousness is not inherent.
Conclusion
It should now be obvious that the work of salvation and the work of judgment are two different things. They happen at different times and have a different purpose. The purpose of salvation is to restore the individual in a right relationship with God and prepare the individual for the judgment. In this way there is a relationship between the two acts. In my next Sermon we shall examine more deeply the purpose of the judgment.
by Theodore Turner
Scripture Reading:
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
A Seeming Contradiction
Have you ever felt stupid for not noticing something that was so obvious yet it puzzled you for years?
That happened to me last year during a sermon by Arthur Kiziak. He was talking about the apparent contradiction between Paul’s statements that we are ‘saved by grace’ and yet judged by works. He took the usual stance that we all do -- balance. As he was speaking it dawned on me that we had been missing something. As we so often do, he had started with an assumption that these two concepts were just different ways of expressing the same thing -- opposite sides of the coins of truth , as it were. Yet, what if these statements are talking about to two different things and not dealing with the same topic at all?
I spent some time studying, thinking and praying about the idea. I even mentioned it to a few people but they just nodded their head and gave me a blank stare as if they didn’t really know what I was talking about.
The following study takes a fresh look at the verses in question and is an attempt to generate some discussion on the issue.
Judged by Works
The most famous verse that relates mankind being judged by works is in the final chapters of the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 20:12, 13 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
It can easily been seen that in the final judgment of the wicked they are judged by their works. It has been assumed by some that, based upon this verse, only the wicked are judged by works -- the righteous are not judged by works but rather saved by God’s grace ( I even entertained this view for awhile). This conclusion is untenable when viewed under the light of all scripture.
Solomon has something to add to this debate. After displaying the futility of man trying to find truth and meaning by observation alone (‘under the sun’ -- humanistic science), he states one of the most simple and profound ‘observation’ in all of scripture.
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Solomon does not intimate that there is a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, but includes "every work... whether... good or evil" Unless Solomon is a Catholic, and thinks that we are saved if our good works ‘outweigh’ our evil works, the good works talked about could only be those of the righteous.
Jesus even states it more plainly
Matthew 12:34 - 37 "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
He plainly says that our words can otherwise justify or condemn us -- and this happens in the day of judgment. Both the righteous and the wicked will be judged by their works. Solomon says this earlier in Ecclesiastes 3:17, "I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."
Paul himself describes the judgment that will take place in the last days and includes both the righteous and the wicked, with their attendant works, in that judgment.
Romans 2:1-10 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [they shall receive] indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Saved by Grace
This statement of Paul’s occurs one chapter before this next statement:
Romans 3:19-26 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Does Paul not see the contradiction in his own words? Maybe that is why Peter states, "in all his [Paul’s] epistles... [are] some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16
Actually Paul is trying to make himself understood in the clearest terms. Notice in the first passage, Paul is talking about the judgment. It is a future event. It is "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." In Chapter three, he is talking about ‘redemption’ which happens ‘at this time’. The justification that Paul is talking about here refers to the persons present standing before God. All of us are sinners. All of us stand outside of salvation because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." In order for man to stand as righteous in the judgment, something must have to happen between now and then.
Saved by Grace and Judged by Works
John is very clear on this point. He describes, in beautiful metaphor, the condition of mankind apart from God and what happens to man once Jesus performs the work of salvation.
John 3:17-21 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Obviously then, The work of salvation is transforming in its power. He that rejects light -- a light that does not only reveal sin but also its remedy -- will remain in his sinful state and be unprepared for the judgment. [ note: He is already condemned because of his sin. The rejection of light does not make him condemned.] The one ‘that doeth truth’ accepts light. He has been transformed by it. This is revealed by his deeds that are ‘manifest, that they are wrought in God’. The righteous are righteous because they have allowed God to work righteousness upon them. Their righteousness is not inherent.
Conclusion
It should now be obvious that the work of salvation and the work of judgment are two different things. They happen at different times and have a different purpose. The purpose of salvation is to restore the individual in a right relationship with God and prepare the individual for the judgment. In this way there is a relationship between the two acts. In my next Sermon we shall examine more deeply the purpose of the judgment.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Love (Part One: The Divine Gift)
by Theodore Turner
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Introduction
I hope you excuse my use of the word Love instead of the word charity in the reading of this text. I am thankful for the King James’ translators for their attention to detail here. They recognised that the Apostle was talking about something more than mere human love. It was not something cheap and shallow. And it is hardly anything like the love that we so often proclaim to have. I hope, as well, that you forgive me for the title of my sermon. You may have heard many sermons on Love before but, as much as they proclaimed to be talking about Love, they always fell short. This sermon will be no different. Love cannot be proclaimed in words but can only be manifested by the Word.
The Gift of God
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And that is where Love begins. There can be no question about it. Jesus Christ came to this world to proclaim Love. Here the Bible uses the word glory but we know that glory denotes character. What is the Character of God?
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love
It is evident that God’s Character is quite different than man’s. It doesn’t take much to realise this. We all know it. We all have seen it demonstrated in our lives, and the lives of other’s, every day. This Love then is God’s Glory. It is what distinguishes Him from man. It is innate in him. It is what He is made of. His very substance is Love.
A Problem
The problem that we are facing is simple; If God is Love by very nature, what are we? We are not God. We are totally opposed to God in every way. I want to establish this obvious point by a few texts.
Romans 8:6,7 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
There is no new thought here. I repeat, this is all quite evident. Yet, this is the very problem we are faced with each day as Christians. And this is the problem that we ignore just as often. We are not able to see this, though it is right in front of our noses.
James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass [mirror]: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
John 3:19,20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
What again is the problem? God is Love by very nature and we are sinners by very nature. We are as incompatible as light and darkness. And this is the problem that religion has tried to solve to no avail. Not only religion but every philosophy from atheism to Zen Buddhism, has tried to provide an answer or escape from this problem.
Man’s Attempts to Solve the Problem
I will not go into too much detail here. Man’s attempts to deal with the sin problem are notorious -- from Adam’s fig leaves to Humanism’s denial that a problem even exists. These are all failed attempts because they do not deal with the real problem: man cannot save himself. Salvation is the act of God alone. Man’s attempts to solve this problem, though they may seem noble, are really the natural result of his nature and therefore can never result in any sort of solution.
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
God’s Solution
Since man’s attempts to solve the sin problem are the result of his nature, it is not surprising that God’s solution is consistent with and comes forth from His very nature. God could not possibly offer a solution contrary to His nature than can we. We act according to our nature and so does God. This is not surprising but it is not often considered. Since God is Love, His solution must be Love. This is not man’s solution. For even when man calls his solution love, it is always a cheap imitation. Again I repeat: since man is not Love his solution cannot be Love, even if he calls it that and since God is Love his solution is Love even if we think it is something else. Because of our nature, we try to call our solution Love and we reject God’s solution because it doesn’t fit in with our idea of love. God’s solution is not our solution and is opposed to it.
Part of His solution must then involve making us accept His solution. Since this is contrary to our very nature, it is not easy. God is Love and we are not. His solution then must provide a bridge, involve an exchange and do something that can only be classed as miraculous or supernatural, if it is going to be a solution at all.
Jesus is God’s Solution
It is easy to say that Love is the answer but it is much more difficult to demonstrate. God didn’t just say it but did it. ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ Much lip service is offered to this concept within Christianity but it is not demonstrated. The thought is big here, so pay attention. Christians pay lip service to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross but do not demonstrate it. We read the words in the scriptures but they have little effect upon our lives. We wash the outside of the cup but never cleanse the heart from sin. We demonstrate by our lives that we are not Christians at all but mere mock-ups. This is because we worship a different Jesus than the one revealed in God’s Word. We have substituted man’s concept of love for God’s and think that it will suffice. All that is wrong with Christianity, with Adventism and with us individually is this; we are not Love, do not know Love and have never seen Love because we are not God, have not known God and have not seen God.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
We need to turn to the first letter of John. Open it up and read it. [You cannot proceed without an open Bible. It would be best if you read the whole letter before you go any further. I will have to assume that you have read it.] Notice that he begins this letter with a ‘Revelation of Jesus Christ’. No, he doesn’t use those words exactly (as he does with the Book of Revelation) but John starts where he always does by presenting us with the truth about Jesus: God has come in human flesh. He then goes on to describe clearly (as he did in his gospel) the truth about man, or if you prefer, the true nature of the flesh. We are sinners by nature.
I used this phrase earlier and some may object to its use but I will describe what I mean by it and explain why I use it. I was contrasting God with man. God is love; man is not. Man’s nature, his flesh, is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be. As I stated earlier, in order for man to accept God’s solution there must be a miracle; it won’t happen naturally. There has to be a supernatural event before man can possibly have even a slight hope in producing anything that is even close to obedience to God’s law of Love. This is where many go astray. They look for a change of nature, a holy flesh, to be given them so that they cannot sin. But that is man’s solution not God’s.
Man wants the easy way out. For those who still believe that God requires obedience (and there are fewer and fewer of those around these days) many want to bypass the cross. ‘I can obey only if my nature is changed’ they say, but they are referring only to one side of their nature, the flesh. The other part, the mind, they do not really think needs converting. They somehow believe that if God changes their flesh from sinful to sinless that they would suddenly be able to easily obey all of God’s commandments.
When this change will occur is a point of contention among Christians. Some place it at conversion, Some at the close of probation, some at the time of Jacob’s trouble and some at the second coming. These all have started with a false premise -- since man has a sinful nature (sinful flesh) and sin is natural, he cannot possibly cease from sin while in this nature. I will deal with this point (the nature of sin) more detail in the second part. It is true man has a fallen nature but it is not true that obedience is impossible while he still has that nature. We can be obedient if we have help.
Our Advocate
This explanation was needed if we are to continue looking at John’s letter, for he says, ‘I write this to you that ye sin not’. John is outlining God’s solution to the sin problem. That solution comes not in a removal of our sinful flesh but in the form of an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous. This word ‘Advocate’ is the same word that is translated as ‘Comforter’ in John’s gospel in reference to the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus was going away he was not going to leave us ‘comfortless’, that is helpless, but would provide us help in the form of His Holy Spirit. Clearly, if Jesus had taken away our sinful nature there would have been no need of the help that He promised to send.
John then makes some of the most direct statements in God’s Word regarding the standard of obedience required before we can call ourselves ‘Christians’. I present 1 John 3: 4-11 as an example.
‘Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ’
These are strong words. Man has cavilled them till they have all but lost their meaning but they stand clear if we let them speak to us. We have sinned; and not only that, until we are in perfect agreement with God’s Character as demonstrated by our actions (as revealed in a perfect obedience to all of God’s commandments), any profession of a knowledge of God is a mere sham, a lie, that we use to try to deceive our selves, others and even God. That is why we need an Advocate.
The Spirit of Antichrist
John then gives us a warning, ‘Believe not every spirit’. In chapter four he exposes and outlines Satan’s counter-gospel. This false gospel seeks to obscure and distort God’s Love. I may sound like a stuck record but it needs to be said again. God’s plan is the result of his nature and character; man’s solutions (which are really Satan’s, since he is the originator of sin in the first place) are the result of his nature.
1 John 4:2,3 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Again we are presented with the concept that Jesus came in the flesh. What kind of flesh did he come in? There is only one kind, human flesh. And what is human flesh? sinful flesh. Some try to make Jesus come in a flesh that is not human, that is, a flesh that has not existed since man sinned. They try to get Jesus to come in the nature of Adam before Adam fell. But that is not human flesh. No human has ever be born with that flesh. It is true Adam was created without sinful flesh but no one has been born without sinful flesh. Jesus was born. He was subject to the law of heredity as is every child of Adam. And the Bible is clear about what kind of flesh he was born with.
Hebrews 2:16-18 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour [help] them that are tempted.
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
What kind of flesh was it? The seed of Abraham, the seed of David; these men, though great men of God, were ‘subject to like passions as we are’. David declares of himself in the Psalms 51:5, ’Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ I also declare that this is true of Jesus in that he was born, shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.
That Holy Thing
Some may object to the last statement based upon this scripture:
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
How could that holy thing, which was conceived of the Holy Ghost, be conceived in sin? First, we need to understand what David means by his statement. Second, we need to understand why Jesus is called that holy thing.
Psalm 51 was written by king David after his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband was exposed by Nathan the prophet. That he was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin is not presented as an excuse for sin. Indeed, the parallel to Paul’s declaration in Romans 7 that, ‘I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing’, is obvious. Again, neither David or Paul use our fallen nature as an excuse for sin. They are describing their nature not as an excuse for sin but, rather, to reveal their need of Divine aid in the overcoming of sin. They need a Saviour that can deliver them from their sin and demonstrate power over human nature.
This leads then to the second point regarding that holy thing. Why was Jesus called that holy thing? He was born of the virgin Mary. In spite of the Catholic Church’s assertion that Mary was Immaculately conceived (and so was her Mother), so that Jesus could be born without original sin, does not mean that we have to accept this explanation of the meaning of that holy thing. If we compare Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the Jesus birth, we find that a great emphasis is placed upon the naming of this Child. Three names are given, Jesus (Jehoshua; Jevohah is the Saviour), Emmanuel (God with us) and the Son of God (Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man). Jesus cannot be our Saviour unless He is God with Us. He is the God-Man. Again I belabour the point to make it clear -- Jesus could not be our Saviour unless He is both fully God and fully man. That is why He is called that holy thing even though he assumed human nature, a nature that was subject to sin. Jesus, in coming to save fallen man, had to come to man where man was but He could not let go of His Divinity. He had to unite Divinity and humanity in Himself.
Let’s make this clear. Jesus never sinned, not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. This is due solely to his miraculous birth. Jesus did not sin because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost -- but He still came in sinful flesh. If Jesus had come in sinless flesh it would be nothing for Him to be obedient to God -- but then he could not be our Saviour. In order for Jesus to save us we need a miracle. God coming in sinless flesh is no miracle. Jesus living a perfect life of obedience in sinless flesh is not a miracle, neither can it save us. Nor can the death of such a being save me. Again, in order to be saved from sin I need a Saviour that can demonstrate power over sin.
I Am Crucified With Christ Because He Took My Nature
Romans 6:3-7 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
The Apostle is clear. I was crucified with Christ. How could I be crucified with him if He did not come in my nature? How could the body of this sin be destroyed by the death of Christ if He had not taken upon Himself our sinful nature?
Some may say I belabour the point, that it is obvious. Indeed it is, but the point still needs to be made so that it can be seen clearly. Also, we need to see clearly that our only hope is to have the same Love that Jesus had if we are to leave this world and become citizens of God’s Kingdom. In fact, John in his letter warns us that there will be a counter-christ, an antichrist who would teach that Jesus did not come in the flesh. Some have assumed that this false teaching only refers to a non-physical Christ, a spirit. No Christians today believe that Jesus was a spirit. That there were some who taught so in John’s day (Gnostics) does not mean that that is the only error that he was trying to counter. He knew, as well as we do, that the antichrist had to be revealed before Jesus would come back. [see 2 Thessalonians 2:ff]
Born of God
1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Here is the miracle that I talked about earlier. Not only has Jesus Christ been begotten of the Holy Spirit and lived a life of perfect obedience in human flesh, but we also are begotten of the Holy Spirit and live a life of perfect obedience without a change of flesh. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘Ye must be born again’, He says the same to us. The result is miraculous as well; Love --not a sentimental and shallow love; not a feeling; not a human love, a selfish love; but the same kind of Love wherewith He has Loved us -- a Love that is manifest in obedience to all of God’s commandments.
What It Means to Have a New Nature
What then has changed in the new birth? Certainly not our flesh. Paul in his treatise on the new birth (the Book of Romans), states, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal [fleshly], sold under sin,’ and ‘I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.’ (Romans 7:14, 18) whether or not Paul is talking about his experience before or after conversion in this text, is moot. He still is making it clear that his nature is fleshly or carnal. Paul tells us plainly,
Romans 7:24- 8:4 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
There are a lot of thoughts presented in this passage so let us break it down. Paul has just been explaining to us in chapter 7 what the flesh is, sinful. In the flesh, he sees no escape from the deeds of the flesh (he keeps doing the things he doesn’t want to do) so he calls upon God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord he sees escape. That escape does not include a removal of the flesh, the doing away with the law or any of the other innumerable things that man dreams up as a solution to the sin problem. No, Paul sees an answer to the sin problem in Christ’s example. Christ came in human flesh but did not walk after the flesh. How? By a new birth. Jesus has replaced the old enmity to God with a new enmity to sin.
Romans 8:7-11 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life [alive] because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Read chapter 6-8 in their entirety.
A Conclusion
So then, John and Paul are in agreement. Jesus Christ came in human flesh, sinful flesh, that He might destroy sin. Jesus wants to live in our sinful flesh, live individually in us, so that he can destroy sin in our lives as well. This is the new birth. John knew Jesus personally. He walked with Him upon this earth. He knew His character. John knew His attitude towards sinners and his attitude towards sin. Jesus Loved sinners but hated sin. And he hated sin because of what it does to sinners. Jesus came to destroy sin so that sinners may not be destroyed.
An Incomplete Sermon
You may be saying at this point, ‘I thought this sermon was on Love’. But I told you that it couldn’t possibly reveal everything about Love with words. God has a solution to all your problems. It is not your solution. God’s Love has opened a way for sinners. He has consecrated a way for us. Jesus has shown us the Way. Everything that I have expressed in this sermon today is meaningless, if I do not do it. It will have no meaning for you either, if you do not do it.
An Admonition
There is more that I would like to say at this point but we cannot go on now. The wall is too high, the path is too steep and our nature shrinks back at the sight of the Cross. What God is asking of us is not humanly possible but ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me’. Philippians 4:13
We need some time to think but now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. We have to proceed. This is where the Cross becomes real and meaningful -- when we take it up and follow Him. My next sermon in this series will express what will happen when we do it. I hope that there is no need for that sermon, that we will all know by personal experience what it means to take up our cross.
by Theodore Turner
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Introduction
I hope you excuse my use of the word Love instead of the word charity in the reading of this text. I am thankful for the King James’ translators for their attention to detail here. They recognised that the Apostle was talking about something more than mere human love. It was not something cheap and shallow. And it is hardly anything like the love that we so often proclaim to have. I hope, as well, that you forgive me for the title of my sermon. You may have heard many sermons on Love before but, as much as they proclaimed to be talking about Love, they always fell short. This sermon will be no different. Love cannot be proclaimed in words but can only be manifested by the Word.
The Gift of God
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And that is where Love begins. There can be no question about it. Jesus Christ came to this world to proclaim Love. Here the Bible uses the word glory but we know that glory denotes character. What is the Character of God?
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love
It is evident that God’s Character is quite different than man’s. It doesn’t take much to realise this. We all know it. We all have seen it demonstrated in our lives, and the lives of other’s, every day. This Love then is God’s Glory. It is what distinguishes Him from man. It is innate in him. It is what He is made of. His very substance is Love.
A Problem
The problem that we are facing is simple; If God is Love by very nature, what are we? We are not God. We are totally opposed to God in every way. I want to establish this obvious point by a few texts.
Romans 8:6,7 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
There is no new thought here. I repeat, this is all quite evident. Yet, this is the very problem we are faced with each day as Christians. And this is the problem that we ignore just as often. We are not able to see this, though it is right in front of our noses.
James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass [mirror]: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
John 3:19,20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
What again is the problem? God is Love by very nature and we are sinners by very nature. We are as incompatible as light and darkness. And this is the problem that religion has tried to solve to no avail. Not only religion but every philosophy from atheism to Zen Buddhism, has tried to provide an answer or escape from this problem.
Man’s Attempts to Solve the Problem
I will not go into too much detail here. Man’s attempts to deal with the sin problem are notorious -- from Adam’s fig leaves to Humanism’s denial that a problem even exists. These are all failed attempts because they do not deal with the real problem: man cannot save himself. Salvation is the act of God alone. Man’s attempts to solve this problem, though they may seem noble, are really the natural result of his nature and therefore can never result in any sort of solution.
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
God’s Solution
Since man’s attempts to solve the sin problem are the result of his nature, it is not surprising that God’s solution is consistent with and comes forth from His very nature. God could not possibly offer a solution contrary to His nature than can we. We act according to our nature and so does God. This is not surprising but it is not often considered. Since God is Love, His solution must be Love. This is not man’s solution. For even when man calls his solution love, it is always a cheap imitation. Again I repeat: since man is not Love his solution cannot be Love, even if he calls it that and since God is Love his solution is Love even if we think it is something else. Because of our nature, we try to call our solution Love and we reject God’s solution because it doesn’t fit in with our idea of love. God’s solution is not our solution and is opposed to it.
Part of His solution must then involve making us accept His solution. Since this is contrary to our very nature, it is not easy. God is Love and we are not. His solution then must provide a bridge, involve an exchange and do something that can only be classed as miraculous or supernatural, if it is going to be a solution at all.
Jesus is God’s Solution
It is easy to say that Love is the answer but it is much more difficult to demonstrate. God didn’t just say it but did it. ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ Much lip service is offered to this concept within Christianity but it is not demonstrated. The thought is big here, so pay attention. Christians pay lip service to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross but do not demonstrate it. We read the words in the scriptures but they have little effect upon our lives. We wash the outside of the cup but never cleanse the heart from sin. We demonstrate by our lives that we are not Christians at all but mere mock-ups. This is because we worship a different Jesus than the one revealed in God’s Word. We have substituted man’s concept of love for God’s and think that it will suffice. All that is wrong with Christianity, with Adventism and with us individually is this; we are not Love, do not know Love and have never seen Love because we are not God, have not known God and have not seen God.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
We need to turn to the first letter of John. Open it up and read it. [You cannot proceed without an open Bible. It would be best if you read the whole letter before you go any further. I will have to assume that you have read it.] Notice that he begins this letter with a ‘Revelation of Jesus Christ’. No, he doesn’t use those words exactly (as he does with the Book of Revelation) but John starts where he always does by presenting us with the truth about Jesus: God has come in human flesh. He then goes on to describe clearly (as he did in his gospel) the truth about man, or if you prefer, the true nature of the flesh. We are sinners by nature.
I used this phrase earlier and some may object to its use but I will describe what I mean by it and explain why I use it. I was contrasting God with man. God is love; man is not. Man’s nature, his flesh, is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be. As I stated earlier, in order for man to accept God’s solution there must be a miracle; it won’t happen naturally. There has to be a supernatural event before man can possibly have even a slight hope in producing anything that is even close to obedience to God’s law of Love. This is where many go astray. They look for a change of nature, a holy flesh, to be given them so that they cannot sin. But that is man’s solution not God’s.
Man wants the easy way out. For those who still believe that God requires obedience (and there are fewer and fewer of those around these days) many want to bypass the cross. ‘I can obey only if my nature is changed’ they say, but they are referring only to one side of their nature, the flesh. The other part, the mind, they do not really think needs converting. They somehow believe that if God changes their flesh from sinful to sinless that they would suddenly be able to easily obey all of God’s commandments.
When this change will occur is a point of contention among Christians. Some place it at conversion, Some at the close of probation, some at the time of Jacob’s trouble and some at the second coming. These all have started with a false premise -- since man has a sinful nature (sinful flesh) and sin is natural, he cannot possibly cease from sin while in this nature. I will deal with this point (the nature of sin) more detail in the second part. It is true man has a fallen nature but it is not true that obedience is impossible while he still has that nature. We can be obedient if we have help.
Our Advocate
This explanation was needed if we are to continue looking at John’s letter, for he says, ‘I write this to you that ye sin not’. John is outlining God’s solution to the sin problem. That solution comes not in a removal of our sinful flesh but in the form of an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous. This word ‘Advocate’ is the same word that is translated as ‘Comforter’ in John’s gospel in reference to the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus was going away he was not going to leave us ‘comfortless’, that is helpless, but would provide us help in the form of His Holy Spirit. Clearly, if Jesus had taken away our sinful nature there would have been no need of the help that He promised to send.
John then makes some of the most direct statements in God’s Word regarding the standard of obedience required before we can call ourselves ‘Christians’. I present 1 John 3: 4-11 as an example.
‘Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ’
These are strong words. Man has cavilled them till they have all but lost their meaning but they stand clear if we let them speak to us. We have sinned; and not only that, until we are in perfect agreement with God’s Character as demonstrated by our actions (as revealed in a perfect obedience to all of God’s commandments), any profession of a knowledge of God is a mere sham, a lie, that we use to try to deceive our selves, others and even God. That is why we need an Advocate.
The Spirit of Antichrist
John then gives us a warning, ‘Believe not every spirit’. In chapter four he exposes and outlines Satan’s counter-gospel. This false gospel seeks to obscure and distort God’s Love. I may sound like a stuck record but it needs to be said again. God’s plan is the result of his nature and character; man’s solutions (which are really Satan’s, since he is the originator of sin in the first place) are the result of his nature.
1 John 4:2,3 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Again we are presented with the concept that Jesus came in the flesh. What kind of flesh did he come in? There is only one kind, human flesh. And what is human flesh? sinful flesh. Some try to make Jesus come in a flesh that is not human, that is, a flesh that has not existed since man sinned. They try to get Jesus to come in the nature of Adam before Adam fell. But that is not human flesh. No human has ever be born with that flesh. It is true Adam was created without sinful flesh but no one has been born without sinful flesh. Jesus was born. He was subject to the law of heredity as is every child of Adam. And the Bible is clear about what kind of flesh he was born with.
Hebrews 2:16-18 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour [help] them that are tempted.
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
What kind of flesh was it? The seed of Abraham, the seed of David; these men, though great men of God, were ‘subject to like passions as we are’. David declares of himself in the Psalms 51:5, ’Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ I also declare that this is true of Jesus in that he was born, shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.
That Holy Thing
Some may object to the last statement based upon this scripture:
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
How could that holy thing, which was conceived of the Holy Ghost, be conceived in sin? First, we need to understand what David means by his statement. Second, we need to understand why Jesus is called that holy thing.
Psalm 51 was written by king David after his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband was exposed by Nathan the prophet. That he was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin is not presented as an excuse for sin. Indeed, the parallel to Paul’s declaration in Romans 7 that, ‘I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing’, is obvious. Again, neither David or Paul use our fallen nature as an excuse for sin. They are describing their nature not as an excuse for sin but, rather, to reveal their need of Divine aid in the overcoming of sin. They need a Saviour that can deliver them from their sin and demonstrate power over human nature.
This leads then to the second point regarding that holy thing. Why was Jesus called that holy thing? He was born of the virgin Mary. In spite of the Catholic Church’s assertion that Mary was Immaculately conceived (and so was her Mother), so that Jesus could be born without original sin, does not mean that we have to accept this explanation of the meaning of that holy thing. If we compare Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the Jesus birth, we find that a great emphasis is placed upon the naming of this Child. Three names are given, Jesus (Jehoshua; Jevohah is the Saviour), Emmanuel (God with us) and the Son of God (Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man). Jesus cannot be our Saviour unless He is God with Us. He is the God-Man. Again I belabour the point to make it clear -- Jesus could not be our Saviour unless He is both fully God and fully man. That is why He is called that holy thing even though he assumed human nature, a nature that was subject to sin. Jesus, in coming to save fallen man, had to come to man where man was but He could not let go of His Divinity. He had to unite Divinity and humanity in Himself.
Let’s make this clear. Jesus never sinned, not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. This is due solely to his miraculous birth. Jesus did not sin because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost -- but He still came in sinful flesh. If Jesus had come in sinless flesh it would be nothing for Him to be obedient to God -- but then he could not be our Saviour. In order for Jesus to save us we need a miracle. God coming in sinless flesh is no miracle. Jesus living a perfect life of obedience in sinless flesh is not a miracle, neither can it save us. Nor can the death of such a being save me. Again, in order to be saved from sin I need a Saviour that can demonstrate power over sin.
I Am Crucified With Christ Because He Took My Nature
Romans 6:3-7 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
The Apostle is clear. I was crucified with Christ. How could I be crucified with him if He did not come in my nature? How could the body of this sin be destroyed by the death of Christ if He had not taken upon Himself our sinful nature?
Some may say I belabour the point, that it is obvious. Indeed it is, but the point still needs to be made so that it can be seen clearly. Also, we need to see clearly that our only hope is to have the same Love that Jesus had if we are to leave this world and become citizens of God’s Kingdom. In fact, John in his letter warns us that there will be a counter-christ, an antichrist who would teach that Jesus did not come in the flesh. Some have assumed that this false teaching only refers to a non-physical Christ, a spirit. No Christians today believe that Jesus was a spirit. That there were some who taught so in John’s day (Gnostics) does not mean that that is the only error that he was trying to counter. He knew, as well as we do, that the antichrist had to be revealed before Jesus would come back. [see 2 Thessalonians 2:ff]
Born of God
1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Here is the miracle that I talked about earlier. Not only has Jesus Christ been begotten of the Holy Spirit and lived a life of perfect obedience in human flesh, but we also are begotten of the Holy Spirit and live a life of perfect obedience without a change of flesh. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘Ye must be born again’, He says the same to us. The result is miraculous as well; Love --not a sentimental and shallow love; not a feeling; not a human love, a selfish love; but the same kind of Love wherewith He has Loved us -- a Love that is manifest in obedience to all of God’s commandments.
What It Means to Have a New Nature
What then has changed in the new birth? Certainly not our flesh. Paul in his treatise on the new birth (the Book of Romans), states, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal [fleshly], sold under sin,’ and ‘I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.’ (Romans 7:14, 18) whether or not Paul is talking about his experience before or after conversion in this text, is moot. He still is making it clear that his nature is fleshly or carnal. Paul tells us plainly,
Romans 7:24- 8:4 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
There are a lot of thoughts presented in this passage so let us break it down. Paul has just been explaining to us in chapter 7 what the flesh is, sinful. In the flesh, he sees no escape from the deeds of the flesh (he keeps doing the things he doesn’t want to do) so he calls upon God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord he sees escape. That escape does not include a removal of the flesh, the doing away with the law or any of the other innumerable things that man dreams up as a solution to the sin problem. No, Paul sees an answer to the sin problem in Christ’s example. Christ came in human flesh but did not walk after the flesh. How? By a new birth. Jesus has replaced the old enmity to God with a new enmity to sin.
Romans 8:7-11 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life [alive] because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Read chapter 6-8 in their entirety.
A Conclusion
So then, John and Paul are in agreement. Jesus Christ came in human flesh, sinful flesh, that He might destroy sin. Jesus wants to live in our sinful flesh, live individually in us, so that he can destroy sin in our lives as well. This is the new birth. John knew Jesus personally. He walked with Him upon this earth. He knew His character. John knew His attitude towards sinners and his attitude towards sin. Jesus Loved sinners but hated sin. And he hated sin because of what it does to sinners. Jesus came to destroy sin so that sinners may not be destroyed.
An Incomplete Sermon
You may be saying at this point, ‘I thought this sermon was on Love’. But I told you that it couldn’t possibly reveal everything about Love with words. God has a solution to all your problems. It is not your solution. God’s Love has opened a way for sinners. He has consecrated a way for us. Jesus has shown us the Way. Everything that I have expressed in this sermon today is meaningless, if I do not do it. It will have no meaning for you either, if you do not do it.
An Admonition
There is more that I would like to say at this point but we cannot go on now. The wall is too high, the path is too steep and our nature shrinks back at the sight of the Cross. What God is asking of us is not humanly possible but ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me’. Philippians 4:13
We need some time to think but now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. We have to proceed. This is where the Cross becomes real and meaningful -- when we take it up and follow Him. My next sermon in this series will express what will happen when we do it. I hope that there is no need for that sermon, that we will all know by personal experience what it means to take up our cross.
What If?
What if the sky was green and trees were blue?
and black was a most brilliant hue?
And you were me and I were you?
Then what would we do?
What if words were never spoken?
Would any promise ever be broken?
Would any lie ever be told?
Would any fool ever be bold?
What if the old were young?
Would nothing new ever be done?
And if I saw the morning sun set,
would my love ever forget?
What if water was dry?
Would I weep and would I cry?
Would my heart never break,
though all my friends me forsake?
And what if one were more than two?
and never alone like me and you?
and never solitary or forlorn?
never weary, tired or worn?
Would the world be better or would it be worse,
if God should remove its curse?
So I pondered and so I thought,
but what have all my questions brought?
The sky is still blue and the trees are still green.
The eye hath not heard and the ear hath not seen.
But it has entered my heart from somewhere above,
"Thou knowest not God, for God is Love."
The Shattered Plate
I stand above a shattered plate
that’s fallen from my fingertips.
And though I know that it’s too late,
I cannot help but dream and wish,
that love was true and love was real,
and everything I think and feel,
could be understood by someone who understood me.
I try to pick the pieces up
and maybe with some prayer and glue
(ooh! now my finger’s cut)
I can make it look like new.
But childish dreams and childhood ways
are passing with each passing day,
and all the prayer and glue and tape can never restore the plate.
And so I to the cupboard go
and gaze a while upon the shelf
but hesitatingly and slow
and carefully aware of self,
I entrust a fragile China dish
again to my fingertips.
But can all my surety my fears remove?
And so I take into my hands,
this fragile life once again.
but all the best laid plans,
are only those of mice and men.
I may have to weep once or more,
as I kneel upon the floor,
and see my sin and human need, my want... and bleed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)