In the Sea of Grace - Part 2

Individuals are important to God. One human soul is worth more than Satan. St. Augustine noted that: "God loves each of us as though there were but one to love". The weight of this truth needs to press in upon us. We are not "nobodies going nowhere", or maybe reincarnated from some lower life form from some dim, past existence. We are "somebodies" on a definite, distinct journey occupying a unique and everlasting identity in this universe as individual beings with individual personalities.

This is why God has invested so much of His grace in us individual humans. When God's Holy Spirit convicts us...when He gets our attention...when He arrests our downward plunge towards Hell and destruction by convicting us of our personal sinning, and we come through that door as redeemed and transformed beings, we stand! because we discover that we are surrounded by His grace!

This awakened individual stands in a veritable sea of grace. His feet are firmly planted on grace. His landscape is grace. His sky is grace. His sunshine is grace. He sees grace, he hears grace, he feels grace. Grace is the atmosphere. Grace is the language. Grace is the music, and grace affords the relationship!

And all of this overwhelming grace of salvation is individually imparted. It is a private audience with the God of the universe. The awesome specialty is unquestionably lost on us. You may be hurting until you cannot sleep, but you get in line and wait your turn to see the doctor. You can wait for appointments with lawyers, preachers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, repairmen and even the poodle parlor, but God's throne of grace is always open!

No offer is more generous, no gift is more gracious, no opportunity is more available than this. Anyone can come into God's presence and instantly be aware that he is being received privately. We may stand before God. It is not an award. It is God's free grace provided by Jesus.
(The third installment next week)

In the Sea of Grace - Part 1

The phrase from Romans 5:2: "This grace in which we stand", sits like a giant diamond in the midst of a veritable landscape of jewels.

All that is redemptively afforded to humankind is because of Jesus. It is as though Jesus became the road or the pathway or the avenue to accessing the grace of God. All that God's grace bestows upon us has been accessed by Jesus. If Calvary is anything at all, it is ACCESS. Every step toward heaven and eternal safety has been afforded and guaranteed by a payment so costly that understanding persons weep as they walk.
Standing in grace! What a concept to challenge the mind of the most mature saint! We can see that the word picture of the Apostle Paul uses here is significant. The position of the persons referred to here is not lying, or sitting, or even prostrate, but fully upright. In fact, in the presence of God's grace afforded by Jesus Christ, any other position would be out of character with grace. The the entire idea from the Greek language presents an atmosphere of royalty.

Here is the picture. It is of a degenerated, lowly outcast, who has no level of position or rank to a royal relationship, approaching a palace door. This person has in fact been an antagonist, a rebel, an opposer to the king. He has spent his entire life until this moment in opposition to this great king before whose castle gate he now stands. But now he is vanquished and subdued as he answers the strange summons to be presented to this great king. The door now is opened, and this lowly peasant, who would customarily fall on his face to the ground before this man, is ushered into the palace of this great king...and he stands in his presence!

He does not know why he remains upright. He cannot seem to prostrate himself, even though he wants to with all that is within him. But he cannot! Still he stands! But why is he standing? No other person is there to force or restrain him, for he is alone with this king...and not a word is spoken. But why is he standing? He is like a child speechless and lost in wonderment. He is like wordlessly witnessing the silent spectacle of a golden dawn. He is like two loved ones quietly holding hands.

It is the atmosphere! This is what it is! The atmosphere is like...it is like..."all is well. Everything is OK!" That is exactly what it is! Even though no words are spoken..."All is well".

This former outcast is being received by this greatest of potentates as a friend, as a guest, honored, respected and accepted. How can this be? Why does the atmosphere fairly radiate and vibrate with happy acceptance? He wonders, "How can I feel so encompassed and enfolded? How can I feel so accepted and...wanted?" This is the word! This is the feeling! This is the idea gently pressing against him. "He wants me! I am wanted!"

(Second installment next week)

David

I know many Davids, and probably you do also, for it is a very common name for a male.

The David of the Bible - who incidently all Davids since him probably have been named - was a man who you could easily know. Not only because there is so much biblical history written about him, but maybe more so because fo his writings; primarily in the Psalms. So a reader might ask, "Why would you write about him this morning if we already know so much about him?"

The reason is because of my great, personal admiration for the man. There are so many characteristics about David - courage, godliness, merciful, wise, obedient and fairmindedness - that a person could write books about him, and still not be exhaustive.

A single character trait has dominated my personal admiration for David since I was a lad, and it is his innate humility. This is demonstrated so many times throughout David's life that it seems to me that it was a major motivation in all he thought, decided and did. I will refer to just one time of his life - when his son Absalom conspired to kill his father and assume the kingdom of Israel.

When David knew about it, the very first thing he did was to plan to leave Jerusalem. He did not "flee" as some suppose. David was not a coward in any cirsumstance, and all Bible readers know this. The reason he hurriedly left Jerusalem is discovered in 2 Samuel 7:14d, "...Arise and let us flee, lest...he smite the city with the edge of the sword". David was more concerned with the plight of the people, with the tabernacle, and with the city if the battle would rage in Jerusalem.

A few verses later in the same chapter, Ittai, a recent convert to Israel and a king's son, offered to go with David, and he told him not to because (in verse 20, and I am paraphrasing this) "Ittai, I do not know where I am going or what will happen to me, or if I will ever return. Stay here where it is safe". Ittai's answer to go with David even if it meant his death is one of my favorite readings, but it is not Ittai's loyalty and courage and commitment to David that impresses me now. Here again you can see the basic humility of David as he thinks more of this stranger than himself.

When Zadok, the priest came with the Levites, carrying the precious ark of the covenant with them, (the ark symbolizing the very presence of God), David told them to return it to the tabernacle in Jerusalem with the words that (in verse 25), "Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and show me both it, and His habitation". What a beautiful spirit!

And then catch the atmosphere of the entire scene as King David and those who were loyal to him and his God as they departed Jerusalem (and it is almost reminiscent of Jesus many centuries later) in verse 30 of 2 Samuel 7: "And David went up by the ascent of Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up (emphasis mine) weeping as they went up".

The broken, lowly, and humble spirit of God's servant follows him from his earliest days of youth, and right down to his last days on earth. God cares for, and pays special attention to, persons with an humble spirit!

Amanda and Mama Fox

"Amanda" (substitute for actual name) is the cross country coach for the Middle and High schools in The Dalles, Oregon. Though a teacher, she has participated in many, gruelling cross country races, and keeps herself in a toughened, physical condition as an excellent example for her students. But, as we shall see, being a good example is only one reason for her disciplined life style.

At a mile and a half, cross country, race two weeks past, the young athletes were giving their best (or at least thought they were), exhausting their young bodies to the breaking point. Young men and young women (in their appropriate divisions) strained and pumped flaxen legs from one point to the next, trying to maintain strides and distances, wondering if they could make it all the way? Suddenly, at the halfway point, here was their coach, Amanda, shouting their names and adding strength and adrenaline merely by being there!

As the runners neared the three quarter position, here was Amanda - again - yelling support and calling their names! Then she popped up again as they neared the finish line, shouting and yelling words of encouragement and support. Then, as each runner, crossed the finish line, here she was again with hugs and smiles and "I knew you could do its".

All through that gruelling obstacle course race, Amanda was all over the mile and a half area, and the Lord only knows how many miles she ran that day, but everywhere, shouting names and yelling encouragement!

Just like Jesus does for us as we run the Christian race!

And the mama fox? Where does she come into this true story? One of my dearest preacher friends grew up in old Virginia, where foxes and hunting hounds are part of growing up. Brother Flexon tells of watching their hounds on the chase, and after a young fox. He was scared half to death, running for dear life, and those old hounds were gaining on the little fellow. His route was circuitous, naturally returning to the place where his mother kept watchful eyes on the scene before her. On the next round, just when she knew the little fellow was about to collapse, the wizened, experienced mother headed him off to their lair while she took up the place in front of the hound.

She had done this many times before. She was a veteran, and had whipped those dogs many times before. She easily led that old hound away from her babies, and on a race that was not even a contest for her.

Our Christ is so much like this! The devil gets on the trail of many of us by siccing his old, Hell hounds on us, and we are pressured by them, and do not know what to do or where to go. Just when it seems that we can go no further, either Jesus or His faithful Holy Spirit sets us out of harm's way and leads the Hell-hounds far away from us. He knows when we can take no more. He knows when and where we need encouragement.

I Stepped on a Snake

It was just a baby snake, probably no more than seven and eight inches long. Actually, my reaction to seeing this little fellow frightfully scamper away from my boot as I picked up an armload of raspberry vines was automatic. Normally, I would let the little guy - a harmless Garter snake - wiggle away, but a couple of weeks past, "she who must be obeyed" and I had had a very intense discussion about "those terrible snakes crawling out from under our house!" Anytime our discussions are "intense", it really is not a discussion at all, but an ultimatum. My logic that "they are just Garter snakes, Deloris, they are not poisonous and they keep down the bug and like critter population", fell on deaf ears. Her "intense" ultimatum was that "I don't care what they eat! I don't want them around my house and I'll kill every one I see!"

So, as I say, my reaction was totally without thought or hesitation as I stomped the poor, little critter to death with my big boot. He lay there writhing in death throes for a few seconds, and finally was quiet.

As I watched this scene unfold, one thought was paramount. I had crushed life from a living creature. From that point, my mind went skedaddling (for you intellectuals, that word means "runs away") in many varying directions. One was the historical, theological question of whether a snake and a serpent are one and the same? Another was the identity and depiction of the serpent in the Garden of Eden? Another morphed into the entire question of angels - wicked ones and holy ones? AND the difference between angelic beings and human beings? Some of these interesting questions are unimportant from a redemptive point of view, and sone of them exceedingly important.

Some respected theologians believe that the Edenic serpent was intelligent, beautiful, verbal and walked upright prior to the fall. Reasons? Snakes, as we know them are repugnant and undesireable. Eve was not afraid of Eden's serpent or that he talked with her. The strongest proof is that the serpent's punishment was "to crawl upon his belly and eat dust all his life", strongly inferring that he had not done this prior to the fall.

What I consider of the utmost importance "about snakes and serpents" and "angels"...wicked and holy, is that according to Genesis 1:27 & 2:7, a human being was "created in the image of God" (SEE Genesis 1:27, and that both the male and the female human beings "became a living soul" (SEE Genesis 2:7d)

This makes it clear that neither animals or angelic beings - or any other universal, created being - has a soul. Only human beings have souls! And only they are created "in the image of God". It was the uniting, or combination, of the dust of the ground, and the breath of the Creator God, that brought into being - for the first time and the only time - the third, entirely new and distinct entity of a "soul".

Some might say, "Boy! This makes us humans something really special!" More than most of us will ever know!!! In time or eternity. The human soul is so special that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save them after they had fallen - by choice - into sin. It is also "by choice" that we can be brought back into a right relationship with God. And then, He sends His Holy Spirit into our souls (the real "us", the real person) to help, comfort and empower us to live a clean, holy life that is pleasing and acceptable to God.

There is no reason why any and all human souls cannot live such a life...right down here in this sin-filled, wicked, demon infested world.

The Unreliability of Reason...

...that is, IF it alters a direct order...especially from God.

In 1 Samuel 15 we read of God's instructing Israel's King Saul "to utterly destroy the Amalekites, all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass".

Saul "reasoned" that God perhaps did not mean "all"; that it would be unthinkable to kill all of the flocks and herds; and (I'm just guessing here) that if he brought the Amalekite King Agag back to Jerusalem, he could parade him through the streets and receive great honor. Then...maybe...they could publicly execute him.

He further "reasoned" that, under the guise of sacrificing the best of the captured animals to the Lord, he could have a great feast for the people and further promote his image as a mighty warrior and a great benefactor.

He further "reasoned" that he had destroyed the most of God's enemies, and "reasoned" that he "had obeyed the commandment of the Lord" (SEE 1 Samuel 15:13 & 20).

For some reason, Saul thought that this would fly (be acceptable) with God. He had become so immuned from truth and accuracy by allowing inner deceptions that he had "talked himself into" believing that what he had done, and was doing, would be alright.

This is the reason for today's thoughts. God gives us the ability to reason as it relates to our lives and activities, and for the most part, expects us to use it. Not a single person ever gets into trouble with God over what he or she does not know. But when God, through his Word or by the Holy Spirit, makes a matter clear to us, then He expects complete obedience.

There are probably dozens of scriptural directives that make no sense to us under certain conditions and/or activities, but we only keep our spiritual hearts and eyes clear when we completely obey the Lord and His revealed Word.

Saul blamed "the people" (for wanting to save the best of the animals), but God did not give the order to them, but to Saul.

THE POINT: We keep our eyes on God, not on what "other people" are doing or not doing.

"The Culture Has Shifted"

So, what's new? "The culture" has shifted in every generation...in fact...within every generation.

It is within the minds and consciences of each succeeding groups, families, clans, etc. to do away with the old, and welcome the new. This is called progress, and a cardinal, universal, clearly spoken rule about progress is "not to stand in its way". Traditional has ever been the enemy of progressive. Wisdom dictates that change is not only inevitable, but wise as it relates to methods, working and living conditions.

But God's laws historically comes heavily against moral and behavioral changes! God's laws were originally given to His people to bear directly upon each generation's codes of morality and ethics, and were clearly purposed to be passed on - and applicable to - each new generation.

But listen to, and read, what was just approved by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America at its most recent National Assembly: (by Eric Gorski, ASSOCIATED PRESS, August 23, 2009)

" 'We're going to be living in tension and ambiguity for a longer time, partly because the culture has shifted,' said David Steinmetz, a Duke Divinity School professor of Christian history. "The question is whether the mainline church will shift alongside, or if it will decide that the more welcoming attitude toward homosexuality is wrong, he said. "The ELCA - the nation's seventh largest Christian church - reached its conclusion after eight years of study and deliberation. That culminated Friday when the church's national assembly in Minneapolis struck down a policy that required any gay and lesbian clergy to remain celibate."

I would agree that there is "tension" - as seen by David Steinmetz - but I disagree that there is any "ambiguity" in God's Word about the matter!

I instantly concur with The Living Bible's interpretation of Jude 3b - so strongly that I have it written in my King James Bible, and I quote:

"...you should stoutly defend the truth which God gave, once for all, to His people, to keep without change, through the years".

Certainly "the culture has shifted". Every culture "has shifted", but God insists that His followers stand firmly by His commandments however strongly the fierce gales of change blow!