The Heaton File

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:20-22)

Daniel Describes God

As the Bible teacher walked by the desk of her pupils, she noticed a little girl intent upon drawing a picture. Asking the girl what she was creating, she replied, “I am drawing a picture of God.” The teacher was amused at her answer and reminded her that no one knows what God looks like to which the little girl replied, “They will when I finish.” Describing God is a tenuous effort because the Creator has left glimpses of His image throughout the pages of holy writ and revealed His nature in the world He formed by His power but left no concrete visibility for man to respond to as an image of God. This has frustrated man who wants to create God in his own image so that the wisdom of men can dictate the will of the Lord. All of the failures of human history are borne upon the wings of man’s desperation to create God in an image other than given in the revelation of His word. The prophet Daniel preserves a wonderful description of God when the dream of Nebuchadnezzar is revealed to him and his three friends staving off certain death by the king. What was demanded of the wise men was impossible as the king not only required the wise men to tell him the interpretation of the dream but the dream itself. Only God could reveal the secrets of men and through His grace the dream was known to the four godly men serving in captivity. All wisdom comes from the heavenly Father exhibiting His great power. For centuries, wise men have interpreted the dreams of kings but no king demanded the wise men tell him his dream. This is impossible apart from the revelation of God. When Daniel and his friends came to the Lord in prayer, the dream and its meaning were revealed. Daniel would give honor to the power of God as the source of the revelation and its meaning.

The dream of Nebuchadnezzar was a nightmare when seen at its source. It was of a great image made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay. A stone was cut out without hands that demolished the image and broke it into pieces. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Without the power of God to reveal the dream and its meaning it would have been a dream of horror. Instead, the Lord reveals His scheme of raising nations up and bringing others down. The four parts of the image represented four great kingdoms that would rule the earth. First the Babylonian empire followed by the Medo-Persian and then the Greeks with the final kingdom the Roman Empire. It would be during the days of the Roman Empire the church of Christ would be established and fill the earth. Daniel tells the king the dream is certain and its interpretation is sure. In Daniel’s praise to God, he describes the character of the Lord as one who fills the earth and declares the beginning and end of all things. Nations rise and fall at the discretion of the will of the Lord. Those who seek wisdom are given wisdom and when seeking knowledge it will be given by the grace of God. The deep things are told by God as well as the secret things. There is nothing hidden from the mind of the Lord and He knows all things that happen upon the face of the earth. The character of God is light shining in darkness revealing His nature and His love. Daniel understood this as the prayers of his friends found its answer in trusting in the power of God to reveal the impossible.

Describing God requires accepting the nature of God and His will in the heart of men. Daniel did not describe the Lord with words but in his heart knew the incredible gift of the Lord revealing the dream and its meaning so the glory of God can be seen in the heart of the king. Nebuchadnezzar concluded that God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets. He came to understand in part the character of God through the faith of Daniel and his three friends. The life of these four Hebrews would change many hearts to believe in the word of the Lord because they not only knew the character of God but allowed His image to mold their lives to stand for truth regardless of how hot the furnace was or fierce the lions. The Christian has the fully revealed word of God that unfolds His nature, His character, His goodness, and His wrath. Accepting the character of God into the heart will change the mind of the person to live more holy and acceptable to the will of the Father. Wisdom and might belong to the Lord. He works among the nations of men today accomplishing His will. God knows everything that is said and done and all things done in secret. The Lord is the light of the world.

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands. (Proverbs 14:1)

A Good Woman Builds A Good Home

The Bible is out of step with the modern world’s view of the home. Although not a novel or new idea, the freedom of the sexual revolution in the Sixties and Seventies was another recurring theme of how the home is attacked for the character of stability, direction, and godliness. Satan knows full well that in order to destroy a nation he must first undermine the home. To do this, he must change the view of the family hierarchy to become an expression of individual freedom where the children are taught to be entitled to whatever they desire, the man is considered an idiot incapable of accomplishing anything and the woman becomes the leader, head, and ruler of the family. Through the avenue of self-worth the role of the woman takes on greater meaning when she is occupied with the accomplishments of the business world as a leader in industry and community involvement to the extent she bears the children of the family but her role ends there of any significance. The home becomes a latch-key revolving door where children fend for themselves, husbands are considered second-citizens in the role of leadership and the woman is a success in every part of life but motherhood and her role as a wife. In time, the home deteriorates to a pile of rubble where factious individuals scream for their rights and the home is wrecked beyond repair. What could have been a home built by a godly woman to the glory of the heavenly Father is torn down by the hands of a foolish woman.

Roles are important in every part of life and none as transparent as the roles found in the home. When God created the world He established various laws that would govern the continued existence of what He created. The law of gravity is there for a purpose and when men deny the law they will suffer harm. This is easily understood in the material world that going against the established order of God’s creation will only bring about negative results. Nothing is more clear than seeing the role of the home and how each person is designed to fulfill their part. The wise man emphasizes the role of the woman in the home and the result of how she will either build the home for the glory of God or destroy the home because of her selfish refusal to follow the will of the Lord. There are two kinds of women in a home: a wise woman and a foolish woman. A wise woman knows her place in the role God has given her and accepts with humble submission how God has blessed her with building the home. The foolish woman will disregard the pattern formed of God and demand her rights in accord with her will. Wisdom does not come from the writings of men who seek to change the pattern of the home. In a world of social change where rights of men are more important than the word of God, women have been deceived into believing that success comes from Wall Street rather than Main Street. The home on Second Avenue in Main Street U. S. A. is where the character of godliness, holiness, truth, and righteousness are formed by a wise woman. Folly follows the footsteps of the foolish woman who tears her house down with her hands when she becomes liberated to leave the home and rule the world. Sadly, what she finds at the end of her journey is a home broken, dysfunctional and with little love.

Homes require building. They do not happen overnight and they are not built by ignoring the blueprint of the Creator. No greater glory can a woman find than when her heart and her love is in the home that she builds forged upon the pages of God’s word. She is the keeper of the light of truth in the home as she creates a world of safety in the bosom of the Lord. The Bible does not forbid a woman from working outside the home as later illustrated by the ‘worthy woman.’ However, the home is built by the wise woman who knows her role is to guide the spirit of the family to the gates of eternal life. Nothing matters for her family than the warmth of grace tendered by the hand of God in her heart as she shares that love with her husband and her children. Jeremy Taylor wrote, “A good wife is heaven’s last best gift to a man; his angel of mercy; minister of graces innumerable; his gem of many virtues; his casket of jewels; her voice, his sweetest music; her smiles, his brightest day; her kiss, the guardian of his innocence; her arms, the pale of his safety; the balm of his health, the balsam of his life; her industry, his surest wealth; her economy, his safest steward; her lips, his faithful counselors; her bosom, the softest pillow of his cares; and her prayers, the ablest advocates of heaven’s blessings on his head.”

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-15)

Sleeping In Jesus

The human body is a marvelous testimony to the creative power of the Heavenly Father who ordained all of the intricacies of anatomy to work in tandem with one another producing the greatest results to sustain life. From the moment of conception, the body begins to organize and produce all of the biological thumbprints required to produce a living being that will talk, remember, create, exercise and show forth the glory of its Maker. The body requires sustenance to maintain a certain level of expectancy for life and without exception, every human form cannot survive without food; regardless of economic, social, cultural and generational time stamp. Without food the body will die. Another requirement of the body is sleep. It is possible to go for long periods of time without sleep but God has placed within the human structure the need to sleep whether the person wants to sleep or not. The body will deteriorate without a proper diet of physical slumber. All men must sleep at some time. Two requirements of the body are nourishment and sleep. These two essential elements of human survival have been shared by all of humanity since Adam and Eve. There is another part of the human story that all men share and it is a different kind of sleep. The joy of physical sleep is after a grueling day of activity the body needs to stop and rest for a period to time to be renewed. There is a certain expectation after a sleep of waking to an invigorated spirit of greater things in the new day. As all men are created in the image of God, the spiritual man inhabits a physical body that is marked to die but life does not end in death. Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden of Eden lest they take of the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. God created Adam and Eve as mortal beings that would be sustained by the nourishment of the life-giving tree. Denying the tree as a consequence of sin brought death to all men and all men die. The Lord calls death sleep and as all men require sleep so all men face the reality of death.

It is possible to go for a period of time without sleep but eventually the body must stop and rest. Living for many years is possible for those who can live into their centennial years but death still comes. Death is sleep and all men must sleep in the bosom of death regardless of where they find themselves in the world. The very rich die along with the very poor as do powerful leaders of great nations will all perish like the lowest citizen of the kingdom will die. Death comes to all and the question is not the reality of death but what they find on the other side of their eternal sleep. There is a caveat that must be realized about death that it will not be a pleasant sleep for most people. The Holy Spirit speaks of death as sleep but only in the context of those who die in the peace of God. Sleep is viewed as a beautiful time of rest with joy coming from the experience. Sleeping in Jesus is when the child of God has removed the garments of the flesh and imbibed in the nature of the Divine as eternal creatures awakened to a new day of glory, praise and eternal life. They awaken in the arms of angels who carry them to the bosom of Abraham where the find rest, peace and solace. Sleeping in Jesus is given to those who are in Christ in the fellowship of the covenant of His blood through the grace of the Father. To die in Christ is to sleep in Jesus. There is a joy in death for those who are in the body of Christ because they know that while death can have an uncertain nature to its character the result of death is eternal life. Fear is gone for those who peer into the darkness of death as nothing more than a slight rest before glory. The hope of God fills the heart with the courage of the eternal so that when the wearied toil of life is over a sweet rest remains for those who sleep in Jesus. Salvation comes from the blessed sleep promised by the Lord.

It must be noted that often for the human frame, sleep is not a pleasant experience. Because of troubles in life or the activities of the day, sleep becomes troubled and often nightmarish. When these nights pass no one says they slept well or even slept at all but tossed and turned and spent the night in a fit of discomfort. It makes for the day after to be very difficult and hard. Speaking of the eternal sleep of those who die outside of Christ is to suggest anything but sleep. Any nightmare experienced on earth will pale in eternal comparison to what awaits the soul that does not fall asleep in Jesus. It will be a horror that is almost indescribable. The experience will be anything but restful as the word of God describes the place for those outside of Christ as a place of pain, suffering, gnashing of teeth and eternal darkness. There will be no rest and no comfort. It will be a nightmare that will never end. Those who die in Christ sleep in the blessing of the Son of God and those who refuse to do the will of the Father will perish in eternal torment along with Satan and his minions. Death will not be a time of joy but a time of incredible horror and eternal fear that is without end. All men will die but not all men will sleep. Jesus said only a few will find the blessing of rest in the Father as most men walk in their own accord by their own desires and will. They disregard the divine word of God and as a result, will find death to be most terrifying. It is sad to hear of one who passes into the realm of death unprepared for the judgment of the Lord. Their body may look like they are only sleeping but their eternal soul is in an eternal nightmare. The only joy that can be found in death is when one dies in Jesus. Asleep in Jesus requires obedience to the will of the Father in accordance with the divine word. Death will come to all men. The difference will be whether they sleep in Jesus or if they die outside of Christ. How will you die – sleeping or screaming?

What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!” to silent stone, “Arise! It shall teach!” Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

A Teacher Of Lies

Idol worship has been the bane of mankind since the beginning of time when men turned away from the word of the Lord to create their own gods and placate the carnal desires of the flesh. The foundation of idolatry has always been men seeking to find happiness in themselves. Cutting a tree down and forming it into an image of man’s imagination and calling it a god is the height of absurdity as there is no life in the object. It cannot speak on its own, walk by its own power or teach wisdom because it is an inanimate object of wood or stone. Covering it with gold or silver gives it no more life than when it was first formed. Carving stones to stand mute before the worshiper who is the creator of the god is the folly of human reasoning that accepts a self-made creation as a higher being than its creator. No man can create a god greater than himself because the creator of the object will always be greater than his creation. The idol becomes a teacher of lies when men trust the object of gold or silver more than the one true God. Human wisdom is a remarkable failure of self-appointed glory to the depravity of creating objects of worship that are dead. The evidence of a higher being than man is clearly evident in the world but the challenge for man is to accept the need to worship a creature higher than himself. Idolatry allows man to be his own god and to form his own body of law. Life is measured by the carnal rather than the eternal. Happiness comes from the will of man instead of the commands of the Creator. Men are free to do as they please soothing their conscience with the platitudes of self-gratification and pleasure. What makes idolatry worthless is what is found at the end of journey. The image carved of stone stands erect in temples of wood and mortar while its worshippers die and face the only true Creator. Throughout the history of man the Stonehenge’s of failed theology reminds the next generation that all is vain and empty apart from the worship of the one true God.

Trusting in images of wood and stone is folly because it is founded on a lie. Creating an image into an idol is the madness of human wisdom. Man will always be its creator, protector, provider and instrument of creation. Anything that comes from the idol is formed first in the mind of man. How foolish to trust in a creation formed by the hand of man that cannot talk. An idol cannot tell a man what to do or how to live. Overlaying the idol with gold or silver does not give it life. It remains a mute object of man’s folly to believe in a lie that man is his own god. The Lord is in His holy temple and if men are to find peace, happiness and hope they must turn to the only true Creator. When men come to the Lord they find they are not their own god and the temple of the Lord is a place of wisdom, knowledge, and words that are spoken for the good of all men. Idol worship is falling down before a dead god but the worship of the Creator is kneeling before the only true and living God. The wisdom of the Lord is greater than the wisdom of man because man is not his own god. How foolish for the creation of the Lord God to fall down before his own creation and call it his god.

It is easy to see the folly of idol worship in a culture where images of stone and wood fill the landscape. Idolatry may not seem to have an impact on the people of God who would never find themselves falling down before an image of wood or stone but the danger is more evident than what is seen. A subtle ploy of the great deceiver is to convince believers in Christ to worship their fleshly pleasures more than the Lord and His word. Materialism is just as much an idol as a stone carving on Easter Island. The church is filled with idolaters who believe in the images of social acceptance, carnal entertainment, immodesty, social drinking and the pursuit of worldly pleasures. Their lives are gauged by the lie that happiness comes from the enjoyments of the world. The American success story is a great lie for modern men. It becomes the idol of the modern century when men trust in their own wisdom and power rather than seeking the word of the Lord. The temple of the Lord remains standing and those who come to worship in His temple will find themselves standing before the only true and living God. In contrast to the idolatry of men that come with shouting and noise and loud proclamations of self-worth; those who assemble in the temple of the Lord come in silence to honor their Maker and Creator. The wisdom of man is a teacher of lies. Trusting in the word of the Lord is a teacher of truth.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)

Have The Mind Of Christ

It is beyond the nature of man to live a perfect, sinless life. All have sinned and fallen short of the standard of the Divine. The Son of God took on flesh and became the Savior of all men through His sinless life and the bloodshed for the hope of eternal salvation. No man can come near the perfection of Jesus yet the Holy Spirit exhorts the disciples of Jesus to press toward the desire of the nature of Christ. It is easy to look at Jesus as so far removed from the sinful character of man no attempt or effort is put forth to imitate the character of the Lord. As King of Kings has the Sovereign so removed Himself from His subjects they could never be like Him? Has the wisdom of men dictated that being like Christ is impossible resulting in little or no effort to express the character of Jesus being manifest in the life of His followers? Paul is excited about the saints in Philippi and while he is languishing under Roman guard, the apostle encourages the disciples to have a mind that was like the Son of God. He wants them to have a spirit of servitude showing humility in the relations with others and to possess the consolation of Christ. In truth, Paul suggests it is possible and even expected that the mind of Christ should be a part of the character of the child of God. When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul wanted the brethren to imitate his life as he tried to imitate the life of Christ. He is suggesting they mimic or reproduce the life of Jesus in their own lives. Having the mind of Christ is where the seat of emotions is built upon the character of Jesus. Learning how to think like Jesus requires reading the gospels to see how Jesus dealt with others, exhorted others and on some occasions, challenged the religious norms of the day. God preserved the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to tell the story of Jesus so that His followers would know the kind of man His Son was in the flesh. Ultimately, the example of Jesus should be the kind of example His disciples should possess in every part of their lives. It has been said the life of Jesus is best described by knowing the Sermon on the Mount. He lived every part of it. His life is an open book as He evidenced the character of His heavenly Father. Jesus imitated His Father and His disciples can do no less.

There is a limitation to what man can achieve in having a mind like Christ but these limitations should never hinder the attempt. It can become too easy to fall back on the excuse of human frailty. Christians are human but they are followers of Jesus. If a man imitates the life of Paul (and that is a challenge) then he will be imitating the life of Christ. The goal is to seek the things above and to implement the mind of Christ into every part of life. This can only be done through the agency of reading, examining and study of the word of God. The reason many cannot be like Jesus is that they have never taken the time to understand who He is, what He did and how He glorified the Father. Faith comes from hearing the word of God and knowing about the life of Jesus will only come through a diligent examination of His life. The more a person spends in unfolding the life of Jesus the more his own life will become entwined in the nature of Jesus. Having the mind of Christ is to possess the thinking, attitudes, love, and kindness of the Son of God as He walked among all men and before His accusers. Through this knowledge, the heart will slowly bend to the will of the Father and the character of the disciple will change to be a deeper and godlier influence in the world.

Jesus left an example that can be followed by those who seek His will. His footsteps may seem to be too large but they are there for His followers to place their feet where He has walked. Having a mind of Christ is to love the sinner, forgive the unforgiven, show kindness to others and to live each day in quiet servitude to the will of the Father. He was man full of prayer as His disciples should be. Jesus confronted hypocrisy with wisdom, candor, and truth. His Father’s will was primary in what He said, what He did and why He did what He did. People saw Him for a good man who taught with authority, challenged the norms of the day, spent time with children, talked with those whom others had rejected, forgave all that were offended by Him and died with love on His lips. Possessing a mind of Christ is the heart of a servant. The Father is the purpose of the servant’s life with no other goals in mind. Through the mind of Christ, speech is seasoned with salt and a ready hand is willing to help, hearts are changed and lost souls come to know the glory of the Father in eternal hope. What is wrong with the world is that the minds of folk are on the wrong things. People of God are not living up to their potential because they have not attempted to have the mind of Christ and as a result, wallow in spiritual infancy. Growing up in the spirit of Christ will give strength to the soul and infuse in the heart of the disciple of Jesus Christ the motivation to live more fully before the Lord with greater longing for the last day to come. Jesus looked with joy to the cross because that was the kind of mind He possessed. Having the mind of Christ will help one see death for what it really is: the bridge to eternal glory. Lord Jesus come quickly.

You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. (Deuteronomy 19:14)

Respect Your Neighbor

The land of Canaan was a land promised by God to the Hebrews through a covenant with Abraham. After the bondage and cruel treatment by the Egyptians, the Lord delivered the people of Israel and brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey. It was a good land filled with brooks of water, of fountains and springs. The Lord promised land where the houses were full of good things which they did not build, hewn-out wells which they did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which they did not plant. Everything the people received came by the hand of the Lord and only through His power would the land be delivered for them to enjoy. They must never forget the Promised Land was a land promised by God. To this point the Lord tells the people when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property. Nothing is too insignificant for God’s notice. Before the extensive use of fences, property boundaries were marked with depressions in the ground, rocks or boulders put in place to show the area of a man’s land or a post that could be easily moved. Honoring the boundaries of a neighbor was an honor system of respecting the rights of a neighbor. This would be an easy temptation to slowly encroach on a neighboring land giving the dishonest man more land. Without records to prove exact boundaries, it would be difficult to plead for recourse. God prohibited (a number of times in the Law) the removal of the boundaries.

It would seem trivial to include in the Law of Moses the prohibition against moving the boundaries of a neighbor but it speaks to the heart of relationships. A dishonest man could easily move a boundary and gain more land but to what advantage? Covetousness was condemned in the Law and emphasized in the Ten Commandments. The reason the Lord forbade men from moving the landmarks came from the promise God made to the people to receive land by His power. When a man moved the boundary he was going against the will of the Lord because God had given the land to the neighbor. All men were equal in the promise of good land. They all received vineyards to enjoy and the blessings of wells filled with water so what would cause a man to steal from his neighbor something given to them by God? Like Ananias and Sapphira in the early days of the church who kept back part of the price of the land for themselves, the heart is filled with covetousness. Even the Romans declared the death penalty for those who removed landmarks. The people of God were expected to not be like the nations around them and steal from one another but to honor the blessings given to them all by the hand of the Lord. Moving a boundary was changing the will of the Lord. The land given to a tribe was identified throughout the generations as unchanging. When the nation of Israel fell into idolatry it was common to steal and rob the poor and to abuse the widows who were defenseless. Sin brought about the disregard for others including stealing land.

It is not as easy to move the landmarks of property in the modern age of surveys, legal descriptions, and laws to protect the rights of land-owners. The law for the Jews was not about moving rocks, posts or filling in depressions of land to steal a little land. It was about respect for God’s law and respect for others. First, it was a law of God forbidding the moving of landmarks. A man could not ignore the law because he did not agree with it. Moving a post just a few feet was a sin because God said so. To disregard plain teaching of God’s law is sin whether it is considered a minor offense or larger. The Bible is not a book of choices but the word of truth of the Divine. When men view the word of God as a law to be changed at the discretion of the whims of human wisdom they find themselves facing a wrathful Lawgiver. Finally, moving a landmark dishonored a neighbor. When God created Adam He saw it was not good for man to be alone. Bringing the woman to the man, the Lord established the fulfillment of companionship that would reach beyond the marital relationship. The community of relationships has been the foundation of society. There are many laws within the Law of Moses that speak to the relationship of the neighbor. In the Ten Commandments, half dealt with the relationship toward a neighbor. When Jesus taught the sermon on the mountain, He established repeatedly the inter-working’s of men with other men as foundational principles of righteousness. The writings of Paul are filled with admonitions of men learning how to treat others. In his letter to Corinth, the apostle rebuked the saints for taking one another to law against another. God says that it matters if you move one stone for dishonest measures against your neighbor.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

The Oneness Of It All

In a world filled with religious diversity, changing faiths, freedom to worship according to choice, insolent attitudes toward God and rejection of the Bible, Paul’s letter to Ephesus is a fresh reminder of the unchanging nature of truth. Whether a person accepts the teaching of the word of God does not change the nature of the absolute truth of the oneness in the doctrine of the Divine. The challenges in the first century were not on the battlefield of teaching the doctrine of one church as much as the response to the pagan world of multiple gods to show there was only one Lord and one God and based upon that foundation there could only be on hope, one faith, and one doctrine. It was radical thinking for the citizens of the Roman world to hear someone proclaim the doctrine of oneness. When Paul was in Athens he noted the city was given over to idol worship and included one to the “unknown god” just in case someone was missed in the tally. Included in the worship of idols was an amoral principle of self-satisfaction leading to a person serving his god in the manner he desired which included all levels of immorality, debauchery, and carnal pleasures. This was not the message of the early followers of Jesus Christ who taught allegiance to one God who was Creator of all men demanding obedience to one faith. The singular nature of the Christian faith was a sweeping indictment against everything familiar to the Roman mind. Religion in the first century was a wide-open acceptance of almost anything the hearts of the people wanted with the choice to serve whatever type of god that would soothe the conscience of the worshipper. To suggest there was only one assembly of saints, one Spirit with one hope serving one Lord and one faith teaching one doctrine and established by one God and Father of all was almost a blasphemous voice in the midst of a forest of religious freedoms where individuals could attend the god of their choice. The apostle Paul would not be favored by many of his day who heard this message of clarity and oneness and if Paul were preaching today he would receive the same response.

Religion has changed its garments from the cloaks of idolatry in the first century to the veil of religious freedom in a world where a person is told to attend the church of their choice. Paul’s teaching of one church or one body is rejected as narrow-minded prejudice. Suggesting a man’s church could be a false body of faith in considered unkind and viewed with disdain if maligning the religious preference of another. Teaching one faith over other faiths in the world is unacceptable in the pulpits of religion. Baptism is neglected to the point of derision by those who deny its significance to salvation. Many claim to follow Jesus Christ but never embrace Him as the one Lord of their lives to follow His teachings on purity, faithfulness, devotion, and holiness. The doctrine of the oneness of the gospel of Christ is now taught as the multiplicity of personal views and interpretations based upon personal preference. Churches dot the landscape as (like in the city of Athens) the world is perceived as a very religious place with worshippers filling the buildings of individual taste and acceptance. The standard of one book with one message from one God is now replaced with the doctrines of men, acceptance of human standards and influx of hedonism guided worship where the carnal is worshipped above all things. Church worship has become a vivid experience of self-satisfaction that is as empty as water spilled to the ground. What Paul wrote to the Ephesian saints is the doctrine of two churches: the church of Jesus Christ with one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, and one faith with one baptism and one God and Father; and then there is the church of Satan that calls itself anything it desires, giving a false hope in a doctrine of eternal security from the Lord of self, creating a false faith rejecting clear teachings of salvation as if they serve the true God. As a result, many people worship in a body that is not from the mind of God but the wisdom of men.

The doctrine of oneness is no more popular today than when Paul penned the letter two thousand years ago. If a man stands in a pulpit and teaches there is one church he is viewed with distrust and prejudice. Teaching the doctrine of the one baptism necessitating the essential nature of obedience to the gospel of Christ is rejected as a failed theology. Most deny baptism has anything to do with salvation thereby filling the rolls of the lost to greater numbers. Faith is not accepted as singular and that all faiths must be accepted for what they are. This again falls in line with the doctrine of apostasy and the great lie of the deceiver himself. Many will claim they believe in Jesus Christ and fill their lives with fornication, adultery, drunkenness, lying, dishonesty, worldliness and carnal pleasures. Paul’s preaching is not welcomed in the diverse world of religion. Teaching a doctrine of oneness is narrow-minded to a fault and rejected by the majority of religions and faiths. The wiles of the devil teach men to reject the plain teaching of God. And yes – there is one God who gave His one Son to build His one church through the one Spirit so there could be one hope and one Lord and one faith established on one baptism. When the day of judgment arrives there will only be one decision that will matter in the heart of men. Did I believe in the oneness of the doctrine of God and did I obey the one truth? The answer will determine eternity.

There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

The Purpose Of The Lord Shall Not Change

There are many absolutes in life. Death is certain, the sun rises and sets apart from the will of man, and nations come and go as wars are fought and won, the seasons will always fill the earth and procreation is only accomplished by the union of a man and a woman. This is hard for humankind to accept as men try to cheat death, change the course of nature, build mighty empires, talk of global warming and accept same-sex unions as natural and moral. The beings that laugh at the calamities of human wisdom are the angels who peer into the souls of men asking why this puny fleshly creature thinks he is so wise and powerful when at best men are made lower than angels. The eternal beings know that regardless of what men do on the third rock from the sun in a vast expanse of the universe, the will of the Lord will always reign supreme. There are many plans made by the force of human wisdom but at the end of the day, the Lord’s purpose will prevail. It always has and always will succeed. The Bible is the historical evidence that whenever men try to make themselves into gods they only succeed in building images of sand that pass away in time. In the early world men embraced every debauchery of the fleshly and carnal spirit to where the wickedness of men was evil continually. The Creator viewed the world with disdain and by His eternal word brought a flood that filled the earth more than twenty feet above the highest mountain. Who survived this cataclysmic deluge? Only eight souls because they believed the will of God would be accomplished regardless of man’s wisdom. When it first began to rain the crafty wisdom of men found ways to stay above the floodwaters but not for very long. Soon, everything that had breath on the face of the earth perished with the exception of those in the ark of safety. Where was the wisdom of man during the flood? After the flood men multiplied and decided to build a tower whose top is in the heavens. They wanted to make a name for themselves so they began to build. The purpose of man was thwarted when the Creator came among them and confused the languages. Nations were born from this purpose of God and have never changed.

The Bible is filled with stories of those who thought they could go outside the habitations of God’s will and serve their own carnal wisdom. Abraham and Sarah tried when Ishmael was born but that was not the plan of God. It seemed to sell their brother into the hands of slave traders was a profitable business but the sons of Jacob did not know how God would use Joseph to show His power in Egypt. Many years later, Pharaoh tried to go against the will of the Lord in the face of devastating plagues and finally all the firstborn of Israel including the animals died in one night. Chasing after the Hebrews into the Red Sea, the will of God destroyed the army of Pharaoh. Israel always found itself into dire straits when they thought they knew more than God. At Sinai, fearful something had happened to Moses, the people pleaded with Aaron to make them gods to worship and three thousand Hebrews died as a result of their rebellion. Arriving at the promised land, Israel refused to enter for fear of the people of Canaan and thinking they knew more than the Lord. Forty years would be punishment for their human reasoning. No matter what they did, God’s will was carried out for the Hebrews. The history of Israel is the affirmation that men plan many things but the counsel of the Lord will stand.

Jesus came to earth to die for the sins of all men. Satan tried to change the plan of God but failed. The Jews rejected Jesus and murdered Him but that was the plan of the Father to be accomplished for the salvation of the world. It became foolishness to those who disbelieved that a crucified man would be the Savior or that disciples would believe in a resurrected Christ. The wisdom of men could not imagine the value of believing Jesus was the Son of God but the counsel of the Lord stands. Many reject the simple teaching of the plan of salvation to follow human reasoning and carnal standards of salvation. Most religious people reject baptism as any connection to redemption. The church is viewed with disinterest and the Bible maligned as out of date. Modern societal norms accept same-sex unions, sexual perversions, prejudice, anti-God rhetoric and rejection of moral codes guided by the word of God. When all is said and done, the counsel of the Lord stands and the purposes and plans of men vanish. There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)

God Will Raise Us Up

The conditions for the prophet Hosea were anything but godly. He lived in a world where the sinfulness of Israel and the religious and political leaders were corrupted by idolatry and the land filled with whoredom. Hosea was tasked by God to bear the burden of the decadence of the nation as he would marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him on numerous occasions. Three children would be born to his wife Gomer but only the first child belonged to Hosea. After Gomer went off to be with her lovers, God told Hosea to take her back and he did. All of his life was a symbolic parable of Israel and God and the everlasting mercy of God to seek the restoration of Israel. Israel was unfaithful to her marriage covenant with the Lord but the promises made by God would always make a way for Israel to return and receive the blessings of the Lord again. There is a deep message of love in the book of Hosea as an example of how often the Lord has shown His love for a rebellious people. The forgiveness of the Lord could only come from hearts that repented and sought the favor of God for cleansing. Using the nations around Israel, the Lord brought swift justice against the people to punish them for their ungodliness. He tore them apart, inflicted many plagues, pestilence, and miseries upon them in His wrath all to convince Israel to repent. Hosea calls for the people to return to the Lord and receive His everlasting mercy. In the face of all their wickedness, God was willing to take them back if they would but return. The door of grace was always available but opening the door would only come from the desires of the people to come to the Lord. Through the prophets, the voice of salvation was heard appealing to the rebellious hearts to seek the favor of the Lord. He had done many terrible things against Israel but they could still return if their hearts were willing.

Forgiveness comes from the mind of God. Although He had torn Israel and injured the nation, His love was able to heal them and bandage the injuries brought by His wrath. All things were done in His time but the wrath of the Lord was followed by His loving care if they would return to Him. The nature of forgiveness has always been when the Lord exacts affliction He is willing to restore and raise up again those who seek Him with penitent hearts. His punishment is not final. There were many terrible things that had happened to Israel and all of those measures were given to rebuke the hardened heart of Israel. This was done to seek their restoration. If the Lord was not so gracious, there would be no reason to seek His pleasure. Like the prodigal son who ran away from his father and wasted his life in a far country, he knew he had a father who was full of love, mercy, grace, and kindness to forgive him if he acknowledged his sin and repented. When the boy returned to his home, the father welcomed him with open arms as he heard the words of repentance. Israel would find the love of God in allowing the remnant of Israel to return because God was a gracious and kind Father. Like the gentle rains of summer that follow the hard days of drought, God’s mercies would fill the earth with His blessings. Forgiveness comes when people repent. What was torn apart will be put back and the afflictions of God’s wrath will give way to His unmeasured grace.

Sin destroys and brings its own measure of misery. Jesus died and rose from the dead so that men could see the eternal love of God to bind what was broken and heal what was destroyed. There is an eternal Father willing to forgive if one would come and return to Him. The action of faith must precede the favor of the Lord. Hosea told the people they must first come before God would heal them. His grace was always there but if they did not take opportunity for His grace, it could not remove their sin. Returning to the Lord demanded a penitent heart and a willing mind to serve the Lord. Through the knowledge of the Lord, truth is found that opens up the pathways of forgiveness. Faith comes from the word of God appealing to the willing mind to acknowledge failure before God, seek His mercy and come to the Lord for cleansing. When a man fills his heart with godly sorrow it will lead him to repentance and ultimately the pleasure of the Lord. Although sin has torn the life of the individual and stricken many arrows into the heart of the righteous, the eternal Father will heal the broken spirit and bandage the wounds inflicted by sin. Forgiveness is the message of God to tell all men that He desires for them to live in His sight. The Lord is not willing that any man should perish but that all men would accept His grace, come and repent and be raised up by His grace and dwell with Him eternally. That is the great message of hope from the beginning of time. Man was created for the glory of God. Sin temporarily tore that apart but through the blood of Jesus Christ, the joy of salvation can be found in His grace and mercy. Come, and let us return to the Lord.

These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. (John 16:1-4)

And You Will Be Killed

It seems certain the eleven disciples remaining with Jesus in His final hours were not aware that within a short time their Lord would be tried, convicted and crucified on a Roman cross. Jesus had repeatedly told them He would go to Jerusalem and die but there was no urgency in the hearts of the apostles concerning these warnings. They had been with their teacher for a few years and it may have seemed there was much work to be done and that Jesus would be leading them for a long time yet to come. Had they known the full truth of what the Jews would do to Jesus by the power of the Romans, they may have tried to defend Jesus and die in a failed insurrection. Regardless, after the Passover (Judas has left to arrange the betrayal) Jesus walks and talks with the eleven on His way to Gethsemane where He awaits His accusers. The conversation of Jesus is a remarkable testimony to the eternal plan of God and how the death of Jesus was foreordained. He openly tells His disciples what is about to happen and why. Not only will the Lord suffer at the hands of the Jews but the eleven are told of things that will take place in their own lives as disciples of Jesus. As the eleven listen, Jesus tries to reassure them of what was about to happen is the will of the Father and there is much work to be done as the kingdom of God is to be established in Jerusalem. He does not want them to be filled with fear and to know the Father will care for them and protect them. However, He does not leave out the reality that when these eleven men begin preaching the gospel of salvation in a risen Christ, they will be persecuted and reviled and killed. As Jews, the eleven apostles were devoted to the ordinances of the Law of Moses and one of the modern avenues of worship was the synagogue. To be put out of the synagogue was to be deprived of recognition by their fellow brethren. Their character would be impugned; the community would treat them with contempt and in some cases deprived of their earthly possessions. It was a very serious charge to be expelled from the synagogue. All of this would happen to the disciples because they followed Jesus.

To make matters worse, not only would the disciples be cast out of the synagogue, Jesus tells them what whoever kills them will think they are doing a holy service to God. Did the eleven hear what Jesus said about being His disciple? Following Jesus could be a life-threatening decision. Why would anyone kill them for being a disciple of Jesus? The answer would come within a few hours. The eleven were getting a spiritual crash course in what it meant to be a believer in the one God, the one Lord, and the one faith. Jesus would be killed for no reason by men screaming hatred and vile things at the Lord. If the world rose up against a man who never committed any wrong, what would the disciples think would happen to them? The emphasis of Jesus was to let the men know that when they went out teaching the gospel they would be cast out of synagogues and in some cases would be killed by religious zealots. They would first witness this by a man who was not an apostle when the Jews stoned Stephen to death. In time, ten of the eleven men walking with Jesus to Gethsemane would suffer a martyr’s death (as told by tradition; John the only one to die of natural causes). When the time came for them to die, the apostles would remember the words of Jesus spoken on that fatal journey to the garden and then to the cross. They would see the face of the Lord as He confronted His accusers and stood against their false charges. The image of the Son of God on the cross would be emblazoned in their minds as the example of faith resolute to the end and find their own courage to accept death. Jesus did not explain this to disciples at the beginning of His ministry because there was much work to do and He was going to be with them for a while.

Recruitment posters are always measured to give the greatest appeal to those who might consider following a certain cause. Jesus tells His own disciples that if they wanted to follow Him they may have to walk the same path to Golgotha. This would be especially true for the eleven who walked and talked with Jesus, seeing His power through the signs and wonders and listening to the voice of the Son of God expound on heavenly matters. These men were told they were going to be killed for the cause of Christ – and they did not flinch or fall back. Eleven examples of incredible courage came out of that garden that day when the apostles fulfilled the word of Christ by going to Jerusalem and establishing the church of Christ. It would cost them their lives, their friendships, their reputations and many things they held dear in life. They did not falter or fall away from the purpose of their mission. James would be the first of the apostles to die when Herod beheaded him. If tradition is true, nine more would suffer a terrible death. Paul would have his head cut off by the Romans at the behest of the Jews. Many, many more faithful children of God would suffer at the hands of the Jews and the Romans in a martyr’s death. Why? Because they loved the Lord more than the praise of men. What price are you willing to pay for Jesus? Loss of job, relationship, friendship or reputation? Following Jesus Christ requires carrying a cross. In some cases, people will die because of their faith. Are you ready to die?