The Heaton File

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (2 Corinthians 9:6-11)

God Still Provides In 2020

The year 2020 will be remembered as one of the most challenging years since the Great Depression. With the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) raging around the world and 1.5 million deaths worldwide, the economic, political, and scientific repercussions have yet to be fully realized. The next few years will tell the measure of how great the impact of COVID-19 will be upon the world. Economies around the globe have been hard hit. Families have torn apart with the loss of industries, jobs, closures, and financial ruin. In the United States, seemingly secure business is struggling to find ways to continue amidst the social distancing and masking regulations imposed by various institutions. In many places, churches are not meeting as a result of legal impositions or decisions by leaders of the congregation to mitigate the spread of the virus. The disruption of the assembly has been a heavy burden on the church. What was taken for granted before is now a challenge to find ways to fulfill the will of the Father.

As the year draws to a close there is one truth that has remained constant. In the face of the viral turmoil of COVID-19, God has remained constant. Many parts of society have been altered permanently but the word of God remains as true as it has been from the beginning. God’s grace and providence continue to fill the world. The people of God have suffered much loss in the year 2020 but for the spiritually acute souls, it has been a year of deep reflection. God has not abandoned His people. He remains constant in the face of turmoil. Like the persecuted saints of the first century, God’s message to the beleaguered hearts of the downtrodden is that He still rules and reigns in the affairs of men. His purpose remains the same. The work of the church continues. Souls must be saved through the power of the gospel. That is God’s way of showing the world the power of His love and the purpose of His Son.

Looking at how God has continued to bless His people with courage and faith, there is a need for the family of God to remember its commitment to the will of the Father. God has remained constant in His love and He expects His children to continue their commitment to His kingdom. One such example is the reciprocation of gifts received from the Father in the manner of laying aside the bounty of giving. The churches of Macedonia were a great example to the early Christians in their example of sacrifice. In the face of a great trial of affliction, the brethren abounded in the liberality of their giving. They did not allow the present distress to dissuade them from showing God their joy in the face of deep poverty. First, they gave of themselves and then to the Lord in actions of gratitude. Paul is admonishing the church at Corinth to follow the pattern of the Macedonian churches to give as they purpose in their hearts, not grudgingly or of necessity but cheerfully pleasing God.

Laying aside the contribution to the Lord is a way to show faith and courage in the dark days of COVID-19. The work of the church will continue and His people remain obligated to fulfill their role in laying aside a gift required by the Lord. It comes from a purposed heart that trusts in the providence of the Lord. Giving during the days of peace was easy; having a trusting heart to do so in these troubled times shows a greater faith. God will generously provide all the needs of His children. They will always have everything they need and plenty left over to share with others. Christians will be enriched in every way so that they can always be generous. And when a faithful child of God ministers their gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. Don’t forget to show loyalty to the Father.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” (Revelation 1:8-11)

I Am The Alpha And The Omega

Everything about man is finite. He has a beginning and he has an end. Life begins in conception and concludes in death. Time is measured by days, weeks, months, and years. When a man dies the inscription on his tombstone reflects a beginning point and an ending time. This is the nature of man’s mortality. The habitation of man is limited by space and time. There are depths the human body is unable to bear. While technology has allowed men to explore the vast oceans of the world and walk on the moon they cannot live there. Life on the International Space Station is limited by time. The longest single stay in space is 14 months. Travel to Mars is a one-way ticket (if even possible by humanity). The nearest star to the solar system is Proxima Centauri at a distance of about 4.22 light-years (40 trillion kilometers or 2.48548477 x 10 to the 13^th power miles). And there are billions of stars in the universe. A French woman lived to be 122 years of age dying in 1997. She lived a very, very long life but she died. Everything about man is finite.

The early Christians were under the heavy hand of persecution and the Lord comes to the apostle John with a revelation to give hope and peace to the tormented saints. In the book of the Revelation, God reassures His children that life will be hard, filled with great trials and adversity and many will suffer great hardships for the cause of Christ. The reality of persecution is the inability to see a larger picture of what these trials will mean in the greater scheme of God’s plan. Faced with torture and cruelty, the early disciples needed the courage to endure to the end and to see hope in the victory of Jesus Christ. The Revelation will unfold the “behind-the-scenes” divine will of God for His church which the suffering saints could not see. To bolster the faith of His people, Jesus declares at the beginning of His message that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; and He has a message for them. The Greek alphabet has 24 letters including seven vowels. Alpha is the first letter and Omega the last. Jesus declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega because He is not finite, He has no beginning and He has no end. He is everything.

The reassurance needed by the early Christians was to remember that the Divine was from eternity to eternity. Man was created on the sixth day but God existed before the first day. The history of mankind began when God formed man from the dust of the ground. This is the emphasis of the Alpha and the Omega to see that God existed before the creation of man. All men die and even though Methuselah lived to be 969 years old, he died. God does not die. The Divine has power and presence beyond death. The span of man’s life is limited in every way but God is unlimited in everything. There is no comparison to how great God is and how small man is. As someone said, “Oh God how large your ocean and how small my boat.” The infinite wisdom of God is beyond the scope of human knowledge. His power is so great the same sun, moon, and stars beheld by Adam and Eve on the first day of their creation is the same sun, moon, and stars filling the sky today.

Jesus is telling the Christians that He is the beginning and the end as the totality of all things measured by the will of God in the affairs of men. There is nothing men should fear when they serve the One who fills the time with His presence. No ocean is so deep the Lord cannot dwell. No particle of the universe is not touched by the finger of God. Life can be filled with sorrow, pain, and tears but the Alpha and the Omega will wipe away those tears. It was encouraging for the saints to be reassured that God cared for them and knew their trials. The Alpha and the Omega is larger than man. He is the entirety of all things. What is there to fear? Courage comes from knowing that the One who made the world still rules in the affairs of men. It matters not what happens in this life when the King of King and Lord of Lords rules with all power, dominion, and authority. He is the Alpha. He is the Omega. Praise God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

There Is No Comparison

Wisdom is the quality of possessing the knowledge to discern and apply various disciplines to life. Admittedly, many people possess a higher level of knowledge than most men. Some surveys suggest the top four individuals in history who excelled in knowledge were Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Johann Goethe. These men had an intellectual prowess far beyond the common man. Albert Einstein is famous for the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). His name is synonymous with being smart and having an incredible mind. History has been molded by the theories of Newton, the beauty and designs of da Vinci, and the conclusions of Einstein. Much of the modern world still revolves around the conclusions of great men who shaped the course of humanity. While the lives of great men and women who lived genius lives are admired and sought after, there is a rudimentary knowledge that young children possess and common men and women have that far exceed the greatest minds in history. The foolishness of God is greater than the heights of man’s wisdom.

In 1969, an incredible human accomplishment took place when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. Few things come close to how human wisdom was able to transport three men to the moon and back especially considering the technology available at the time. What is forgotten is who put the moon there in the first place. Science has launched spacecraft to deep recesses of the universe and put machines on Mars sending back incredible pictures. By comparison, the wisdom of man has put a few men on the moon, perused the Martian terrain and opened the depths of the seas, and unraveled many mysteries of disease but cannot explain the order of the universe, its creation, and the love of God. The story of a carpenter from a small Galilean village of Nazareth who lived two thousand years ago does not cause a ripple in the curious wisdom of humanity. If the story is to be believed, this itinerant early century teacher was convicted as a criminal and executed by the Roman government. Where is the wisdom in that story?

The comparison between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man is separated by such a wide chasm there is no tool to measure the infinite disparity of the two. At best, the foolishness of the Divine is greater than all the minds of humanity since the beginning of time – combined. It’s like comparing an atomic particle of dust (human wisdom) to the expanse of the known universe (God’s wisdom) and that pales in comparison. Jesus Christ dying on a cross does not compute to the wisdom of men. It makes no sense. There is no purpose. To most of humanity in the last two thousand years, the death of Jesus was of little or no consequence. Human wisdom could not and would not accept a story so outlandish. And yet in the story of the gospel of Jesus, the incredible wisdom of God is found.

To those who are drawn to the cross of Jesus, there is power. The wisdom of God unfolds every day through creation. When the heart spends time in the word of God, the value of God’s wisdom fortifies and solidifies the soul with peace, knowledge, understanding, joy, and hope. Human wisdom cannot give this. Only through the word of God will man find his role in life and the answers to what is beyond the vale of death. Great men can change the world and leave their mark on the pages of history. But the real question is what happened when Albert Einstein died and discovered the world beyond the grave. How important was the theory of relativity? The only thing relative to Einstein at the moment of his death was his relationship with God. That is the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of man. The wisdom of man ceases at death. Knowing the wisdom of God will take one safely through the valley of the shadow of death. I love the foolishness and weakness of God because it makes me wiser and stronger.

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1)

Who We Are Is What We Are

There is one thing in life that we had no choice in yet defines everything about us. The choice of being born was made by our parents and the name given in birth was not by our design but the will of others. We learn early to recognize the name when it is used. From a young age, children respond to a name. Like blank pages of a book, a child’s mind is receptive to the language that identifies them without regard to the meaning. All children are born with an open and receptive mind to accept whatever culture they are born into. A child born in a German family will respond to the German language much like a child born to an Italian family will grow up speaking Italian. No one tells them why they speak the language. They accept it as natural. The name given is the same identifying marker that separates them from all the billions of people on earth. A name is who we are in the world we grow up and identify with.

The influence of a name is determined by what a person does with that name. A name begins as a neutral identity with no significance or importance. If the character or reputation of the person becomes evil, the name becomes evil. In April of 1889, a little boy was born to Alois and Klara Hitler that was as unassuming as any boy in Austria. However, the name Adolf Hitler is synonymous with evil and hatred. In the late 1700s, a family migrated from a German village near the French border to America where the family would settle in Kansas. The family moved to Texas for a short time where they had a son born whom they called Dwight David Eisenhower. This name would be recognized as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe that would help bring World War 2 to a conclusion. Dwight Eisenhower would become the 34th President of the United States. His name is respected in the annals of history as a soldier and leader of the free world.

There are many things to seek in life, but the only thing left on a marble headstone is a name and a date. The name inscribed speaks to the volume of life. It speaks to the character, reputation, and influence of the person. When all is said and done, all that a person leaves behind is their name. Solomon writes that a good name is better than anything a man may attain in life. A costly perfume will pass away but a good name will endure. The day of death is what seals a name in the eternal vault of knowledge. It takes a lifetime to create a good name but only a moment to destroy it. King David is remembered as a man after God’s own heart but his name will always be soiled with the story of Bathsheba. A good name is hard to come by and even harder to keep.

The Bible begins with a name. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Lord identifies Himself immediately by telling a man what His name is. This name must be revered and honored and respected. The end of the Bible also includes a name: the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything between Genesis and the Revelation is about the name of divinity. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit give their names to identify who they are and what they have done for mankind. Every child is given a name by their parents and God will use that name to either inscribe it on the pages of the Book of Life or to cast it away from Him. God knows the names of every person that lives on the earth and He will recall that name on the final day of judgment. The day of death seals our names in eternity. What we did with that name will determine our destiny whether it is a good name or an evil name. That decision is yours. What you do with your name is who you are and who you will become. A good name is to be treasured above all things.

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (John 17:14-18)

I Am Not Of The World

Jesus is the Son of God. There can be no doubt of His divinity. Paramount to the acceptance of God’s scheme of redemption is the acknowledgment that He who was God left His place with the Father and became a man to die for the sins of humanity. Jesus was born in the natural process, but His conception was divine. He walked among men with the same burdens of the physical flesh when He hungered, thirst for water, grew weary and had to sleep. Everything about the visage of Jesus was as common as all those around Him. Many people of His day had trouble distinguishing Him as divine because He was so much like other men. His teaching was powerful and astonished the people, but this did not make Him as God. The Jews accused Him of blasphemy when He said that He was God and He knew the Father – and on the surface the Jews were correct. However, what the leaders refused to accept was that no man could do the miracles of Jesus unless He was God. They killed Jesus for envy and calling Himself God failing to believe the man from Nazareth was the Son of the living God.

In the final hours of Jesus’ life on earth, He spoke to the eleven apostles about something they had no idea was going to happen. As the eleven walked with Jesus to Gethsemane, Jesus poured out His heart to His Father and tried to explain to the disciples the impact His death would have on their lives. They could not imagine that in a short time Jesus would be arrested, tried, and convicted sentenced to death on a Roman cross. The garden was drawing near and the soul of Jesus was troubled. As He prayed to the Father, He acknowledged the will of the Father had been done through the Son to deliver the gospel of good news for them to carry to the whole world. Because they were followers of Jesus, these men would become marked opponents of the world. Judas had given into the wiles of Satan and was preparing to deliver Jesus to His executioners. The remaining apostles would take the gospel into the world in a little over fifty days when Pentecost came. Their lives would be in contrast to the world as they lived separate and holy lives preaching the gospel of salvation to the Jew and Gentile alike. This would make them hated by the world. Jesus knew they would accomplish the will of the Father because they were not of the world.

The truth of God is what sanctified Jesus from the world. His word conflicted with the wisdom of men. Jesus had never committed a wrong in His life and yet the world hated Him. He went about doing good and teaching a gospel of peace with a message of judgment. The world despised Him. He was not of the world as something more than being divine. His life contrasted with the carnal wisdom of men who sought to please themselves. Jesus left an example of holiness, purity, and dedication to the will of the Father. He was not of the world because He was of the Father. His example is what God desires of His children to be in the world but not of the world. The truth of the gospel sanctifies or sets apart the heart of those who abide by His will. No man can serve God and be like the world. Jesus was not of the world because He kept the word of God. The Christian cannot be of the world when he keeps the word of God.

Jesus came into the world to not become like the world but to die for the world. Every Christian must be in the world but not be like the world. This is found in obedience and servitude to the kingdom of God. The cross is the defining moment when a man chooses to not be of the world. His life, goals, desires, and plans become the will of the Father. While he walks an earthly pilgrimage, his soul is heavenward bound. Jesus lived with His eyes on the Father. The Christian must know this world is not their home and they are walking toward the Father. Everything about the life of a child of God is measured by the word of God. This will make them enemies of the world, but they are not of the world as Jesus was not of the world. To be a follower of Jesus is to walk the same path as he did. Jesus was not of this world. Are you?

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

What Is Your Goal?

An unknown author said, “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.” Everyone can achieve the goals they set for themselves. When a man has no goals, he will always reach what he has aimed at. Some goals take longer to attain but the purpose is not so much the goal but the journey that takes a person to that goal. Climbing a mountain may seem to be an impossible dream but if a man seeks to reach the top, his character will be forged in the spirit of the attempt. Even if he does not reach the top of Everest, his life is changed because of the purpose he possessed attempting the goal. The reality is that most people have no goals and they aimlessly go through life achieving little and having nothing to hope for.  

There are many blessings for the child of God in Christ. One of the joys for the Christian is the ability to lead a goal-oriented life in service to others and God. The apostle Paul was an extraordinary worker for the kingdom of God. His life is a pattern of a person driven by a single goal and the fortitude to seek nothing else in life but that goal. Paul’s goal was to reach the end of his life and to receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, called him to seek. His highest desire was eternal salvation. Every day of his life was tuned into the cause of grace, the purpose of the gospel, and the building of his character to imitate Jesus Christ. He had a goal. There were many things in his past that could hinder his journey because as Saul the persecutor, he had violently sought to destroy the church of Christ. Those things were put behind him as he enjoyed the forgiveness of a loving Father. He pressed forward with a purposed vitality of a certain goal promised by a faithful Lord.

Paul lived with a goal and that changed his life. His goal was to please God. He was not concerned about the praises of men and his preaching reflected Christ crucified and nothing else. In his ministry, he sought to live a quiet life and to work diligently in the cause of Christ. His aim was measured by the daily goals he set for himself to be an example to others. He left an example for Christians to follow. The child of God must have goals to work toward the goal of eternal life. Like Paul, life must be measured by the desire to please God, showing no concern for the whims of men and to live quiet lives filled with godliness and righteousness. This cannot be done if the heart is not focused on those goals.

Michelangelo said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Too often the Christian has no goal in life and meagerly serves God at the minimum. Bible study becomes humdrum, worship is boring and there is little joy in the life of the Christian. Why? There are no goals. When life has no goals – those goals are always met! Make it your aim to put aside anything that hinders you from accomplishing growing in Christ and longing for eternal life. Your life will change incredibly. What is your goal?

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1 Peter 2:1-3)

Have You Tasted What The Lord Offers?

There are five basic senses of the human experience. They are taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing. Each of these sensory systems responds to stimuli that produce a response to the brain helping to understand the world around them. The five senses are necessary for the experience of life provided in the material world by the Creator. Taste is a gustatory sensation resulting from materials passing over the tongue and throat producing an experience of pleasure or pain. Through the mechanism of taste, conclusions are derived that will tell the person whether the ingested portion is good or bad. Those things that are most pleasant are desired and sought after. Tasting sour or distasteful things will immediately have a negative response. This is necessary to keep a man safe from harmful things that might enter the body without the warnings of taste.

In a spiritual parable, the five senses of the human experience replicate themselves in knowing God. Faith begins with hearing that moves the spirit to feel a need to change the heart. Seeing the word of God and the grace of God, the aroma of the will of God produces a change in the soul of man to touch the hem of the Lord’s garments for forgiveness. All these senses draw the open heart to taste or experience the wonderful love of a forgiving Father who shares His blessings abundantly to His children. The experience of taste is to discover the nature and quality of the character of God. Nothing is nobler for a man to seek than to experience the heavenly gift and enjoy the feast of God’s love.

The character of taste is to immediately recognize something unpleasant to the tongue or throat. To digest, a sour lemon brings about an immediate reaction. Tasting something that might be poisonous can easily be discerned as saving a life. Peter shows the two-fold character of the spiritual senses found in the Christian. Some things should be distasteful, disgusting, and revolting to the taste of the discerning child of God. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking should be spewed out of the mouth as repugnant. These are things that should be rejected by the ‘spiritual taste buds’ of those who speak words of grace and live lives of devotion to the Lord. The heart filled with evil will show a life guided by wickedness. Rather, desire the wholesome milk of the word, to grow in the grace of Christ.

Newborn babies love the taste of milk and are one of the first things they experience in life. A baby long without milk will become irritable and unhappy. Without the proper amount of nutrients, the baby will die. Taste is one of the first noticeable experiences of a newborn. Like newborn babies, the Christian will crave the pure spiritual milk so they can grow into a full experience of salvation. No matter how old a child of God is, they still cry out for this nourishment. Those things that are distasteful are rejected and spewed out of the mouth.

Taste is the precursor to the enjoyment of what is digested. A hot cup of coffee warms the body. Enjoying a fine meal brings great satisfaction to the spirit. The sense of taste is fully realized when the experience is felt by the whole body. Tasting the grace of God is the most wonderful experience a man can ever know. Forgiveness is the sensation of pure joy knowing that God promises to wash away all sins (no exceptions) with the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation to those in Christ and what a delightful taste of joy to know the grace of God. Tasting that the Lord is gracious is to dine at the table of Lord daily counting all the blessings of what it means to be a child of God. There is no greater sensation than when a man comes to the table of the Lord and looks upon the feast of eternal grace. Have you tasted the Lord and found Him gracious?

And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. (2 Chronicles 36:15-17)

Despising The Word Of God

The word of the Lord is how the world was created. God spoke and the universe containing the earth and all heavenly bodies were formed, established, and determined by the counsel of His wisdom. Everything that exists in the world is held together by the word of God. Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of the Lord and suffered the consequence of sin. When the early world turned away from the word of God, the Lord destroyed all life except Noah and his family. In every generation, the word of the Lord has determined whether a man would live or die. God made a promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation and that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. Through him, all nations would be blessed in the promise of a son through whom the divine Word would come into the world. Jesus was the Word that died for the sins of all humanity and in His blood, redemption was offered to those who would believe and obey.

Israel was the example of God’s grace, mercy, and love. The people of God also became the pattern to warn men of the consequences of rejecting the word of God. Israel had become an exalted nation among all nations. The Lord blessed them beyond measure, but the heart of the people turned away from God. Following the death of Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into northern and southern tribes. The northern tribes of Israel immediately rejected the word of God and were destroyed by the Assyrians. In the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the people of God struggled to keep faith in the word of God. The ultimate failure of Israel came when after repeated warnings from the Lord through His prophets were not heeded and the Lord sent the Chaldeans to take the remaining tribes into bondage.

The fall of Jerusalem came about because the people would not listen to the messengers of the Lord. God sent the His prophets night and day pleading with Israel to change their heart. His love for Israel was full and He had no desire to punish them. Instead of repenting, the people mocked the messengers, despised the preaching of the prophets, and ridiculed the preaching of the word. The wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people. So, the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them who killed their young men with no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. Then Nebuchadnezzar sent his armies taking the people captive to Babylon. The reason this calamity fell upon Israel is that they despised the word of God.

There has never been a time in the history of man that God has not revealed His word to them. From Adam until the coming of the Lord, the word of the Lord is the foundation of truth to save men from their sins. Jesus came as the word to show the way to the Father. He is the truth of the word of God and only in Jesus Christ will a man find eternal life. Through the revealed word of God (the Bible), a man can read and understand the mystery of God leading him to salvation. Yet, most men mock the messengers of God who preach the truth, despise the preaching of the word, and scoff at those who would declare the whole counsel of the Lord. Preaching against sexual immorality is frowned upon. Suggesting there is only one truth or one church is ridiculed. Showing from scripture the New Testament pattern of authority is reviled as out of date and antiquated for the modern world. Sadly, most people today do not accept the word of God as truth.

Israel faced the wrath of God for rejecting His word. There is no hope for those who fail to honor the Bible as the whole counsel of God. Denying the necessity of baptism does not change the word of God. Rejecting the belief the Lord will punish the disobedient in eternal fire will not make hell go away. There is a coming judgment on all those who despise the word of God. Nothing man can do will change the word of God. It is settled in heaven. Adding to the word or taking away from the word will only bring the anger of the Lord. There will be no mercy and no hope. That is how serious God takes those who trifle with His word. There is compassion in the heart of God as He desires all men to be saved. He has given His word to guide those who believe in Him and are willing to obey His word. Man must accept the word of God and obey.

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:1-8)

The Lord Does Not Roar Without Cause

It was the golden age of the northern tribes of Israel as the nation prospered with great luxury and indulgence. The moral fiber of the people filled with greed and corruption with the rich getting richer and the poor become more impoverished. There was a sense of ease in the land of Zion with the opulence of a haughty spirit that had no time for God. Worship was nothing more than a ritualistic exercise of empty promises filled with the paganistic pursuits of a carnal world. Entering upon the landscape of moral corruption came a shepherd farmer prophet who was outraged and appalled at the decadence he saw among the people of God.

Amos was a man of fiery temperament who despised the hypocrisy of the priests, the corruption of the leaders, and the injustice of the people against one another. He came to the history of Israel in the providential time of God’s wrath upon a rebellious and disobedient people. Within forty years the nation would be destroyed by Assyria. The Lord sent His “angry prophet” to warn His people of the impending doom. Israel was the apple of God’s eye. They had been chosen above all peoples on the earth to serve as an example of grace, love, and mercy. No people were more blessed and privileged than the Hebrews rescued from the bondage of Egypt and yet they were rebellious, defiant, wicked, and unthankful for the blessings of God. Amos declares that Israel will receive a heavier judgment above all nations because they were the chosen of the Lord.

At Mt. Sinai, the Lord and Israel had come to an agreement. The people declared their faithfulness to the covenant established with God through Moses. Less than 700 years later, Israel stood on the threshold of annihilation. Their hearts had turned away from the word of God. None of the kings of the northern tribes served the Lord. The corruption of the land had become a cesspool of idolatry, immorality, debauchery, and carnality. Through the prophets, the Lord sent warnings of impending doom to the people, but they did not repent, and they would not listen. Judgment was coming.

In a series of rhetorical questions, the Lord declares His judgment on Israel. When a man hears a lion roar in the forest, it is because he has caught his prey. A young lion will cry out in his den because he is about to feast on his victim. When a bird falls into a snare he does so because someone set a trap to capture the bird. A city will hear the trumpet warning of an approaching enemy bringing fear to the hearts of the citizens. They know danger is near. All these questions point to the warnings the Lord has sent to Israel to repent and turn back to Him. There will be no excuses offered when the Assyrians march in and take Israel captive. They were warned but refused to change.

The Lord roars today and the young lion is heard through the voice of His word. Through the message of the Bible God has revealed His divine will for humanity yet most men will refuse to acknowledge the warnings. There is a great day coming when the world ceases and all men will stand before the judgment seat of God. All those gathered before the great I AM will not have any excuses to offer of not hearing the roar of God’s wrath upon disobedience. Like the prophet Amos, men have sounded the warnings of doom to those who refuse to obey the word. Most will not hear, and most will be lost. The Lord does nothing unless He reveals his plans to the world through the voice of His word. The lion has roared. Who isn’t frightened? The sovereign Lord has spoken.

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:24-26)

He Is The Resurrection And The Life

Death is the unwelcome guest of humanity. There is nothing more profound in the joys of life than the reality that life is measured by death. All men die and no matter how hard men have tried to preserve their lives for a future world, the end becomes nothing more than dust and bones. The Egyptian empire is a living testimony of the futility of trying to take the treasures of life through the vale of death. There is no hope in the grave. It is final. Darkness surrounds death. Man is hopeless over the power of death. His mortality is his greatest fear.

Jesus enjoyed a special relationship with His close friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. One day He received an urgent message that Lazarus was sick unto death and that He should come quickly. Rather than leaving immediately, the Lord remained two more days in the place where He was. Finally arriving in Bethany near Jerusalem, Jesus was told that Lazarus had died and had been in the tomb four days. Martha and Mary were distraught at the passing of their brother. Martha knew that if Jesus had arrived earlier Lazarus would not have died yet she believed that anything was possible with God. She had a glimmer of hope that good would come out of the death of her brother. Jesus assured Martha that Lazarus would rise again.

God has always told the faithful there would be a day of resurrection. Abraham believed in the resurrection when he was told to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Martha knew about the day of resurrection and she believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Her faith in the living God gave her hope that death was not final. She held out hope that Jesus could do the impossible, but she was not certain. When Jesus comes to the tomb and tells them to remove the stone, Martha tells Jesus that Lazarus had been dead for four days and he would be in a state of decomposition. The stench would be clearly felt. Her doubt is confirmed by Jesus when He assures her that if she believed He was the Son of God she would see the glory of God. Calling Lazarus by name, the Lord tells him to come forth. Amazingly, the dead man walks out of the tomb bound in the burial clothes but very much alive. Lazarus has risen from the dead on the fourth day.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life through the power of God who has power over the realm of Hades. God made Hades and one day God will destroy Hades. All men share in the consequence of sin when death passed upon the world. There is nothing man can do to stop death. He can try to live longer but even Methuselah lived to be 969 years and died. Jesus came to bring life in a world of death. It is hard for the human mind to grasp the idea of life after death. No man has gone beyond the vale of death and returned apart from the will of God. The last time anyone was raised from the dead was two thousand years ago.

Life is not a desperate and final journey to nothingness. There is hope in Jesus Christ. Life after death is greater because Jesus is the renewal of the spirit of man to a wonderful world of God’s glory. The greatest miracle man has ever seen is when Jesus died and rose from the dead – and He has never returned to the grave. Lazarus was raised from the dead but then died again. The hope of Jesus as the resurrection is that life after death is eternal. It is real. Jesus is not just the resurrection – He is life. Death is defeated by life and in Christ, there is no condemnation of death. The promise to Martha of life after death is the eternal plan of God to assure the desperate hearts of men that the sadness of this world cannot be compared to the glory of eternal life. Jesus is the resurrection because He lives. The Son of God brings life because He is the resurrection.

The joy of resurrection comes to those who believe that Jesus lives and reigns with the Father. Facing death can be a frightening experience but standing at the vale of tears with open arms is the Son of God who gives the eternal assurance that all who believe in Him will not taste the sting of death. Death for the child of God is a time of joy. Life is filled with tears and sorrow but death for the people of God is when the Father wipes away all the tears. Do you know a child of God that has died? Do not sorrow as those who have no hope. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Our loved ones who have died in Christ live in the eternal joys of Abraham’s bosom. They live and they have no tears. If you believe this then you can find that same joy in your obedience to the word of God. He has promised life. Come to the only one who is the resurrection and the life.