The Heaton File

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.

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke 9:51-56)

Thinking Ahead Of God

Zeal is a commendable attribute for anyone to possess and to use in the furtherance of the work of God. Great men of faith have used their spirits to guide the people of God out of Egypt, through the wilderness and conquer a land promised by the Lord. David shows his passion for truth by standing in the valley of Elah against the great giant Goliath. The prophets of old faced insurmountable odds against a rebellious people but they did not waver in their dedication to preaching the power of righteousness and repentance. Jesus gathered around Him an unusual group of men that would be considered misfits in the Jewish world but would become His voice in carrying the message of grace to the world. They did not immediately fall into this role. There were many times the apostles missed the mark to the work of God through His Son Jesus Christ. As the disciples enter a Samaritan city to tell the people that Jesus was coming they were met with derision and apathy. This was an affront to reject a teacher who had come into their towns to teach. Not receiving Jesus was a great insult and when James and John heard how the city had reacted they responded in kind. Hearkening back to a day in the life of Elijah they asked the Lord to rain fire upon these vile sinners. They were familiar with the story of Ahaziah the king of the northern tribes of Israel during the divided kingdom. He had fallen through the lattice of his room and injured himself badly. Instead of seeking the counsel of a man of God the king sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. The Lord sent Elijah to tell the messengers that Ahaziah would not recover from his wounds because he failed to seek God. In response the king sent messengers to bring the prophet to the palace. Elijah called fire down from heaven and killed the first two groups of fifty soldiers who came to arrest him. James and John thought this same act needed to be carried out to this city that had insulted their Lord. They wanted Jesus to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did.

The greatest mistake men make with God is to believe they know better than Him. Thinking ahead of the will of the Lord is where man finds his greatest fault. James and John were full of great zeal. Jesus called them the “sons of Thunder.” There is a time and place for such enthusiasm but when it goes beyond the will of the Lord it becomes a liability. A village of Samaritans had rejected the offer of Jesus to come and teach in their midst. The people were not ready for His teaching. They were not wicked like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah whom the Lord destroyed. Nadab and Abihu died from fire from heaven because of their rebellious hearts. Elijah rained fire from heaven on the soldiers who came from Azariah by the power of God. The Samaritans did not deserve the ‘fire from heaven kind of judgment’ as James and John suggested. Jesus understood the character of the people and knew they needed time to be prepared to receive Him. His work was not to come and kill every soul who insulted Him, rejected Him or turned away from Him. The wisdom of man was to seek vengeance on those who opposed the Lord at any level. Jesus came to save men and to give them life through His death. The Father is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and the people of God should remember that. Lost souls need to be saved not burned to a crisp.

James and John were zealous but for the wrong purpose. They failed to understand the will of the Father and presumptuously suggested an avenue of wrath against a people that needed to know the mercy of God. What became of the city is not known but Jesus died to save men from the perdition of eternal death. It is easy to judge souls today as unworthy of the grace of God and secretly desire for the wrath of the Lord to come down upon them like fire from heaven. Does Jesus need to remind the church today its mission is to bring lost souls – folk like the Samaritans, or the immoral woman at the well and despised tax collectors like Zacchaeus along with insolent men like Saul of Tarsus – to the mercy and forgiveness of a loving God? There is a time for open rebuke as Jesus poured upon the Pharisees and scribes in the Temple message. But let not the spirit of the ‘Sons of Thunder’ invade the mission of the church to decry the misguided souls of a Samaritan village to damnation until all efforts have been made to save them. Disenfranchised sinners who wallow in the mire of immorality, lust, evil and wickedness need the saving message of a risen Christ just as much as the middle-class average family who seems to have it all together. Jesus died for all people – including a Samaritan city.

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” (Isaiah 43:1-2)

Do Not Fear: You Are Mine

Confidence is the ability to view a circumstance with a sense of self-assurance. Weak confidence comes when man tries to build his faith on his self-awareness instead of seeking the promise of protection by the Lord. Man was created in the image of God for the glory of God to serve the purpose of the Lord. His hope can only rest upon the word of truth that comes from his creator. Failure comes when a man believes he has the power to choose his own path and follow his carnal wisdom. Fear envelops the heart of those who trust in themselves because they find empty the promises of the weak spirit giving in to the passion of the flesh. Trusting in the One who formed the man will instill a feeling of courage in the face of trials and troubles. The people of God have been called by His name to serve His name to His glory. Bearing the name of the Lord suggests possession by the name embraced. When a man takes on the name of God as his guide and faith he commits to follow the will of that name. Redemption comes from the Lord and by His power alone. Israel did not escape Egypt by their power. God often reminded them He was the God that brought them out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. They would never have escaped had it not been for the providential power of the Lord to bring Egypt to its knees. Coming to the Red Sea the people were afraid they would die but again the power of the Lord led them through the sea on dry land with the waters of the sea bounded on both sides. When the Egyptian army came into the midst of the sea it was God that released the waters upon the most powerful army in the world destroying them. Throughout the wilderness journey the Lord manifested His power on the nation of Israel to remind them He would protect them, feed them, provide for them and care for them. They survived only because of His grace and longsuffering.

Isaiah reminds the children of God that redemption comes from the Lord. When they pass through the waters God will be them. He was with their ancestors in the Rea Sea crossing and when they crossed the Jordan River. There is nothing that God would not do for His children if they would but be faithful to Him. He promised to take them through the fire and not be burned. This would seem to be on the mind of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah when they stood before King Nebuchadnezzar boldly declaring they would not fall down and worship his golden image. They did not need to answer the king because the Lord had foreordained His promise of protection in the face of fire. If they died in the fire or whether he delivered them they would have the victory. God chose to bring them out of the fire and showed His glory to the Babylonian king. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah belonged to the Lord and they had no reason to fear. No matter the challenges they faced the captives slaves trusted in the Lord. Joseph trusted in the Lord when he was taken away. David showed his faith in the Lord standing before Goliath defeating him with a sling and a stone. The faithful have always stood under the protection of the Holy One of Israel because He has possessed them. No water could overflow them or fires scorch them. Because they belonged to the Lord they were precious in His sight. The faithful of God should not fear.

Jesus Christ established an everlasting covenant of grace to all those who will give their lives to the will of the Father. The promises of long ago remain the same as the protection of the Lord is upon His people. Waters of doubt and fires of persecution may come against the spirit of the Christian but everyone who names the name of Christ belongs to the Father and there is no reason to fear. He has redeemed His people for His own special possession and called them by His name to share in the glory of His power. When the child of God passes through the trials of life God is always there. As the flames of fire from hard times challenge faith and bring doubtful and fearful days that seem to overwhelm and overtake the soul the Lord God sounds from His throne on high that He is the Lord God Redeemer of His people. He will not allow His people to be tempted or tried beyond what they can endure. Grace will bring the soul through the waters and beyond the fires of uncertainty. Saints of God must trust in the will of the Father to know He will not forsake or leave His people. Trust in Him. Put your confidence in Him. Allow His power to work in your life.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

What To Think About

The mind is an incredible creation that God has blessed man with to contemplate his inner being, self-worth and decisions of life. A lifetime of memories can be stored in the gray matter that makes up the brain recalled at a moment’s notice. The mind can do unbelievable calculations, create new inventions, prose literary masterpieces and fuse into harmony a symphony of powerful music scores. With all the technological advances in science the brain is a universe of unexplored places that men will never be able to conquer. When God created the man and woman He placed within their mortal bodies the function of the mind to express the greater creational purpose of their existence: an eternal being. Man is not a mortal man possessing a soul but an eternal spirit clothed with the frame of a mortal body. The highest creation of man is the image of God. Flesh and blood will decay and die but the inner man of his eternal body will never cease to exist. Death is only the end of the carnal home. All men who die continue to live on beyond the grave and to that end the spirit of man dwells in joy or sorrow. Memories are retained and the mind fills the expanse of eternity. It is inherent for all men to know the power of their lives rest upon what they think about and how they serve the Lord. Every man is an eternal spirit. The challenge is how a man thinks and what he becomes that will determine the joy or horror of an eternal life.

David knew the power of the mind as he gazed into the heavens and viewed the earth in its splendor as a testimony to the purpose of God. He also favored the word of God as something to think about and dwell upon. Two things filled the mind of David: the evidence of the Creator in the universe and the testimony of truth contained in His word. For David the universe is the same canopy that all has seen and gaze upon today. The moon that hangs softly in the midnight sky is the same moon that a man can look upon today and see the face of God. Glory is given to the Lord when a man takes time to look at the world about him. What David saw thousands of years ago remains the same. What is remarkable about the second part of David’s witness is the law of Lord he was familiar with was so much less in copy of what man has today. Much of the Old Testament was not written and the writings of the New Testament were about a thousand years away. He had full knowledge of God and His will at that time and he glorified the Lord with all he knew. Today man has the completed revelation of God. Like David, man must think upon the word of God to see the nature of the Lord and His love, grace and mercy. The word of God is the mind of God revealed to man.

What a man thinks about is what a man becomes. Every part of the fiber of man can be summed up in the kind of person he has become in the way he thinks. David knew two vital points of life that made him a man after God’s own heart: he thought a lot about the world about him and he meditated daily on the word of God. The courage he had to stand before Goliath came from what he thought and the experience he had with his Lord. He was a thinking man who enjoyed thinking about heavenly matters. We live in a world filled with thinking machines. Television destroyed the imagination of books and radio. Computers ushered in the age of global pictures broadcast without end. Smart phones consume our minds with applications that tell us what to do, how to do, when to do it and why we need to do it. Our minds are filled with all the gadgetry of modern science that removes any cognitive abilities to think, dream, meditate and consider. As a result, we have become what we think about. Television, movies and games depicting horror, murder, hate, sexuality and anti-God dogmas fill our minds consciously and unconsciously. We become what we think about. David asked for God to look into his mind and find what he thought about as something acceptable in the sight of God. Can we say that what we watched on television last night was something that pleased the Lord? When Jesus sees us on the computer does He see our righteousness or our sexual carnality? As the Holy Spirit looks upon how many hours we spend on our cell phones does He see our lives glorifying the Father? We are what we think about. God sees what we think about. What does the Lord God see in our mind?

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise. (Ephesians 5:15)

Watch Your Step

Caution signs abound warning of potential dangers and serve to keep everyone protected from disabling harm or death. Medicine bottles warn of possible effects of the drug that can be harmful to patients. Traffic signs inform the driver of changes in driving patterns, roads and dangers.  When steps are involved signs warn to be careful going up or down the incline. There are spiritual applications to watching our steps in life when we read the admonition of Paul. Life is filled with decisions that can profitable or they can bring heartache. There is a need to walk circumspectly or to be vigilant in knowing how to walk in life so that fewer occasions of harm will come upon us. Paul points out that fools go through life without any direction or plans. They have no serious mind to watch how they walk or where they step. Their lives are carefree and careless falling into the easy temptations of sin. The simple minded person is not concerned with where they go or what they do. One of the strong temptations of sin is the lack of planning or careful examination of life. Freedom is the toxic lie that fuels the soul to cast aside warnings and plunge headlong into the freedoms of carnal satisfaction. This would be like ignoring a sign of sharks in the water and enjoying the cool of the ocean for a time until the shark attacks. The world is full of the temptations of the flesh and will only bring heartache and misery yet so many people swim with the sharks as if they do not exist. There will always be a consequence to sin and when that happens there is great sorrow. Those who remain in the ocean of sin will soon be killed by the vicious attacks of Satan who seeks to destroy them.

Wise men walk with wisdom. There is a light that guides the footsteps of the man of God seeking the eternal paths of righteousness. Walking with wisdom or circumspectly is considering what each step in life represents and where those steps will take the individual. Heavenly wisdom is the guide of the heart, soul and mind. When a man looks where he is walking the likelihood of falling into a hole or tripping over an object is lessened. A Christian is a person who is very aware of how they walk so they can go around the impediments of temptation, dangers of sin and wiles of the devil. This knowledge comes from the word of God. Abiding in the knowledge of the Lord will guide the steps of the heart to refrain from the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. Rejecting the word of God makes a man a fool. Everything he needs to know about life is found in the Bible and without the message of the Creator in the heart of the individual the steps will be unmeasured. Walking according to truth, walking in love and walking in the light is the way of the Christian. Their steps are ordered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus walked for over thirty years in the word of the Lord and while tempted in all points as all men did not transgress the will of His Father. He walked in the footsteps of the Father and never stepped out of line. The closer a man walks to the footprints of Jesus the closer he will walk with God. This takes careful examination and attention to detail. Walking circumspectly can be done when the heart is tuned to the voice of God and looking for the path the Son of God walked. It is impossible for man to walk in the steps of Jesus as perfectly as He did but the more the decisions of life are measured by the location of the footprints of Jesus the closer to the Father the soul will become. It is foolish to walk alone. Man trying to walk in his own footsteps or the footsteps of other men is an exercise in foolishness. The problem lies in the inability of man to know how to direct his own steps. History is replete with the wisdom of man and the paths he has taken to failure. Only in the word of God and only in the steps of the Divine can one find true happiness and peace. Wisdom comes from the Lord submitting to His word to guide the heart. Warning signs abound that tell the soul to watch their steps and should be heeded. The warnings are serious and can have deadly consequence. Walking in the steps of Jesus will give courage in this life and lead to the throne of God. Watch your step. It really matters where you put your next step.

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders. (Psalm 107:23-32)

Protection In The Storms Of Life

Sailing the waters of the world has long been the trade of brave men and women venturing into an unknown and often dangerous world. Whether crossing oceans or traversing seas and lakes, sailing can be an incredibly beautiful canvas of serenity and peace but can turn suddenly into certain death. The Sea of Galilee was known for its sudden squalls that would test the mettle of the seasoned fisherman. Sailing on the Mediterranean Sea was often a test of will to survive the huge storms that raked across its broad plain. An unknown psalmist describes the terror of the deep for those who venture on the uncertain seas. He also shows the glory of God in the face of horizons filled with the blue seas of God’s creation. The seas testify to the magnificent beauty of God’s creation and the wonders of the deep. Facing the stormy winds can bring a man to realize how small his boat in the vastness of God’s seas. The waves of the sea lift themselves above the vessels swallowing them with violent fury as if touching heaven itself. Storms rake across the vast space of water as if a trivial thing and man is caught in the whirlpools of wind, waves and thunder. Tossed to and fro ships struggle to remain above the growing swells as tack and cables are strained to breaking and falling into the depths. Like drunken men unable to control the elements, seasoned men are fearful of the coming calamity as the seas spew forth their violence in waves after waves beating on the vessels. Cries and screams are heard as men face certain death. They cry out to the Lord for deliverance begging the mercies of the God to spare them. By His providential hand the Almighty brings them out of their distress and calms the storm. Beleaguered hearts rejoice for the terror of the night is passed and the waves have become still. As the sun rises over the vast expanse of sea the ship sails calmly to its haven.

Many men will look at the night’s fearful journey as another day in life no different than another. They consider themselves lucky to have survived attributing their lives to fate and skill of the seaman. To the few there is a deeper realization that deliverance came by the hand of God and their hearts are filled with thanksgiving at His kind hand to stay the seas and allow passage to the harbor. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness. The same storm will cause one man to curse God and another man to pray to God. Those who love the Lord will praise His tender care in guiding them through the tempest. His wonderful works are found in the midst of the storm, the calming of the soul during the crisis of the night and His love to preserve and protect His people. Thanksgiving should dwell in the heart of all those who pass through the storms of life to honor the God who blesses His saints with His presence. There is reason to exalt the name of the Almighty in the assembly of the people when He delivers the faithful. Praise the Lord for His care and protection of those who find themselves melting in a time of trouble and experiencing the deliverance of God. What a joy to come through the storm and feel the radiance of His love.

Not all men travel the seas of the world but all men journey across the face of life enduring the days of calm and peace and the days of great travail and fear. What makes men different from one another is how they face the waves of the sea and fear of the depths. Life changes can bring heartache, fear, dismay and doubt. No one is exempt from disease, sorrow, death or the maladies of life. Life can be changed in the moment without warning. As the sea is calm and tranquil one moment a sudden squall of tragedy can strike without warning. Seasoned seamen know how to endure the stormy winds of life with a spiritual courage to see them through the storm. Trusting God will see them through the faithful heart will trust the Lord in the face of the waves of the sea battering against the heart. The soul can melt in the face of trouble but crying out to the Lord in their trouble He will bring them out of their distress and calm the storm. It may be the Lord allows the storm to rage outside and He calms the storm inside. His wonderful works are evident when He guides the troubled soul to its safe haven. This can only be found in a deep relationship with the Lord God. Too often inexperienced and untried men try to find peace in a God they know little about. Facing the storms of life will fare much better by those who will give thanks for His greatness and trust in His guiding hand to help them through the uncertainties. All men share in the storms of life. What makes a difference is the God they call upon to deliver them. There is only one God of the storm and one God that will deliver. Exalt Him and praise Him and He will deliver.

Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.” And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. (Mark 15:1-5)

The Son Of God Had Nothing To Say

There is no scene so remarkable as the Son of God standing before the leaders of the Jewish nation, the Roman Empire’s stately guardians of the crown in Pilate and Herod and a rabble of a crowd intent on the murder of this man from Nazareth. He was God and was with God and created the world upon which He stood and formed man from the dust of the ground. The highest of the creative order formed to give glory to God was spitting in His face, cursing His name and wanting more than anything to see this man die. With all the regal splendor of a Roman court Pilate sat before the beleaguered Jesus and demanded the Galilean to answer his inquiries. The Preachers Homiletical study makes an impressive statement about this picture: “Pilate holding Christ’s life in his hand is the crowning paradox of history and the mystery of self-abasing love. One exercise of the Prisoner’s will and His chains would have snapped and the governor lain dead on the marble ‘pavement.’” Remarkable is the love of Jesus to allow the puny efforts of a miserable despot to act with any authority before the Son of Almighty God and not strike him dead. The chief priests, elders and scribes brought many charges against Jesus and He said nothing. None of the accusations were true and there was no value in arguing the points. Nothing in the life of Jesus could be found in contradiction as they had tried often to trap Him by His words, catch Him in some unholy deed or accuse Him of being in league with Satan. They never denied His miracles. The best they could do was challenging His teaching but on every turn He dismissed their human wisdom with the divine word. It must have seem incredulous to find Jesus standing before the Roman court and failing to lodge any solid claims to sedition, heresy or blasphemy. There was no proof and they could confirm any of their claims. Jesus remained silent allowing them to defeat themselves. When asked by Pilate if He was the King of the Jews Jesus answered in the affirmative. That is all He said. One can only imagine the frantic scene of the chief priests bringing charge after charge against Jesus and He silently stands bound with nothing to say.

Truth is defended sometimes by allowing error to prove itself lacking. Mark does not record the accusations leveled against Jesus but they would have been no different than what the Jewish leaders brought against Him during His short ministry. They could not prove the charges before and now before Pilate they made fools of themselves trying to accuse the man from Nazareth. Pilate marveled that Jesus remained silent. Why should a man take such abuse at the hands of skilled prosecutors? Any other man would have shouted down the false claims and demanded a fair trial before an unbiased court of inquiry. Jesus remained silent for two reasons: there was nothing to say because nothing they said was based on truth; secondly Jesus remained silent to proclaim to the whole world His willingness to accomplish the will of the Father. The silence of Jesus is the sound heard round the world. Jesus answered nothing and thank God He did not answer. His work was to die for all men and while He could have called down twelve legions of angels to destroy everyone within a thousand miles of Jerusalem He remained silent. Fulfilling the image of the suffering servant of Isaiah Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter; that before the shearers was silent.  Earlier that week Jesus had spoken to a fig tree and it dried up. Imagine what He could have done to Pilate and the Sanhedrin.

The silence of Jesus was all that could be done. There was nothing else to say that had not already been said. The Lord had spent nearly three years teaching, admonishing, exhorting, instructing and showing His power through miracles and preaching. If men would not heed His words during His ministry, why would they listen more intently standing before the Roman government? Jesus came to die and die He would. He gave His life because He kept silent. Pilate may have marveled that day when Jesus kept silent but Pilate marveled more when he found in death the eternal realities of Jesus being the Son of God. Pilate is now the one crying out seeking the blessing of the man of Galilee. The roles were never reversed. Jesus stood before Pilate but Jesus was the King and Pilate was nothing more than a pawn of human wisdom. Eternity opened the eyes of Pilate to the reality of how great Jesus Christ of Nazareth was but sadly too late for the Roman despot. Jesus is silent today as there is no need of further revelation. All that men need to know is contained within the pages of the Bible and this is all the message God will send His people. There will be no further revelations or testimonies. Jesus will never come to earth again and speak because all that needed to be said has been completed in the full revelation of God’s will. Jesus is silent today but one day He will call forth the names of the righteous. His words resonate through the pages of holy writ and the only voice man can hear today is what is found in the word of God. Refusing to listen to the voice of God today will bring great sorrow in the world to come. Listen to the word of Jesus. They have not changed in nearly two thousand years and they will never change. Listen to the words of Jesus.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:1-2).

Lessons From The Wise Men

Matthew is the only writer to record the visit of the wise men. These magi were from a country to the east of Jerusalem that is unidentified. Without a country of origin, we know nothing of their nationality and background. The purpose of the visit was to worship the one who was born King of the Jews. Arriving in Jerusalem, they sought help in finding the new King. Herod heard they were looking for the young sovereign and gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They knew from Micah 5:2 that the Ruler would come out of Bethlehem, in the land of Judah. Herod passed this information to the wise men and instructed them to let him know where the young Child was so that he too could worship Him. The wise men told of seeing His star while in the east and found this same star now directing them to Bethlehem and where Jesus would be found. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Upon their arrival, they opened their treasures and presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Herod did not intend to worship Jesus but to kill him. Being warned by God, the wise men returned to their country another way.

Here are some things we learn from what God tells us. Please note that all we know about the visit from the wise men is what God tells us – neither man nor the Roman Catholic Church can change these facts without changing the word of God. The Bible does not reveal the number of wise men, we are not told their names or their nationalities. We do know they came from the east and traveled a great distance. They were looking for the one who had been born King of the Jews. They wanted to worship Him. They saw his star in the east and came to Israel to look from him. This same star helped them find Bethlehem and then the star stood over where the young Child was.

The star the wise men saw did not shine upon a baby in a manger. Matthew records in very plain language the wise men were looking for a young child and they found the young Child Jesus in a house. The Greek word used in this text indicates an “abode” or “residence.” A manger is neither an abode nor a residence and while the shepherds found a baby in a manger, the wise men did not see Jesus in a manger. What they saw was a young child, about the age of two years. The star they saw in the east was when Jesus was born and it would take some time to travel to Israel. When Herod heard he had been deceived by the wise men, he sent his army into Bethlehem and put to death all the male children from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Jesus was not a baby when the wise men came but a young child. The lesson in this story is that God tells it the way it happened and man creates a fairy tale. Do you follow a fairy tale, a myth, and a false version of truth? If it matters not how the story of the wise men is told, what else in God’s word can be corrupted? It makes a difference what we believe.