The Carpenter's Chapel (4)

[Jim1999]

Watchman, in my opinion, that is bang on. This is why I consider it as sanctification. If it is not sanctification, what does..."When perfection comes.." mean? My understanding precludes all these things: conversion..walking in new light; santification, growing in faith and the eventual advent of that which is perfect; the Lord Jesus.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Jim1999]

Friday, June 4, 2004

1 Corinthians 14

“Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

The Apostle Paul is here putting the gifts into proper persepctive. He places love
above all else. We can get by with little understanding, but without love, we have
nothing. The man in the gutter, dressed in filthy garments, hungry, homeless and
unwanted will not understand the gospel of redemption, but he will receive love.
The Salvation Army puts this into proper order: “Soup, soap and salvation” and in
that order. In love we feed the body, then consider cleaning it up to restore a sense
of dignity and self worth, and then we can present the gospel of grace. Love.

Over the years I have thought about this word prophesy, as it is used here. Without
a right understanding of this word, we head off in all different directions. The word
prophesy has various meanings in scripture. Sometimes it means to foretell. To tell
events that will happen. This is speaking under divine guidance. We see this
continually in the Old Testament and a few examples in the New Testament. It is
significant that this form of prophecy falls off in the New Testament era.
Sometimes it means to forthtell, to preach. The modern understanding of this word
would be modern preaching. The forthtelling of the word. As a young student, to
better understand the intended meaning of the word in a modern context, I wrote the
word “preaching” wherever I found “prophesy”. This made understanding these
passages so much easier and did not violate the principles of hermeneutics; the
science of biblical interpretation.

Proverbs 29:18 is an example of this principle: “Where thee is no vision, the people
perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The writer goes on to talk about
the man’s understanding of spiritual truths. The child is edified from youth on and
grows into understanding. By the foolishness of preaching....

The prophets of old spoke under inspiration. The modern preacher, if he does not
address the people under the Holy Spirit’s guidance and inspiration, will simply be
speaking to the air, and little or nothing will settle into the hearts of men and
women and children.

We need men in the pulpit to-day who are not only convicted of sin and
transformed by the grace of God, but men who are inspired by the Holy Spirit to
utter His word. That preaching must be in love. That preacher must indeed be
convinced in his own heart that his message is truth.

There is the story of the actor who read the 23rd Psalm in dramatic and skilled
fashion to great applause. He said: “My friends, I have reached your eyes and ears.
But the minister has reached your hearts. The difference is this: I know the 23rd
Psalm,but he knows the Shepherd.”

Would to God, that we had men to-day who know the Shepherd, and convey this in
their preaching. Without love, we are mere puppets. Actors reading dramatically
from the scriptures.

Lord, help us each one to stand and preach with divine inspiration that we may
show al peoples that we know the Shepherd.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[following-Him]

Amen. Thank you Jim

God Bless

Sheila

 

[Dan Todd]

Excellent!

 

[Watchman]

Saturday, June 5, 2004

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."
(Isaiah 53:10)

Today it seemed fitting to comment on Jim's last post right here in this devotional. Jim, quite accurately, spoke of prophecy as not only being foretelling, but, also, forthtelling. Forthtelling of God's word is what, hopefully, you hear from preachers and teachers of God's word today. But now we look at a passage from an inspired writer named Isaiah, who, definately, by a gift from God, looked some 600 years (from his point of view) into the future and give in great detail what would happen to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this one verse, found in the wonderful 53rd chapter of Isaiah, there is this amazing prophecy
of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ in attonement for our sins, His resurrection from the dead, and the resulting salvation of many lost sinners. This Old Testament chapter contains probably the most complete and cogent exposition of the saving work of Christ on the cross to be found in the Bible.

How could it "please" the Lord to bruise His only begotten Son? It could only be because of the great work this would accomplish. Then, indeed, "the pleasure of the Lord" would be realized.
As to the Son,"He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied." (Is. 53:11a)

After the Father had allowed the enemies of His Son to "bruise Him" to death, it would be soon known that this was actually "an offering for sin" and that, having satisfied the requirements of God's holiness, the Son "shall prolong His days." Though He died and actually "made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death" (v.9), death could not hold Him. As He would later proclaim: "I am alive for evermore."
(Rev. 1:18)

And because He has done this, He "shall see His seed."
"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings"
(Hebrews 2:10)

 

[following-Him]

Amen. Thank you Charles.

God Bless

Sheila

 

[Dan Todd]

Oh - what a Savior!
Oh - what a salvation!

Thank you Charles

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord

Thank you Charles

 

[Watchman]

Sunday June 6, 1944
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies;
You annoint my head with oil;
my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
(Psalm 23)

Yes, I know, it is 2004. I had a real struggle today as to whether I would write about another messianic prophecy, as I did yesterday, or talk about the sacrifice those men made 60 years ago today on the beaches of France. I had actually decided that I would give the messianic prophecy one and then I wrote, without thinking, "1944" for the date.

Psalm 23 is one of those great passages of scripture that gives such great comfort and assurance to us when we are facing a difficult time in our lives. I cannot imagine a more difficult time than those men, sixty years ago, were facing as they waited off shore. Among those many troops I could imagine that this passage, the Lord's Prayer, or other passages, were on the minds and lips of many of them. It is doubtfull that many atheist went ashore that day.

Now some may say that we should never go to war for any reason. The Jehovah's Witness that I used to worked next to was of this opinion. I even asked him, pointing to the flagpole outside, "You mean that it would not bother you at all if, instead of the Star and Stripes on that pole, there was a swastika?" He shook his head and said, "Human government doesn't matter."
Now to that I must disagree. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach for for any people. It is doubtful that there would be much righteousness under a world-wide fascist government. One can only imagine the horrors the world would have faced if the Axis powers had been victorious.

Now I would not dare to say that our form of government is God's favorite form of government. No,I would think that it is safe to say that God's favorite form of government is the one where His Son, The KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS rules this planet. He has not chosen, as of yet, to exercize that right, and so we must settle for second best and, IMHO, we do have the second best.

But let me present a caveat here.
We have been given a lot. Shall not much then be required? Does not great freedom mean great responsibility? Even more sobering: Can sin, immorality and apathy do what the Nazi's could not do?

 

[Dan Todd]

Charles,

You've given me pause to think on our past - with thankfulness in my heart.

You've also given me pause to think on our future - and I shudder to think of what may be because of the many sins of America!

Thank you!

 

[following-Him]

Thank you Charles.

Oh that we take nothing for granted and constantly call on Him in whom we can trust.

God Bless

Sheila

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Monday 7th June 2004

It is good to be back. Thanks to Watchman and Jim for “filling in” for me.
When we last saw Christian he had just defeated Apollyon. We now find him approaching a deep, dark valley; the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and CHRISTIAN must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it. Now this valley is a very solitary place; the prophet Jeremiah thus describes it: "A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death; a land that no man (but a Christian) passeth through, and where no man dwelt" (Jeremiah 2v6)
Now here CHRISTIAN was worse put to it than in his fight with APOLLYON, as by the sequel you shall see.

I saw then in my dream, that when CHRISTIAN was got to the borders of the shadow of death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land, making haste to go back (Numbers 13v32 - And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.), to whom CHRISTIAN spake as follows:

There follows here an attempt by the two men to turn Christian back form his way, to which Christian replies.

Chr. Then said CHRISTIAN, "I perceive not yet, by what you have said, but that this is my way to the desired haven."

Men. "Be it thy way, we will not choose it for ours." So they parted, and CHRISTIAN went on his way; but still with his sword drawn in his hand, for fear lest he should be assaulted.

We want to pause today just for a moment to note Christian’s determination in spite of evil reports. Bunyan uses the illustration of the evil report brought back by ten of the twelve men sent to spy out Canaan. We find the incident in Numbers 13v27-33. The spies all agree that the land is a great land, flowing with milk and honey and great fruit. They also agree that giants live in the land, and the cities are strongly defended. Here is where the opinions differ. The ten spies report is above, “The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature…” But look at Caleb’s suggestion – “Let us go up at once against the people, for we are well bale to possess it.”

What was the difference? Simple, it was fear. The fear factor is the great defeater of the Christian life. It need not be, for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.

Now for an application to us. How do you respond when you face a situation that you know is going to be difficult. We are not talking about the trails that suddenly come upon you, but about going into a difficult time KNOWING what is ahead? Are you like the ten spies, or like Caleb. I fear that we as Christians face dark days to come. How will you face the difficulties. Will you be like Caleb, saying “we are well able” and like Christian who says “that is my way…” Or will you be like the ten spies who said “we are not able…”?

Lord, when the dark days come, help me to be a Caleb and head into them with faith that You are able to give the victory!

 

[Watchman]

"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." (1John 5:4)
Thank you Roger, good to see you back!

 

[Dan Todd]

Thank you Roger.
How did your two sets of meeting go?

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

The first was a Baptist World Mission fellowship - super time of edification.

The meetings near London went very well too. God really seemed to deal with some hearts, including mine.

 

[following-Him]

Amen. Thank you Roger. Welcome back.

 

[Jim1999]

Tuesday, June 8, 2004

1 Corinthians 15

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures.”

First off, Paul was a recipient of that which he spoke about. What Paul has to say
goes beyond an emotional experience. He experienced the new birth; he was
converted. He backs it up with scripture. The experience is not enough. There are
some preachers to-day who talk about the experience. They put a lot of weight on
the experience. Well, my friend, you can have all the experiences you want to claim,
but if they are not supported by scripture, they aren’t worth a drop of salt.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact of scripture. It is the root
of my religion. It is the root of my experience. The experience without the fact is of
no consequence. If we are called upon to give testimony regarding a motor vehicle
accident, our experience, not supported by fact, is mere hearsay evidence and
disregarded in a court of law. We must witness factually, and then our experience is
supported by fact. Paul first experienced that which was recorded in the scriptures.

Paul goes on to list all the various people who witnessed this monumental event.
Does this mean, to be genuine, we must have been a witness of the event? Not at
all. Verse 11 “Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye
believed.” The act of faith enters into the picture. I have an experience based on
scripture and I believe, therefore I am counted among the redeemed.

I grew up in the Anglican Church. There was never a time when I did not believe.
My knowledge of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial work on the cross came first. I
was well schooled in scripture before I experienced the gospel. Had I never had the
experience, I would have gone through life an educated fool. You see, we must
combine the two; experience and fact. I came to this realization at the time of my
confirmation. The gospel I had been taught was experienced deep in my soul and I
was born again. Not by a religious act which happened to be called confirmation,
but by the fact that I experienced the gospel. I realized the Christ in my life.

Paul then says, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain. It is simple, isn’t it? The fact and the experience go hand in hand.
Like the simpleton who sat outside Spurgeon’s tabernacle and recited, “I am just a
fool and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all.” He experience Jesus in his
life because he believed the word.

Let us never witness without the power of the resurrection. Let us never preach
without the power of the word. Let us never fail to practice what we hear, that we
too may be called fools for Christ in this world.

Lord, help us to see your face daily, that we may go forth with authority; experience
and fact.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Dan Todd]

Jim wrote:

you can have all the experiences you want to claim, but if they are not supported by scripture, they aren’t worth a drop of salt.

Well said my friend - I just wish that more of our friends understood that truth!

Thanks for a great devotional!

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Amen! What depth of thought. Thank you my brother!

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Wednesday, 9th June, 2004

About the midst of this valley I perceived the mouth of hell to be; and it stood also hard by the wayside. Now, thought CHRISTIAN, what shall I do? And ever and anon the flame and smoke would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises (things that cared not for Christian’s sword, as did APOLLYON before), that he was forced to put up his sword, and betake himself to another weapon, called "All Prayer" (Ephesians 6v18). So he cried in my hearing, "O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul!" (Psalm 116v4). Thus he went on a great while; yet still the flames would be reaching toward him. Also he heard doleful voices and rushings to and fro; so that sometimes he thought he should be torn in pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. This frightful sight was seen, and these dreadful noises were heard, by him for several miles together; and coming to a place where he thought he heard a company of fiends coming forward to meet him, he stopped, and began to muse what he had best to do. Sometimes he had half a thought to go back; then again he thought he might be halfway through the valley. He remembered also how he had already vanquished many a danger, and that the danger of going back might be much more than for to go forward: so he resolved to go on. Yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer; but when they were come even almost at him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, "I will walk in the strength of the Lord God"; so they gave back, and came no farther.

Things have become very dark for our Christian pilgrim. Here he is facing the very power of Hell itself. He has taken up the weapon “All Prayer” and has cried out to the Lord for deliverance. In that strength he goes on.

Have you ever been in Christian’s place, not knowing whether to go on or turn back? There come times when it gets so bad that we might say “is it really worth it? Christian took comfort in the victories he had already won, then makes a great determination – “I will walk in the strength of the Lord God!”

When we try to proceed in our own strength, defeat is always certain. We must look to a greater source of strength. This strength was part of Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man.” (3v16)

Even more specific is Paul’s account of his own strengthening when he wrote to Timothy. “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me to the heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Perhaps today you are just about ready to give up. Your strength has failed you over and over again. You want to go on, but there is a desire to go back. Once you have decided to follow Christ there is no turning back. Determine to walk in the strength of the Lord alone. O, and by the way. If you think God’s strength may run out, look back up to its source in Ephesians 3v16 – “According to the riches of His glory.” God’s strength is there for you, all you need to do is to step out by faith claiming His power and His power alone.