Obeying the Gospel

WHEN WE DON’T WANT TO BE DELIVERED (JULY 19)

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"Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness" (Exodus 14:12).

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE IS OFTEN A GREAT BOTHER? Our present situation may not be ideal, but compared to the hardship of getting out of it, it sometimes looks like the lesser of two evils. Perhaps the best thing would be just to tolerate the status quo. After all, it may get better eventually.

When Moses agreed to return to Egypt and deliver the people of Israel from their slavery in that land, he had some difficulty getting them to accept him as their deliverer. But the real trouble began after they got out into the desert and realized how hard it was going to be, even with God’s help, to make the trek to Canaan. “Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” From our perspective, we can see the foolishness of their thinking. They were completely out of touch with how desperately they needed to be delivered from Egypt. If they had seen the seriousness of their situation, they would have accepted any hardship in the process of being rescued.

In the modern culture of wealth, progress, and comfort, very few people see the need to be saved from anything that might be called “sin.” The motto of modernism might be this: “We’ve still got a few wrinkles left to iron out, but we’re doing pretty well.”

Occasionally, however, people do see the truth about their separation from God. Yet they don’t find the cure proposed by the gospel very appealing. When they realize that God intends to completely rebuild their character from the inside out (with radical surgery instead of bandages and pain relievers), their reply is much the same as Israel’s — leave us alone; we don’t want to be delivered.

So a choice has to be made. We can stay where we are, which is easier (at least in the short term), or we can let the Great Deliverer begin to break our chains. Between now and eternity, there is a “wilderness” that will have to be traversed. But even the wilderness is part of an extraordinarily good plan to set us free.

"Many of our troubles are God dragging us, and they would end if we would stand upon our feet and go whither he would have us" (Henry Ward Beecher).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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GOD HEARD THEIR CRY (JULY 18)

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". . . and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God" (Exodus 2:23).

IT HAD BEEN FOUR HUNDRED YEARS SINCE THE DAYS WHEN JOSEPH ENJOYED THE FAVOR OF PHARAOH, AND IN THE INTERIM THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD BEEN ENSLAVED BY THE EGYPTIANS. In the grief of their bondage and hard labor, they cried out to God — and God heard their cry. We all know the story of Moses being sent by God to deliver Israel from Egypt and lead them to freedom.

Whether we are students of the Old Testament, the New Testament, or both, we’ve heard the word “salvation” many times. But the word has become a term with such religious overtones, we may forget the basic meaning of it. To “save” is to “rescue.” I well remember when I was a boy that Mike Williams, my best friend at the time, saved me from drowning. I had dived off the high diving board, had the wind knocked out of me, and was floundering. Mike saw it, quickly swam over, and pulled me to safety. In other words, he “rescued” me (and still it makes me nervous to think what would have happened had he not acted so quickly).

When God heard Israel’s desperate cry, He sent them a rescuer, a deliverer — in other words, a “savior.” Moses did for them what they were helpless to do for themselves; he pulled them out of a very bad situation. And it was God who made the arrangements, He being moved by compassion for their groaning.

Physical slavery is horrible, but the truth is, we’ve all been in a much worse slavery. Jesus put it very plainly: “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). And unlike physical slavery, slavery to sin reaches into eternity and produces a plight too terrible to contemplate — if we are not rescued from it. But, of course, that is exactly what the gospel is about. God has sent us a Deliverer, and we, like Israel in Egypt, have to decide whether to trust that our Deliverer is telling us the truth about His mission.

Israel’s rescue was by God’s grace. So is ours. As with theirs (Exodus 12), ours depends on doing certain things God requires before He delivers us (Acts 2:37,38). The gospel must be obeyed to be effective, but it starts with a heart honest enough to cry for help.

Speak to him, thou, for he hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet --
Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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JOSIAH, THE TENDERHEARTED (JULY 17)

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"'. . . because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,' declares the Lord" (2 Kings 22:19 NASB).

WHEN KING JOSIAH HEARD WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED TO DO IF ISRAEL BECAME UNFAITHFUL, HE WAS STRICKEN WITH GRIEF. A godly man himself, Josiah might have hoped he would be spared the horrors of what was going to happen, but it didn’t matter. If the nation was going to suffer, that was cause for great sorrow. God put it this way: “Your heart was tender and you humbled yourself . . . you have torn your clothes and wept before Me.” Unfortunately, that is not the response that is typical when people are confronted with the reality of God’s judgment upon sin.

One dictionary defines “tenderhearted” as “easily moved by another’s distress; compassionate” (AHD). By that definition, Josiah was tenderhearted. If he had been one of the few godly members left in the congregation at Sardis (Revelation 3:4), he would still have been torn with agony to hear the Lord say to the group as a whole, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (v.1). Tenderhearted people are grieved when others (family, community, church, nation, etc.) are in sin.

But as important as this point is, there is another that is even more so. When it becomes obvious that we ourselves are among the unfaithful, what is our response? Do we repent or do we retaliate? Hearing the statement of the gospel that we are under the penalty of death for our sins, are we tenderhearted enough to cry out with those on Pentecost, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37,38), or will we, like the crowd that murdered Stephen after he charged them with sin by his presentation of the gospel (Acts 7:54-60), attack the messenger because we are offended by the message?

The gospel “breaks” all of us. Some are broken by the honest recognition of their sin, and in their sorrow they embrace the gospel of God’s forgiveness. Others are broken by an anger and defensiveness that leads only to destruction. O God, please break us in such a way that You may heal us and give us Your eternal life.

"We must be broken into life" (Charles R. Raven).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHOLEHEARTED REPENTANCE VS. PRETENSE (JULY 16)

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"Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:10).

AS CHILDREN, WE SOMETIMES EXCUSED OUR FAILURE TO KEEP A PROMISE BY SAYING THAT WE “HAD OUR FINGERS CROSSED.” The promise was not binding (we said) because we didn’t really mean it, as indicated by the secret crossing of our fingers. A lawyer would say the contract was not a “bona fide” (“good faith”) commitment — we never intended to do what we said.

In the days of Jeremiah, the people in Jerusalem and Judah had become guilty of idolatry just like the ten northern tribes of Israel. Having been called to repentance by the preaching of the prophets, there had been occasional reforms, but the repentance had not been genuine or thorough. “Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

Were their fingers crossed when they said they would return to God? Did they not even intend to repent? We don’t know. But in any case, the Lord said they did not return to Him with a “whole heart.” The person lacking a “whole heart” is one whose mind is not made up. He may not be deliberately dishonest in the statement of what he plans to do, but his plans are complicated by doubts. Like a man in a wedding ceremony who pledges to love his wife with “all his heart” but has not really closed the door of his heart to a previous relationship, the people of Judah only pretended that they had put away every “god” except God.

The opposite of wholeheartedness is double-mindedness. It is the problem of the person whose mind is torn between competing loyalties — and it is a problem we are told to get rid of. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).

There is no damage to our souls that Christ cannot repair. But He will not be manipulated by fake repentance on our part. If we expect His forgiveness and help, we’d better lay it all down before Him, with extreme honesty. No exceptions and no excuses will be allowed, and if we have in mind anything other than complete repentance, we’d better not insult Him by saying that we’re sorry.

"Christ can do wonders with a broken heart if He is given all the pieces" (Old Saying).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN OF MANKIND (JULY 15)

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". . . then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind" (2 Chronicles 6:30).

SOLOMON’S PRAYER WAS THAT, IN THE YEARS TO COME, GOD WOULD HEAR THE PRAYERS OF ISRAEL WHEN THEY CRIED OUT TO HIM IN DISTRESS. “Render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways,” he said, “for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.” Solomon knew that one important facet of prayer is that God knows the thoughts and motives of our hearts.

Although it is not always true that our troubles are the result of God’s chastening for our sins, sometimes that is precisely the case (Hebrews 12:5-11). In regard to Israel as a nation, Solomon foresaw the same thing that Moses had warned about: if the people were unfaithful, God would bring calamity upon them (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). At such times, their prayers for relief would need to be prayers for forgiveness. So Solomon hoped that God would “hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive.”

When we pray today, three thousand years removed from the days of Solomon, what kinds of things does God know about our hearts when we pray to Him, especially for His forgiveness? It is to be hoped that He sees sincere hearts, truly penitent and willing to accept whatever requirements He has set for our forgiveness. Unfortunately, God often sees today what He saw in ancient Israel: careless, complacent hearts that are deep in denial of the truth.

It has cost God an enormous sacrifice to be able to forgive us. Knowing that, we should at all costs avoid presuming upon His grace, flippantly tossing off requests for His forgiveness as if such requests were a casual thing. We are told that, in Jesus Christ, we may come confidently before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), but we had better not come with anything less than a no-strings-attached commitment to change our ways. “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). We may fool others about our hearts, but God is not deceived. He knows our motives — and His mercy is a severe mercy that screens out the triflers and pretenders.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat.
(Julia Ward Howe)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

INCLINE YOUR HEART TO THE LORD (JULY 14)

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"Then Joshua said to the people, 'You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.' And they said, 'We are witnesses.' He said, 'Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel'" (Joshua 24:22,23).

HAVING CHALLENGED ISRAEL TO CHOOSE WHETHER THEY WOULD SERVE GOD, JOSHUA THEN CALLED ON THEM TO PUT THEIR CHOICE INTO ACTION. If it is your decision to serve God, Joshua said, then “incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

That is a powerful way of putting it, is it not? Incline your heart to the Lord. The NIrV renders it “Give yourselves completely to the Lord,” and the CEV, “You must decide once and for all that you really want to obey the Lord God of Israel.” In a related text, we read of David’s charge to Israel at the end of his life: “Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19). In all such passages, we hear God commanding His people to think of Him as more than a “maybe.” Their hearts must be inclined to Him. They must fix their minds on Him. They must — and here is the main idea — be devoted to Him. This devotion must be the result of a conscious, deliberate choice they have made.

Of course, there is language in the Scriptures where God is the one who is asked to incline the hearts of His people. For example, “May [the Lord] . . . incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules” (1 Kings 8:57,58). And, “O Lord, . . . keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you” (1 Chronicles 29:18). There is no contradiction here. God will help us and surround us with good influences, but it is we who must make the decision. In the end, only we have the power to decide what (or Whom) we will incline our hearts to.

If we are deciding whether to obey the gospel of Christ, this is what it all comes down to: having alienated ourselves from God, will we or won’t we give Him back our ultimate loyalty? Had we never sinned, He would have always had our loyalty. But now, in Christ, He is making it possible for us to “incline our hearts” to Him once again. This is good news, much too good not to embrace enthusiastically.

"It is but right that our hearts should be on God, when the heart of God is so much on us" (Richard Baxter).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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A DANGEROUSLY FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY (JULY 13)

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"In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God.' His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity'" (Psalm 10:4-6).

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DISREGARD GOD. In addition to the obvious atheism of denying that God exists, there are many other varieties of atheism. In fact, millions of religious people are guilty of the kind of attitude reflected in Psalm 10 (and Psalm 14). They say they believe, but their lives are independent of Him. In my opinion, there is no worse sin than this “pious atheism.” It is at the heart of many other sins, and it is the soul-cancer eating away inwardly at so many “good” people who are living “well-adjusted” lives in one of the advanced nations of the world.

“IN THE PRIDE OF HIS FACE” (V.4). It is nothing but arrogant to think that because we prosper, our self-management must be working well for us. And Christ’s letter to Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) shows just how deluded Christians themselves can be about this.

“I SHALL NOT BE MOVED . . . I SHALL NOT MEET ADVERSITY” (V.6). If we’ve shoved God out of the way and gotten away with it, we may think we’re bullet-proof. But “I shall not be moved” is a poor prophecy.

“GOD HAS FORGOTTEN, HE HAS HIDDEN HIS FACE, HE WILL NEVER SEE IT” (V.11). We figure we can squeeze in some years of disobedience and get back on track later. God isn’t paying attention. He won’t notice.

“YOU WILL NOT CALL TO ACCOUNT” (V.13). In our foolish pride we suppose that we won’t have to answer to God, or if we do, that event is so far in the future it doesn’t make any practical difference.

But obviously, living this way is a foolish enterprise (Psalm 14:1; Luke 12:20). In the long run, it will not succeed. It is a precarious life, a house of cards that is going to collapse eventually.

But this pride is also satanic. The man in Psalm 10 does not worship Satan directly, but he is doing the very thing Satan wants us all to do: manage our own lives. And that pride is what has led us onto the downward slope of destruction. Since he can make it look so respectable and progressive, I imagine Satan is quite proud of it.

"For a thing to be satanic does not mean that it is abominable and immoral; the satanically-managed man is . . . absolutely self-governed and has no need of God" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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YOU SHALL BE HOLY (JULY 12)

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"For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45).

BEGINNING WITH ABRAHAM, GOD BUILT A FAMILY THROUGH WHICH HE WOULD BRING INTO THE WORLD HIS SON, THE MESSIAH (“ANOINTED ONE”). When Abraham’s family became numerous enough to be a nation, He delivered them from slavery in Egypt and established them in the land He had promised to Abraham. But prior to their entry into this land, God gave them this remarkable command: “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

The root idea of “holiness” is “separateness.” Synonyms that come to mind are distinctness, uniqueness, unlikeness, and difference. Unfortunately, we often limit our discussions about holiness to moral purity, but moral purity is only one of the ways that those who belong to God are to be separate. God’s holiness does not consist solely in His moral difference; it includes every way in which His character is different from that of His adversaries. And if He commands us to be holy, we must learn to have a character that is distinct in the same ways that His character is distinct.

Israel’s separateness from the world of its day anticipated the holiness of God’s redeemed people in Christ, made up of Jews and Gentiles. Writing to Christians in the Roman Empire living under the threat of persecution, Peter quoted from Leviticus 11:45: “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15,16).

Sometimes holiness requires physical separation (and we are extremely foolish if we don’t understand this). But with or without physical separation, holiness requires that our principles, our values, and our decision-making — i.e., our character — be different. And how could it not be? If we’ve repented of our rebellion against God, will that not make us unlike those still in rebellion? James asked it this way: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). For you and me today, this is an issue that requires some serious thinking and courageous choices.

"It is time for us Christians to face up to our responsibility for holiness . . . It might be well if we stopped using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness. Rather we should use the terms obedience and disobedience" (Jerry Bridges).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD (JULY 11)

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"For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12,13).

READY TO LEAVE EGYPT AS SOON AS THE WORD CAME, ISRAEL HAD BEEN TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR HOMES AND WAIT. Each family had eaten their Passover lamb, according to God’s command, and the blood of the lambs had been put on the doorposts of their dwellings. As God went through the land in judgment that night, the people of Israel waited, trusting the protection of God’s promise: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Blood represents life, and the sacrifice of the lambs that night was a vivid reminder that death is the consequence of sin (Genesis 2:16,17). If the one who sins is not to die, the blood (i.e., the life) of another must be offered, one without sin and not under the penalty of death. Now, if the Hebrews were spared God’s judgment on that night, it wasn’t because they were free of idolatry (Joshua 24:14). It was in grace and mercy that God exempted them — “passing over” those in the homes where a lamb had been slain. This is a powerful object lesson. What can we learn from it about the gospel of Christ?

In the New Testament, there was an occasion when John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Unlike the lambs in Egypt, which by themselves could never take away sin, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, providing our full atonement. And if it was God’s right to say that He would spare only those who put the blood on their doorposts, He can also set the conditions upon which His Son’s blood will provide atonement. In neither case do those spared deserve to be spared. But in His mercy, God “passes over” those who will reverently accept the conditions of His grace. Before time began, it was always His plan to make this gift possible.

Before lambs bled in Egypt, One was given.
Before the worm tore Eden, pain was faced.
Somewhere, before earth’s cornerstone was placed,
a hammer crashed in heaven — nails were driven.
(Keith Patman).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

YOU SHALL NOT ADD OR TAKE AWAY (JULY 10)

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"You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2).

THE FACT THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN TO MANKIND IS A MARVELOUS REALITY. But not satisfied with the contents of God’s revelation, the human race has always had a tendency to “improve” His instructions, trimming away the objectionable parts and adding in other things more suitable. But Moses reminded Israel of the seriousness of this error. Speaking to the nation prior to their entrance into Canaan, he said, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it.” As someone has said, “Where God puts a period, we are not to put a question mark.”

On the side of “adding to,” the problem is that we tend to make rules where God has not. Concerning the gospel, for example, if I decided that to receive the forgiveness of sins a person had to be born in Brazil, I would have added to what God has revealed. But an example of “taking away” would be saying that the act of baptism, commanded by God, is not necessary, perhaps arguing that it’s “a good idea” to be baptized but it’s not required for one’s forgiveness.

Obviously, we need to be careful to take God’s word as it is — making it neither more nor less restrictive than it is. Our study of the Scriptures must be diligent, and our attitude that of young Samuel: “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:9,10).

If we accept that God has, in fact, revealed His will, the question is not whether we’d like to modify it but whether we’re going to do it. And this confrontation with the word of God is a test of our character. There can be no salvation for us if we won’t humble ourselves before God, and it is in our attitude toward the commandments of God that we get some of our first feedback as to how far along the road of humility we are. If we would be so presumptuous as to add to God’s word or take away from it, then we’ve got some adjustments to make before any further steps can be taken in accepting the gospel. No doubt this need for adjustment is one reason that relatively “few” (Matthew 7:13,14) will follow Christ.

"Once you and I are face to face with the Word of God . . . we can only accept or reject it. Jesus becomes the two-edged sword that cuts right down the middle, dividing us into believers and nonbelievers" (John Powell).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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