The Carpenter's Chapel (5)

[Watchman]

Saturday August 14, 2004

For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you." (Acts 17:21-23)

Athens; it will certainly be center-stage on the news as long as the Olympics lasts. And, so, it seemed appropriate to speak of Athens here today.
My concern here is not the City itself, or about the Olympic games that are back this year in the City were the Olympics were born. What I would like to concentrate on is the Athenians themselves: those who, "...spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing."

The people of Athens were known to be quite religious, worshipping a host of nature gods. They even had set up an altar "to the unknown god." Paul made use of this point of contact to declare unto them the God they didn't know.

He starts by laying the foundation: This God, he claims is the Creator. He not only "made the world and everything in it" (vs.24), but also is "Lord of heaven and earth." To cause to exist and then rule over all creation, one must be omnipotent. He is much too great to dwell in "temples made with hands." How ludicous to think He might need anything, including the worship of men, "since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." (vs.25)

The Athenians, "Spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or hear some new thing." Now such talk is harmless when it concerns things of everyday life, such as sports, or a new recipe; where the danger in all of this is when some new idea comes around that concerns the basics of the faith and worse, affects Who God really and truly is. Paul would speak of this later:
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." (1Timothy 4:1)

Now we have the latest "new thing" (although it is not really new) on this board, which is actually the latest of the "doctrines of demons," that is "Open Theism." This says that God is pretty good with the past and the present, but does not know everything regarding the future in general, and individuals in particular. Yet, how many times did the gospel records say that "Jesus knew their thoughts," or say, "Do you inquire among yourselves...?" In John 2 it is recorded: "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." (vss. 24-25) "All men," Jesus knows everything about everyone, without exception.
John 17: 29-30: His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God." Note that they did not say that Jesus needed any man to TELL Him anything, but that there was no need to question (ask) Him about anything. Jesus knows all of the answers, before the questions! Peter spoke of those, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God." (1Peter 1:2) This is impossible for God, if He was so limited in His vision of the future.

To know all men, their race, futures, and details of their lives, God must be omniscient; past, present and future.

 

[Watchman]

Sunday August 15, 2004

"It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." (Acts 1:7)

Just before Christ ascended into heaven, His disciples asked Him, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (v.6) Christ refrained from answering their question as they had hoped, but in His wisdom He used the occasion to teach them that some information is for God alone, including the "times and seasons." In our finiteness, we are unable to handle too much information, and should we know even a small part of the "knowledge (which) is too wonderful for me" (Psalm 139:6), we would use it improperly.

The prophet taught the same lesson many years before: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9) God has graciously revealed enough that we know He has a wonderful plan, but the details are known to Him alone. They are under His "own power," or authority. Certainly He knows the future, but more than that, He controls it.

And why not? He created time; surely He can exercise authority over it. Surely the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Revelation 22:13) can control the destinies of individuals and nations. "Power" to work out His good pleasure rests solely with "the only wise God and Savior...now and ever." (Jude 25).

Even though this "power" is His alone, His promise to the disciples that "ye shall receive power," (Acts 1:8) has been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Spirit. We have what we need to be witnesses of that which we know of Him, to "the uttermost part of the earth."

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Monday, 16th August, 2004

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Daniel 1v8

We find out today how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishale, and Azaraih responded when offered all that the king had to offer. Remember, here we have four young men. Their nation has been defeated and carried away into captivity. They were hundreds of miles from home and now are offered a chance to eat the very best food in the land. All of their human logic must have said “Go ahead, eat. It will give us a chance to have an impact here in Babylon. Go with the flow, you don’t want to stick out, not this far from home. If you don’t eat these people are going to think you are weird or something. Hey, we are already defeated anyway, so why not eat?”

Daniel however had a different perspective. He “purposed in his heart” that they would not be defiled by partaking of the king’s meat. There were several reasons why he should not eat the food, but I want to focus on that one little phrase – “Daniel purposed in his heart.”

The idea here is that Daniel had set something solidly in his heart. He had put it in place and he would not be moved from his purpose. Nothing was going to dissuade Daniel from his decision. There is a similar challenge for us in the book of James where part of pure, undefiled religion is described as keeping oneself unspotted form the world.

This is a good chance for us to ask ourselves, “What have I purposed in my own heart?” We should all have goals and purposes for our lives, but the most important purpose which we must set forth is that we would not be defiled. Dabbling with the “kings meat” today has been to ruin of many a Christian man and woman. May we each take a few moments today to examine out own “purposes” today.

 

[Jim1999]

Again, Roger, we see the heart as the centre of life, and life decisions essentially come from the heart. If we do not have our religion rooted in the heart, what have we; nothing.

Good point,

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Jim1999]

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Ephesians 1: 1-3

“GRACE be to you, and PEACE, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all SPRITUAL BLESSINGS in heavenly places in Christ.”

Mr. Spurgeon introduces Ephesians with these remarks:

“The Epistle to the Ephesians is a complete body of divinity, treating of doctrinal,
experimental, and practical godliness, in the most full and instructive manner.....to
be truly understood it must be spiritually discerned. O Lord, enlighten us.”

Paul leads off with grace. This is the starting point. We cannot go anywhere without
grace. And Paul tells us the source of this grace later in Ephesians. “According as
he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” It was already decided
before we were born. We were selected to experience his wonderful grace. Why? I
don’t know, except it is for the purposes of God.

Then we have peace. The peace is part and parcel of having grace, and the reverse
is never true or else it would be a false peace. On the other hand, pity the believer
who does not know this peace which comes with salvation. Paul tells us the source
of this peace and it comes from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. It almost
appears that Paul is dividing the Father from Jesus the Son, but let it be clear, he is
not. He is showing that each person of the trinity in their separate functions had
unity of purpose as One. They act in unison

The next thing we see in this passage is all spiritual blessings. The KJV refers to
“places” and suggests we must wait for heaven to experience these things. The
word, however, translated as “places” can very well be “things” and this latter
understanding brings about a broader understanding of spiritual blessings. They are
for now. We don’t have to wait. First grace, then peace, followed by all spiritual
blesssings. This is the Christian life, my friends. There is no place for the doldrums
in Christ. With Paul, we must count all things as lost for the joys of being in Christ.
Does Paul sound lethargic? Not in the least.

Let us seek to know Him so that we will have peace and all spiritual blessings in
heavenly things in Christ.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Amen - what a blessing that we can get just a taste of those heavenly blessings here on earth!

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Wednesday, 18th August, 2004

Daniel 1

Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. v9

As for these four children God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom…v17

Daniel first purposed in his heart not to be defiled. The he proposed a plan to Ashpenaz. Ashpanez surely thought that as the kings representative he was in control of this situation. Daniel, Hanaiah, Mishael, and Azariah were captives of the king. Nebuchadnezzar was in absolute control of the situation. How word was law, his will was supreme. Therefore when Daniel made his proposal Ashpenaz had one major concern, his own head. “..shall ye make me endanger my head to the king?”

Daniel knew something that Ashpenaz did not know. God was in control of this situation and He was in control of the hearts of the government rulers. “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Proverbs 21v1

These were dark hours for God’s people. Now the cream of the crop had been brought before the king in an attempt to amalgamate them into the Babylonian society. What would we do in that situation? Would we forget that God was in control? Would we give in or give up? “What’s the use?” we might say “It’s all over.”

Daniel had the faith to trust that God knew what He was doing. He did not protest, he did not demonstrate, he did not rebel or disobey. He meekly went to the prince and asked permission to abstain. Ashpenaz did not know what to do. Yet, his subordinate Melzar was also in God’s hands and he agreed.

At the end of the ten days God used these men to prove that He was in control. They passed the test with flying colours. Why? Because God was in control.

These are difficult days for God’s people. We are tempted to step in an try to sort things out our own. Instead of praying we protest. Instead of relying we rebel. Instead of submitting we scream.

Who is in control today? Have we forgotten that it is God?

Friends, no matter how dark the hour, no matter what the results of political elections God is still in charge.

What about you today? Are you more like Daniel, or Ashpenaz?

 

[Jim1999]

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Ephesians 1: 4,5

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will.”

These ought to be the most humbling and the most comforting words in scripture.
Fancy doctrines to elevate man have come along down through the ages. Most of
the fancy doctrines have been around the free will of man. He has a choice, and
because he has a choice, this doctrine and that doctrine must really mean something
else. Men played with foreknowledge as being the basis for our redemption. How
fancy a thought! God only chose us because He knew beforehand that we would
accept His offer of salvation. So now the work of redemption is supplemented by
man’s choice. Paul says, “According as he hath chosen us...” It seems to me that
this is a simple statement. Not all Pauline theology is this simple, and some is left in
a cloud. Paul is quite clear on this point and he even gives a reason for God so
choosing each person in election, “according to the good pleasure of his will.” Now
God is behaving according to His good pleasure.

Two things come into play here. If we draw two circles, one within the other, we
can label them as (1) the larger, outer circle as God’s Sovereign Will, and (2) the
inner, smaller circles as God’s Permissive Will, we can reach a right understanding
of God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. God remains in charge of everything, but
He has allowed man to play in his own little playground. In this little playground,
man can make choices, good and bad. It does, however, fall under the larger circle
of God’s Sovereignty. When man steps too far out of line, it is God’s right to bring
the divine hand down with great force. Justice, true justice, can come into play at
God’s bidding. We are but a drop in the bucket.

There are other verses and phrases that caught my attention. Verse 7. “In whom we
have redemption...” Again Paul is clarifying just who does the saving. And it is in
God that we have “redemption through the blood”, “forgiveness of sins.” Salvation
is all of God, and at His bidding.

Verse 11. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.....” We were adopted by
God as children, and as such we have gained an inheritance. What a comforting
thought, that we are held in His hands as sons and daughters as if we were born of
God directly.

Then we have verse 13. “In whom ye also trusted...” and again in the same
verse...”in whom after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise.” We have something about that free will of man. When does it come?
After that ye believed.....It was not a fore thought. It came after faith had been
invested through grace. After the blood had been applied. Now we have choice to
say yea or nay. Now think about this and the responsibility we have as believers.
We can say no and I suspect we often do. As children of the King, adopted at such
a great price it is unimaginable that we would say no to anything, but we do. The
adopting Father has every right to correct and chastise us for disobedience. The
world gets away with murder, so to speak, but the children of the King suffer. We
suffer in love “according to his good pleasure.”

Lord, help us to be obedient children, that we may praise Your holy name forever in
Christ Jesus the Lord.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Friday, 20th August, 2004

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

Romans 14v11-13

We find in Romans 14 a section of scripture that seems to have been forgotten by many. This section is not dealing with obvious sins, it is not dealing with those things that are in violation of scripture. The actions in this chapter are what we may refer to as the “grey areas” of the Christian life. In Paul’s day it was what meats should or should not be eaten or what days should or should not be observed. In our day the issues are different. Today the issues may be Bible versions, dress standards, headcoverings, or any number of issues. These have sadly become the issues which have caused fights and divisions among God’s people.

The Holy Spirit knew that the issues would differ, but that men’s hearts would stay the same. These passages let us know how we should respond. Our focus should be on Christ (v11-12) and then verse 13 gives a clear instruction which we would do well to heed.

“Let us quit making judgements against each other in these grey areas. Instead, we should judge that we will stop giving our brother a reason to stumble or fall.”

A message that this missionary, and I think many of us, needs to remember everyday.

 

[Watchman]

Hello brethren, I would like to catch up on the posts here. I find a common ground on the last two posts, and I will explain what I mean a little later.
God's Sovereignty verses man's free will: a.k.a. the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate. Now that is something we all agree on!

As I did with Brother Dan in the Coffee House Chapel, I must dissent here. There has been many, God fearing people, even many with IQ's that would read like a zip code, and have all kinds of degrees on their wall, that have been and are on both sides of this issue. And those on both sides will say, "We must go by Scripture."
So, nothing will be solved here.
Now, does this debate fall within one of Roger's "grey areas?" Do we really need to be so devisive over this debate? I myself look forward to seeing all my Calvinist's brethren in heaven, and, I hope they feel the same way for us, on the other side.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

You've got more guts that I do

. I purposefully left that out of my list .

 

[Jim1999]

As Mr. Spurgeon prayd one time: "God, save the elect and elect some more."

There are some doctrines that are clarion clear, and I have no problem with them. Then, other times, just when I think I have a firm grasp of what the scripture is teaching, my mind goes into a swirl and new questions arise.

I have taken firm stands on some questions, but when it comes to fellowship, my only test is, "What think ye of Christ...?"

I have never denied fellowship with fellow believers. In one church I pastored, we used to hold a joint New Year's Eve service. We enjoyed the presence of the Salvation Army Citadel, the local Free Methodist Church and our own congregation. Now there we had divergent views on theology, but there was no question about who Jesus is. So, Lord, save the elect and elect some more.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Watchman]

Originally posted by Jim1999:
As Mr. Spurgeon prayd one time: "God, save the elect and elect some more."

One more follow-up on this (sorry) before I talk about prayer.
C.H. Spurgeon; one can go to spurgeon.org here on the internet and read his sermon entitled "Election," and, it would seem, that it leaves no question about where he stands on this debate. Yet, he would make comments like that and, at one time said, "Whosoever will come ARE the elect." To that comment the Scripture is in complete harmony with. My concern here is for the readers of all this getting confused. Trust in the words of the Lord Jesus in that best-known of all passages, John 3:16. Come to Christ repenting and trusting Him as Lord and Savior. The whosoever will: is you!

 

[Watchman]

Saturday August 21, 2004

Then He spoke a parable to them. that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'" Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. (Luke 18 1-8)

James and Peter

Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
(Acts 12:1-2)

Here is recorded what may have been one of the lowest points of the apostolic era. James was killed with the sword. James was one of only three disciples in Christ's inner circle. He was one of only three to witness the resurrection of the synagogue ruler's daughter (Luke 8:51-55); only one of three to catch a glimpse of Christ's glory at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-20; and one of only four to sit with Christ on the Mount of Olives and learn of the future (Mark 13:3-4). In Gethsemane, after their last supper together, Christ allowed him, along with Peter and John, to witness His agony in a special way (14:32-34)

He was highly trained by Christ Himself, and the fledgling church could ill afford to lose his leadership. But suddenly he was arrested and slain. A tragedy it would seem to lose such a leader. We can only speculate as to what the Lord, working through James, might have accomplished had he lived longer, much as Peter and John did. Could it be that his martydom was a blessing in disguise? Certainly God allowed this to happen, but for what purpose?

The answer may be found in the verses that follow in Acts chapter 12. Peter had been taken prisoner and was to be executed the next morning (v.6). However, perhaps, the chuch had learned a lesson: while there was no prayer for James recorded in the biblical narrative, for Peter, "...constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church." (Acts 12:5). Peter was miraculously freed by an angel and joined the prayer meeting.

What would have happened had the believers prayed for James as they did for Peter? Of course, that question has no definite answer, but prayer, such as was offered for Peter, followed the apostles and early church leaders in their work from that time on.

 

[Jim1999]

Thank you, mate. The church advances best on its knees. Success of a church is not measured by how many attend Sunday services, but how many spend Wednesday night on their knees.

Cheers, and thank you, Charles,

Jim

 

[Dan Todd]

Charles - excellent thoughts! Thank you!

 

[Watchman]

Sunday August 22, 2004

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath, For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished." (Isaiah 51:6)

This scripture is typical of many Scriptures which contrast this present decaying, dying order of things (characterizing a world under God's curse) with the things which are not dying and which will survive into the next order when the curse is removed (Revelation 22:3). Even the present "Heaven and earth shall pass away," Jesus said (Matthew 24:35). God, the creator, who imposed the curse because of man's sin, is not Himself subject to it. "They will perish, but You will endure...Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end." (Psalm 102:26-27)

As our text today assures us, God's salvation and righteousness shall never be changed, even when heaven and earth flee away. The same contrast exists in the biological realm. "The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:8)
Human nature exhibits a similar phenomenon:
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wing like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31)

This principle applies to the entire creation. "Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage corruption into the liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:21)

 

[Jim1999]

Monday, August 23, 2004,

Ephesians 2: 22 “In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.”

When a client approaches the architect to design a building, the best he can do is
bring a mental abstract of what he wants. Some will sketch a line drawing, showing
rooms and divisions, but he still needs plans, drawings to meet the municipal
requirements.

One chap had detailed drawings for a house, but had a problem. The back portion
was 7 feet longer than the front section. This was not by design, but he forgot some
essential measurements. On yet another set of drawings done by a client on one of
these inexpensive compurterized drawing programs, he had a good idea of what he
wanted. The problem was that he only allowed two feet width for all the doorways
and no room for change. He came to me in frustration.

Now, as an architect, I could work miracles on paper, but I lacked the physical
experience on the site. Soon I went off and joined with a carpenter framing houses.
It was here I saw the physical working of the drawings. So, the architect needs both
the eye for design, the laws of the country and the physical construction expertise to
put the plans to fruition.

The Christian life is indeed like that. We have an abstract of what God wants of us
in the Bible, and from the mouths of others, but until we experience what Paul is
talking about here, we have nothing. “In whom ye are also builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.”

The apostles and prophets took mortar and stone and laid out the form of the
building, and Jesus Christ was the chief architect, and the chief corner stone. The
chief corner stone was the starting point for all dimensions. If we don’t heed this
starting point we will have a less than true building. The building will be off square
ad the problems will remain with that building for its lifetime.

We start with Jesus, obey His commands, and we have a true building, guided by
the Holy Spirit.. Maintenance is required, from time to time, but the building will
withstand the winds of time, and the philosophical uncertainties that come along if
we keep our eyes on, and maintain contact with, the chief Architect for our soul,
“An holy temple in the Lord...” vse 21

Lord, help us each moment to stay the course, and build this temple a fit place of
Thy dwelling, that we may show forth Your architectural genius. If we start and
continue with Jesus our faults can only be corrected along the way whilst we
journey to the perfection of Your design.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

"What know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost...?"

EXCELLENT post Brother Jim!!

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Tuesday, 24th August, 2004

(Happy 20th Birthday to my “little girl” back in Alabama)

Romans 15v7

“Wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also has received us.”


This verse is given the light of verses 1-6 –

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am not foolish enough to accept the fact that we must never separate ourselves from erring brethren. My church background since salvation has put a high emphasis in separation, and there is merit and Biblical support for the concept of separation.

I fear though that in our effort to “come out from among them” we violate the principles of Romans 14-15. We become such separatists that we forget about “receiving one another as Christ received us.”

When I think of how Christ received me, I am ashamed of how I have over and over again “received” others. From my limited language study this “receive” is to “take alongside. When Christ received me He was perfect, holy, and spotless. I was filthy, wretched, and vile. He still chose to receive me! What an example and what a challenge.

When I think of the excuses that God’s children use to refuse each other I am shamed.

“You don’t read my Bible!”
“You don’t have my same few of church government.”
“You don’t have my few of eschatology.””
“You disagree with me in spiritual gifts!”

The Holy Spirit is not calling for absolute agreement here. He is not telling us to compromise our principles and our beliefs. Yet surely He must be grieved when He sees how we receive others in the light of how Christ received us.

“Receive one another as Christ received us!”