COURAGE TO STAND

 

 

Holding your ground against intimidation and rejection is not easy. When you are treated like trash, you feel like trash. This is because we are social beings. When we are demeaned, we naturally try to submit and to regain the approval of the oppressors. However, as we mature, we should begin to recognize that there are more important things, namely truth and our integrity.

How can we stand against the militant opinions and their shout-downs if we think that we are standing on the shifting sands of the evolving opinions of man? Sadly, an increasing number do not stand on solid ground:

·       “More than half of respondents to the State of Theology survey say that religious belief is not about objective reality. However, fewer people expressed this view in 2020 than in 2018. It isn’t clear why this is the case, but it may be that our chaotic cultural moment has prompted more people to turn to religion for objective truth,” LifeWay researchers said. https://www.christianpost.com/news/most-us-adults-say-religious-belief-is-matter-of-personal-opinion-study.html

If religious believe is personal and just pertains to me, it is allowed no place in public discussions. This same confusion about whether Christian beliefs depend upon blind faith also afflicts evangelicals:

·       The Christian Post previously highlighted from the survey how more than half of American adults, including 30% of evangelicals, say Jesus isn’t God, but most agree He was a great teacher.

If we believe that Jesus is only a great teacher, our foundation is not the solid Scriptures. As a result, we are easily manipulated and controlled.  “If we don’t know where we stand, we will fall for anything,” according to one perceptive saying. Without this assurance, we are also vulnerable to all kinds of temptations, promising new psychological therapies, and pretentious philosophies. This is why the Christian needs to be grounded through the teaching of the Word of God:

·       And he [God] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Without this Biblical foundation, we can longer influence society, which then falls prey to many destructive philosophies and practices.

A Jewish epidemiologist surprised me. She explained that epidemics only can spread if a critical mass of the population goes without inoculations, perhaps 50%. She then likened this to the critical mass of serious Christians within a society. Once their percentage falls below a certain level, the society becomes vulnerable to an array of social ills. Therefore, Jesus called us to be the light of truth:

·       “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

When our light shines, our communities see our “good works and give glory to your Father.” However, there are no good works without good teaching from the Word of God. Nor will we have the necessary confidence to live sacrificially, especially amid the inevitable persecution (Matthew 5:10-12).

How are we to withstand persecution without folding? Only with the assurance of the truths of the Scriptures:

·       But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. (Isaiah 50:7-8)

Our confidence must be in the Lord whom His Spirit makes increasingly real for us through His Word.

IS THERE SOMETHING THE MATTER WITH OUR FAITH IF WE ARE NOT PERFORMING THE MIRACLES JESUS DID?

Should we routinely be performing miracles today like Jesus did? Some “word of faith” (WOF) preachers claim that we should. Do they have a Scriptural basis for this? They cite:

·       “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever [of you Apostles?] believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12; ESV)

Well, why aren’t we performing “greater works” today? The WOF preachers claim that we just don’t believe the promises of Jesus – a serious indictment.

However, there are many reasons to conclude that Jesus’ promise was extended only to His Apostles. Elsewhere, He promised that it was only the Apostles, those who had been with Him from the beginning, who would be supernaturally equipped by the Spirit to carry forth His Word:

·       But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)

“Bring all things to your remembrance” could only refer to those who had been with Him. Likewise, “teach you all things!” If this promise only has an application to the Apostles,  Perhaps also John 14:12?

Paul too had been designated as an Apostle. How could the Church know this? Only through “signs and wonders”:

·       For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. (2 Corinthians 12:11-12)

If all Christians were expected to produce signs and wonders, he would have had no way to prove to the Church that He had been called to be an Apostle. Instead, Paul had taught that not everyone was given this supernatural gift.

It was the Apostles alone who would perform “signs and wonders”:

·       And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. (Acts 2:43; 4:33)

In this way, God had established the fact that the Apostles were His ordained ones to spread His teachings. Consequently, after the Apostles had heard that the Samaritans had come to faith, they sent Peter and John to lay hands for them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-15).

For the early church, there was no guess-work regarding who bore the Gospel of Jesus. Had all believers been performing miracles, there would have been lots of confusion:

·       And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. (Acts 19:11-12)

·       So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their [Barnabas and Paul] hands. (Acts 14:3)

·       And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?" (Acts 3:12)

God sent miracles to prove that it was the Apostles who had been commissioned to carry His Word:

·       Now we [Apostles] have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we [Apostles] impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

·       For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:2-4)

·       So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us [Apostles], either by our spoken word or by our letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

·       When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:4-5; 2:19-20))

·       And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

·       For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; (Romans 15:18-19)

Against this WOF idea that we should all be performing miracles if we believe Jesus, it seems that instead, our Lord has purposed for us a miracle-lean diet. This leanness compels us to walk by faith instead of a constant flow of miracles:

·       For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25)

·       For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Instead of relying upon a miracles-rich diet, our Lord wants us to live by faith, the unseen, and to even persevere in suffering:

·       Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

To walk in perpetual miraculous healings is not to “Always carry in the body the death of Jesus.” Perpetual miracles would make us spiritually lazy. We would not learn patience, faith, or how to meditate on the Word day and night.

I have attended numerous WOF churches without seeing the lame walk, the blind see, or the dead raised. Perhaps these are intended only as a rarity among us today.

I too do not want to miss anything my Savior might have for me. I also admit that I do not know what to pray for. However, He assures me that, even if I don’t know, His Holy Spirit does, and He is intervening for us (Romans 8:26).

WHEN WE LOVE, WE GROW IN THE ASSURANCE THAT WE ARE LOVED

“Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:17-18; ASV)

How does love give us "boldness on the day of judgment?" John explains that when we walk in love, we walk as Christ did, and this gives us great encouragement. It casts out any fear we might have regarding judgment. If we still fear judgment, it might be because Christ is not first in our lives (Matthew 6:33), and, consequently, we are not walking in love.

Just trust our Lord that He will eliminate this fear of judgment as we continue to follow Him. He has promised that He is able to make us stand (Romans 14:4-5).

Don't worry if you find that you are unable to achieve this confidence. God did not grant this to me for many years. In my case, He first had to humble me - the most painful thing I had ever experienced - before He'd lift me up. (And He still has a lot of lifting to do on my behalf.)

Should God Save Everyone?

One skeptic challenged:

• If your God is all-powerful and all-loving – He wants everyone to come to salvation [2 Peter 3:9] - He would save everyone. None would go to hell.

I had to admit that I didn’t have a complete answer to this challenge. While it is true that God calls everyone and that those who refuse his invitation deserve His harsh justice, I know that I also deserved that harsh justice. Nevertheless, He saved me, changing my heart in the process. It would seem that He could likewise be merciful to everyone else.

The Prophet Isaiah struggled with the same question. He acknowledged to God that Israel had a long list of damnable sins:

• All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. (Isaiah 64:6-7) 

However, Isaiah then issued the same challenge as the skeptic:

• Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) 

Although Isaiah was not blaming God for Israel’s sins, he did remind God, as the Master Potter, that He could change Israel, the clay, at will! In light of God’s overwhelming omnipotence, it seemed to Isaiah that God was being needlessly harsh:

• Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people… After all this, O LORD, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? (Isaiah 64:9,12) 

Isaiah’s struggle is a typical of not only the Hebrew Prophets but also the Christians. We share with Isaiah the feeling that God is not being true to His own character and promises. His answer to Isaiah doesn’t help us:

• All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-- a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick [to false gods]… I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."  (Isaiah 65:2-3,12)

I would guess that Isaiah wasn’t satisfied with his Master’s answer. He merely reiterated that Israel would receive the justice they deserved. However, He did not address the mercy part – that He is the Potter who could change Israel into anything He so desired. However, He then revealed that there was coming a time when He would play the gracious Master Potter:

• "The Redeemer [the promised Messiah] will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD. "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD. (Isaiah 59:20-21)

• "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more…  (Isaiah 65:17-19) 

Consequently, all Israel will be saved – the very concern of Isaiah. However, it seems that Israel’s God will also save all of the Gentiles who remain after the great battle:

• From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. (Isaiah 66:23)

This is an indication that, in the end, our Lord will open the floodgates of heaven:

• "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other… Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.'" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult. (Isaiah 45:22-25; 60:14) 

When our Savior returns, there will be a great outpouring of mercy (Romans 11:12-27), more than has ever been seen. Why then is God not merciful this way now? Well, when Jesus returns, mercy will triumph over justice (James 2:13).

Does this answer Isaiah’s challenge? Not completely! What about those who died prior to Christ’s return or who had died in the great battle? We cannot speak so confidently about them unless they were already God’s saved children.

We aren’t going to get all of our questions answered here. Scripture warns us repeatedly about this:

• Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

There will come a time, however, when our questions will be answered in full. Meanwhile, I think that it is important to realize that we are not in a position to profit from any knowledge. In fact, some knowledge might prove highly destructive if we are not ready for it. For example, are babies who are aborted or who die early going to heaven? Perhaps? However, if we had with such certainty, a loving mother might understandably abort her baby to ensure that she will go to heaven. Therefore, perhaps this is a certainty that our Lord would not want us to have.

There is also another consideration. The skeptic’s challenge contains a hidden assumption – that we are entitled to heaven. However, there is no such entitlement in God’s program. Instead, God’s justice entitles us to only one thing – death as the sinners we are (Romans 6:23). Consequently, it is by His mercy alone that we receive blessings.

Created in the “image of God,” we do have certain human rights, like the right to justice, which is indiscriminate. However, we cannot claim a human right to mercy and heaven. As opposed to justice, God’s mercy or love can discriminate, as we can also discriminate in inviting whomever we want to our party. No one can charge that they are entitled to such an invitation.

Therefore, no one can demand that God should save everyone. He is free to give to whomever He chooses. No one can coherently charge God with violating their human rights, since their rights come from Him and mercy is simply not one of them.

Nevertheless, God does love His creation and will be merciful in ways that He has not fully disclosed, but no one can demand mercy of Him.

Jealousy: The Stealth (and not so Stealth) Killer

Frederick Engels

If we are not jealous of our neighbor’s wife, we are jealous of his attainments, money, house, car, influence, job, friends, or popularity. We want what he’s got, and we tend to hate him for it.

Communism had the perfect solution, albeit limited and superficial. They would equalize everybody and everything. After debunking Marxist theory, historian Robert Royal then exposes their underlying motivator – jealousy:

• The only reason these very dubious theories seemed like revolutionary bedrock to Marxist believers was that they justified hatred of bourgeois societies and gave sanction to the “inevitable” revolution ahead, after which, even more implausibly, religion and state, both mere bourgeois instruments of repression in the Marxist view, would wither away. That passionate desire for revolution, whatever the facts, lay behind the vehemence and even violence with which the Communist gospel was preached. (The God that did not Fail, 233)

Why did Marxism motivate the Communists to such a genocidal extent – the extermination of the 100,000,000 who would not see the light of their reason? Jealousy and hatred! However, these wicked seeds were camouflaged by the covering of an idealistic optimism. In the Condition of the Working Class in England, Friedrich Engels argued:

• Necessity will force the working-men to abandon the remnants of a [Christian] belief which, as they will more and more clearly perceive, serves only to make them weak and resigned to their fate, obedient and faithful to the vampire property-holding class.

However, the “working-men” never did exalt themselves to Engels’ enlightened heights, and when reason fails to win hearts and minds, coercion and violence are introduced.

Marxism continues to fail to address our inner struggles. Instead, the Marxist has readily partnered with jealousy, hatred, bitterness, with periodic exterminations of Christians, bourgeois, and others among the “weak and resigned.”

So what then is the answer to jealousy? The assurance that we are already rich and have everything we need! Where does this assurance come from? From the very light that the Marxist had tried to extinguish!

There is a truth that will set us free (John 8:31-32), as Jesus promised. It is the knowledge and assurance that we have God, and, having God, we have everything:

• For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)

It is this truth that has set me free! I need no longer covet what belongs to my neighbor or even my brother. I am already rich! Does this mean that I am no longer tempted? No, but now I have a defense. I know better!

In a sense, Engels was right. We are “resigned to [our] fate, obedient and faithful.” However, this resignation does not make us “weak,” but confident enough to resist evil. Why? We know that our true riches do not belong to this life. We also know that if we lose our life, we have an eternal inheritance in heaven. This enables us to be bold – the very reason that the Marxists had been eager to eliminate us and still are! In every Marxist nation, Christians regularly undergo persecution!

It takes courage to love our oppressors – a courage that Christ grants, and a courage that further enrages our oppressors.