2011-11-04
Hi There Dear Ones,
Last week I spend some time looking at H.Clay Trumbull’s The Blood Covenant. He makes the point that every culture has a God-consciousness, which is an idea established in RO 1: 18-20 by Paul. In addition, mankind has the ability to see what God has created, and therefore, there is no excuse for idol-worship. At the basis of making covenants is making commitments, something immature people eschew. Then, we took another look at the Noahatic, one established by God, rather than a man. Today, we begin looking at the freedom that comes from truth.
Bible teacher, Kay Arthur, asserts there are two reasons why so many people are ignorant on the issue of covenants. It has to do with the immaturity and uncontrolled behavior which seems to be spreading in our society. These people don’t understand the blessings of covenant and their meaning to our lives. Many don’t have faith, so they don’t model faith in the making of two-way promises with each other and God. Recently, I was watching a TV reality program about a very large family in AK. Their whole lives revolve around their faith. The four oldest daughters, as yet unmarried, were asked if they would ever be sexually active before marriage. Their answer was a flat, “no!” No surprise there, but I was interested in their reason. They explained that even their oldest brother, who is married, waited until his marriage took place. He had said he had too much respect for himself and his fiancé to do this. These two have been happily married for three years now, and his wife was pregnant at the time this was taped with their second child. There was no tittering or embarrassment in the discussion the four oldest girls had with the interviewer. It was clear they had been reared with discussions with their believing and faithful parents on controversial topics. They were firm in their belief that sexual relationships before marriage were not for them. Some cynical people would look at this program and either accuse them of lying or say that it’s too sugar sweet to be entertaining to them. But these four girls and their older married brother understand the meaning of God’s teaching and covenants in their lives.
There has been a trend in some Christian denominations of late to focus more on social issues than on the word of God. This division has been sharp enough to split hitherto well known denominations into two or more sects. Of late, the issue of allowing same-sex marriages and homosexuals/lesbians to become pastors and youth leaders, has been the most frequent cause of these schisms. The more conservative, Bible-based congregations have been on the opposite side of churches newly allowing these things. Those well versed in Scripture know that God has been very clear about his abhorrence of the homosexual lifestyle without forever condemning the people themselves [see LV 18: 22; LV 20: 13: RO 1: 24-32]. What that means is that we are to be forgiving (as God is forgiving) should a person depart from the lifestyle and come back into God’s grace. Of course, there are other social issues that have divided churches, and entire books have been written on that subject.
While I may sound like a broken record, our economy has forced both parents in most families to have to work to make a living. This removes the nurturing parent from the child’s life during the day, resulting in group child care and the loss of a good part of a parent’s loving influence over the child. Many children thrive in day care, as they do in school, but there are a growing number of them who don’t grow up with a conscience. Church-run day cares do help to make up for this in some ways. But there is nothing that will totally substitute for a caring, conscientious parent’s ove and responsible guidance. Is it any wonder that so many young people grew up without any desire to make commitments? Should we be surprised that the practice of Christianity and/or Messianic Judaism is being assailed by the onslaught of secularism and other belief systems all over the world? The growth of Islam in Europe and in North America is threatening to replace Christianity as the most popular belief systems in these places. All too many so-called Christian churches are turning to popular psychology and making social issues their main thrust. It’s like a throwback to the times when God’s angst was so high over the practice of idolatry which even infiltrated the inner rooms of the temple in Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s time, as was seen in the latter’s vision in EZK 8: 6-13. It was not long after that when God departed from the temple itself, in EZK 10: 15-19.
We must not kid ourselves that there are limits to how much disobedience the Lord will endure. He has told us, in RO 3: 25b-26, “He [God] did this [presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood] to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One Who justified those who have faith in Jesus.” Now, there are negative consequences for a life of rejection of the Lord Jesus through sinful idolatry, pride, and greed, for example, in our daily living. Another example from the Scriptures is of David, who suffered from personal lapses in his parenting. While fleeing from his son, Absalom, he wrote PS 3: 5-6, “But You are a Shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and the lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me in every side.” This shows up our utter need to be dependant on God and to look to Him for leadership in the face of our trials. David, “a man after God’s own heart,” placed the Lord at the center of his life [1 SAM 13: 13-14]. MT 5: 3 also makes this same point, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”
PRAYER: O Lord, how can we “fight the good fight” [1 TIM 6: 12] against the evil one without necessary reconnaissance that comes from listening to You in prayer, studying Your word, and knowing from personal experience our need to depend on You? We must not fool ourselves into believing that it isn’t important for us to place You at the central core of our lives. While social issues should not be ignored, our prayers, study of Your word, worship of You in so many ways, and very covenant relationship with You should dominate our very lives. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful in instructing, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” PS 86: 5, 7, and 11, “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on You…In the day of my trouble, I will call to You, for You will answer me…Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided head that I may have reverence for Your name.” Both of these passages show us how critical our covenant relationship with You is. And they don’t cover every blessing that can come from this committed relationship. How foolish those are who reject You, O Lord! They rob themselves of a clear path and the help to walk it that You give, the path to eternal life. We reverently thank and praise You for Your love of us, patience for us, and compassion toward us. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we utter this prayer. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will continue to look at the “Freedom That Comes From Truth” by seeing some of the problems encountered by churches that place God’s word on the back burner. We’ll see what happens when the need for God’s leadership and intervention is rejected by people. In the meanwhile, we need to look back on our individual experiences with dysfunctional churches to see some of the negative consequences that they suffer. And yes, I’ll share some of my own experiences along the way in this series of messages, so that my readers will know that the principles I espouse come from first-hand knowledge. God has His agenda, and He wants us to make it our own. We should never cheat ourselves of His help and His wisdom by being lazy or unaware of His will. JN 8: 31-32, “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then, you will know the truth, and the truth shall set You free.’” To know the truth, we must know the word of God and whatever You teach us in the course of our prayers and our experiences. For example, if several people unrelated to each other tell you the same thing, that could easily be Him using them to deliver a message. Of course, that message would be in line with His teaching, that we should know through study and prayer. God may even choose to do a miracle, not at our request, but out of His loving, compassionate heart. Think about the great blessings He has showered on each of us in our lives. Mine begins with Him giving me faith in the Lord Jesus. Consider where yours begins. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15