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PS My personal favorite is here.

Three Stages of Ol Suit.

[The following is a letter crafted by myself and the Rev. Anthony R. Casey, (Chair of the District Board of Ministerial Development) that was approved by a vote of the full DBMD and sent to the Board of General Superintendents of the Wesleyan Church in 2006. It expresses our desire to lift the sanctions then in force prohibiting the ordination of persons in country without proper documentation. The group most heavily affected was/is those of Hispanic origin. This appeal was made, with a frank acknowledgement of the difficulties, complexities, and controversies surrounding the subject, with an eye toward affirming the historic truth that the Church of Jesus Christ exists without borders or nationality; it is an embassy of the Kingdom of God and we its ambassadors. -Ol Suit]

SOUTH  CAROLINA

DISTRICT BOARD  of  MINISTERIAL DEVELOPMENT

June 17, 2006

The Board of General Superintendents
of the Wesleyan Church International
Indianapolis, Indiana

Sirs and Brethren:

May the work of Christ our Savior prosper throughout the world!

This letter is the result of action taken during our last DBMD meeting requesting that we appeal to you regarding the church’s policy on illegal aliens and the ministry.

It is our understanding that the present policy of the church prohibits the credentialing of any international ministerial worker whose legal status is not documented. It is this policy, specifically, that we are seeking to have revisited.

We well understand the delicate and thorny nature of the issue we are asking you to revisit and wish to assure you of our prayers throughout this process. It is also clear that we are dealing with competing Biblical principles: that of submission and obedience to civil authority, on the one hand and, on the other, of submission to the Lordship of Jesus over His church and obedience to the command that His church spread the Gospel over “all the world”.[i]

The crux of the question our church now confronts is how to “render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar” without failing “to give God that which belongs [uniquely] to Him”.[ii]

We agree that the government of the United States has the legitimate right to police its borders and regulate immigration. That much is clear. But whether these duties of government are sufficient cause for the church to renounce the evangelistic use of undocumented aliens seems less clear.

This Board assumes that the argument favoring submission to civil authority is well known and, thus, it will not be addressed in this letter. The subject of the line between the kingdoms of earth and the kingdom of heaven, however, is territory that has been less-well explored.

The formulation of doctrines dealing with the separation of civil and ecclesiastical powers was a process requiring centuries of thought and labor. The Visigoth Code[iii] was among the first to recognize the right of “sanctuary”[iv] – the principle that the church is, in certain ways, separate from civil authority. It appears as if the prevailing view was that the church was an embassy of the kingdom of Jesus Christ and, as such, was entitled to control its lands and personnel as would any other earthly embassy.[v] It is, in part, to this principle that we turn in the present discussion.

We have a mandate to evangelize the world. Our land is even now teeming with a people whose language and customs are foreign to most citizens of the USA. But within their very midst are some who are the product of the missionary efforts of the Wesleyan Church and other evangelical bodies. These believers speak the mother tongue of their fellow aliens and are well-accustomed to their culture. Indeed, they come from the same villages and hamlets as do the rest.

Whether we can train and credential these Christian aliens to reach their own people seems to turn more on the question of who owns the church than any other consideration.

If the church is a creation of the state then, by all means, we must govern ourselves accordingly.

If, however, we are the creation and wholly-owned property of the Lord Jesus then it seems reasonable to us that we should use every God-given resource to achieve His commission through it. It has long been held that “the reapers are in the harvest” – that is, that within the whitened and awaiting harvest are those whom God will give His church to assist in the enormous task of evangelizing the lost. Could anything be clearer than that this is absolutely the case in our present circumstance? There, among the hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of undocumented aliens, stand our own brothers and sisters in Christ…awaiting only the blessing of their church in order to join in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

We are not asking that the church become involved in smuggling aliens or engage in any other such illegal activity. What we seek is the liberty to recruit alien believers to help us win the lost for whom Christ died.

This may be a defining moment in our history. Our church has the opportunity to reclaim her historic and courageous legacy of championing the cause of “the stranger”. It is well-known to you, our honored and esteemed leaders, how that our fore-parents rose up in heroic obedience to the Word of God and stood against the unjust and unwarranted abuse of those of African descent. They did so when to act in the way they acted was against the law of the land. They saw themselves as owing their first loyalty to Christ just as, we are sure, you do. Right speech was not, alone, sufficient. They saw that right speech must be joined with right action before victory would come. Thus did they surrender themselves so completely to the will of God that they pricked the conscience of a complacent nation and unleashed the power of righteousness to free the slaves.

And what was the result? Did they fall into the empty jargon of those who preach a merely social gospel? No. Their faithfulness to God’s Word in the area of slavery seemed to make them more attentive to the claims of the Gospel in every other area. (For evidence of this please see Dr. Lee M. Haines’ speech preserved on the Houghton web site entitled, ‘Radical Reform and Living Piety’.)[vi]

Might the next wave of Wesleyan fruitfulness be in the hearts and homes of the alien communities? And could anything be more befitting of our heritage both under the Wesleys and the founders of the Wesleyan Church? If we train and unleash the reapers God has sent in with this harvest, what good might we do that otherwise will remain undone?

We have, with sadness, watched as various elements of the civil rights movement were co-opted by extremists and enemies of Christ. The rise of the Black Muslim groups and the influence of others calling for armed rebellion was a rebuke to our own inaction. The Gospel is the only antidote for the poison of sin and bigotry. Therefore, if we withhold that Gospel from these whom God has permitted to flood our borders, if we fail to accept the challenge before us, can any good come of it? As the lepers outside the walls of Samaria’s starved and besieged populace once said, “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.”[vii]

And, finally, the greatness of the need and the lateness of the hour both urge us to action. We have too few ministers fluent in the language of the newcomers. We need the help of our brothers and sisters within that culture. As Paul once wrote under the direction of the Holy Spirit: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?”[viii]

We respectfully and earnestly pray that a way may be found to “send forth [these alien] reapers into the harvest”.

As we await your response, again, please be assured of our continued prayers and support.

For the South Carolina DBMD,

__________________________________

Anthony R. Casey, chair

__________________________________

Stephen E. Stanley, secretary

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

[i] Matthew 28:19, 20

[ii] Mark 12:17

[iii] While it is found its fullest expression in the Visigoth Code, King Aethelbert (and his scribe, St. Augustine) also codified the right of sanctuary in the very first statute recorded within the book of Dooms (laws or decrees) written circa A. D. 600.

[iv] Also identified with “church-frith” and “church-grith” as a breach of the peace involving church property in medieval times.

[v] Several of the arguments under-girding the church’s freedom from taxation arise from this principle.

[vi] http://campus.houghton.edu/webs/employees/gavery/wesleyweb/radical_reform_and_living_piety.htm

In this speech Dr. Haines states that “At one point he [Lucius C. Matlock] declared that there were more conversions among Wesleyan Methodists proportionally than among the great denominations, but there was room yet for improvement.

             In the pre-Civil War period, one can find in the denominational periodical four waves of revival that swept across the denomination.  The fourth began in 1856 and mounted in strength through 1857 and 1858, and really continued at least through 1862.  In one four-month period the editor declared that 1,300 conversions had been reported in the paper along with news of 30 local revivals in which no numbers had been specified.  He later remarked that in a five-month period 74 revivals had seen over 2,000 conversions and there were 64 others reported without specific numbers.”

[vii] 2 Kings 7:9 KJV

[viii] Romans 10:14-15 NIV

Ol Suit.

According to the Babylonian Talmud, the provenance of idolatry was in the days of Enosh (Enos), the son of Seth. There, (in a paraphrase on Genesis 4:26 where it is written “To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the LORD.”) Targum Jonathan says, “And to Sheth also was born a son, and he called his name Enosh. That was the generation in whose days they began to err, and to make themselves idols, and surnamed their idols by the name of the Word of the Lord” (TJ IV.18[1]). Idols, then, were first intended as intermediary representations of the Divine and, as at Sinai with “the golden calf,” were denominated by the name of the Lord (although, at Sinai, the name apparently invoked was “Elohim” and not YHVH).

Thus idolatry is represented as having arisen, not as a competitor for the worship of God but, as an “aid” to His worship. Yet it is clear that the attempt to represent God through one of His creatures was surely the door to competing systems of religion and other gods. Emphasizing His immanence to the extent that it injures His transcendence skews the view of the God who is God that we have received in Holy Scripture. It, further, seems to render God susceptible to being formed in our image instead of our being formed in and by His.

Idolatry in Isaiah

As is noted everywhere (and clearly evident from a reading of the text), the Book of Isaiah may be divided into three principle sections. These sections are chapters 1-39, 40-55, and 56-66. Explanations for the presence of these divisions vary from multiple authors to redactional processes to predictive prophecy.[2] Regardless, Oswalt suggests that a major consideration of the book is the subject of whether God is the true and living God if His people and nation are oppressed or conquered by nations which follow other gods.[3]

An additional focus concerns how God responds to the sin of His people (and their suffering in consequence of that sin) in light of His character and covenant. The themes of the condemnation of sin and the call to redemption fill the pages of this book and with and by them, a picture of God’s Messiah (9:1-7, et al) and Servant (52-53) begins to emerge. Among the most severe condemnations in Isaiah is that against idolatry.

Scattered throughout the book are numerous allusions to and attacks upon the specific sin of the manufacture and worship of idols. Perhaps the most significant of these are found in 40:18-24, 44:9-20, and 46:1-7. It will be noted that these three fall within the second division of the book.

In the attempt to call His people back from the idolatry into which they have swerved God issues a “taunt” against the idols themselves and denounces their impotence, contrasting it with His mighty power and salvation.

Stooping Gods and Weary Beasts: Isaiah 46:1-13

Bel (which is less a proper name than a title meaning “lord”[4] and came to refer to Marduk, “supreme ruler of the Mesopotamian universe”[5]) and Nebo (Nabu) were the principle gods of the Babylonians. Parallels exist between the theologies extrapolated from the myths and teachings associated with these gods and that of the Jehovah of Judaism. Not the least of these parallels is the existence of the “book (of life)” of Jehovah (Ex. 32:32-33; Rev. 22:19) and the “tablet of life” of Nebo,[6] and the claim of exclusivity of worship (Deut. 10:20; 1 Sam. 7:3; Matt. 4:10) in Judaic tradition and the words “Trust in Nabu; do not trust in any other god”[7]of the Babylonian tradition.    

Ruins of the Temple of Bel, Palmyra, Syria

Motyer outlines Isaiah 46:1-13 in a particularly useful way:[8]

A             The Burdening gods (1-2)

B             The burden-bearing God (3-4)

C             The made gods, burdens without saving power (5-7)

D             The making God (8-11)

E              The saving God (12-13)

This seems an eminently reasonable division of the passage and fairly communicates the issues the text is crafted to address, namely:

1. That the idols and gods rebellious Judah has chosen only weigh them down; but the God who is God waits to bear them and all their burdens.

2. That the gods which human hands can make are less than the hands that make them, but the God who is the Maker of human hands (and everything else) can rescue, can save His creation as we shall see below.

Defenseless Deities

Although an oblique reference to the pomp of their annual New Year procession may be the background in verses 1-2, Bel and Nebo are now portrayed as “stooping” and “bowing down.” Oswalt translates the Hebrew as “Bel crouches, Nebo cowers.” Whether taking these words as indicative of weariness and exhaustion (as seems most consistent with the remainder of the pericope), or as a sign of fear, defeat, and cowardice, these gods are presented in a distinctly inferior light. They cannot save those who most devoutly serve and worship them.  

Bel - Marduk

In point of fact, they are less than ineffectual; they are a positive burden on beasts and believers, alike. The text paints a vivid picture upon the canvas of the mind: “. . . these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary animals” (v. 1b). When that to which one turns for relief becomes, itself, a wearying and useless burden, then the value of continuing one’s relationship with it might well be called into question.

It might also be asked in what way(s) these gods and their idols have become burdensome. In addition to their financial cost, physical weight and transportation, John D. W. Watts argues that idols represented false socio-economic structures. He says, “As the swastika represented the National Socialist party, or the hammer and sickle represent Marxist Communism, so specific idols represented ways of life for their adherents.”[9] As illustration of this point, he continues: “When Rachel took [the little household idols mentioned in Gen. 31:32], it was like stealing a lockbox full of land deeds.”

Watts builds on this claim, offering additional support, to drive home the point that the idols are connected to philosophical constructs of human worth and social interaction that were always at odds with the religio-cultural core springing from the heart of the worship of Jehovah. As he says, “Israel was called to see in YHWH’s covenant and the torah the symbols of a way of life that contrasted sharply with the paganism of Canaan’s idols. . . .The temptation to Israel to follow these pagan value systems was as pernicious for the ancient Israelites as it is for us today.”[10]

Nebo

Further on, Watts specifies some of the particular issues Jehovah condemned in Babylon.[11] These included a sense of invulnerability and autonomy, and the pride that spawns a sense of entitlement and privilege (Isa. 41-47). She said, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children” (47:8b). In this, Babylon stands in the stead of every empire in its hour of triumph and power. Flushed with the arrogance that is the wine of human success, how quickly nations forget the Hand that blessed them and the responsibility to shelter those less fortunate which attends all such blessings!

But now, Bel and Nebo no longer boast and strut; they bow and stoop. Now they are a burden; they not only cannot deliver their worshippers, they cannot even deliver themselves. Are they being borne along in festival procession or are they being carted away by a conquering nation? It really makes no difference for in either case they have the same vanity and vacuousness. They are exposed as frauds and imposters.

Emotional and Rational Elements of Idolatry

That humans are creatures who, in their best state, are indivisible from emotion and reason cannot be logically denied. Although they are called to chasten and discipline these elements of their natures (by, for example, the call to love the Lord supremely with all the heart and mind – Deut. 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 30:6, Mark 12:33, et al) yet the proper function and role of emotion or reason is never denied. One can see this in the succession of fasts and feasts ordained by God in the annual cycle of ancient Israel’s rhythm of life. Fasts, being times of deep introspection when everyone from the individual to the entire nation was called back to the first principles of the Covenant and to self-examination, were times of holy solemnity and sober reflection. The feasts were near-carnivals of celebration; joyous cultural and religious festivals when the people of God jubilantly rejoiced in the benefits of their covenantal relationship with God and the blessings they received through it.

During times of spiritual declension, idolatry seems to have shaped a measure of the emotive and rational expression of the national and individual lives. Suggestions of this may be found in the declaration that the heart was involved in the pursuit of other gods (see Deut. 29:18, 30:17, 1 Kings 11:4). This pursuit of false gods was a direct violation of the instruction (found in Psalm 37:4 and elsewhere) to “take delight in the Lord” and the command (mentioned above) to love the Lord with all one’s heart.

In addition to informing the emotional part of human nature, idolatry was also often positioned to appeal to the intellectual component of the human constitution. Nebo is said to have been particularly associated with scholarship and writing, the patron of scribes.[12] As the Greeks of the Apostle Paul’s day found the message of the cross repugnant to reason and their love of a worldly form of intellectualism, so the religion involved in the worship of false gods often masqueraded as being intellectually superior.[13] Thus did idolatry captivate the mind and passions and seduce God’s people with false promises of power, prestige, and pelf.

Henk Leene said, “Men make images, and images demand divinity. In the trial with the peoples, gods are reduced to the proportions of their images: they lay claim to being greater than images, but history proves the contrary.”[14] Thus do humans ultimately diminish themselves by making gods of their own preferences and prejudices. 

The God Who Can

Jehovah asks for a summary judgment based upon His past, demonstrated character. He says, in essence (and in words that remind one of Jesus’ words in Matt. 11:28), “You who are wearied by the burden of the gods you must carry; you who are worn down by the weight of religion that does not sustain or deliver; remember me! I have carried you from your birth, even before birth, while you were yet in the womb. I will carry you even in old age. I made you! I will sustain you! I will support you! I will save you! I am your incomparable God!” (personal paraphrase).

Idols may be gilded with gold (v. 6a) and be beautifully crafted (v. 6b) but, though humans give their hearts and souls to them (v. 6c) they offer nothing in return . . . . nothing but the endless labor of striving to maintain their appearance of credibility and power. Walton (et al) says that “The images of deities in Mesopotamia were fed, dressed and even washed daily.”[15] But let memory be swift and accurate: review the whole record of God’s dealing with His people, from ancient times down to the present moment. His acts of faithfulness and provision are continually affirmed.

God’s ‘Bird of Prey’

To prove His claim that He is able to “carry” and “save” (v.4b) and that He will “save Israel for His glory” (v. 13), God now announces that He will bring “a bird of prey from the east.” According to Childs, this constitutes “His call of Cyrus . . . . the final evidence of God’s keeping His word of promise and fulfilling His purpose in the affairs of history.”[16] Since Cyrus’ emblem was said to be an eagle emblazoned on his standards, Childs and some others take this to be a reference to God’s use of him, a pagan emperor, to do His divine will. This would, of course, instantly show God’s superiority over the idols humans worshipped. God is able to take natural enemies of his people and cause them to do them good. But, as Oswalt states, one need not see such specificity in this reference. It is enough to recognize that God’s deliverance will come “with all the suddenness of a hawk falling on a rabbit.”[17]

God will fulfill His promise to redeem and restore His people; that He will do it may be trusted because of His past works and because He is not a lifeless, powerless creature (like the idols) but the all-powerful, ever-living Creator. 

Summary

The ‘Problem of Idolatry’ is multi-faceted. It involves a corruption of the affections, of the faculty of reason, and an estrangement from the true and living God. As has been noted earlier, idolatry is able to masquerade as wisdom, personal fulfillment and material success, even nationalism. It involves a trust in and relationship to created things like that which belongs to the Creator-God, alone. It is deceitful and damning and cannot fulfill what it proposes.

The cure of idolatry is to “remember”; to call to mind the words and works of the living God and then to return to Him precisely at the point of our divergence from Him.

As the Book of Isaiah elsewhere implores, “. . . let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7). 

——————————————————————————- 

Bibliography

Childs, Brevard S. ‘Isaiah.’ Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2001.

Gileadi, Avraham, ed. ‘Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration.’ Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 1988.

Leene, Henk. “Isaiah 46:8 – Summons to be Human.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. October 1984 9: 111-121. (accessed via EBSCO on February 22, 2011).            

Motyer, J. Alec. ‘The Prophecy of Isaiah.’ Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 1993.

Oswalt, John N. ‘NICOT: The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39.’ Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1986.

Oswalt, John N. ‘NICOT: The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66.’ Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1986.

Pentateuchal Targumim, ‘The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel’ targum.info
http://targum.info/pj/pjgen1-6.htm (accessed March 01, 2011).

Van Der Toorn, Karel, Bob Becking and Pieter W. Van Der Horst, eds. ‘Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible.’ Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1999.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas. ‘The Bible Background Commentary.’ Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 2000.

 Blighting Burdens

 Yet there is no real comparison between Jehovah and the gods of Babylon and Assyria. “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, as though we were alike?” God demands (46:5).

Lectionary:          Advent 3

Date:     December 12, 2010 AM

Ol Suit.

Isaiah was a prophet of God, sent with a divine message to God’s people living in the Eighth Century BC. This was roughly 300 years following the reign of King David; approximately 200 years since the kingdom of Israel was divided by civil war. Isaiah was God’s messenger in the southern kingdom, the kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem was the capital of this nation and yet the religion of his day had grown cold and formal. People attended worship but had no real enthusiasm for God. There was a lot of talk about God and, like our day, a lot of national patriotism, but the hearts of the people were not turned toward God. In truth, most people not only did not love God, they scarcely even thought of Him anymore.

                Isaiah was sent with a difficult message: (Isaiah 1:19-20) “If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

                Yet, God knew that Judah would not be obedient to His voice; they were proud, religious, and would not hear the prophets that were sent to them. They had stopped listening to the truth that might have spared them and their nation. So, God told Isaiah to tell them what was about to happen so that when it happened, they would know that God had been speaking to them. So Isaiah told them that God said that the Assyrian Empire was coming and would destroy their Temple, devastate their towns and cities, and carry away their young people and children into harsh slavery. The details of Isaiah’s prophecy are so particular and clear that skeptics have said it must have been written after the Assyrian invasion took place.

                However, the prophecy came to pass just as Isaiah had said. It would be two hundred years before the Jews would return to their land in any significant numbers. By then, the Babylonian Empire had swallowed up the Assyrian Empire, and the pagan people who would become known as Samaritans would be transplanted into Israel as an attempt by Babylon to dilute the strength of the Israelites and to weaken their religion.

                Today, we focus our attention on what Isaiah prophesies about the coming age when the King of Kings, whom we know by name as our Lord Jesus Christ, will rule the earth and bring a reign of peace and true safety to our troubled planet. After wars have ceased, after plagues and disease are vanquished, after fear and danger are destroyed, joy wins!

THE GREAT REVERSAL
(35:1–10)

There’s a New World Coming!  (35:1–2, 5–10)

The wilderness and barren places will bloom.

These are symbols of chaos and emptiness. As such, they symbolize society as it becomes when God is rejected and excluded from its public discourse and its private morals and ethics. But in verses 1-2, these barren wastelands become beautiful gardens symbolizing that a great reversal has taken place; a total change. How could this happen? What could bring such radical change?

The lame will walk, and the mute will shout and sing. And…

The blind will see, and the deaf will hear (35:5).

Here we have symbols of human impotence. Each of these represents a human limitation and impossibility. We know the lame cannot walk. We know the mute cannot shout and sing. We know that the blind cannot see. We know that the deaf cannot hear. Each of these is defined by what they cannot do.

But some Power has enabled these to do what they could not do by themselves. What Power could this be?

A Highway of Holiness will be built (35:8–10).

Now we begin to discover the reason for the great reversal and the change from misery to rejoicing, from chaos and emptiness to order and abundance. A Highway of Holiness has been built throughout this land. This is a picture of a people whose business and lives are run along godly principles. These godly principles are defined in Scripture as “holiness”. This is conduct that reflects the priorities and mission of God in the world.

Humans are forever making little rules and lists to define holiness. But God explains holiness in terms of relationship to Himself. He says, “. . . but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). He further defines holiness in terms of our relationship to others. Hebrews 12:14 says: “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

God commands us to be holy in the way that He is holy; by giving attention to the things He does and the priorities He has set. Holiness is, then, to live life in a way that demonstrates that we care about the people He cares about and give our time, talents, and treasure to the things He says are important. Holiness is not a matter of following man-made rules. It is our life reflecting God’s heart!

The Highway of Holiness symbolizes that the people of this renewed world are doing what God wants done in this world.

Building a New World requires three things: The People of God, The Word of God, and The Spirit of God (35:3–4)

The People of God

As we have already mentioned, we – the people of God – have a role to fulfill in bringing holiness to life in this world.

We are to:

i. live in holiness and work for justice

ii. speak the Word of God into the chaos of our times

iii. expect the Holy Spirit to break in to help us in fulfilling God’s mission on earth.

The Word of God

In verses 3-4 we are commanded to participate with God in bringing about this change. We are to:

i. Strengthen the weak hands.

ii. Make firm the weak knees.

iii. Speak hope and confidence to the fearful and weak-hearted.

iv. This hope is anchored in the message that:

-              “God is coming!

-              “God is coming with justice to set things right!”

-              “God is coming to save you!” 

The Spirit of God

Verse 6 tells us that waters and springs will “burst forth” in the driest and most wasted of places. This lively water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. (John 7:38-39.)

(Refer to Ezekiel 47 for the increasing flow of this water.)

We are not alone in our work to strengthen what is weak. We are not alone when we are out telling the Good News that God is coming and God cares and God saves! God is with us!

APPLICATION

How will it all end?

Sometimes, when we look around at the chaos of our world, it is difficult to see how it will all end. This past week the news has been filled with the stories of children being murdered by their parents and dumped, like so much garbage, by the side of the road. Evil people are hard at work across the world, practicing cruelty and mayhem in seemingly endless ways.

It reminds us of the words to the Christmas song:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), 1867)

As verse 10 says “…the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” -Ps. 30:5

Joy wins!

Introduction: It was a time of heating by wood and coal. A time when fires had to be tended or darkness and cold would soon fill the room. It was a time when fire was precious – when to let it die out meant having to seek an ember from a neighbor or else find a flint and start a new one.

Ol Suit.

An old man sits below ground-level, in a dank, dark cell. The flickering light of a small fire, perhaps, his only illumination. Before him is the precious parchment upon which he is composing a final letter to a dear, young friend. His task is to write this letter – and then death.

There was a time when those who knew this man had such high hopes for him. Back in his youth, he was educated at the feet of the most celebrated of teachers. His was the equivalent of an Ivy League education. He was a student of Gamaliel, he was a high officer in his religious society, a young man from the right sort of family…who had power, prestige, and promise.

Outside the Mamertine Prison

But long ago he turned his back on all of that to spread the message of a penniless Jewish rabbi who had not ended well. You would have thought anyone so highly trained, so well-bred, so seemingly intelligent, and passionate to succeed would have chosen better. But this man chose to follow a rabbi so utterly ignorant of worldly ways that he ended up crucified on a Roman cross.

In choosing to follow that ill-fated rabbi, the man had turned his back on a good and prosperous life to drift around the Mediterranean region, preaching, teaching, testifying . . . and running for his life, in between. One of his letters told of the life he had found in exchange for the life of privilege and comfort he had given up. Accused of not being a real minister, of being not good enough to minister, and being compared to other, “better” preachers, he wrote:

   23  Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24  Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.
   26  I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27  I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
   28  Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29  Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? 30  If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 31  God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.
   32  When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 33  I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him. (2 Cor. 11:23-33 NLT)

          And now he is coming to the end. The entrance to his small cell is no bigger than a manhole cover above his head. The ceiling here is so low that he cannot stand fully upright. No sunlight reaches this place. He must keep the fire going or sit in total darkness. Thus he writes by the firelight.

Man standing in Paul's cell.

Time is short and not much life remains. Of all the churches he has planted not one sends a word or a friend to stand with him now. But he is not bitter. Nor is he afraid. He only longs to impart to his young friend the value of all that he has gained in following that so-called failed Jewish rabbi, Jesus. And he wants to communicate to Timothy the importance of keeping that inner-fire going – of not letting your spiritual passion die.

 I. The Greeting

A. A Personal Greeting

1. Written to his young friend and protégé, Timothy.

2. Paul describes himself as one sent by God with the message of Christ.

a. Thus he sees himself in terms of his participation in the mission of God to redeem the world.

B. A Passionate Greeting

1. Note the “tears” of young Timothy.

2. No doubt this may have something to do with the fact that Timothy looks to Paul as a “father figure” (see 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2) – his father not having been a believer (see Acts 16:1, 3).

II. The Gospel

A. Paul an “apostle”

1. “One who is sent” with a special mission or message.

2. The Message he carried, was the Gospel.

a. The word “Gospel” means “good news”

3. Yet Paul had “suffered” much (v. 8 ) to carry the “good news”.

4. Still, it continued to be authentically “good news” because through it we become aware that Jesus Christ has:

a. “abolished death” (made death of no significance) because He counteracted it completely since He also…

b. “brought life” . . .

c. . . . and “brought . . . immortality”.

5. This, then, is the good news . . . that Jesus Christ, God’s Son and Savior for the World, has come as promised and has robbed sin and death of their power and the grave of its grip by the offer of real and endless life!

III. the Goal

A. Paul envisions an end.

1. He is not ignorant of how things will end.

a. In 4:6-8, at the close of this letter to Timothy, Paul speaks of how he envisions his impending death. He knows that it is near.

2. But death is not the end for Paul. Like a boy about to have his school photo taken or waiting before his first date’s front door might spit on his hand and slick his hair down, so Paul is prepared to meet the Master at the end of his life! Death was not the end!

B. Paul entrusts his eternity to Christ.

1. (v. 12) “…I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

a. Here is a trust that is rock-solid and unshakeable!

IV. The Gift

A. A Gift accompanied by “Laying on of Hands”.

1. This is a very specific term and one that tells us that Paul is talking about one of two “gifts”.

a. Although the early church laid hands on people for their healing, no “gift” was then given. Rather…

b. In Acts 8:17 and several other places this phrase is used to describe the way in which the Apostles prayed for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

b. The second way in which “laying on of hands” was used to impart a gift was in the act of ordaining someone to a particular ministry.

i. In Acts 6:6, the apostles laid hands on 7 men as they ordained them to be deacons.

ii. In 1 Timothy 5:22 (and several other places) it is used in this way. It is this – Timothy’s ordination and the particular gift he received then to fulfill God’s call on his life – that Paul is referring to.

B. A Gift that must be keep fresh and passionate.

1. This world is spiritually cold. It will gradually numb the heart and deaden our spiritual senses. Unless we keep “stirring up the gift” we will surely develop lukewarm hearts and cold, dead faith.

2. So we are told not to “quench the Spirit” – not to put out the Spirit’s fire (NIV) – in 1 Thessalonians 5:19. We must guard against everything that would draw our souls away from God’s will and God’s plans and God’s desires.

3. The world and the devil are always conspiring to damn our souls. Only by the most faithful obedience and diligent pursuit of God’s will can we escape their ruinous power!

a. As the writer of Hebrews so fearfully asks, (Hebrews 2:3)  “…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation..?”

C. To “stir up” means to…

1. “rekindle, to ignite, to inflame”

D. We are in desperate need of such a rekindling now.

1. Who is to stir up the gift? (We are. This echoes the Old Testament promise found in 2 Chronicles 7:14.)

2. God will meet us as we fast and pray, as we search our hearts and God’s Word, as we are faithful to our biblical Christian duties.

3. 2 Chronicles 7:14 still stands as His promise to revive and renew!

Ol Suit.

Introduction: It was the time of the divided kingdom. Old Israel had broken into two parts, one southern (named Judah) and one northern (retaining the name of Israel). Like those dark and Acherontic days when our own nation was divided North and South, there was hostility between brothers. Men, whose families once fought side by side against a common enemy, now found their allegiances divided. There are many sad stories to be told of these days.

          The northern kingdom of Israel now went its own way spiritually, too. The old capital of Jerusalem lay to the south in the kingdom of Judah and with it the Temple, center of Israelite worship and heart of God’s witness in the earth. The southern kingdom still had a righteous king. King Asa was in the 38^th of what would eventually be 41 years of relatively positive governance over that southern kingdom.

But here in the north, where our text takes places, a weak and foolish king had made a shrewd and wicked woman his queen. King Ahab had married a woman whose very name has (because of her!) become a synonym for evil, vanity, and cruelty. Her name was Jezebel.

Jezebel was the child of an evil Phoenician king, Ethbaal, who ruled the city-state of Sidon and the surrounding territory. The pagan religions flourishing in her homeland were wicked beyond my power to describe. They involved ritualized prostitution and every form of known immorality, even – at times – infant sacrifice. Jezebel learned well the strange and horrid lessons of those pleasure-promoting religions. She learned to do anything she wanted – never mind the impact and cost to others. She learned to be selfish and murderous and scheming. She learned to despise the God of Israel and to hate His prophets. Time and again she turned the power of Israel’s armies against the godly and innocent until, at last, the entire kingdom lay under a thick cloud of sin and hopelessness. Ahab, weak as he was, was powerless to stop her and her sin, even if he had wanted to.

Baal

There was one man who stood in the way of Jezebel having everything she wanted. That man was the prophet, Elijah. Elijah was a man of rough habits and holy fire. Like John the Baptist, centuries later, he wore rough clothing and lived a wilderness lifestyle. He was God’s man. What God sent him to say, he said. Where God sent him to go, he went. And Jezebel hated that good man more than all the other godly souls in Israel!

Our text tells us that Elijah was commanded by God to hide out in the wilderness by one of the small streams that was tributary to the Jordan River. By God’s design, as a drought lasting three and a half years held the rest of the country in its burning grip, this small brook continued to flow with water for some time. There, away from the searching soldiers of Jezebel’s palace, Elijah was safe and God sent ravens (as Heaven’s own Air Force!) to feed him.

But the day came when the stream ran dry. When your stream runs dry in the midst of a drought with “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” out trying to find you in order to kill you it just may shake your faith a bit. It will shake your faith . . . unless you remind yourself that (as the Psalmist said) YOUR “help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth!”

God told the prophet Elijah to get up and go into Jezebel’s own backyard. You will remember that Sidon is Jezebel’s homeland and its king is her wicked father. And that’s exactly where God told His prophet to go! Not to some safe place in a distant land where there was no challenge to his faith and no danger to his life; no! God told the prophet to get into a place where only God was big enough to help him!

Sometimes we wonder why we don’t see God’s hand powerfully move as He moved in Elijah’s day. I submit to you that it may just be because we aren’t living in that place where God is our only hope and supply! We have money in the bank, food in the pantry, insurance for the doctor and medicine in our cabinets. We have plans for vacations and plans for retirement. And we have laid up enough money to see us through until the end of our lives.

Listen to me! I am not saying there’s anything wrong with any of that. It’s good to do our best to prepare for the future. But we must not be deceived into thinking that they are our hope and security! The Bible warns us against being taken in by “the deceitfulness of wealth” in Matthew 13:22 and Mark 4:19.   Money comes and goes; nations rise and fall; good times are here and gone. But God remains faithful! His promises are not dependent upon the banks being strong or our pocketbooks being full! If need be, He’ll send ravens to feed His child and provide water in a dry land! GOD is our HOPE and SECURITY!

So Elijah treks down into that heathen territory (ruled by Jezebel’s wicked father) to a certain widow whom God has prepared to take care of him. You heard the story read this morning and perhaps it struck you, as it has surely struck me, that God has a strange way of preparing this widow to take care of His prophet. He didn’t send her a message by angels. He didn’t speak to her in a dream. He did not even cause one of the pagan rituals being pursued by her neighbors to cast an omen giving her instruction concerning how she ought to help Elijah, God’s servant.

No. The only thing God appears to have done is . . . let her food supply run down.

Would you agree with C. S. Lewis[1] that “God whispers in our pleasures…but shouts in our pain?” As her food supply dwindles, and she and her son grow weaker by the day, and with no one in that greedy, sin-saturated country to help a needy widow, the reality of her situation began to impress itself upon her mind. Death was the only outcome. Starvation was inevitable.

Though she was just a pagan widow, she had heard about the God of Israel. And she seems to have held on to some notion of who the God of Israel is and of His power. Look with me at verse 12 of chapter 17.

“…she said, ‘As the LORD (the word is what we pronounce as “Jehovah”) your God lives…’”

          This nameless widow, this woman of pagan ancestry who had no part in Israel’s covenant with God, here gives testimony to the fact that, although she had no right to call Elijah’s God her God, she knew Him to be the LIVING God! (Are you convinced of that? Is your God alive?)

Notice, please:

THE WAY OF THE WIDOW

I. The Widow’s Plight

A. “myself and my son…may eat…and die” –v. 12b

1. Hear the sad certainty of her helpless and hopeless condition.

2. A final act of kindness for her child and then – there is nothing to look forward to but death!

II. The Widow’s Faith

A. “the Lord (Jehovah) your God lives” –v. 12

1. Here is faith even Israel’s King Ahab lacked!

B. “make me a small cake from it FIRST” –v. 13

C. “she went and did according to the word” –v.15

1. Her faith prompted action. All real faith is expressed in our actions and conduct.

a. As James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, wrote in the book of the Bible that bears his name, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).

2. Sometimes God doesn’t speak to us directly, but through His servants or messengers. Are you listening for a word from the Lord? That word will always be in agreement with His written Word, the Bible.

3.  She was obedient to the message delivered by the Lord’s servant.

III. The Widow’s Supply

A. “The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.” –v. 16

1. Because she BELIEVED in the LIVING God.

2. Because she HEARD the Word of the Lord.

3. Because she ACTED on what she HEARD and BELIEVED.

4. …the widow received the supply of God and was sustained through those perilous days.

B. Are you following ‘the way of the Widow?’

1. Is your God alive? Do you really believe He is?

2. Are you listening to the Word of God…or are your circumstances (the culture, TV, what friends think, or even your own likes and dislikes) setting the agenda of your life?

3. Are you living and acting in accordance with your Bible-shaped beliefs?

4. God is still the God who supplies daily bread and all we need.

1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.

2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

3 “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

4 “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.

5 “But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’

6 “And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.

7 “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.

8 “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

9 “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

10 “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’

—-

1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.

2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

3 “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

4 “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.

5 “But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’

6 “And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.

7 “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.

8 “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

9 “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

10 “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’

b: The Power of Obedience

Date: July 4, 2010 AM

Ol Suit.

 Introduction: We have sometimes heard it said that “might makes right”. By this those who say such things mean that whatever the powerful want to do is okay…simply because no one can stop them.

     And, truth be told, much of our world operates along that rule. The Chinese government persecutes and terrorizes the harmless Christian House Churches…not for some great crime which they have committed…but simply because the government has the power to do it.

     Nor is this an exclusively Oriental problem. Even here in our own land there are those who tread upon the poor worker simply because the poor have no power to prevent it. Often the sons of the wealthy are excused for violations of the law which would see a poor man’s son jailed. Don’t tell me this is not so for I have seen it with my own eyes.

     And thus it is that there are times when even the good citizens of a nation will begin to fear that “might makes right”. Or that the real ‘Golden Rule’ is that “those who have the gold…make the rules”.

     Jesus recognized the dangers that exist in this world when He declared to His followers that He was sending them out “as lambs among wolves”. What a picture that is! I have lived in sheep-raising country – out in the rugged landscape of the State of Wyoming – and I know something about sheep. But it doesn’t take much acquaintance with sheep to know that they are no match for wolves. Sheep have no “canine” teeth…those most important teeth with which a member of the dog or wolf family defends itself. They have no claws with which to defend against an attacker. Truth be told, domesticated sheep are perhaps among the defenseless creatures in all the world!

     But Jesus didn’t say, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves”. No. He said, “I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” Lambs? If adult sheep are helpless, what is a lamb? We’ll answer that question in just a moment but, first, let us look at the exact command Jesus made to these first witnesses of His Good News.

The Sending of the Seventy(-two)[1]

The Setting – An Overwhelming Harvest

 In verse 2 Jesus tells His sent ones “the harvest is plentiful”.

 It is a harvest that exceeds the ability of those presently working to bring it in. Therefore…

 We are to “ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.”

 By this Jesus taught two great truths:

 First, Prayer – that earthly contact with our Heavenly Father – is absolutely necessary.

– Prayer will move the hand of God to send more workers into the harvest field. And…

 Secondly, The Harvest is under the control of the Lord!

– He is the One Who calls, prepares, and sends forth workers into the harvest field.

– He is the One to Whom the Field Belongs.

– He is “the Lord of the Harvest”!

 The Seventy(-two) are to be among the first workers to enter the Harvest field.

 In verse 3 Jesus says to them, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”

 Not only are they to go as defenseless as a lamb (i. e. “without purse, or bag or sandals”) but they, like lambs in the presence of wolves, will be the focus of much evil intent.

 When they preach the Good News of the Kingdom both devils and evil men will oppose them.

 When they identify themselves as being on the side of good and right and holiness…when they take their place under the Gospel banner of Divine Love…then the unredeemed and the unrighteous and the demonic will plot against them and harass them and scheme to bring them down…just as wolves do with lambs.

  Ah! But these lambs have a Shepherd like no other! He is a Shepherd Who fully identifies with His lambs. He will have His eye upon them and will even be able to view the effects of their harvest work (as verses 16 & 18 indicate).

  But how shall these lambs react to the wolves? Should they learn to fight like wolves? No. (“I thought about titling this sermon, ‘Sheep Don’t Howl At The Moon’ to illustrate that sheep don’t behave like wolves, but like sheep!) Instead, Jesus outlines a holy, harmless life for His “lambs” to imitate:

•  Let the “Peace” of Christ be your entrée and introduction.
•  Stay put wherever God opens a door and don’t go looking for “greener pastures”.
•  While you are never to practice the evils of the society in which you minister, still, it is your duty to minister within that culture as far as is possible. (“Eat what is set before you.”)[2]
•  Minister to those who are most in need of ministry. (“Go to the sick; heal them.”)
•  And everywhere let this be your message: “God’s kingdom is near you.” That is to say, being a part of the Divine Revolution is an attainable goal. God is breaking into human history to reconstruct the broken human family through His Son. His Kingdom, His rule over the world, His power to regenerate a world that is dead through the awful effects of sin, is within reach of everyone. No soul is too lost to be saved; no heart is so evil but what it can be made righteous; no life is so ruined but what God’s Grace can rebuild and bless it!

 The Success ­– The Seventy(-two) Return Rejoicing

 Long years before, the Psalmist had written these words: (Psalm 126:6)  “He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

 The Seventy(-two) return to Jesus rejoicing, in spite of the fact that they had faced opposition.

 They had faced the powers of hell itself and were happy to report that “even the demons submit to us in [Jesus’] Name!”

 Jesus reminds them that they are not to rejoice because they have power over demons, but because they have left off doing the bidding of demons and have joined the side of those who are on God’s side…those whose “names are written in Heaven”.

 And this is ever to be the source of our joy! Not that we can order devils around …but that we are living and acting under orders from Christ!

 Bob Dylan wisely sings, You’re gonna have to serve somebody; it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody!”

 The lie is that we are our own boss. That we call the shots in our life. But men’s choices are influenced most by the things they prize and highly value. Only those who know the inestimable value of Jesus are free to choose what is best.

  What about those “lambs”?

   The Power of Lambs

    Last Sunday, we studied about three people (in Luke 9:51-62) who said the right things, but weren’t in any hurry to do what Jesus commanded.

     They said, “I will follow You (Jesus) but…” and then offered some excuse as to why they couldn’t obey His call on their life right then.

    Today we see the power of saying and doing what God wants us to say and do. These disciples went out just as Jesus had commanded them to go and did just as He commanded them to do.

    What was the result? In verse 18 Jesus made one of the most powerful statements in Scripture:

    He said, “while you seventy(-two) were all out obeying my command to go and my command to do and my command to be…I was seeing[3] the effect of your words and of your witness.

    It is as if Jesus was saying, “While you were obeying my command to “go and tell”…not only were demons forced to submit to My Word working through you…but I also was watching Satan himself being toppled from the skies on account of your faithfulness!”

     This is “the power of lambs”…it is not in themselves, but in their belonging to a mighty Shepherd Whose Word is enough to make demons submit. Before you dismiss this as the product of the fevered imagination of a country preacher, allow me to illustrate my point:

– Words are powerful things! Who would dispute the earth-shaking effect our own Declaration of Independence has had? Yet that document is only words…but words of truth, when joined with deeds of truth, can move even the mightiest mountains!

     You and I are those lambs sent forth in the presence of wolves. We have no strength in ourselves. Our protection and power lies in our Shepherd!

    As we go through our daily lives, as we journey across our part of this world, let us announce His Kingdom, His Peace, His Healing! And let us point humanity to Him…Jesus, that other Lamb…The Lamb Whom John says was “slain from the foundation of the world”![4]

    And as we speak of Him and of His Kingdom, let us be sure to testify that both He and His Kingdom are near! Through Jesus, anyone can reach His kingdom and have their name recorded there![5]

    This is the power of Christ’s little lambs! Oh! May Satan “fall”, again, because of you and me this week! May our trusting obedience to Jesus result in the battering of Satan’s dark domain! May some sin-sick soul discover help within reach this week…because we, too, go…we, too, speak the peace of Jesus…we, too, have our names written in Heaven!

[1]  Numerous commentators make reference to the fact that the original Greek manuscripts are about equally divided between those which record seventy being sent and those who record seventy-two.

[2]  Stoffregen, Brian in Pericope Online quoting Culpepper: “The host, not the guest, sets the context for the disciple’s witness: ‘Eat what is set before you.’ The disciples do not seek to dictate the menu or impose their own cultural background on others.”

[3]   The Greek renders the word in such a way as to indicate that this “seeing Satan fall like lightning from the skies” was something that, although then past, had continued for some time.

[4]  Revelation 13:8

[5]  see Romans 10:8; Ephesians 2:13, 17; Hebrews 7:19

Three Stages of Ol Suit.

Introduction: This glimpse into the life of Jesus focuses on the issue of discipleship . . . of what it takes to be a genuine Christ-follower.

          In the first half of our text we observe Jesus as He is the victim of religious prejudice. The Samaritans and the Jews despised one another. Their religious customs were fairly close seeing that the religion of the Samaritans was based on Jewish Scripture and custom. But the differences between them were of a nature as made them confirmed enemies.

          In the opening verses of our text, Jesus is doing what few Jews of the first century would have done – He was traveling through Samaria on His way to Jerusalem. Most Jews would have willingly traveled many miles to go around – and not through – the land of the Samaritans. But Jesus loved them and showed them the love of God in every way possible.

          But as Jesus searches for a place to spend the night in Samaria, as happened at His birth in Bethlehem, He finds no room in the inn. He is rejected because He was on His way to worship in Jerusalem. Samaritans worshiped in Samaria on Mount Gerizim, Jews worshiped in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. If Jesus wouldn’t worship they way they wanted, they wouldn’t make room for Him.

          (It’s sad how many today care more about forms of worship than in having the presence of Jesus in their worship.)

          The disciples of Jesus reacted angrily. Once, long centuries before, the prophet Elijah had called down fire from heaven which destroyed some evil Samaritans. James and John now beg permission to do it again but Jesus tells them “No!”, says that they are not acting in accordance with His attitudes, and simply moves on to the next receptive community.

          But while they were walking along the road, Jesus encounters three people who have an interest in being a disciple. Unfortunately, they each have some excuse why they cannot follow Him right now.

          Mark this down somewhere: When it comes to obeying God, to delay is to deny. Respond with a hearty “yes!” when Christ is calling.

I. Three RESPONSES To THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIp

A. “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” – vs. 57

1. The emphasis here is on the destination. The implication here is that this would-be disciple was expecting Jesus to provide housing and whatever else might be needed.

2. Jesus does not reject the man but merely points out that while the animals of the earth have shelter, He – though he was Israel’s Messiah – had no place on this earth to call His own.

3. If the would-be disciple would follow Jesus, He must be willing to accept the hardships and sacrifices it would require. (How about us?)  

B. “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” – vs. 59

1. Now, here is a religious duty. To bury one’s father was not merely a family responsibility but a sacred task, as well.

2. Some commentators point out that the man’s father is not said to be dead, thus he may merely be very ill or dying. This would mean an indefinite amount of time would pass before the man would truly follow Jesus.

3. Others point out that, under the indigenous system, a person was not considered buried until decay had resulted in their bones being cleaned of all tissue. This process could take up to a year. Then the bones of the dead were gathered up and buried in small ossuaries within the “white-washed sepulchers” that dotted the landscape. This was another long delay between the call to follow Christ and the promised future obedience.

4. Jesus replies that the (spiritually) dead should go and bury the (physically) dead . . . but those who would be His disciples must go (now!) and preach the Good News of the Kingdom!

C. “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” – vs. 61

1. Here is a family obligation that a man wishes to fulfill. Think! What he proposes is not extreme or unusual. Wouldn’t we all want to go back and tell our families that we were going to be off and traipsing around the country with Jesus? We wouldn’t want them to worry, would we?

2. Jesus replies that double-mindedness disqualifies us. We cannot be vacillate or waver between being His disciple and anything else. He demands our total allegiance and obedience. 

II. Conclusion

A. What point was Jesus making here? Why would He insist on such complete obedience and loyalty?

1. Simply this: Jesus is God wrapped in the garment of human flesh. He never acted contrary to his divine identity. And God is not bargained with; God is to be obeyed. Period.

2. Did you notice that in each case (above), the respondent begins their statement by calling Jesus “Lord”? Their lips were saying one thing but their heart was visible in what they did. This is the point Jesus made in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

3. It is not enough to parrot the language of Christ, to be able to recite His words, or give lip-service to His teachings. Only those whose lives give evidence of submission to His Father’s will and obedience to His Word are qualified to “enter the kingdom.”

B. The Peril of Living an Excuse

1. We each have some excuse in mind when we don’t live up to our commitment to follow Jesus fully and faithfully. What keeps us from being faithful to God? or faithful to his Church?

2. Like those folk in our text we often use our families, our desire for material things, or even religious duties become an excuse for not doing what we know we ought to do.

3. Every now and then some people will ask, “Pastor, what about those who are slipping in their duties to God and His Church?” The answer is simple: those who have heard and responded to the call of Christ will be faithful. They will do what is right because Christ calls them to do it. They will do the things that belong to the life of a disciple . . . because they are disciples! 

Do you have what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? 

Back when Billy Graham first began his crusade ministry, a notorious gangster named Mickey Cohen attended one of the meetings in Beverly Hills.  The meeting was being led by the young evangelist himself.(1) 

Very few people had heard of Billy Graham at this point.  Mickey Cohen was much better known.  Mickey was attracted to what he heard at the meeting.  Afterwards, Billy and some of the others talked to him about salvation, but he made no commitment at that time. 

A while later a Christian friend read Revelation 3:20 to him – “Behold, I stand at the door….”  The friend then asked Mickey if he wanted this salvation.  He said, “Yes, I do.”  The news of his conversion made quite a sensation, and the ministry of Billy Graham became known across the nation. 

There was only one small problem – nothing in Mickey Cohen’s life changed.  When his friend confronted him about it, Mickey complained: “You didn’t tell me I would have to give up my work!”  [Mafia]  “You didn’t tell me I would have to give up my [criminal] friends!”

Mickey had heard that so-and-so was a Christian athlete, and so-and-so was a Christian actress, so he thought he could be a Christian gangster.

 Do YOU have what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? What difference is your relationship with Jesus Christ making in your life? . . . or in the world?

(1) Holwick’s Illustrations

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

Ol Suit.

Introduction: Our text presents us with a difficult subject. Although it is not mentioned by name, the subject of sin is the focal point of this fragment from the pen of Moses. Everybody has some notion of what sin is and most will admit to having committed it at one or another. But what do we do with our sins? Where do we put them? How may they be taken away? That is what our study will aim to answer – and answer from God’s holy Word.
                During the season of the year that our Jewish friends call, “Yom Kippur” – “The Day of Atonement”. sacrifices would be made to deal with the sins of the Israelites. By doing this, it was promised that a man’s sins would be covered from the sight of God; that he might be forgiven.

          Jews around the world consider Yom Kippur to be one of the holiest of religious memorials.[1] And to this very day the orthodox observance of their ritual involves taking a chicken (a rooster for a man and a hen for a woman) or money in their right hand and revolving it over their head while reciting a prayer. The prayer concludes with the following declaration:

“This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This chicken will go to it’s death (or, if using money, “this money will go to charity”) while I will enter and proceed to a good long life, and peace.”

          Our text tells us something striking. It says, “it is the blood that makes atonement.” Long ago God revealed to man that sin produces death. This death begins the moment one sins, for sin affects the powers of a man’s mind, spirit and body. His relationships are all tainted with it and there is no part of his life that will not be polluted by its awful contamination. And the blood of chickens can do nothing to bring us back to God and spiritual health.

          You will, perhaps, remember that the Bible teaches, “the wages of sin is death”.[2] Such is the terrible shadow which sin casts over all of life.

          But… in the words of the one verse comprising our text, we are given hope – hope that God has provided a remedy for this thing that ceaselessly works to bring us to destruction. The name of that hope is – ATONEMENT.

          My task is to show God’s plan for dealing with man’s sin and, in so doing, proving His love for us.

The History of the Atonement

The Fall of Man

In the book of Genesis we are presented with the story of man’s marvelous creation.  We are also confronted with his rebellion and sin against God.

Tragic as this account is, it is tempered with one solitary ray of hope. In Genesis 3:15 God tells of One Who will come to avenge and deliver mankind from deception and sin. In speaking to the devil God said, this promised One will “crush your head, and you will strike at His heel.” We will return to this statement in a few moments.

The Choosing of a Man & Nation

In His determination to bring man back from sinfulness and misery God selected a man and tried him with many tests. God was not looking for a faultless, flawless man for already the taint of Adam and Eve’s sin had so corrupted humanity as to mar everyone with its evil mark. No. God was looking for someone who would trust him; someone who would believe whatever God said regardless of whether he understood it or not; someone who, after failing, would rise again in faith that God would receive him and use him for holy purposes. That man’s name was Abraham.

The story of Abraham is one which most of you know by heart. And although it is not our focus this worship hour, you need to know two things about this man whom God chose and used:

He was not perfect.

But he trusted God.

And God used Abraham like a Southern cook uses sour-dough; Abraham wasn’t the finished product but he was excellent starter material. His faith was the kind of faith God wanted to replicate in the hearts, minds and lives of others. And that’s exactly what God did.

 Through Abraham God gave birth to the nation of Israel and through Israel God gave the world a Savior. Someone to make “atonement” for our sins. Someone Who would not merely cover sins but cleanse them away through His blood.

The Perpetual Object Lesson

As we mentioned, God promised Adam and Eve that, in spite of their sinful rebellion, He would one day send a Savior/Redeemer to earth Who would utterly break the devil’s power (or, as He said, “crush [the devil’s] head”). But since sin always produces death, someone must die for humanity’s sin…someone Who, unlike humanity, was pure, holy and sinless. Someone Who was harmless and kind, a friend to all whom He would meet. This One would have to die for humanity’s salvation; in fact, because “the life is in the blood”, this One would shed His own blood (until He was dead) and His righteous death would be a substitute for our deserved death. The Holy One would die for the unholy ones, the Loving One would die for the unloving ones. And to remind the world that such a Savior was coming, God had a powerful object lesson prepared.

God required His people annually to take a healthy, perfect lamb and raise it almost as one of the family.[3] In one place in Scripture, this lamb – this pet lamb – was even considered to be “like a daughter” to the family. And when the time had passed; when the season had run its course and the children of the house had grown attached to this soft, fleecy, white lamb, then God required that this innocent creature be taken to the priests and offered at Yom Kippur as a sacrifice for the sins of that family.

Why would God demand this? Was He inflicting cruelty on sinners for the mere joy of watching them squirm? No. But He Whose very essence is love, wanted men to know how Heaven would one day feel when it sent forth His “only begotten Son” – “the Lamb of God” – to take away the sins of the world.

And God’s Lamb would die. He would die an awful – even indescribable – death on Calvary’s…cross for us. Yes. There he would shed His life’s blood to take away your sin and mine.

That is exactly what Jesus did. And that is why every sacrifice made in Old Testament days, only pointed to the great day when He would not only cover our sins from God’s sight, but would take away those sins by washing them from our hearts and minds by His own blood. What an awful price for such a wonderful salvation!

 The Power of the Blood

“It Is The Blood” that…

…Redeems from Sin and Saves from Hell

 1 Peter 1:19 “[You were not redeemed with silver and gold] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

 …Removes the Wrath of God

 Romans 5:9 “Since we now have been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him?”

…Provides Continual Cleansing

 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin.”

 …Gives Freedom from Sin

 Revelation 1:5 “To Him Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.”

 …Gives Victory Over the Devil

 Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;”

“It Is The Blood…for one’s life”

           In the aftermath of the Spanish/American War one highly publicized incident occurred which illustrates the value of the blood of Jesus to the believer. A prominent American businessman, a relative of a highly placed United States politician, was detained and falsely accused of espionage while on business in the country of Spain. For weeks the man was held without counsel or comfort until one day, quite unexpectedly, he was able to escape.

          His predicament was, however, far from over. Although he was no longer a prisoner, in hiding for his life he was not free to leave the country. News reports were circulated which stated flatly that if he should be captured, he would be shot on sight.

          Finally, the day came when he could bear the stress of hiding no more. In fact, the man became so bold as to send an announcement to the papers – telling them of the day on which he would be presenting himself to take passage on a ship bound for America and freedom.

          The government repeated its threats and, true to their word, on the appointed day, armed soldiers ringed the port. A great crowd gathered to witness what would transpire. In hushed tension the crowd scanned the area, expecting that at any moment, a burst of gun fire would be heard.

          Suddenly, out from the midst of that crowd the wanted man appeared – draped in an American flag and attended by the American Ambassador. The Ambassador cried aloud the name of the man whom he was escorting to the ship and made this simple declaration. “I am authorized to say, by order of the President of the United States of America, that if any man, in any way, injures the flag of the United States it shall be deemed an act of war and will be swiftly and severely punished.”

          Without another sound, without so much as a hand reaching out toward the man or a voice rising in anger, the harried businessman swiftly boarded the ship to home and freedom. His enemies couldn’t get at him without going through the flag.

          In ourselves, we are little to nothing in the face of the power and wrath of the devil. BUT! When we are cleansed and covered with the Blood of God’s Lamb, we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us (as Paul said in the book of Romans!) “It is the Blood…” It is still the Blood!

The Cleansing Wave
Words by Phoebe Palmer
Music by Mrs. J.F. Knapp

Oh! now I see the crimson wave,
The fountain deep and wide;
Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save,
Points to His wounded side.

Chorus
The cleansing stream, I see, I see!
I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me!
Oh! praise the Lord, it cleanseth me,
It cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth me!

I see the new creation rise,
I hear the speaking blood;
It speaks! polluted nature dies!
Sinks ‘neath the cleansing flood.

Chorus
The cleansing stream, I see, I see!
I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me!
Oh! praise the Lord, it cleanseth me,
It cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth me!

I rise to walk in heav’n's own light
Above the world and sin.
And Jesus, only Jesus know,
My Jesus crucified.

Chorus
The cleansing stream, I see, I see!
I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me!
Oh! praise the Lord, it cleanseth me,
It cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth me!

[2] Romans 6:23

[3] see 2 Samuel 12:1-4

THE CASE OF REASON IMPARTIALLY CONSIDERED.

           By The Rev. John Wesley 

The Rev. John Wesley, A.M.

 “Brethren, be not children in understanding: Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” <1 Corinthians 14:20>.

1. IT is the true remark of an eminent man, who had made many observations on human nature, “If reason be against a man, a man will always be against reason.” This has been confirmed by the experience of all ages. Very many have been the instances of it in the Christian as well as the heathen world; yea, and that in the earliest times. Even then there were not wanting well meaning men who, not having much reason themselves, imagined that reason was of no use in religion; yea, rather, that it was a hindrance to it. And there has not been wanting a succession of men who have believed and asserted the same thing. But never was there a greater number of these in the Christian Church, at least in Britain, than at this day.

2. Among them that despise and vilify reason, you may always expect to find those enthusiasts who suppose the dreams of their own imagination to be revelation from God. We cannot expect that men of this turn will pay much regard to reason. Having an infallible guide, they are very little moved by the reasonings of fallible men. In the foremost of these we commonly find the whole herd of Antinomians; all that, however they may differ in other respects, agree in “making void the law through faith.” If you oppose reason to these, when they are asserting propositions ever so full of absurdity and blasphemy, they will probably think it a sufficient answer to say, “O, this is your reason;” or “your carnal reason:” So that all arguments are lost upon them: They regard them no more than stubble or rotten wood.

3. How natural is it for those who observe this extreme, to run into the contrary! While they are strongly impressed wish the absurdity of undervaluing reason, how apt are they to over value it! So much easier it is to run from east to west, than to stop at the middle point! Accordingly, we are surrounded will those (we find them on every side) who lay it down as an undoubted principle, that reason is the highest gift of God. They paint it in the fairest colors; they extol it to the skies. They are fond of expatiating in its praise; they make it little less than divine. They are wont to describe it as very near, if not quite, infallible. They look upon it as the all-sufficient director of all the children of men; able, by its native light, to guide them into all truth, and lead them into all virtue.

4. They that are prejudiced against the Christian revelation, who do not receive the Scriptures as the oracles of God, almost universally run into this extreme: I have scarce known any exception: So do all, by whatever name they are called, who deny the Godhead of Christ. (Indeed some of these say they do not deny his Godhead; but only his supreme Godhead. Nay, this is the same thing; for in denying him to be the supreme God, they deny him to be any God at all: Unless they will assert that there are two Gods, a great one and a little one!) All these are vehement applauders of reason, as the great unerring guide. To these over-valuers of reason we may generally add men of eminently strong understanding; who, because they do know more than most other men, suppose they can know all things. But we may likewise add many who are in the other extreme; men of eminently weak understanding; men in whom pride (a very common case) supplies the void of sense; who do not suspect themselves to be blind, because they were always so.

5. Is there, then, no medium between these extremes, — undervaluing and over valuing reason? Certainly there is. But who is there to point it out? — to mark down the middle way? That great master of reason, Mr. Locke, has done something of the kind, something applicable to it, in one chapter of his Essay concerning Human Understanding. But it is only remotely applicable to this: He does not come home to the point. The good and great Dr. Watts has wrote admirably well, both concerning reason and faith. But neither does anything he has written point out the medium between valuing it too little and too much.

6. I would gladly endeavor in some degree to supply this grand defect; to point out, First, to the under-valuers of it, what reason can do; and then to the over-valuers of it, what reason cannot do.

But before either the one or the other can be done, it is absolutely necessary to define the term, to fix the precise meaning of the word in question. Unless this is done, men may dispute to the end of the world without coming to any good conclusion. This is one great cause of the numberless altercations which have been on the subject. Very few of the disputants thought of this; of defining the word they were disputing about. The natural consequence was, they were just as far from an agreement at the end as at the beginning.

ONE.

1. First, then, reason is sometimes taken for argument. So, “Give me a reason for your assertion.” So in Isaiah: “Bring forth your strong reasons;” that is, your strong arguments. We use the word nearly in the same sense, when we say, “He has good reasons for what he does.” It seems here to mean, He has sufficient motives; such as ought to influence a wise man. But how is the word to be understood in the celebrated question concerning the “reasons of things?” particularly when it is asked, An rationes rerum sint aeternae? “Whether the reasons of things are eternal?” Do not the “reasons of things” here mean the relations of things to each other? But what are the eternal relations of temporal things? of things which did not exist till yesterday? Could the relations of these things exist before the things themselves had any existence? Is not, then, the talking of such relations a flat contradiction? Yea, as palpable a one as can be put into words.

2. In another acceptation of the word, reason is much the same with understanding. It means a faculty of the human soul; that faculty which exerts itself in three ways; — by simple apprehension, by judgment, and by discourse. Simple apprehension is barely conceiving a thing in the mind; the first and most simple act of the understanding. Judgment is the determining that the things before conceived either agree with or differ from each other. Discourse, strictly speaking, is the motion or progress of the mind from one judgment to another. The faculty of the soul which includes these three operations I here mean by the term reason.

3. Taking the word in this sense, let us now impartially consider, First, What is it that reason can do? And who can deny that it can do much, very much, in the affairs of common life? To begin at the lowest point: It can direct servants how to perform the various works wherein they are employed; to discharge their duty, either in the meanest offices or in any of a higher nature. It can direct the husbandman at what time, and in what manner, to cultivate his ground; to plough, to sow, to reap, to bring in his corn, to breed and manage his cattle, and to act with prudence and propriety in every part of his employment. It can direct artificers how to prepare the various sorts of apparel, and a thousand necessaries and conveniences of life, not only for themselves and their households but for their neigh hours, whether nigh or afar off: It can direct those of higher abilities to plan and execute works of a more elegant kind. It can direct the painter, the statuary, the musician, to excel in the stations wherein Providence has placed them. It can direct the mariner to steer his course over the bosom of the great deep. It enables those who study the laws of their country to defend the property or life of their fellow-subjects; and those who study the art of healing to cure most of the maladies to which see are exposed in our present state.

4. To ascend higher still: It is certain reason can assist us in going through the whole circle of arts and sciences; of grammar, rhetoric, logic, natural and moral philosophy, mathematics, algebra, metaphysics. It can teach whatever the skill or industry of man has invented for some thousand years. It is absolutely necessary for the due discharge of the most important offices; such as are those of Magistrates, whether of an inferior or superior rank; and those of subordinate or supreme Governors, whether of states, provinces, or kingdoms.

5. All this few men in their senses will deny. No thinking man can doubt but reason is of considerable service in all things relating to the present world. But suppose we speak of other things, — the things of another world; what can reason do here? Is it a help or a hindrance of religion? It may do much in the affairs of men; but what can it do in the things of God?

6. This is a point that deserves to be deeply considered. If you ask, what can reason do in religion? I answer, it can do exceeding much, both with regard to the foundation of it, and the superstructure.

The foundation of true religion stands upon the oracles of God. It is built upon the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Now, of what excellent use is reason, if we would either understand ourselves, or explain to others, those living oracles! And how is it possible without it to understand the essential truths contained therein: a beautiful summary of which we have in that which is called the Apostles’ Creed. Is it not reason (assisted by the Holy Ghost) which enables us to understand what the Holy Scriptures declare concerning the being and attributes of God? — concerning his eternity and immensity; his power, wisdom, and holiness? It is by reason that God enables us in some measure to comprehend his method of dealing with the children of men; the nature of his various dispensations, of the old and new covenant, of the law and the gospel. It is by this we understand (his Spirit opening and enlightening the eyes of our understanding) what that repentance is, not to be repented of; what is that faith whereby we are saved; what is the nature and the condition of justification; what are the immediate and what the subsequent fruits of it. By reason we learn what is that new birth, without which we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; and what that holiness is without which no man shall see the Lord. By the due use of reason we come to know what are the tempers implied in inward holiness; and what it is to be outwardly holy, — holy in all manner of conversation: In other words, what is the mind that was in Christ; and what it is to walk as Christ walked.

7. Many particular cases will occur with respect to several of the foregoing articles, in which we shall have occasion for all our understanding, if we would keep a conscience void of offense. Many cases of conscience are not to be solved without the utmost exercise of our reason. The same is requisite in order to understand and to discharge our ordinary relative duties; — the duties of parents and children, Of husbands and wives, and (to name no more) of masters and servants. In all these respects, and in all the duties of common life, God has given us our reason for a guide. And it is only by acting up to the dictates of it, by using all the understanding which God hath given us, that we can have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards man.

8. Here, then, there is a large field indeed, wherein reason may expatiate and exercise all its powers. And if reason can do all this, both in civil and religious things, what is it that it cannot do?

We have hitherto endeavored to lay aside all prejudice, and to weigh the matter calmly and impartially. The same course let us take still: Let us now coolly consider, without prepossession on any side, what it is, according to the best light we have, that reason cannot do.

TWO.

1. And, First, reason cannot produce faith. Although it is always consistent with reason, yet reason cannot produce faith, in the scriptural sense of the word. Faith, according to Scripture, is “an evidence,” or conviction, “of things not seen.” It is a divine evidence, bringing a full conviction of an invisible eternal world. It is true, there was a kind of shadowy persuasion of this, even among the wiser Heathens; probably from tradition, or from some gleams of light reflected from the Israelites. Hence many hundred years before our Lord was horn, the Greek Poet uttered that great truth, —

 Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
 Unseen, whether we wake or if we sleep.

But this was little more than faint conjecture: It was far from a firm conviction; which reason, in its highest state of improvement, could never produce in any child of man.

2. Many years ago I found the truth of this by sad experience. After carefully heaping up the strongest arguments which I could find, either in ancient or modern authors, for the very being of a God, and (which is nearly connected with it) the existence of an invisible world, I have wandered up and down, musing with myself: “What, if all these things which I see around me, this earth and heaven, this universal frame, has existed from eternity? What, if that melancholy supposition of the old Poet be the real case, —

 Oih per fullwn geneh, toihde kai andrwn;

What, if; ‘the generation of men be exactly parallel with the generation of leaves?’ What if the earth drops its successive inhabitants, just as the tree drops its leaves? What, if that saying of a great man be really true, —

 Post mortem nihil est; ipsaque mors nihil?

 Death is nothing, and nothing is after death?

 How am I sure that this is not the case; that I have not followed cunningly devised fables?” — And I have pursued the thought, till there was no spirit in me, and I was ready to choose strangling rather than life.

3. But in a point of so unspeakable importance, do not depend upon the word of another; but retire for awhile from the busy world, and make the experiment yourself. Try whether your reason will give you a clear satisfactory evidence of the invisible world. After the prejudices of education are laid aside, produce your strong reasons for the existence of this. Set them all in array; silence all objections; and put all your doubts to flight. Alas! you cannot, with all your understanding. You may repress them for a season. But how quickly will they rally again, and attack you with redoubled violence! And what can poor reason do for your deliverance? The more vehemently you struggle, the more deeply you are entangled in the toils; and you find no way to escape.

4. How was the case with that great admirer of reason, the author of the maxim above cited? I mean the famous Mr. Hobbes. None will deny that he had a strong understanding. But did it produce in him a full and satisfactory conviction of an invisible world? Did it open the eyes of his understanding, to see

 Beyond the bounds of this diurnal sphere?

O no! far from it! His dying words ought never to be forgotten. “Where are you going, Sir?” said one of his friends. He answered, “I am taking a leap in the dark!” and died. Just such an evidence of the invisible world can bare reason give to the wisest of men!

5. Secondly. Reason alone cannot produce hope in any child of man: I mean scriptural hope, whereby we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God:” That hope which St. Paul in one place terms, “tasting the powers of the world to come;” in another, the “sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” That which enables us to say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope; — to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; which is reserved in heaven for us.” This hope car only spring from Christian faith: Therefore, where there is not faith, there is not hope. Consequently, reason, being unable to produce faith, must he equally unable to produce hope. Experience confirms this likewise. How often have I labored, and that with my might, to beget this hope in myself! But it was lost labor: I could no more acquire this hope of heaven, than I could touch heaven with my hand. And whoever of you makes the same attempt will find it attended with the same success. I do not deny, that a self deceiving enthusiast may work in himself a kind of hope: He may work himself up into a lively imagination; into a sort of pleasing dream: He may “compass himself about,” as the Prophet speaks, “with sparks of his own kindling:” But this cannot be of long continuance; in a little while the bubble will surely break. And what will I show? “This shall ye have at my hand, saith the Lord, ye shall lie down in sorrow.”

6. If reason could have produced a hope full of immortality in any child of man, it might have produced it in that great man whom Justin Martyr scruples not to call “a Christian before Christ.” For who that was not favored with the written word of God, ever excelled, yea, or equaled, Socrates? In what other Heathen can we find so strong an understanding, joined with so consummate virtue? But had he really this hope? Let him answer for himself. What is the conclusion of that noble apology which he made before his unrighteous judges? “And now, O judges! ye are going hence to live; and I am going hence to die: Which of these is best, the gods know; but, I suppose, no man does.” No man knows! How far is this from the language of the little Benjamite: “I desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better!” And how many thousands are there at this day, even in our own nation, young men and maidens, old men and children, who are able to witness the same good confession!

7. But who is able to do this, by the force of his reason, be it ever so highly improved? One of the most sensible and most amiable Heathens that have lived since our Lord died, even though he governed the greatest empire in the world, was the Emperor Adrian. It is his well known saying, “A prince ought to resemble the sun: He ought to shine on every part of his dominion, and to diffuse his salutary rays in every place where he comes.” And his life was a comment upon his word: Wherever he went, he was executing justice, and showing mercy. Was not he then, at the close of a long life, full of immortal hope? We are able to answer this from unquestionable authority, — from his own dying words. How inimitably pathetic!

ADRIANI MORIENTIS AD ANIMAM SUAM.

“DYING ADRIAN TO HIS SOUL.”

Animula, vagula, blandula,
 Hospes, comesque corporis,
 Quae nunc abibis in loca,
 Pallidula, rigida, nudula,
 Nec, ut soles, dabis jocos!

 Which the English reader may see translated into our own language, with all the spirit of the original: —

Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing,
 Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling wing
To take thy flight, thou knowest not whither?
Thy pleasing vein, this humorous folly,
Lies all neglected, all forgot!
And pensive, wavering, melancholy,
Thou hopest, and fearest, thou knowest not what.

8. Thirdly. Reason, however cultivated and improved, cannot produce the love of God; which is slain from hence: It cannot produce either faith or hope; from which alone this love can flow. It is then only, when we “behold” by faith “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,” in giving his only Son, that we might not perish, but have everlasting life, that “the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” It is only then, when we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” that “we love Him because he first loved us.” But what can cold reason do in this matter? It may present us with fair ideas; it can draw a fine picture of love: But this is only a painted fire. And farther than this reason cannot go. I made the trial for many years. I collected the finest hymns, prayers, and meditations which I could find in any language; and I said, sung, or read them over and over, with all possible seriousness and attention. But still I was like the bones in Ezekiel’s vision: “The skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.”

9. And as reason cannot produce the love of God, so neither can it produce the love of our neighbor; a calm, generous, disinterested benevolence to every child of man. This earnest, steady goodwill to our fellow-creatures never flowed from any fountain but gratitude to our Creator. And if this he (as a very ingenious man supposes) the very essence of virtue, it follows that virtue can have no being, unless it spring from the love of God. Therefore, as reason cannot produce this love, so neither can it produce virtue.

10. And as it cannot give either faith, hope, love, or virtue, so it cannot give happiness; since, separate from these, there can be no happiness for any intelligent creature. It is true, those who are void of all virtue may have pleasures, such as they are; but happiness they have not, cannot have. No:

 Their joy is all sadness; their mirth is all vain;
Their laughter is madness; their pleasure is pain!

Pleasures? Shadows! dreams! fleeting as the wind! unsubstantial as the rainbow! as unsatisfying to the poor gasping soul, As the gay colors of an eastern cloud.

None of these will stand the test of reflection: If thought comes, the bubble breaks!

 Suffer me now to add a few plain words, first to you who undervalue reason. Never more declaim in that wilds loose, ranting manner against this precious gift of God. Acknowledge “the candle of the Lord,” which he hath fixed in our souls for excellent purposes. You see how many admirable ends it answers, were it only in the things of this life: Of what unspeakable use is even a moderate share of reason in all our worldly employments, from the lowest and meanest offices of life, through all the intermediate branches of business; till we ascend to those that are of the highest importance and the greatest difficulty! When therefore you despise or depreciate reason, you must not imagine you are doing God service:

Least of all, are you promoting the cause of God when you are endeavoring to exclude reason out of religion. Unless you willfully shut your eyes, you cannot but see of what service it is both in laying the foundation of true religion, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and in raising the superstructure. You see it directs us in every point both of faith and practice: It guides us with regard to every branch both of inward and outward holiness. Do we not glory in this, that the whole of our religion is a “reasonable service?” yea, and that every part of it, when it is duly performed, is the highest exercise of our understanding?

Permit me to add a few words to you, likewise, who over-value reason. Why should you run from one extreme to the other? Is not the middle way best? Let reason do all that reason can: Employ it as far as it will go. But, at the same time, acknowledge it is utterly incapable of giving either faith, or hope, or love; and, consequently, of producing either real virtue, or substantial happiness. Expect these from a higher source, even from the Father of the spirits of all flesh. Seek and receive them, not as your own acquisition, but as the gift of God. Lift up your hearts to Him who “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” He alone can give that faith, which is “the evidence” and conviction “of things not seen.” He alone can “beget you unto a lively hope” of an inheritance eternal in the heaven, and He alone can “shed his love abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost given unto you.” Ask, therefore, and it shall be given you! Cry unto him, and you shall not cry in vain! How can you doubt? “If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Ghost unto them that ask him!” So shall you be living witnesses, that wisdom, holiness, and happiness are one; are inseparably united; and are, indeed, the beginning of that eternal life which God hath given us in his Son.