The Heaton File

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 13:36-14:4)

Peter’s Heart Was Troubled

The final hours of Jesus were filled with a flurry of activity. Jesus has come to Jerusalem for the eternal purpose of offering Himself as a sacrifice for all men. Prior to His arrest, trial and death, the Lord spends time with His disciples carefully preparing them for the trial that was to come. He communes with them at the Passover Feast and after Judas leaves to put things in motion for the betrayal, Jesus institutes the feast of remembrance with the bread and fruit of the vine. The Lord startled the disciples when He had washed their feet (including Judas) and as the hour drew closer for the Gethsemane trial Jesus talks with the remaining eleven about His purpose in coming, the mission ordained by His Father and offers prayers for Himself, the eleven and all those who would believe in Him. The eleven were unaware of what was about to take place. Jesus refers to Himself going somewhere and Simon Peter is puzzled by these words asking his Lord where He was going. The cross would only hold one body and Peter could not imagine in a few hours he would witness the cruel death of his beloved master. Unknown to Peter and the ten the death of Jesus was in accordance with the divine will of God. Impetuous as he could be, Simon Peter is indignant that Jesus would leave without him declaring that he would fight for Jesus and even die for his Lord. The spirit of Peter must have touched the heart of Jesus but the Son of Man knew too well the heart of Peter. Prophetically the Lord declares that prior to the next morning’s light when the rooster will crow the proud and courageous Peter will have denied he knows Jesus of Nazareth three times. His final denial will end with the apostle cursing.

Jesus feels pity for Peter and begs him not to lose heart. He tells his close friend not to be troubled about what Jesus is telling him and what he unknowingly will witness very soon. There is a reason Peter must have courage: if he believes so strongly in the Father then he must trust what the Lord is about to do is the Father’s will and thereby he must believe in Jesus. The Lord tells Peter that His work as Savior is to prepare a way of salvation for all men and His death will bring that about as God designed. Peter should not be dismayed if the Lord tells him to put up his sword or to not seek revenge for what is about to happen. Men sometimes run ahead of the plan of God and Jesus assures Simon that everything is according to the plan of the Father. He does not tell Peter there are really mansions in heaven (a concept foreign to Peter) but dwelling places for the saints of God. When Jesus goes to prepare eternal salvation through the blood of the cross Peter will follow the Lord to where he is as will all those who are faithful. Jesus tells Simon Peter that He is not leaving him but going away so they can be together. What powerful words: “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Looking back over the two millennia since Jesus died; we can see the plan of God unfold through the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible opens up the portals of heaven to reveal the divine plan of the Son of God coming to redeem man and make a way of salvation possible. Peter was troubled in heart and was crushed when he denied the Lord. Those three days after the death of Jesus must have been agonizing. It is difficult to imagine how joyful the heart of Simon Peter would be when he saw Jesus face to face that first day. He would go on to preach a powerful sermon on Pentecost and devout his life to serving his Lord. One of the motivating ideals that drove Peter was knowing that Jesus had gone to prepare a dwelling place for him and that in death he would be reunited with his Lord for eternity. Jesus did go to prepare a place and He is coming back one day to take His people home with Him to dwell with His Father. There is no reason to be troubled with the affairs of this world. There will be times we will deny the Lord but forgiveness reigns eternal in the loving grace of God. Jesus died so that we may live. He left heaven that we might enter heaven. His death gave us life. He went to prepare salvation so that we could prepare our lives for His saving grace. Believe in God. Believe in Jesus. The way is prepared for you.

He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. (Deuteronomy 32:10)

The Apple Of His Eye

Moses was nearing his final days and as he began to prepare the children of Israel for the conquest of the Promised Land he reminded them through a song of their incredible history of God’s grace. Joshua would lead the people in conquest of Canaan as Moses would not be permitted to enter the land. This did not dissuade the great prophet from speaking the words of a powerful song to encourage the people to be faithful to the word of the Lord. He will rehearse the struggles of the nation exhorting them to see the mercy of God allowing them to come to the shores of the Jordan River with the Promised Land gleaming before them. There is so much to accomplish. The song of Moses is a beautiful tribute to the character of a loving God who was compassionate to a rebellious people. It becomes as much a story of the nature of the Lord’s relationship with His people as anything else. He is the rock; a God of truth and without injustice and the Lord is righteous and upright in all He does.

Moses recounts the beginning of the nation of Israel from the separation of the sons of Adam to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He likens the formation of the nation as the Lord finding His people in a desert land and in the wasteland without hope and unable to care for themselves. When the people of God journeyed to Egypt in the days of Joseph there was great prosperity and joy. After Joseph died a ruler arose that oppressed the Hebrews in a severe way. Crying out to the God they knew little about, the Hebrews were delivered by the mighty hand of God through the leadership of Moses. There was nothing the people could do to overtake the Egyptians. Their deliverance from the land of bondage was only possible by the power of God. Standing before the Red Sea they saw the power of God open the waters and deliver them across on dry ground. That same power brought the waters together again and destroyed the army of Pharaoh. God’s power did that. Through the forty years of wilderness wandering God protected His people, gave them food and water and guided them to the border of the Canaan. He had told them repeatedly the land was given to them. Under the leadership of Joshua the nation of Israel would enter Canaan and in less than ten years subdue the land. After the period of the judges, three kings would arise unifying the people into a powerful nation. After the death of Solomon the nation was divided and fell into rebellion. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin would remain as the people were taken into captivity. Following the seventy year mark prescribed by God a remnant returned. In all of the travails of the nation of Israel one constant remained that Moses had reminded them of in his final song: they were the apple of God’s eye.

Eyesight is one of the most precious commodities the human body possesses. The pupil of the eye is very tender and with this imagery God tells the Hebrew people how precious they are to Him. He found them desperate and without hope. Reviving them by His power He treated them as the most precious nation on the earth. Everything they needed He gave them. He promised to bless them without measure if they would serve Him and obey Him. Armies fell before them because of God’s love for them. The land would produce great bounties of blessings through the hand of God. No nation would be able to stand against them because they were the apple of God’s eye. Everything possible to give them the blessings of the earth were provided by the benevolent hand of the Lord. Israel was the apple of God’s eye and they turned their hearts away from Him. It is tragic to read the history of Israel and see how precious they were to the Lord and how they struggled to show that same love to Him. Two thousand years ago God sent His Son to die for all men because all men are precious in the sight of the Lord. In the same figure, man is the apple of God’s eye. There can be no greater testimony of God’s love for man than to see the sacrifice of Jesus on a Roman cross and to tell all men how precious they are before Him. Sadly most men reject that love and fail to honor the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The apple of God’s eye turns away from the cross. How sad and how tragic.

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-19)

My Church

The idea of the church is very common to most people whether they are religious or not. When the term is used everyone thinks of a religious institution signifying some type of belief system with adherents and doctrines. Many names describe the thousands of churches that dot the landscape and fill the world in all four corners. Church has become such a common word it has come to mean a religious building for public worship or the followers of a religion, especially the Christian religion. The first time the word church is used in the Bible is when the Son of God declares to His apostles that He will build His church on the confession made by Peter. Inquiring who men thought Jesus to be, the disciples answered some thought Him to be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus pressed them to say who they thought He was and Peter answered that the man standing before him was the Christ, the Son of the living God. In fulfillment to the eternal plan of God established before the creation of the world, the Lamb of God uttered those ageless words of the divine plan of God: He was going to build His church. He was not going to build a building. It was not in the mind of God to establish a group of religious people divided into a thousand splinters of faith and practice. What Jesus intended on building was His church, His body, His saints and His people sanctified to one cause and one cause alone and that was obedience to the divine pattern of His Father.

It is not without design the first time the word church appears in scripture is when the Son of God declares that He will build His church. This promise will be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem just a few short years following this statement by Jesus. He will have finished His ministry, executed by the Romans on a cross through the hatred of His own people the Jews and then seen alive by hundreds of His disciples following the third day of His death. Three thousand devout Jews will be baptized for the remission of their sins and (according to Luke’s account) added to the church by the grace of God. The book of Acts will chronicle the rise of the early church from the early days in Jerusalem and then to the uttermost parts of the world bringing both Jew and Gentile together as one body under the banner of the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ. Paul, Peter, James and John will craft epistles showing the power of the brotherhood of saints that make up the New Testament church. Instructions will be given to the nature of the church, its worship and the foundation of truth that establishes the authority of the church. It will be called the kingdom of God, the Way, the churches of Christ, church of God, bride of Christ, house of God and a number of descriptive terms expressing the divine pattern of God’s will for saving men. The early church will autonomous in its organization without the headship of men ruling over the affairs of kingdom. Worship will be simple yet powerful in its design. Adherents to the gospel of Christ will share in the fellowship of brotherly love and benevolence sharing their lives and their possessions one with another. Many will try to destroy the church. Saul of Tarsus will wreak havoc on the infant church dragging off men and women to prison and putting many to death. This will come to no avail as the church thrives under persecution. Saul will become one of the most influential men of the early church as he comes to know the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. Later the Romans, Jews and the world will try to destroy the church but as the Revelation of the apostle John declares their efforts will be in vain.

Two thousand years have passed since the beginning of the church promised by Jesus. The great apostasy took place in the early years as prophesied by the Holy Spirit becoming the Roman Catholic Church. Holding an iron rule of oppression, the Roman church tried to wipe out the true church of Christ but failed in its efforts. In time protest arose against the authority of the Roman church and the Protestant movement was born. Churches began to take on the forms of human wisdom teaching as doctrines the traditions of men. Today many churches thrive in communities around the world but pale in any resemblance to the church promised by Jesus. He only promised to build His church and His church remains apart from the trappings of human reasoning. The church of the New Testament will stand until the coming of its King in the final day. Jesus promised to build His church. He did and it can still be found today. It is found on the pages of God’s word as described by holy men were moved by the Holy Spirit. There is only one church and that church belongs to Jesus Christ.

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. (Joshua 1:1-2)

Joshua’s Bridge

Four decades had passed since the son of Nun had seen the land of Canaan. Along with eleven other leaders of the nation of Israel, Joshua had spent forty days traversing the beautiful land of milk and honey yearning to find a place to settle. When the report was given to Moses and the people, ten of his companions filled the hearts of the people with fear as they rejected the courage of Joshua and Caleb to conquer the land. Moses took the people into the wilderness and forty years later came to the Jordan River for the final crossing. The servant of the Lord would not be permitted into the Promised Land because of his sin at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin. Moses did not hallow god in the midst of the children of Israel and while God allowed him to see the land he was not permitted to enter. At the age of one hundred twenty Moses died in the land of Moab. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. A huge vacuum now existed in the leadership of Israel. Who could stand in the place of Moses and lead the people? God had chosen Joshua, son of Nun to be that leader. Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. There was no man like the prophet Moses whom the Lord knew face to face in all the history of Israel. The story of Moses’ life is filled with the powerful testimony of God’s mercy, grace, and providence to deliver His people from the bondage of the Egyptian masters. Israel did not deliver themselves from Egypt; it was through the power of the Lord they were rescued. Through the mighty hand of Moses leading the people through the waters of the Red Sea parted by the power of God and the formation of a nation at Mount Sinai, Israel became a people that were feared by nations for generations. Moses would remain as the central figure as the law given to the Israelite’s was called the Law of Moses. How can one man stand in the shadow of greatness and lead the people? It was entrusted to Joshua to take on that very task.

When the days of mourning were completed for Moses, the Lord comes to Joshua and tells him two very important things. First, Moses is dead. Second, it is time to arise and go over the Jordan River. Joshua was well aware that Moses was dead but what the Lord is telling him is that as great a man as Moses had been, the people had a task to do and delaying that work by mourning the past will not accomplish anything. Nothing would change what had happened in the past forty years. Pundits and critics could spend endless hours debating the negatives of decisions made but what happened in the past must remain there. The purpose of the nation was to bring judgment to the land of Canaan and there was work to be done. It was imperative to focus the mind in the right direction and look to what needed to be done. Having established the past was where it belonged, the Lord then tells Joshua to arise and go over the Jordan and complete the work given to him by God. There were cities to conquer, lands to possess and the time of fulfilling the work of the Lord was at hand. Joshua needed to encourage the people to gather the new generation of faithful and take the land promised to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He would lead them to great victories and face incredible losses. In less than ten years the land would be conquered under the leadership of Joshua and the nation of Israel would be established for future generations. The pivotal time in this transition came when God came to Joshua and reflected on the past and looked forward to the future. Joshua’s bridge had taken him from the leadership of Moses to his own destiny in changing the future.

Changing the calendar is as old as the world. When the Lord established the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day of creation, He created a division of time as signs for seasons, days and years. Through the millennia man has found renewed strength with the passing of each year anticipating the freshness of a new year. Like Joshua, men stand on the brink of looking deeply into the past yet with great anticipation for tomorrow. God told Joshua there was a place to view the stories of yesteryear but there was work to be done that would secure the hope of tomorrow. The passing of this year is firmly placed in the history books with indelible ink that will never be removed. Good or bad, the days of yesterday are permanently placed in the marble halls of memories never to be changed. The bridge all men walk is the hope of a new tomorrow in the coming year and the stories that will be told in the year to come. Life was unforeseen three hundred sixty five days ago and it remains a mystery today for what this new year will bring. With the hope of God’s message to Joshua there should be bright days ahead. Jericho was conquered by the power of God. The city of Ai brought misery to the people because of sin. This new year will be determined in how we cross that bridge. If we take God with us we will have untold victory. When we reject God’s plan there will be nothing but misery and sorrow. Trust in the Lord and His power, dwell in the word of God and His love; and this new year will be a time of refreshing and joy. Standing on the bridge of Joshua is a time of decision.

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:5)

Learning To Be Of Gentle Character

It is remarkable to read a letter where the author is asking for his readers to exhibit a spirit of kindness, gentleness and forbearance when the circumstance surrounding the one writing the letter is anything but peaceful and calm. Enduring the hardships of a Roman prison in the first century was an experience few would find tolerable or pleasant. The guards would not treat the prisoners well, food was foul and the cramp quarters of a Roman cell was claustrophobic for the bravest of hearts. Yet found in this scene of trial and misery the apostle Paul pens a number of letters including a rather joyful message to the church in Philippi. The letter to the Philippian saints is received as an epistle of joy. There are many attributes contained in his letter that Paul enjoins upon the brethren to find the joy in serving the Lord enduring whatever hardships come upon them. They could have the confidence in his message because they knew what Paul had to endure. Of the many admonitions to encourage his brethren, the apostle implores them to have a spirit of gentleness, forbearance and reasonableness with all men. He wants them to show a gracious attitude to all men even when some of those men were sought to persecute them and possibly imprison them. The captors of the man from Tarsus must have marveled at his kind demeanor and willingness to accept the chains of his imprisonment. Like his Lord, Paul lived what he preached. His example of faith would stir the emotions of all those who read his prison epistles.

Being gentle to all men is not an easy task when the world is filled with a lot of angry people. It is natural to strike back or to impress the rights of citizens upon others but what separates the child of God from the citizen of the world is the higher cause that is served. As disciples of Christ His followers let their gentle spirit of forgiveness, mercy, kindness, love and peace show itself in their daily walk. The Christian is a man of integrity by his word of gentleness. All men will know the heart of the man who calls Jesus his Lord through the attitudes of the heart, the character of speech and the pattern of his life. His demeanor will exhibit one of careful examination of the word of God so that he may know how to live before all men. These are not simply admonitions or suggestions but qualifications to be found faithful before the judgment seat of God. Hearts must learn to change from being abusive and loud demanding their way must be followed and heeded. The voice of the Christian is filled with the forgiveness of Christ, the love of the Holy Spirit and the image of the Father impressed upon the heart. This is what the world sees when they examine the life of the child of God. They will find the Christian as one who is gentle in all things.

Learning to be gentle requires bringing into subjection the spirit of defiance. A motivating factor in the life of all Christians is the realization that Jesus could return at any moment. Five words establish the pattern of life for any who call upon the Lord: The Lord is at hand. It has been nearly two thousand years since these words were penned but the reality is closer now than ever before. What characterized the early church is the constant sense and anticipation of the Lord’s return. Sadly the church today rarely thinks about the coming of the Lord and the effect is less gentleness, kindness, love and mercy. If more of God’s people would dwell on the knowledge of His imminent return and to do so with joy not fear; there would be a lot more lives filled with gentleness. One motivates the other. Keeping the pressures of the world out of the heart and filling it with the love of God endears the spirit to long more fully for the return of Jesus. A kinder heart moves the human spirit to the plains of eternal praise and glory. Learn to be gentle and the richness of God’s grace will fill the heart and others will see Christ living in you.

It always seems that each year flows by so quickly. Again, we stand at the threshold of a new year and again we ponder where the past year went. Some say that age is the reason the years pass so quickly. It could be that as we get older our focus becomes more on time (or the lack of) than what we considered before. An English proverb says, “Time and tide wait for no man.” We rediscover this truth at the end of each year.

With the beginning of each year, we should stop and reflect upon the year that has gone before us. We plan our resolutions for the new year but we should always look to the year before and make stronger resolutions. Learning from the past is the greatest wisdom for the future.

• What were the goals and aspirations that we sought for in 2018?
• How did we attain those goals?
• Did we work diligently to make those goals possible or did we give up in mid-February?

As we write down our resolutions for the coming year, we should also have a column for the challenges met and overcome in 2018. We need to see that we can succeed in making 2019 a great year because of what we could accomplish in 2018. If the accomplishments were few last year, our resolution for this next year will be to continue working on those same resolves.

Do not look at the previous year as a year of failures. Look upon the coming year as a time to learn from the past and grow from each challenge not met. “You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.” (Bonnie Prudden) The New Year brings the opportunity to seek new direction and follow different paths. Each year should be a building block from the previous years. The resolve for the coming year is strengthened by the knowledge that we can accomplish what we seek if we but try. Sam Levenson said, “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”

Every day and each New Year is a new page that we can write on. Never let the soiled pages of yesterday mar the purity of a new day and a new year. We can change our future by the actions taken today. The kind of person that I want to be will only be challenged by the kind of person I have failed to be.

• Are you satisfied with the kind of husband or wife you have been in the past year?
• Do you feel that you have grown as much as you can in your knowledge of the Bible?
• How do you measure yourself as a worker in the church?
• Can you do more?

No matter the kind of person that I have been in the past, I can be a better person today. When I put aside the things of the past and look for the things that are ahead, reaching for each new day as another opportunity to reach a new level, striving to do the best I can.

The apostle Paul shows us how to look at the New Year in Philippians 4:12-16. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”

Paul was not satisfied with his present accomplishments in life. He knew that he could do more and he sought that for his life. His motto was “PRESS ON!” In order for Paul to achieve his goals, he knew that he must keep going forward. He did not allow the past to hold him back but reached forth to those things that were ahead. His eyes were fixed forward with hope and expectation, not backwards with despair and regrets.

“Even though the outlook is bleak, the up-look is always bright.” The thing that made a difference in the life of Paul was his up-look. His goals were not of an earthly nature but on Heavenly matters. He recognized the need of taking care of the everyday affairs of life but these were all governed by the desires of the heavenly goal. Paul fulfilled the admonition of Christ to “seek first the kingdom of God.” We lose sight of what is really important when we lose sight of our spiritual goals.

Philippians 4:16 is the way that Paul could grow in the service of Christ. “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.” Paul built each New Year by the successes and failures of the previous year. The level that he attained the year before, he used the next year to grow even more. He walked by the same rule and was led by the same mind. As he built upon each year, he reached higher and higher goals.

The level that we have attained this past year will help us to build upon the coming year. As we build from year to year, after a while we begin to realize that we have grown quite a bit. The reward comes when we can look back and see how we have grown from the year’s past.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

(Psalm 46: To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song For Alamoth.)

Three Great Truths

The world can be a frightful place. Through each generation armies of men march who seek to rule the world and bring sorrow and death to millions. Trouble can be found in every corner of the globe and the hearts of people melt before the trials they face and worries that overcome their spirits. No generation is immune. There will be trials for all people throughout all time but God has given His people three great truths that will assure them of hope, victory and peace. These principles are not new as they have been given to man from the beginning. The sons of Korah praised the Lord when they wrote this powerful psalm to illustrate for the people of God there was nothing to fear from anything the world had to offer.

Truth number one: The Lord God is the refuge and strength of His people. Trouble is real and trials are ever present. No man can escape the challenges of life and for those who call on the name of the Lord this will be heightened. Understanding the Creator of the universe is ready to protect, guide and help the faithful soul through the storms of life will take away all fear and trepidation. God is not the Lord of only the big things but He is the Lord of all the small things in life. There is nothing that God will not help and protect His children from. He is a great help in times of trouble because He is all-wise and all-powerful to effect change for His children. There is nothing to fear as God takes fear away. Catastrophic events will not move the heart of the faithful because the Lord is greater than anything. The psalmist supposes that if the earth was removed or the mountains moved into the depth of the sea the saints of God would have nothing to fear. Trusting in the Lord God Creator takes away fear. His love overshadows the heart to trust in His divine will and eternal power to protect the heart of His children.

Truth number two: while the world races along at a frantic pace of self-destruction the child of God walks in peace, comfort and serenity because the Lord God is in their hearts and He brings peace and calm to the troubled soul. When the presence of the Lord is in the midst of the soul of man he will find the peace that passes understanding as the will of the Lord guards the heart from the pressures of the world. Worship is the soothing music of trusting in the promises of God when the nations rage and the affairs of life overwhelm the soul. God is in the midst of His people. No other protection and care will offer the solitude and security of His presence calming the soul than the praise of the most high God. Storms rage in life but the Lord is the one who says, “Peace be still.”

Truth number three: there is none other like the Lord God. Men try to exalt themselves above the one who made them, formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. In the futile attempt to depose the Lord from His throne, man shows his shallow wisdom as futile and useless. The weapons of man are nothing before the arm of the Lord. Bows, spears and chariots are nothing to the power of the Almighty. All the military might of the nations combined are but dust on the scale held within the palm of God’s hand. The palmist implores all men to be still and know who the God of the universe and Creator of the world declares Himself to be: I AM GOD. The Lord of Hosts is the name of the one who has power over all nations and will be exalted in the earth. Man must take note of this truth because all other truths are revealed from this knowledge. He is the refuge and strength of all who seek Him because He is the all-powerful and mighty God of the world. Peace can only be found in the presence of the Lord as men worship Him as the Lord of Hosts. Know who God is. He knows who you are.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. (1 Peter 2:4-8)

Rejected By Men

At the end of the year the holiday season draws to a close with a last flurry of activity in the New Year celebrations. The irony and fickleness of man is for a few days he celebrates the birth of Jesus with fervor and then immediately turns his attention to the frivolity of a New Year’s bash quickly forgetting the “reason for the season” and the whole nature of Jesus Christ. It is not long after a new year begins that life returns to the mundane and worthless pursuits of carnal gain with concerns over the stock market, political wrangling, health worries and the mad paced life of looking out for the interest of self. Religion or at least a passing look at the story of Jesus quickly fades from the mind as the Bible is forgotten, rejected and restricted from public view or discussion. A brief respite is found in spring when a few days are dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus but otherwise the poinsettias die and the Easter lilies stop blooming. When Jesus came to earth He came because He was sent by the Father. Even among His own people He was rejected as being nothing more than a carpenter’s son who offended them with His teachings. They would eventually reject Jesus of Nazareth and press the Romans to have Him crucified which they did. For many years after His death His disciples claimed to have seen Jesus of Nazareth alive but again most people rejected the claims. Two thousand years removed from the Roman cross that held the Son of God suspended between heaven and earth men still reject Jesus stumbling over the word that proclaims His glory and His majesty. He continues to be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. The pitiful hypocrisies of those who celebrate the birth of Jesus a few days in December quickly vanish to reveal their true nature of human wisdom guiding their lives down a spiral journey of self-destruction. Jesus is rejected by men but He is chosen by God and precious.

There are two views of Jesus and these two views detail the separation of men from one another. Most people look at Jesus with a casual eye of interest but do not believe He is the Son of God. Many proclaim a belief in Jesus as God’s son but their lives tell a different story. They reject the teachings of Jesus as their sole guide being disobedient to the word. Like the Jews that rejected the nature of Jesus the majority of men today will not accept the man from Nazareth as being anything more than a good man who did good things and nothing else. He is not precious, He is not special and He is not their Lord. Everything God could do for man is embodied in the sacrifice of His Son and most men reject that sacrifice as useless. They will not accept the fact they are flawed creatures that need saving. Believing Jesus is the Christ the Son of God will not fit into their plan and desires of life and so they reject Him. On December 25 they will sings songs about His holiness and December 26 go back to their carnal driven passionate lives of fleshly desires. January 1 is the holiday of heathenism allegiances to the gods of the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eye. And the world turns another year older doing the same thing it has done since the fall in the garden. The greatest gift God could give man is rejected.

The second view of Jesus is found in the lives of the few, the chosen and the elect. Jesus was chosen by God and Jesus was precious to the Father. His disciples look upon Him as the most precious gift man has ever known. As a holy priesthood the child of God serves in the temple of grace the great high priest and king known as Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices of love and devotion flow from the hearts of the faithful who worship Jesus every day of their lives. They are not impressed with the carnal trappings of a holiday season that view Jesus through hypocritical spectacles of offense. Each first day of the week the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus is on their lips and on their hearts. He is not rejected but received. Jesus becomes the bedrock of the soul of the faithful who look at Him as the chief cornerstone of their life, the elect of their souls and precious to their outlook in life. They are not ashamed to be called His children and to let the world know of their discipleship in His church. Therefore to those who believe: HE IS PRECIOUS! Jesus is not the reason for the season. He is the reason for life. Jesus is the meaning of life, the message of life, the hope of life and the purpose of life. Every moment of every day in every month of every year the story of Jesus is precious and vivid and purposeful. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God and His people adore His every day of their lives. Most men reject Jesus. God’s people worship Jesus. Which are you?

For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. (Psalm 38:18)

A Contrite View Of Personal Sin

The fundamental flaw of man is found in his daily struggle with sin. Most men have no idea what sin is and disregard any accountability to recognize a law of righteousness. When a person obeys the gospel of Christ they understand the nature of transgressing the law of God and convicted in their hearts of the penalty of sin, obey the will of the Lord receiving the forgiveness of sin. It is easy to lose the significance of that moment of reality when the soul is pricked with the consciousness of sin and its horrible price. Sin can be viewed as a ‘mistake’ or a ‘misstep’ or accepted as the normal failings of man without any emotional attachments. Often in prayers forgiveness is sought for ‘many sins’ as if there is an acceptable reality that all men sin and it’s just the way things are. Somehow God is supposed to understand this and allow man his deficiencies. An almost cavalier attitude is created when sin is accepted as the normal part of humanity with little effort to examine closely the cause and effect of sin. Public confession is almost non-existent because no one desires to be embarrassed. Acknowledgement of sin can be as frank and cold as ordering a hamburger and fries. A man approaches God, demands forgiveness and walks away confident he is vindicated as a sinner and the Lord will automatically forgive because that is the legal requirement of the law. Nothing is further from the truth.

In the purest sense of justification, the penalty for a crime must fit the nature of the judgment. In other words stealing a pack of gum does not carry the same weight as murder. The penalties and consequences are dissimilar because of the seriousness of the crime merits the adjudication of the judgment pronounced upon the person. Justice would require a fair and just handling of the charges with appropriate consequences for each crime. What was the price for sin to be taken away and offered to man as an avenue of grace? How much money was paid to take away the blight of sin? Which animal had to be sacrificed and how many animals gave their lives so that man could stand justified before a holy God and be free from the wages of sin? The true character of sin can only be understood when the price for sin is viewed at a place called Golgotha. Sin could not be taken away by thirty pieces of silver or all the money in the world. The blood of bulls and goats can never take away the putridity of sin and make a man whole. When God looked upon the world ripe with sin there was only one way the nature of sin could be declared to all men and that came from the sacrifice of the Son of God. Jesus did not die for a ‘mistake’ or an ‘oops’ or a ‘misstep.’ The Son of God died on a miserable cross because the price for redemption required His suffering and His death to pay the price for sin. There is nothing man could do and there is nothing man can do that will justify himself to pay the penalty of sin. It took the blood of God’s beloved Son to die on a Roman cross and the hands of the Jewish nation to bring all men under the umbrella of God’s love. The greatest of the cross shows the horrific nature of sin. That is the price that had to be paid. Sin cost God His Son and cost the Son His life.

Long before Jesus came, the prophet David understood the true nature of sin. He did not look at his sin as mere fleshly failings expected in the nature of man. The son of Jesse anguished over his sin. He felt sorrow and grief because of his sin. Viewing the true nature of sin, David pleaded with the Lord for forgiveness. He was not casual about his pleading and he was not indifferent to his sin. Clearly sin was attached to the wrath of God, the hot displeasure of the Lord’s anger and the penalty of sin weighed heavily upon the heart of David. The greater his awareness of how terrible sin was the deeper his love for the kind hand of God to forgive. It begins with seeing sin for what it is. He was in anguish over his sin. The more he struggled with sin the less he desired to sin. His life was filled with the grace of God as he confessed his sins before a righteous and just God. For the Christian today who takes for granted the forgiveness of sins; it is imperative to remember the price paid to attain redemption. There is a great need for all those who name the name of Christ to anguish over sin and see the horrific price paid for salvation. Seeing the cross of Jesus is not a golden emblem of beauty but a horrifying piece of wood which the Son of God was nailed. Jesus died because of my sin and because of your sin. Take a fresh look at sin. Let the anguish of the heart be filled with the knowledge of what God did to redeem man from the horrible consequence of sin. A penitent view of sin helps the soul draw closer to a loving God willing to remove our sins as far as the east is from the west.

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘Made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:3-6)

Jesus Appealed To Scripture

The Son of Man was sent by the Father to testify of the word of God to all men. As Jesus taught the people, He guided their minds to view the will of the Father as supreme appealing to the scriptures as His authority for teaching. The Lord deflected the work of His teaching to come from the mouth of His Father rather than seeking the glory for Himself. Often the critics of Jesus would test Him trying to entrap Him by His words so they would have some reason to accuse them. They failed in every attempt and one of the reasons for their failures was because of the manner Jesus answered them.

A group of Jewish leaders approached Jesus with an indisputable test that would give them leverage to accuse Him. Confident they had constructed an argument that would challenge the teaching of the man from Nazareth; the Pharisees asked Jesus if a man could divorce his wife for any reason. The answer Jesus gave would be refuted by the Pharisees as they laid their trap of deceit by arguing the points of law that men had debated for centuries. Jesus did not hesitate. First He appeals to the word of God as His authority to answer. The Lord puts the burden on these men who thought they knew the law. It would have been easy for most men to speak of their own wisdom and what they thought the answer should be. Jesus immediately went to the word of His Father and chided the Pharisees to read the word of God. Using the book of Genesis, the Lord reminds them of what the Father had ordained in the beginning of time. Truth is older than the world. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth but the character of truth existed long before this. He did not appeal to legal arguments or philosophies of men but the word of God. Any question that has to do with eternal salvation must begin with the word of God.

Jesus quotes from the writings of Moses. He illustrates the forming of the family unit in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve as the first family of humanity. Moses had instructed through the divine word that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife in the union of marriage as purposed by God. The two shall become one flesh as they bind their lives together as one. This was the design of the Lord from the beginning. Over the centuries man had confused the character of the home to be anything that would appeal to his carnal nature. Marriage was redefined to mean whatever the lustful pleasures of a man would be and divorce was common. Jesus turned the tables on the Pharisees by going back to the divine authority of what God had said in the beginning. Man and woman were created with a purpose. It was not the design of the Father to create male and female so that marriage would be abused, neglected, rejected and that men would be with men or women with women. Divorce was never the intention of God for the happiness of man. The Pharisees had long forgotten the real purpose of marriage: the union of a man and a woman for life. Their question would serve to validate the authority of the word of God and Jesus used the word of the Father to answer the challenge of whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason. In a simplistic manner the Lord told the Pharisees, “No.” There was no debate. It was not a matter of trying to figure out if that was the best answer or how people would accept His teaching. They asked Jesus a question and He answered it plainly because the word of God plainly taught it was not the purpose of God for a man to divorce his wife.

The authority of scripture was solidified by the final answer Jesus gave. With sixty-three words Jesus answered a question that men have written volumes about, debated for centuries and created a plethora of false teachings that have impacted nearly every family that names the name of Christ. His last ten words summed it up: if God put man together with a woman what right has a man to separate this holy union of the divine will? Most men ignore these final words. It did not matter to Jesus what the popular view of marriage was in the Jewish culture. He did not appeal to the Roman laws that were in Palestine at the time. Neither did Jesus try to answer the question by His own wisdom and authority. He began His answer by directing them to the word of God and He concluded His answer by telling the shocked Pharisees that what God said was truth and nothing man could do was going to change that. If God joined the man and woman together in marriage man should not trifle with it. Jesus answered with the word of God and rested upon the word of God as the final authority. Men would do well to follow the example of Jesus.