NATIONAL UNITY 2

I wrote last week that I am alarmed over the seriousness of our national disunity in America. In that blog I pointed out that Jesus did not come to bring unity but a sword. Believers are called to certain convictions that we can never compromise and that the world may never accept. 

But I believe it is more important that I write to you about how to interface with a society that differs from us at such crucial points.

Some years ago I read about some of the people involved in the Chinese church's Back to Jerusalem Movement being amazed that they were not praying for the fall of the communist government. They were instead praying for God to work in it.

1 Peter 2:13-15 reads

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every Authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

Paul wrote something nearly identical in Romans 13. These men lived in a world where Christians were already being persecuted. Paul appealed to Caesar when he was arrested in Jerusalem. But he stood up to the authorities who wanted to quietly release him and Silas in Ephesus.

How does that speak to us today? Could King George have been as wicked as Nero who burned Christians alive on poles to light his garden parties? How do we know which to do in the circumstances that we face today?

We need to begin by saying we will have to struggle with the issues that we face. There are no simple answers to modern questions.

We will have to struggle with right and wrong. It will not always be simple or obvious.

And we will need to struggle over our witness and the glory of God. This will include decency, integrity, humility, and honesty.

And most importantly, we must struggle to discern the will of God.

I basically agree with Francis Schaefer's statement in The Christian Manifesto that a government that becomes breeches its calling by God should be overthrown. But I believe he missed a point in his argument. That is the issue of God's timing. When God told Abraham he was going to give his descendants the land of Canaan, He said they had not filled up their sins. Four hundred years would pass before God said it was time.

I don't know where we are in America. But I know it is the will of God to pray for our country and for our leaders by name and by need. And I will struggle in prayer and God's word over the issues of politics and voting and our country.

NATIONAL UNITY 1

I have been alarmed of late over the bitterness and seriousness of our national disunity in America. A few elections back I thought I was being funny by asking people who they were going to vote against for president. I stopped asking that because no one thought it was a joke.  Of course this is not restricted to America. Much of the world suffers from similar or worse political divisiveness. This is a dangerous fact about our world.

I have longed for a president who wanted to use the bully pulpit to bring us nearer to national unity. But for those of us who are serious about the Bible and faith in Jesus, I need to admit to a different perspective. In Matthew 10:34 Jesus warned us that He did not come to bring peace but a sword. If we follow Jesus, many things about us will offend others.

Many today will find our morals offensive. I want to say it lovingly and wisely, but I will have to stand against the murder of over a million innocents a year by the practice of abortion. I am going to have to tell people that I love that homosexual behavior is sinful and homosexual marriage unnatural.

Some will find our thinking offensive no matter how gently and respectfully we express it. 

Ideas have conclusions. And our thinking will go counter to worldly thinking. That is why we see some of the thinking of our founding fathers being rejected by society and ignored by bodies like the Supreme Court.

Some will even be offended by the gospel. It will offend some people that their own righteousness will never save them. Others will be offended that a wicked person can be forgiven.

What are we to do? We should pray for unity in our country. I believe we would be foolish and disobedient if we did not. But there are issues in America where we will have to stand with our Lord even against unity in our country.

I have more to say on this subject. There are things we can do to work for unity. But lest I take away from what I have written here, I need to wait until next week to deal with them. In the meantime, I encourage you to think about what Jesus said.

THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY

In Luke 20:1-8  the scribes and Pharisees challenged the authority of Jesus who the day before had cleansed the temple. Incidentally, they also questioned his authority to cast out demons and heal the sick. His question of what they thought was the authority of John the Baptist silenced the rulers. This passage brings us face to face with the question of all authority. And it highlights the genuine authority of Jesus that obviously did not need to be defended.

This story shows us, The Authority of Righteousness.

His cleansing of the temple did not lean on any human or earthy authority. But everyone who saw what he did knew that what Jesus did was right.

He depended upon, The Authority of Revelation.

As He cleansed the temple Jesus quoted Scripture. "It is written!" I once heard Henry Blackaby comment, "I know people who talk a lot about the inerrancy of Scripture who do not submit to its authority in their lives. But authority is the question of inerrancy. Believing the Bible is true does not mean I understand everything I read. It means Scripture has the authority to call me into account.

His presence also brings out, The Authority of His Person.

When Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple, I doubt if anyone was thinking about His right to do it. They were too busy fleeing from His presence. I believe that is a sign of nearness to God today. His nearness to you may be wonderful. But it will also overwhelm you with His majesty and authority.

And in this account we see, The Authority of Purpose.

Real authority is not an end in itself. It always accomplishes the purposes of God. 

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(I have a new video trailer for HOME IN THE WILDERNESS on the book page of my website.

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RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

Proverbs 14:34 reads,

"Righteousness exalts a nation,

but sin is a disgrace to any people."

I recently read a speech by Winston Churchill entitled The Defense of Freedom and Peace. It was subtitled, The Lights are Going Out. The great orator proclaimed to Americans who had not yet entered the war that it is the conflict of spiritual and moral ideas which gives free countries their strength. Especially in the light of history resistance against the domination of the Nazis should not be seen in any other way. By some estimates they put as many as 20 million people to death simply because of their race, or their weaknesses, or unwillingness to support the evil cause.

Even 70 and 80 years later we can feel good about our sacrifices to defeat that evil regime. But where are we in the world today? Where are we as a nation? Since 1973 Americans have brutally extinguished nearly 60 million innocent lives simply because we found them inconvenient.

This was not done by our government. We do not have S.S. troops pounding at our doors in the middle of the night. We did this ourselves to those who by any reckoning were the most innocent among us. Most Americans now admit that abortion is wrong. It is interesting to me that many people say they believe abortion is wrong to justify not doing anything about it. We believe abortion is wrong, so we must be free from responsibility before God, or history for that matter.  

But what can we do? I am sympathetic with those who see the crisis as overwhelming. But nothing is impossible with God. Let me suggest three essential approaches to the problem.

First come to this crisis with humility and compassion. We all share in the cultural, intellectual and moral corruption that has swallowed up our nation. This is not simply the problem of churches that did not stand against abortion. This is not simply the fault of another political party or someone else. Most of us would agree that German people who ignored the disappearance of their Jewish neighbors or were afraid to speak up no matter what it cost them, shared in the guilt.

And we who are also guilty need to seek ways of ministering to girls faced with unwanted pregnancy, and unplanned and unwanted children. Do we have means to intervene in the lives of young people who realize they have sacrificed their vision of the future on the altar of sexual freedom?

Next, address the problem with wisdom and intelligence. If we simply demonize political opponents or shout at them in protest, rather than listening to their arguments and seeking to persuade people, we will make little headway in the issue.

Finally, we must face this problem in prayer and worship. We will not turn this evil around without the mighty hand of God. We need to see this as a matter of spiritual war, crying out to God about every issue small and great. We have no greater weapon in spiritual warfare than worship that connects us with God Himself.

The culture of death is a daunting reality. But it is no greater than slavery that the enemy foisted on our fathers a few generations back. Against all social, economic, and political odds Great Britain outlawed the vile trade on her far flung shores. And eventually Americans were willing to plunge ourselves into a horrible civil war.

If your faith is not built on a powerful relationship with Almighty God you will not be able to pay whatever price is demanded of us to defeat this horrible plague. 

ONE FATHER

In Matthew 23:9 Jesus spoke these words.

"And call no man your father on earth,

for you have one Father who is in heaven."

It is terribly important to grasp this truth. This is at the heart of the gospel. And the gospel is the heart of Christian theology. When Jesus instructed us to pray to God as our Father, and when Paul said God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, "Abba, Father," the pattern was set for our relationship with God. We are born again into His family, into His embrace.

When I recognize God as my Father, I admit that He is the source of all that I have and all that I am. He brought about my spiritual birth. He suffered all the labor pains. He's covering the cost.

I am physically the product of my parents combined DNA. Even that was determined by God. He determined when and where I would be born. He decided who my parents would be.  More than that, He has determined my spiritual gifts for His great purposes. He plants His spiritual DNA, in me.

He is developing His character in me. When I was a child my earthly father worked with me to develop my character. The summer before my final year of high school I went to work on a farm in a different state, hundreds of miles away. All that spring Dad was obvious in his purpose of developing my character. He did that because he loved me. He also let me know he was proud of me even though he was often frustrated at how slow I was to apply what he was trying to teach me. Knowing God is my Father leads me to submit to Him. It gives me a hunger to spend time with Him in prayer, Bible study, service, and obedience, so He can graft His nature into my heart.

Knowing God is my Father helps me trust Him to provide my needs. If the God of the universe is my Father, I can be at peace about my needs. More than that I can grow in the joy of His generosity. As God prompts me to give more and more, I can enjoy it, trusting Him to provide. If God is my Father, I can risk everything in the adventure of His purpose. My Heavenly Father will take care of me in and even beyond this life.

I have one final word for this blog, although we will never grasp the breadth and length and depth of this reality. If we are God's children, we do not do any of these things to win His approval. We serve Him because are His. We have become God’s children. He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. Your pictures are on His refrigerator. He holds you in his heart.

THE FOUNDATION OF HOPE

I have begun thinking, studying and praying about writing a book on hope. I have already written a few preliminary things. And I want to share one of these with you today.

I have been frustrated some at reading books that offer hope with no foundation of ultimate hope. They treat hope as if it were merely a hopeful feeling that could be drummed up without reference to our ultimate predicament. I want to show hope from the beginning of our anxiety. I have recently heard this problem posed in several different ways. The essence of it is that God created us even though He already knew that Satan would tempt Adam and Eve, and we would all be plunged into sin.

First, let's examine the nature of God and reasons He created the world. As a tri-personal being the Father, Son and Holy Spirit loved one another with infinite love from eternity. The same Bible that affirms God's omniscience says God is love. This defines His nature. He did not create us out of any need. He created us that we might be caught up in His love.

Now, there are several possible worlds that God could have created. He could have created no world at all. Or He could have created a beautiful universe without any sentient beings. He could have created an a-moral world where it didn't matter what we did. He could have created beings that were not tempted and were programmed only to do right. But love would not be possible in a world without free will and the risk of failure. There could be no true devotion in a world where rebellion was impossible. In a different world there could be no moral courage. There would be no heroic faith or sacrificial love. There could be no repentance or redemption in a world without freedom. I am aware that the humility of repentance can be fearsome and painful. But for those who submit to God, it becomes one of the most fulfilling facets of our lives.

The primary issue of right and wrong is not merely obeying a law. It is love. Jesus said all the law and the prophets were summed up in the commands to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds and our neighbors as ourselves. Paul said love is the fulfillment of the law. And God draws us to come, even as sinners, into the redemption, embrace and expression of His love.

God already knew everything that would come when He created the world and said it was good. If we look at things the way they are now, it is hard to say the world is good or that this is the best of all possible worlds. But that is like deciding a ball game is lost before it is over. You might say, "This is a terrible game. My team is so far behind they will never catch up!"

But what if at the very end your team comes from behind against impossible odds to win after all? Is that a terrible game because your team was embarrassingly behind? No that game is far better than a game where your team won easily.

Well, God's omniscient foreknowledge extends beyond today. And while things look bad at this point, we can trust Him to bring them to glorious conclusion in the end.

You can trust God because He is good, benevolent and loving. The same Bible that reveals His power and foreknowledge tells us He is good and the source of all good. I believe we know this instinctively.

And I believe we can know the source of accusations against God. The same one who continually accuses you before God accuses God of injustice. But God who saw our failure before He created us, also saw the cross where our redemption was purchased. And while He will not force healing on those who are determined to reject Him, His grace is freely offered. And He sees the ultimate conclusion. In Revelation 15 we read,

"All nations will come and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed."

We put our faith in God, in the promise of His word, to bring all things to a satisfactory conclusion. To doubt this is to believe that the ultimate, all powerful, loving Creator will not work things out in the end. What is the point of that belief?

There is certainly no hope related to such faith. If the creator is not good, goodness is smuggled in to our reality. If God were not love, there could be no selfless, unconditional love. If you believe this, your hope is hopeless. Your only hope is in something or someone less than God. You are trusting in the wickedness of our world. Your hope is in the devil himself and in his vision of the world. How does that faith make life better or easier? It leaves us screaming in terror at what must come.

JUDGMENT OR GRACE UPON ISLAM

How do we look at radical Muslims? Shortly after 9/11 a child in our church said, "We need to pray for the terrorists!"

Without thinking, I answered, "Pray that they will be caught and killed." Because of that 4 or 5 year-old boy, I had to examine my heart and my thinking in this matter. I have come to some thoughts that I would like to share with you.

Is it wrong to pray for judgment to come on our enemies? God is a God of judgment. He could not be good, holy or even loving, if He did not judge the wickedness of men.

Many skeptics point at the command of God for the people to destroy the city of Jericho killing men, women, children and livestock, saying the Bible endorses genocide. However, this incident did not take place in a vacuum. First, God had told Abraham in Genesis 15 that He was going to bring judgment on the Amorites. But he said they had not filled up their iniquity. Who knows how long God had already shown His patience toward this wicked people, calling them again and again to repent. And yet, another four hundred years passed before the Children of Israel came through the wilderness to encircle the city of Jericho. Many have argued that the Atomic Bomb that killed all living creatures in the Japanese cities, ended World War II preventing many more deaths for many years. So the destruction of Jericho caused many of the Amorites to flee rather than being killed in the ensuing war.

But you may ask why the Lord employed Israel in this judgment. I certainly don't know all of God’s reasons. I do know the people of Israel knew not to do such a thing without God's direct command. This is a crucial point that I want get back to.

Interestingly enough, this is not the only time God put His judgment into the hands of men. King Saul wickedly brought the judgment that had been foretold upon the house of Eli. God used the ungodly Assyrians to carry His people into captivity for rejecting Him. And most strikingly, God used the imperfect judgment of a Roman tribunal to sentence and crucify Jesus. That judgment of God was upon my sins and yours. God took my sin upon Himself as Jesus died for us. Nothing shows the measure of God's love for us as powerfully as Jesus taking our judgment on Himself at the cross.

I have prayed for God to bring judgment on wickedness in our world. But the Bible, Old and New Testament, clearly teaches that God prefers repentance and forgiveness to judgment and destruction. One of the most apropos stories of this is the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh. Nineveh was the enemy of Israel. Jonah tried to flee from God's call. But he only proved you can't run from God. When he finally went to preach to the city he made no reference to repentance as he proclaimed judgment would come in forty days. However, the people did repent in sackcloth and ashes. The point of that book is God's compassion for people and our New Testament mission to love even our enemies with the gospel. The final day of judgment is coming. But until God tells us it is time to pray for judgment temporary or ultimate, we need to pray for it not to be too late for His grace even for our enemies.

I am praying and rejoicing to see Muslim people turning to Christ by the thousands all across the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere. Some of them had indeed been radical Muslims. I pray for their sin and threat against us to be condemned and come under the terrible wrath of God as Jesus died in their place and mine.