"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

"Well pleased" at what?

Have you ever wondered that? It's Matthew 3:17. It's only the start of Jesus' ministry. The hard work of calling and teaching the disciples hasn't begun yet. His atoning death is 3 years away.

What was there to be pleased about?

It is all too easy to skim over the whole of 33 years of Jesus' life and to see his saving work focused on just a few hours on the cross. Often we tend to think of his life in this way: for 30 years we are told nothing, so we learn nothing; for 3 years we try to learn from his example and teaching; and from 6 hours we learn about his redemptive work.

This is to slice and dice an event that God intended to be a lifelong event into a little cube of meat that doesn't fill and satisfy the way God intended.

For God designed the whole of Christ's life to be a unit. It is redemptive from beginning to end. To slice and dice is to rob Jesus of the glory due to him for a much greater work, and it is to rob ourselves of much comfort and blessing.

So we need to ask the question: What was Jesus life about? If all he had to do was die for our sins, why was there a delay of 33 years?

What was Jesus doing that provoked the Father's exclamation of pleasure at the Jordan?

For 30 years Jesus has lived carrying out his father's business, following the commands, living a holy life, learning obedience - not because he needed to learn it, but learning to obey in a sin-filled world, where temptation was rife. For 30 years he has carried himself through this hostile world with perfect obedience. And the Father looks at the Son and says, "I am pleased with you."

Right from the start one theme dominates Jesus' thinking. One word can be used to describe all of Jesus' life and ministry. It is the word 'obedience'. Jesus was here, not just to go to the cross, but to obey his father, to do his father's will.

This obedience characterises his whole life:

John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."

Christ's whole life was one of obedience, and that obedience wasn't just something incidental, it was a key part of his work as Saviour

Theologians often split Christ's obedience into two aspects: his active and his passive obedience.

These two are like strands in a rope. They go together and they cannot and should not be separated. But we have separated them. We usually focus on his passive obedience. It relates to his suffering throughout his life, and the culmination of that suffering on the cross. It refers to something he had to bear, that was laid on him from outside: his bearing our sins in his body to the tree, and his bearing our punishment. It is where he faces God's just wrath against our sins.

We could sum up Christ's passive obedience with the phrase: Christ's suffering pays our debt.

The term 'active' refers to his obedience to the law of God throughout his life. It is this active obedience that we often fail to consider.

Yet American theologian Gresham Machen's last words were, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."

Why is it so important?

We could sum it up with the phrase:

Christ's Active Obedience merits our place in Heaven
Christ's passive obedience releases us from the debt of punishment that we had to pay. But suppose that Christ had done only that for us, where would we be?

The slate would have been wiped clean, but that would be all. However, holiness isn't just the absence of sin, it's the presence of positive righteousness too. So we would be left needing to live a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. And one slip, like Adam, and it would be lost all over again.

But Christ has not done that. He has done abundantly more. He has not merely paid the penalty, but also He has positively merited for us eternal life.

Jesus Christ was your representative, not only on Golgotha's cross, but also throughout his life; in the Nazareth workshop, in the family home, in the conversation with friends and colleagues. For 33 years he was living the life of perfect obedience that God demands, and that we fail to deliver. He was our representative both in penalty paying and in law keeping.

It is this that makes us fit for Heaven. Now you can see why Machen was so thrilled by Christ's active obedience as he lay on his deathbed.

He was looking forward to Heaven and he knew that the door had been opened for him by Christ's obedience.

This is what Paul is saying in Romans 5:19
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We are so used to thinking of Christ's death on the cross in terms of substitution, but Paul is saying here that it was his whole life was the substitution. Adam's disobedience fouled it up for all mankind. Christ's life of obedience gains us the life that Adam lost, except better.

And because we are in Christ, it is his obedience and not ours that God sees when we stand before him.

What implications does this have for us?

Christ's Obedience Covers our Failures
It's so easy to lose sight of this and to focus on our own efforts. We know that salvation is all of Christ, but somehow we can think that some of it depends on us. And often we can think we are doing a pretty good job, and then we fall into sin and we become really disheartened.

Instead we need to look at ourselves more honestly, and realise that all we do is tainted by sin. And then we need to look to Christ who covers every single one of our sin-stained 'righteous' acts with his perfect obedience.

Here is how we should look at the unrecorded years, and the 3 years of his ministry. When you look at your life as a Christian and are discouraged by what you see, take up your New Testament and read.

Start with the words spoken at the baptism of Jesus. They sum up all he has done. For thirty years he has got up, and hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year, he has lived a perfectly holy life. He has been holy in his attitude to his parents. He has been holy in his work, in his conversation, in his free time, in his eating, in his laughing, in his friendships, in his use of money.

And when you hear the Father say, "This is my Son, with him I am well pleased," you can praise Jesus that his obedience in all these areas covers your failures. The days that you live which are covered by a multitude of blemishes from beginning to end, they are covered by Christ's perfect days.

Then take your New Testament and read of his holiness in the areas you fail in:

• His resisting temptation
• His dealing with people who tried his patience
• His dealing with people who verbally abused him, and slandered his parents
• His understanding when he had been let down by people
• His patience when he was tired and exhausted and needing to go and put his head down, but people kept making demands.
• His trust when God seems to have abandoned him, or when God's promises seem empty.
• His love for the lost
• His love for the outcast
• His vigour against sin
• His desire to seek God's glory
• His gentleness with those who are all too aware of their sin
• His lack of interest in being well thought of by 'important' people
• His readiness to forgive
• His wholehearted obedience

Each time Christ's obedience stands in the breach. It covers our failures completely. Watch him stand in our stead, and do what we could never do.

This is no excuse for sin, as Paul indicates after Romans 5:19

Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Instead it is an opportunity for praise.

Christ's Obedience Brings us full assurance
If Christ has obeyed completely and consistently in every area, especially in those areas where I am conscious of my failure, then I have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment. Even my most righteous acts are stained with the stench of sin. But it does not matter, for Christ has obeyed perfectly.

He has opened the door of Heaven and it will not be shut to me.

The words that were said to Jesus at his baptism, God will say to us because of Jesus' obedience, "This is my son (or daughter) whom I love; with him I am well pleased." And we don't have to wait to hear them; we can hear them now.

This frees me from fear and from lack of assurance. Where am I to look to for assurance? Not to my efforts, but to Christ. He has paid my debt to release me from Hell, and he has bought my entry to Heaven.

Christ's obedience frees us from the performance treadmill
Sometimes the Christian life can seem like a treadmill and we've got to do this and that and the other. And the implication is that if we don't, we'll fall off the treadmill. Somehow our activity has become the all-important factor.

We know that Jesus has saved us, but we somehow feel that the next bit is a 50-50 partnership. As if we've got to keep doing our bit.

We don't - Christ has done it all. It's his obedience that counts. And we are set free to live for and love Christ. We are set free to enjoy our relationship with Christ. We are set free to do these things, not because we must, but because we can. And because we want to, out of love for the one who has done everything.

He has done all that we should have done.

Here is the great truth of salvation - Jesus has paid for it all. There is nothing left for us to pay.

Now I hope you can see why Gresham Machen said, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."

Thanksgiving

Here's the third part of the ACTS acrostic on Prayer. Giving thanks isn't so difficult. It's the remembering to do it that is hard.

"In everything give thanks..."

"Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits" - Ps. 103:2

Sabbath
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Salvation

• God's eternal love
• Christ's life and death
• My conversion
• Sins forgiven
• Holy Spirit at work in my life
• The glory that awaits us (Heb 12:28)

Monday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Family

• Parents/Grandparents
• Brothers/Sisters
• Husband/Wife
• Children/Grandchildren

Tuesday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Church

• Teaching
• Fellowship
• Prayer support
• Spread of the gospel
• Evidence of growth in grace in members

Wednesday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Work

• Ability to work
• Satisfaction
• Success
• Safety
• Witness

Thursday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Bible

• That we have it
• Read and understand it
• Helped, encouraged & challenged by it
• Unchanging & complete - all we need
• Holy Spirit to help us understand it

Friday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Daily Life

• Health & safety - travel, work, leisure
• Food & home
• Rest & enjoyment
• Friends
• Peace in our country
• Difficulties spared from

Saturday
General

• Answered prayer
• Review events of past day

Other Christians Special to us

• In the congregation
• Outside the congregation
• Used by God in our lives
• New Converts

"Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Confession - Searching the Heart

Following on from adoration, confession is another of prayer I find difficult. Not because I have nothing to confess, but because it is easy to focus on 'big' sins, the obvious ones, and to fail to search our hearts for hidden faults. These can lie undetected and cause all sorts of festering problems.

Here's a list I came across somewhere, called The A-Z of Hidden Sin. I've added to it, and you can do likewise. On my own copy I mark those that I am particularly prone to, and use it to help me search my heart.

An A-Z of Hidden Sin

Addiction
Anger
Animosity
Anxiety
Being negative
Being unwatchful for Satan
Bitterness
Boastfulness
Bringing dishonour to God's name,
Closed-mindedness
Complaining
Condemnation
Covetousness
Critical nature
Deception
Discord
Discouragement
Dissention
Dogmatism
Domination
Egoism
Envy
Failure to spur one another on
Failure to show Christian love
Fear
Gluttony
Gossip
Guilt
Hard-heartedness
Hatred
Haughtiness
Hostility
Idolatry
Immoral fantasies
Impatience
Impurity
Indifference
Inflexibility
Injustice
Insincerity
Intemperance
Jealousy
Judgmentalism
Lack of affection
Lack of concentration in worship/prayer
Lack of faith
Lack of forgiveness
Lack of zeal
Laziness
Materialism
Neglecting to study God's Word
Prayerlessness
Prejudice
Pride
Purposelessness
Quick temper
Rebellion
Resentment
Rudeness
Self-righteousness
Selfish ambition
Selfishness
Silence
Skepticism
Squandering
Stealing God's Glory
Time misspent
Unbelief
Ungratefulness
Untruthfulness
Vanity
Yielding to Satan's temptations
Zeal misplaced

I have also used various verses that highlight different issues that we need to be vigilant for:

2 Timothy 3:1 There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Matthew 23:25 "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."



Merciful Lord,
Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of thought, word and deed,
sins in private, in the family, in the neighbourhood,
in work and recreation,
in my relationship with you,
in my relationship and dealings with others.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered and forgotten.
Good Lord, hear;
and hearing, forgive.

Adoration - Approaching the Throne

There are many aspects of prayer that I find hard, but to make time for Adoration, before moving on to the other aspects which are more personal, is for me is one of the hardest. Here's an outline that I've put together to help me. It's only a starting point, but it helps me focus on the different aspects of God that I should be praising:

Sabbath - God in His Sovereignty

• King of highest Heaven, none like him, sovereign, in complete control, majestic in glory.
• Praise him for his providence - his governing all events in the world, in our lives - with all power and wisdom.
• Worship Him as our creator and sustainer.

Isaiah 46:9 "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me … My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."

Monday - God the Father

• Praise him for his inexhaustible goodness, kindness, and love.
• He has adopted us as his children. As father He gives us love, access, blessing, guidance, wisdom, inheritance. He will glorify us at the resurrection.
• Worship Him as "Our Father" and protector

Ephesians 1:4 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will."

Tuesday - God in His Vastness

• Infinite, eternal, unchangable. All wise. All knowing. All powerful. All present.
• His work of creation - its beauty, vastness, variety, detail. The power seen in it.
• This God is our almighty friend

Job 11:7 "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?"

Wednesday - God the Son

• Head over all things for the church. The way, the truth and the life. God with us. Light of the world.
• Freed us from sin. Took our punishment. Made us right with God. Building his church. Prays for us now.
• Our Brother, our High Priest, our King, our Shepherd.

Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin."

Thursday - God in His Holiness

• Just, pure, holy, righteous. Anger at sin.
• His work as judge, punishing wickedness and declaring us innocent because of the work of Christ.
• He is our holiness - we have his righteousness

Habakkuk 1:13 "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong."

Friday - God the Holy Spirit

• Indwells Christians. Points us to Christ. Teaches us .
• His work in convicting us of sin; giving us new life. He guides us. He makes us more Christ-like. Enables us to pray. Applies His Word to our lives. Produces fruit in our lives.
• He is our Teacher, our downpayment, a guarantee of our salvation.

Ephesians 1:13 "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance"

Saturday - God in His Salvation

• Merciful, gracious, forgiving, patient, slow to anger, abounding in love.
• Christ's work in His life, death and resurrection. The work of the Triune God in salvation - it is all of grace - we contribute only our sin.
• He is our Saviour.

Exodus 34:6 "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."

Food for thought - Chocolate Heaven

This week's column really is 'food for thought'. My wife has started making the most tremendous brownies. Now for those of you out there who aren't quite sure what a 'brownie' is, or for those of you who haven't been fortunate enough to taste one of these magnificent creations, let me introduce you to this luxurious taste sensation.

According to the dictionary a brownie is 'a small rich chocolate bun'. But since when could a dictionary ever convey the full experience of such pleasure? I have tasted many of these brownies in cafes, in homes, in restaurants, but on Friday evening as I sipped my coffee and nibbled on the brown square bun offered to me by my wife, I knew I had stepped into another world, this truly was chocolate heaven.

How words fail me as I would attempt to convey to you the exquisite succulent nature of this rich moist chocolaty delight! Imagine if you will a small chocolate sponge cake made with the best of chocolate, and the pores of the sponge, instead of being wasted pockets of air, exude a rich smooth, almost liquid, chocolate. And amidst this glorious chocolate creation lie hidden the occasional hunk of white or dark chocolate chip awaiting delighted discovery.

Excuse me a moment; the kitchen beckons…

Is it fair of me to gloat in this manner? Is it right to flaunt something that you will never taste? I have no problem - this recipe is no closely guarded family secret, handed down through the generations from mother to daughter. No, in fact it was broadcast to the world on television not so long ago in one of Nigella Lawson's cookery programmes.

Nigella Lawson has made no secret about this chocolate heaven or how to get there, she did her best to tell people - books, television, the internet, teletext, enthusiastic followers(!) - the works. Those who fail to make the most of it only have themselves to blame! I'm sure many knew the programme was on, but didn't watch it. I'm sure many watched it, but didn't write the recipe down. Others were content with their own recipe. And I wonder how many wrote down the recipe and haven't got round to trying it for themselves yet?

The same goes for the other good news about the other Heaven. Many have heard about it and yet do not show any interest. Some go to church or chapel, but haven't taken much in. Some have got hold of the wrong recipe (they think kindness, goodness, patience, etc. is all it takes). Some may even have understood the right recipe (asking for God to freely forgive your sin because of what Jesus did on the cross), but haven't yet got round to doing anything with it for themselves.

The ball is in your court. The opportunity is there for you to make the most of it.

"Today you must listen to God's voice, do not harden your hearts" - Hebrews 3:7,8

"Make the most of every opportunity" - St. Paul, Colossians 4:5

Jerry Springer Opera & The BBC

Ok folks, so they went ahead and broadcast the Jerry Springer Opera on BBC2.

Thank you to those of you who responded and wrote, emailed or rang the BBC.

The next stage is to contact OFCOM, the Office of Communications Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

Here's their web address.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact_ofcom/tv_radio/

They can only look into a situation once the programme has been broadcast, so write to them now and tell them if you contacted the BBC expressing your desire that Jerry Springer Opera would not be shown.

For those of you unfamiliar with the comings and goings. This is a musical parody of the Jerry Springer talk show. It is a blasphemous mockery which depicts Jesus as being 'a bit gay', takes place in Hell, and has God the Father and God the Son having a swearing match. When broadcast it will hold the record for most number of swear words broadcast in one programme. The BBC were contacted by numerous (at least 15,000; some say in the region of 45,000) emails, phone calls, letters and yet chose to ignore.

The BBC need to realise that they cannot broadcast this sort of blasphemy and get away with it.

Your favourites

I meant to add this line to the previous post, but I forgot.

It's time to share - What preachers do you especially like, and where can you find online sermons by them?

Favourite Preachers

Anyone and everyone seems to be putting sermons online these days, but how do you know who's good and who's not? Here are two of my favourites. There's enough material here to keep you listening for months:

Ted Donnelly, is Professor of New Testament Literature and Language at the Reformed Theological College in Belfast, and minister of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church. He has been my minister throughout my life.

This site has a number of conference addresses on the following topics:
Justification
Union with Christ
Heaven
Hell
as well as a few other individual sermons.

(Search for the sermons using the 'Search by Speaker" facillity)

You can also find sermons here.

The mark of great intelligence and great preaching is to take something profound and complex and make it clear and simple. Stuart Olyott is a master of this.

Here is an absolute mine of bible teaching from Stuart Olyott over 30 years.

You'll also find sermons by him here (you'll have to scroll down or use 'find')

Both men feature on this website

Listen and enjoy.

Musings on our daily time with God

This was prompted by an excellent article over here, along with the fact that at the start of a year I try to re-evaluate my own personal daily time with God.

It’s something that every Christian should be doing, its something that we know we should look forward to doing, but often it becomes a drag and something to be done quickly and got ‘out of the way’ so that we can get on with the ‘real work’ of the day.

Here are a few thoughts that I’ve gathered together over the last few years. They’re my thoughts, not rules, so feel free to adapt, ignore, adopt. As you’ll see some of them appear contradictory, but hold opposites in balance and you’ll be able to walk the tightrope:

• Mornings are the best time – as someone said, “You don’t tune your instrument after the performance”


• The best helps for Bible reading are a pen, a notebook, and a brain determined to seek out what your Saviour is saying.


• Keep changing the format, so that you don’t get stuck in a rut. If you use reading notes, try a commentary. If you use a commentary, try using a blank notebook and a pen.


• Don’t feel you have to persevere to get a particular book of the Bible finished, if your only reason for keeping going is just to get it finished. Stop and go elsewhere, and then come back to it.


• Sometimes I read a section from a Puritan author to start with. Their godliness and love for Christ warms the heart and fans the embers into flames as you approach the throne.


• Pray Paul’s prayers for different people you know. This is a great help when you find yourself stuck in a rut, and praying the same old things for the same old people. Use a different prayer for each person, and change them around the next week. It also focuses us on asking for things that are really important.


• Don’t view your time with God as ‘quiet time’ or ‘Bible reading time’ or ‘personal devotions’. These focus on the act itself, rather than on God. It’s about relationship. He is your Father, who wishes to communicate with you. You are his child, who loves and is loved.


• Realise that it’s not primarily about what we get out of it; it’s about being with God, and worshipping him and delighting in him. As Tim Challies pointed out, “When I spend time with my wife, I don't think about what I can get out of it – I just enjoy spending the time.”


• At the same time, don’t use that as an excuse for not putting effort in to receive from God. He is generous and gives to all.


• Pray through your Bible reading. Turn information into worship, challenge into request for help, conviction into confession, provision into thanksgiving.


• Realise that you will get into a rut. Realise that you will go through dry seasons – I happens to all God’s saints. And God uses them to teach us. Be ready to be taught. And keep on persevering.


• When you miss your daily time with God, through no fault of your own, don’t mentally torture yourself. God is gracious and he understands. Utilise as many moments throughout the day as you can to be with him.


• Don’t use that as an excuse for not making an effort to spend time with him each day.


• Beware of holidays. A break in the routine is hard to cope with. You think you will have more time, but you won’t, unless you schedule carefully.


• Memorise scripture. It gives you something to chew on for the day.


• Don’t be disappointed if you can’t remember what you read last week, or two days ago. I can’t remember what I had for lunch two days ago, but it did me good at the time.


• Read big chunks of scripture. Don’t settle for one or two verses a day. Read chunks; meditate on smaller bites. Here’s a great Bible reading plan for the whole year – with slack built in.

I hope this miscellany of musings has been of some help. God Bless!

Tsunami - Part 2

Third foundation stone:

God is going to make all things new
The natural reaction to hearing that this world isn't how God intended it to be, is to ask, "Why doesn't he make it right again?" I mean that's what we would do, wouldn't we? Of course. If we had made something that we cared about and it was damaged we would do all our power to restore it. And that's exactly what he intends to do.

That's what Paul is saying in that passage in Rom 8: "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."

And it groans, but it is "groaning as in the pains of childbirth" - there will come a day when a new creation will appear. "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." - 2 Peter 3:13

The time is coming when there will be no so-called 'natural disasters' this old earth will have been made new, sin will have been eradicated, the earth will be liberated from the curse that has bound it. There will be no pain, no suffering, no mourning because loved ones have been washed away, or killed by hurricanes. There will be no pain from injuries caused by falling buildings. There will be no death.

This earth will be restored. God will not be starting over again from scratch - his victory as with mankind is not to wipe us out and build a people who are sinless, but to reclaim us from the ravages of sin, and to remove every element and scar of it from our lives. So it will be with this world. Sin never has the last laugh. God will restore it. The old will have passed away. No trace of the old will remain. The new will have come. It will be the same yet profoundly different. Like an old masterpiece lovingly restored to the beauty it had when it left the artist's hand.

That brings us now to be able to look at the question of why does God allow such events to take place?

If God is in control, and although this world is not as he intended it to be, and he is going to make all things new, removing all suffering - why doesn't he get on with it? Having laid the foundations we can now answer the question - What is God doing in 'natural' disasters?

Meantime God gives people both time and warning to repent
If God were to step in now and make everything new - that would involve all that will happen when he will do it. What I mean is this - when God makes everything new it will be preceded by a Day of Judgment, when the people who will populate this new earth will be selected. Only those who have asked Jesus to be their saviour will be allowed to live on it. Anyone else will make a mess of it, far worse than Adam and Eve did.

Those who have asked Jesus to make them right will be finally made perfect, and will be fit inhabitants for God's pure and perfect world. All others will not be allowed to sully its purity with their wretchedness. They will be condemned to Hell, forever.

If God were to step in now and make all things new, he would have to come in Judgment first because that is how he has said it will be.

But God is kind, and merciful. He doesn't step in now. One day he will, but in the meantime he displays his patience and gives thousands upon thousands a chance to enter into this amazing world.

Peter in the same passage I've just quoted from in 2 Peter 3 says:

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming… So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him."

That day will come; in the meantime God is patient with his rebellious world. What a generous God! What sort of people ought you to be - make every effort to be found at peace with Him. Make sure you have made your peace on this earth, because it is the only chance you have. Every day is another opportunity.

Herein lie the purposes of earthquakes and other such unnatural disasters. They serve as warning to us of the fragility of life, of the imminence of death, of the disharmony that there is between man and God.

In his patience he also sends us warnings. Patience is no virtue without instruction. What sort of God would God be if he went around sweeping up after us, and never warned us that there was a problem between us and him? It would be no kindness. Instead the curse on the earth because of sin is part blessing, because it warns us that all is not well.

When the earth shakes under your feet, and a tidal wave smashes through everything in sight, we are left feeling that there is nowhere safe. Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. In most disasters the earth is the one thing that stands firm. But where do you turn when the earth itself is unsafe?

There is only one safe place - Christ.

Whatever it takes for men and women to see this is a mercy, a severe mercy, but a mercy nonetheless. As CS Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures... but shouts
in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Sometimes, when we haven't been listening, He needs to raise his voice.

Tsunami - Part 1

Dealing with natural disasters from a Christian perspective

Why did it happen?

Was God asleep? Did the devil pull a fast one? Did God do it just for the sake of it?

Before we can get to the answer we need to lay some foundation blocks. One big block. And then three smaller ones places on top. And then we can build our conclusion on the top of this safe foundation. Here are 5 truths to help us think biblically about suffering and natural disasters.

Here’s the first big building block

Things only make sense if there is a God
If there is no God there is no point asking questions. There simply would be no reason why things happen.

That’s the conclusion the writer of Ecclesiastes came to when he looked at life around him. Without God, he said, everything is meaningless.

As Christians we may have problems answering questions about why things happen. But for the person who doesn’t believe in God, and who rejects God, they are in a far worse position, for they can’t even ask questions. If there is no God, then there is no meaning to life. And it doesn’t ultimately matter if we are killed by a falling tree, or cancer, or mugged, or drowned.

But something in us cries out against such a belief. The atheist finds himself living with a theory that he cannot live by.

As Christians we don’t need to be afraid, these sort of events don’t pose unanswerable questions. Instead they fit exactly into what the Bible tells us. When we look at the world through the lens of the Bible we find an explanation for the way everything is. This is the big foundation stone that underlies everything else.

Here then is the first of three smaller foundation stones.

God is in control not Satan, nature or chance
When the Indian continental plate dived under the Burma plate after 200 years of pressure building up, or when a volcano explodes in the Philippines we call these things natural disasters. Sometimes they are called freak accidents of nature. Or we attribute them to chance.

People look at situations like this and turn to the Christian and say, “If your God is powerful, why didn’t he stop this happening?”

And the temptation is for Christians to make excuses for God, blame nature or chance or blame the devil.

Satan does play a part in destruction and misery. We see that in Job. But ultimately it is God who holds the reins. He gives permission to Satan. But it is God alone who is the Lord of Heaven and earth. “He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32).

Earthquakes are ultimately from God. Nature does not have a will of its own. God is always in control. There is no heavenly battle with Satan setting off a disaster here and another one there with God running around like some helpless parent trying pick up the pieces and trying to tidy up one disaster and to stop another before it happens.

In other words, the earthquake happened because God allowed it to happen.

Strange as it may seem there is great comfort in this for the Christian.

Satan, or nature or chance aren’t some rogue elements that can come and turn our lives upside-down at their own will. There is no such thing as an accident in God’s mind. Whatever happens in this world is under the control of your father in Heaven. The Devil, although he is a fearsome enemy is not a free enemy. He can go no further than he is allowed by God. There is no such thing as a chance accident – everything that happens to you is finely calculated and designed by Almighty God. Nature with all its power and terrible force can do nothing to you unless he permits. No, nature, chance and Satan are firmly under the control of a loving father who only does what’s best for his children.

The second smaller foundation stone:

This world is not now as God intended it to be
It seems pretty obvious to anyone who really looks at it that this world is not a pretty place at times. Some parts are stunningly beautiful, but other parts are savage in their ferocity. We see hurricanes ripping through the Caribbean, we see volcanoes turning entire towns into ash, we see earthquakes and famines, and now a horror new to most of us – a tsunami.

Although many aspects of suffering can be explained by man’s selfishness, here is an example where the finger of blame cannot really be pointed at man. What happened to the world that God looked at in Genesis 1 and proclaimed to be “Very Good”?

Genesis 3 happened. When man sinned he brought disharmony into his relationship with God and with his wife, and with the earth.

Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, …"Cursed is the ground because of you”

The earth, the planet itself has had to bear the marks of sin. We live on a cursed planet. Its beautiful in places – that’s the hallmarks of God’s design, but the pain and tragic events show us that this world we see now is not how God intended it to be.

In Rom 8 Paul tells us the same thing (v20-22) - “For the creation was subjected to frustration… bondage and decay… groaning…”

Adam’s sin has had a profound effect on the world. Disharmony in three directions. Disruption. Disunity. Disorder at three levels – God, people and earth.

Earthquakes are God’s way of reminding us that all is not right between us and God. If man could ever get to a point where he had removed from his conscience all imprints of God, and had managed for the first time in 1000s of years to live at peace with mankind, earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanoes would still be there to remind him that there was a fundamental problem in the universe, one that couldn’t be ignored.

There is no such thing as a natural disaster. All disasters are unnatural. This is not how God planned it to be. We are living in a world ruined by sin. And we cannot hide from that no matter how advanced our cities become, no matter no many peace-keeping envoys and ambassadors we send out.

Conclusion to follow tomorrow - Here

Avoid the tragedy of a wasted life

Don't Waste your Life
John Piper

This is a tremendous book; a great book to read at the start of another year. The vast expanse of the rest of our life (or the not so vast, God alone knows) stretches before us – the question hangs in the air: Will we waste it? What will we have to show at the end of our one and only precious God-given life?

Is Jesus useful only for escaping Hell, or is he the Treasure of our lives? Do we live lives that demonstrate something of the all-surpassing value of Jesus, or lives that show only too clearly that we have the same earthbound focus as our neighbours? Are we wasting our lives?

John Piper demonstrates with passionate forceful clarity that a life lived revelling in God’s glory and seeking to bring glory to him in every sphere of life is the only way to really live your life. He issues a call to serve and glorify Christ in the ministry, on the mission field, and in secular jobs. Amidst his passion there is balance and wisdom for all believers.

In the first two or three chapters, perhaps less easy to read than the rest of the book, Piper tells us of his discovery of the preciousness of Christ. And this is his great prayer for the readers of his book – that we will not only see it, but live it out. The succeeding chapters are powerfully challenging with titles like:
‘Risk is right – Better to lose your life than to waste it’
‘Living to prove He is more precious than life’
‘Making much of Christ 8 to 5’
‘The majesty of Christ in missions and mercy’

This isn't a book to read quickly, but a book that will take you time and will profoundly challenge you – your use of time, money and life itself. If you want to live life as God intends this is a book is for you. It should be compulsory reading for every Christian! Buy it now and read it at the start of the new year.

The Sabbath Essay - Learning from Shepherds

I've been doing some thinking about the shepherds in Luke 2, the ones the angel spoke to about the birth of the Messiah.

First of all I wondered, "Why shepherds?"

Of all the people to announce the birth of he long awaited Saviour of the universe to, why these 1st century social and religious outcasts? Then it stuck me - because that's who God comes to seek and save. "Not many of you were wise…"

But then as I looked at them I was struck by what a fantastic example these men set us. I felt rebuked because for 30 years I have skipped quickly over them. Here are some of the things I learnt from these hairy, gruff sheep-herders:

Always look to meet Jesus
Don't be satisfied with great religious experiences, go and look for Jesus. Imagine the shepherds heard the message and thought, "Wow that was great, an angel, a message from God!" But they didn't, they went to meet Jesus.

Often we can go to church and be really uplifted, by the praise, or just by meeting people, but we have been brought no closer to Christ. Or to look at it slightly differently, sometimes we can hear God's message from God's messenger, just like the shepherds heard it from the angel only we hear it from a minister, and we are satisfied with simply hearing. We don't go further and seek Jesus. Or more likely it happens when we open our Bibles each day to read God's word, and we hear the words of almighty God, but we don't take time to really meet with our Saviour to hear what he is really saying. We close our Bibles satisfied that we have heard the message. Another box ticked for the day.

Don't be conned by appearances - Listen to what God says
The shepherds were told that the long awaited promised Saviour of the world was here, the Lord, the Ruler of the universe. And they go to see this wondrous being that the whole world has been waiting for since Genesis 3. And what do they see? A small baby boy lying in a cattle trough, in a dark and smelly cave used for sheltering animals, much like many of the caves they sheltered in themselves. And it's in Bethlehem - a nothingness of a place.

We wouldn't have been surprised if they had burst into the cave, and then ground to a halt at the scene before them, and been deflated by it. It was incongruous. They were being told something staggering, yet what they saw was the very opposite. And yet these men of straightforward faith were not stumbled by the circumstances they found themselves in.

How often do we stumble at these things? We live in a very similar situation to these men. We are told many things that are staggering: that we are sons and daughters of Almighty God, that we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ, that we are on the winning side, that God never leaves us or forsakes us, that he hears our prayers, that he works all things together for good, that he is building his church, that the church is his great instrument for change in the world. But when we look at our own lives, or at the church, or we look at what is happening around us, we can feel a bit like the shepherds stumbling into the dark cave to see the master of the universe, and all we can see is a helpless infant in a cattle trough.

And we can doubt, and stumble over the contrast between what we hear, and what we see.

But the shepherds teach us this lesson. Listen to all that God says, not just he glorious promises that we love to hear.

What they saw was exactly how God had told them that it would be. v12 "This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Here was the proof that that what they had heard was true: what you see will look nothing like the majesty you expect. God told them this, as well as the great news that the Saviour of the world had arrived.

That's how it is with us. God tells us that there will be opposition, that the road is narrow and few are on it, that we will be tested, that we will have trouble in this world, that we will be tempted, that the gates of Hell will seek to swamp the church, that we will be discouraged. So we shouldn't be surprised.

But we need to remember what God has told us. Like the shepherds, God has also told us to expect what we see. He tells us that how it will be.

Things are not always what they seem. The shepherds could so easily have gone away disappointed and discouraged. But they hung on to what God said - the very thing that will be likely to discourage you is a sign that all that I have said is true. The very things that are likely to discourage us, have been foretold by God, and are proof that what he says is true.

We need to listen to all of God's word. We have a tendency to maximise the bits that speak of victory and glory and minimise the sections that speak of faith strengthened through suffering and trial.

Do it now
The shepherds didn't hang about. They went straight to Bethlehem (v15). And they came in a hurry (v16).

Prompt obedience. They didn't seem to worry about the consequences. We don't read anything about anyone being left with the sheep.

So often we hold off obeying because we are worried about what will happen, and what will people say. We need to obey God, which is far more important, and the great thing is this - he will take care of all the other details.

Prompt obedience is the hallmark of the person who has heard God speak. What have you been putting off doing in terms of obedience?

Anyone can be an evangelist
Luke 2:17-18 "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."

As these men return to the fields they can't contain their joy. They tell everyone they see - Hey you'll never guess what - the Messiah he's here!

And they weren't expert evangelists, or well trained preachers. They were men who were more used to talking about hoofs, and fleeces, and footrot, and scrappie, and mastitis and rabies, and here they are talking about Jesus to all they meet.

And perhaps we say, "Yes, but something amazing happened to them, if something amazing happened to me, I'd be talking non-stop about it too." But something amazing has happened to you.

Have we done that in the last week, or month or year? Have we told anyone about the life, death, resurrection of the Saviour of the world, that they need to apologise to God, and ask him to turn their lives around, and give them a new strength to live for God and not against him.

We don't need to be experts. We just need to talk. And God does the rest.

When God's people speak about what God tells them, other believers are encouraged
v19 - Imagine the situation, the shepherds make their way into the cave, words bursting out of them about angels telling them about the Messiah. What a confirmation it must have been to Mary and Joseph. Think of the encouragement it must have been to their hearts to hear what God was doing. Is it any wonder we read in v19 that, "Mary treasured up these things in her heart". When we talk about what God is doing in our lives, other believers are strengthened and encouraged.

Real men worship wholeheartedly
v20 "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

In v10-12 God sends an army of glorious heavenly beings to publish the good news, and to sing his praise. By v20, the angels have had their places taken, by the shepherds. What a privilege it is to be human. They appear briefly on the scene of time, we are given the lifelong task of doing it.

And there is no mention of mumbling or singing softly so that no-one else can hear. These big hairy brawny men sang their praise with gusto. Real men worship wholeheartedly, not caring who knows how much God means to them.

Praise God this Christmas. Stop think and meditate on what God has done for you. Worship him. Don't be like so many others who rush through life without stopped to praise God.

"Sorry, Lord, for passing over these men you had time for, and for thinking that they had nothing to teach me."

Relishing the Love of God

Greg Louganis one of the world's top divers from the 80's and 90's was asked how he coped with the stress of international diving competition. He replied that as he climbs to the board, takes a deep breath, and thinks, "Even if I blow this dive, my mother will still love me." Then he goes for excellence.

It great to have people to love us in spite of our failures and imperfections. Zephaniah 3:17 is a magical verse that assures us of the deep passionate love of God for us. We need to take this verse and grasp it with both hands. We need to breathe it in and savour it like we would the smell of a Sunday roast. We need to let it roll round the taste buds of our minds.

But before we can get to the verse we need to make sure it is written for us.

Make sure this verse applies to you
Zephaniah gives us three characteristics of those to whom our verse applies:

v9 - If you are calling on him and seeking to serve him
v11,12 - If your pride has been broken and you have come to him humbly seeking forgiveness
v13 - If you are growing in holiness by obeying his commands

All three go together, collectively these form a description of those who will enjoy the hope and encouragement held out in the verse we are about to look at.

Now we can look at the verse itself

Make sure you grasp the richness of God's love
We come now through the narrow doorway and before us lies a sparkling array of the most amazing riches, overflowing, spilling over the floor.

So having made sure that we have a right to be in this treasure room, we must not stand with our eyes closed. We had better take time to appreciate what exactly God has for us. Listen to it:

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will be quiet in his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

Each line of this verse deserves our attention.

A great presence
The Lord your God is with you. Or, "The Lord your God is in your midst."

The NLT has it "For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you."

How that should cheer our hearts when we feel alone, when we feel abandoned - God has arrived to live with us. He is here with us in all the details, all the frustrations, all the disappointments of everyday life. He is there. How comforting it is to know that - when I am doing something practical - like plumbing in a washing machine, I miss my father. It is comforting to have him around, to know that he is there if I need him, that he can see what I'm doing, and if I go to make a complete mess of it, he will be there to intervene, or to help tidy up. His tools, his strength, his wisdom. He has a great presence. In a much more powerful and comforting way, God is with us, in the midst of us.

When Satan comes to us, often we feel alone, unprotected. And if only we could see with heavenly eyes the great host that surrounds us, and the great presence with us we would be so much more comforted.

A Victorious Warrior
We are approaching this great description of God's love for his people, but lest we think that God's love is some sort of soft, sentimental emotion that has no strength to act, all words and no action, we are introduced here to a mighty warrior.

This is our God - the word used is the same as that for David's mighty men. He is a mighty hero. He is the defender of the weak and the fatherless. And the express purpose of this mighty warrior is to save his people.

We see it clearly on the cross - the mighty warrior taking on sin on our behalf to provide protection. We see the depths, the lengths to which he will go.

There is no doubt about the outcome - this is a warrior who triumphs. Our God is a mighty warrior who overpowers his enemies. He is in the midst of his people fighting for them and with them, casting his arms around them like a shield.

Does he have power to show us his love? Does his being with us have any effect? He is mighty to save, the warrior who gives victory.

An overjoyed father
Now we get to the bit that utterly blows me away. Here is a picture that is beyond belief. Here is mighty God, in all his holiness regarding me, and how is it he feels?

He will take great delight in you,
he will be quiet in his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

• Delighted

Here is a picture of a husband looking at his wife or a father looking at his newborn child. One moment he is overcome with joy and rapturous delight, the next minute holds her quietly, somehow lost for words, the next minute feeling his heart will burst as he sings his way down the hospital corridor and out into the car park.

This is the picture the Bible paints of God as he looks at us. He takes delight, or he rejoices over you with gladness. Almighty God looks at you and his heart is made glad as he looks at you. Never once does he regret the price he paid.

• Silent

We see God's love from another angle here - he will quiet you with his love, not a good translation - he will be silent in his love - is better. Here is a picture of perfect contentment - the mother holding her new born baby close to her, as the baby lies sleeping with its velvet soft skin pressed against hers. She is silent in her love. Wordless adoration. The husband who looks into his wife's eyes and is lost for words - no words seem adequate. He will be quiet with love.

Can you grasp it? The almighty God looking at you and me, with a look of perfect contentment on his face? We're not perfect yet - we know that, he knows that, but he is not bounded by time - he can see in us the unfinished image of his son, finished in all its glory and as he looks he is quiet in his contented love for us.

He looks with that look of love that he has had from the beginning of time.

The word used here for love is a word that speaks of a fathers intense fondness for his son, like Jacob to Joseph; it speaks of the deep heartfelt bond between David and Jonathan, where one would die for the other; it speaks of a passionate love, like the love between Jacob and Rachel. The love God has for us is the love that never fails, despite our failings, and it is also the passionate longing of his heart, an intense desire for us, deep and heartfelt.

Amazing - how could the holy, righteous God ever feel like that towards us?

• Singing

And then, we read, the silent contentment doesn't last for long - it cannot be contained, as he burst forth in jubilant singing.

Can you imagine God singing? So ecstatically happy that he cannot contain himself! He bursts into elated singing! Can you hear the voice that said "Let there be light", reverberating around the heavens in triumphant song? Why? Because we are his.

And when I hear this singing I stand dumbfounded, staggered, speechless that he is singing over me. He is rejoicing over my good with all his heart and with all his soul

Can you feel the wonder that the Lord exults over you with loud singing?

Grasp it, revel in, relish it - for it is true of all who trust in Christ. Almighty God finds you a delight, a joy, a source of unending happiness and heart bursting elation. Here is the deep inner joy and personal satisfaction of God himself in you and me. Grasp this - we have a God who loves us, with a deep passionate heart bursting love.

All this because of Christ. This is what it is to be in Christ.

Implications
We cannot be the recipients of such great love and let it leave our lives unaffected. As Christians it is our responsibility to showcase this treasure to the world. We will do that by three things.

• We should live confidently in the unfailing love of God

Other religions have you serving God with a constant worrying thought - "is he happy yet?" Not ours. We're never good enough, but he still loves us. It is not an arrogance to be quietly confident. God has told us here in the most startling of terms how he feels towards his people.

• We should be spurred on in faithful obedience

This verse does not minimise our sin and shortcomings, but it reminds us that our God is not standing there with a big stick to batter us, but when we fail and know we have failed and come to him - we find love and delight in us. Greg Louganis said:

"Even if I blow this dive, my mother will still love me." Then he goes for excellence.

At the beginning of each day, how good it would be for each of us to take a deep breath, say, "Even if I blow it today, my God will still love me," and then, assured of grace, go into the day seeking a perfect 10!

• We should be displaying this great love to others

A young man falls in love. She is far beyond what he could ever have imagined - each new day reveals yet more qualities and gifts, and depths to her love.

Does he keep quiet? It spills out of him with joyful enthusiasm. He can't help speaking. And even when he is quiet you can tell he's happy.

Shouldn't it be the same for us? We stand in this great treasure room. We need to keep reminding ourselves of God's great love so that we will have something of this enthusiasm for ourselves.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will be silent in his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

Comment change over

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog, thats why all the other comments have disappeared. Thanks for all your previous comments, I look forward to your future ones.

God Omniscient

"Vera theologia non theoretica et spectulative, sed activa et practica est" - Martin Bucer

"True theology is not theoretical and speculative, but active and practical "

What practical and active benefit is there to us knowing that God is omniscient - all-knowing?

Often we use this great truth to comfort us, but it also acts as a handbrake to sin. This is seen in some of the ways we insult God's omniscience when we sin.

We wrong or insult God's omniscience when we:

1. Refrain from sinning because man sees, rather than because God always sees

"Secret sins are more against God than open sins; open sins are against he law, secret sins are against the law, and God's omniscience" - Stephen Charnock

2. Confess only to some aspects of sin and not others, or pretend that something wasn't as bad as it was.

3. Worship only outwardly

4. Enjoy sinful thinking, and excuse them because they are not actions

5. Fail to seek his help in self-examination

6. Make his omniscience an excuse for not praying as we ought

7. Are proud of our knowledge

8. Pry into things that he has not revealed to us

9. Judge the hearts and motives of others

10. Think that God doesn't understand how we feel

Lost at Christmas

Last year I was visiting a friend in a hospital in the north, and fairly typically there was a nativity scene in the entrance hall.

It always amuses me how nativity scenes portray this event. I wonder if many of the people who put them together have ever been in
what my north Antrim grandparents would have called a 'byre' - a cattle shed. Can they imagine the stink, the lack of hygiene? In
all likelihood it was a dark, dank, smelly cave with no running water, no lighting, with animals huddling together for warmth, and a
floor covered in dung, both ancient and fresh. Can you imagine Mary and Joseph picking there way through this mess looking for some
sort of 'clean' place?

What amused me about this particular nativity scene in the hospital was that someone had obviously thought it would be a good idea
to use real straw. Fair enough, but it was big chunky strands of straw, and beside the little figures of Mary, Joseph and the wise
men, the straw looked like tree trunks of giant oaks. And they hadn't skimped on it either. Mary and Joseph were up to their
waists in it. The shepherds' sheep were just about poking their heads above it, like drowning men struggling to keep their heads
above water.

And as for baby Jesus, he was nowhere to be seen. He had got lost amidst all the straw.

How true I thought. That's Christmas for you - no sign of Christ at all, lost amidst all the straw.

The Sabbath Essay - Storekeeping

Joshua 7 tells us the story of God’s people no longer experiencing God’s blessing, they had suffered defeat and experienced the abandonment of God. Why was this? They had “taken some of the devoted things” (7:11). Israel was not making an impact on the surrounding nations because she had taken things that belonged to God.

Jump forward 1000 years to the book of Malachi. God’s people are no longer experiencing God’s blessing. God has turned his back on them (3:7). The results were a lack of blessing on the community of Gods people; the work they did was eaten up and destroyed before it brought any real fruit; their reputation among the rest of the world was as nothing. Why was this? They too had taken what belonged to God (3:8)

The pattern of Joshua and Malachi indicates a common theme. That which belongs to God has not been given to Him. But could all these issues stem from one cause? God is not as close to us as we would like. In Malachi God calls His people to return to Him, but how are they to return? Malachi doesn’t get a list of faults, but receives only one answer from God, they are to give to God the tithes and offerings that belong to Him. This is where they are to start.

Tithing means giving to God 10% of our income. He has given us it all and He expects us to return a tenth to Him. Withholding the tithe by some was bringing a curse on the whole community of God’s people.

And the cupboard was bare
Jump forward another 2400 years. Take a look at the church. Are we prospering as a denomination? Is the church making an impact? Something has left us with congregations that are slowly dying, with young people deserting the church; with the church making very little impact on society; with a church that has little reputation among non-Christians; with faithful preaching that is not being blessed as much as it could be; with individuals who feel barren and lifeless.

Look again at the picture God paints in Mal. 3:6-12.

God’s people do not tithe, and as a result:-

• God’s people experience barrenness.
• God’s people sow but do not get a good harvest.
• God’s people have no reputation among the nations.

All this is evidence that:-

• God’s people are under God’s curse. (3:9)

What about our denomination overall - Can you spot the pattern?

• Do we tithe as a denomination? (On average UK Christians’ givings are only 2% of their earnings.)
• Are we experiencing barrenness? (Is our Church declining or growing?)
• When we sow God’s word, is there growth, or are our harvests blighted? (How many conversions have we seen over the past year?)
• Do those around us hold our Church up to ridicule? (Have we any impact on society as a Church?)
• Where does that leave us then? (3:9)

A tithing church should be a healthy one; it should not surprise us if a penniless church is a barren one. Has God turned His back on it? The progress of God’s people is inextricably linked to their obedience in this matter. Is it because God needs the money? No, rather how we spend our money is our indication of where our heart is in relation to God. Are we willing to trust Him?

When we do not bring to God what is His, we are robbing Him, and as God’s people we suffer and the nations look at us in scorn. There is nothing more disgraceful than a church that struggles financially simply because its people will not tithe; or, shabby-looking church premises, or a minister unable to pay his bills; or, Synodical committees having to restrict their work because of lack of funds. These things are only true because God’s people have robbed God of the tithe. When we do not support the work of God according to the pattern set down in Scripture, it should not surprise us when it is not blessed as we expect it to be. If the shelves are empty it is our own fault.

Stacking the shelves
How do we rectify the situation?

Our money is an unavoidable pothole in our Christian growth. Tithing is a solution to our spiritual problems. If we are not faithful in this area, how can we expect God to bless and strengthen our faith? Becoming a tither is a breakthrough for every Christian. It unlocks the door of the mind, heart and will, freeing up what once was closed to the rich blessings of God. Tithing is so essential to our development as a Christian that nothing will be an adequate substitute. Until we are consistently, regularly and faithfully tithing there is something defective with our Christian life, that will not be remedied by any other form of obedience. But, when that area of obedience is dealt with, the blessings are wonderful.

If every church member tithed the Church could be far more active, but instead it is paralysed. The truth is, we have all the money we need for our Church’s work; the reality is that it is in many of our members’ pockets. The world looks on unimpressed by our witness. We speak of faith, so central to our witness, but our lives often show that our faith has not touched our bank balance. When a biographer of the Duke of Wellington discovered some of the man’s cheque-book stubs, he said “When I saw how he spent his money, I knew the man”. What does our cheque book or bank balance say about our values?

Whose grain is it anyway?
We should tithe because:-

• God commands it.
• It has an effect on God’s work on earth.
• It has an effect on God’s work in us.

Our potential blessing should not be our motive for tithing, rather when we tithe we are saying thank you to God for His gracious gift of salvation. When we don’t give, we also rob God of our gratitude. In view of the fact of supreme sacrifice that the Son of God made for us we should want to give.

C.T. Studd - “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for Him.”

When we tithe we show that:-
1. We take the bible's commands seriously;
2. Our desire to see God's kingdom built up exceeds our desire for material things;
3. We acknowledge God as the giver of all things;
4. We are seeking to reflect Christ's generosity and love within the church.

Some may argue that as New Testament believers we don’t have to tithe, but it is generally the case that in the New Testament the obligations of Old Testament legislation are heightened rather than lessened. That is, the law is interpreted in the fullest measure. So while some people may argue that the tithe doesn’t apply, it is hard to think of any Christian, blessed with the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, doing less. Why should we who have been blessed so abundantly be so ungenerous?

Which Storehouse?
The tithes were to be paid to support the work of the priests in the tabernacle. It is our duty to take our tithe to the place where we worship, i.e. our own church. This is the point Malachi is making when he says “Bring the tithes into the storehouse”. It corresponds with Paul’s statement that those who preach the Gospel “should receive their living from the Gospel”. (1Cor 9:14) Tithes, therefore should be solely and exclusively for the work of the church. We are bound to take our tithe to the Church of which we are members. To do otherwise is to short circuit the pattern God sets down.

People may say “It’s my money; I’ll give to whichever Christian organisations I want”. That’s fine, if you give from your money (the 90%), but the 10% is not yours to decide; it belongs to the storehouse, the place from where you are fed directly. This is why Moses said “All the tithe of the land is the Lord’s: it is holy to the Lord”. (Lev. 27:30) The tithe is to be entrusted to the Church that the Church may make proper decisions as to its use.

A Full storehouse
What tithing does for us is realised at two levels: the material and the spiritual, the spiritual being far more important. It would be a mistake to claim that every tither will have no financial problems. Hardship may come, the promise of blessing is a spiritual one. But what happens when we struggle with hardship? We learn to rely more on our Father, our faith is strengthened and we are blessed spiritually.

Young people may think that they cannot tithe, especially at university, but any money you have coming in should be tithed. You may think that your little bit will not matter. But it is not so much about what your money can do for the Church, but rather what God will do for the Church because of your obedience and faithfulness.

So let us start to give to God that which is His. If we would have God open his treasury, we must open ours. Let us do so, so that the storehouse will be full, full of our tithe and full of God’s blessing - a blessing on the work of God in our denomination, in our congregations and in our own lives.

Imagine the effects of a people tithing out of grateful hearts, holding God to His promise in Mal. 3. What would the church be like? An aura of expectancy; finances to fund mission work, not just in designated mission fields, but to start up congregations in towns throughout Ireland, and to support the work there. Our congregations would be full of people seeing all around them the effects of God honouring His promises, people living by faith, watching God stretch the 90% further than the 100% would ever have gone - people whose hearts are aflame for God.

Jim Elliot - “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Different context, same truth!)

Conclusion
There are only 2 directions to go from here - forwards or backwards. We can refuse to tithe and watch the repercussions on our denomination, or, we can start to tithe and wait with bated breath to see God at work.

If we refuse to tithe, we are like Achan. We sit in our tent, with silver hidden away that does not belong to us. We bring judgment on ourselves and on the community of God’s people and hold up the work of God’s kingdom. God has given us plenty of time to repent and start filling His storehouse. Let us determine to make this a priority, so that we may go forward as a church.

If our church is to proclaim the reality of “For Christ’s Crown and Covenant” we must be seen to live in obedience to the commands of the King, and live in faith in His covenantal promises.

“There was a man,
Some called him mad;
The more he gave,
The more he had.”

John Bunyan

Book Review - The Cross He Bore

The Cross He Bore
F.S. Leahy
Banner of Truth

“Gethsemane is not a field of study for our intellect. It is a sanctuary of our faith. Lord, forgive us for the times we have read about Gethsemane with dry eyes.”

So ends the first of 13 brief, but profound, chapters on the sufferings of Christ. Here is a book to be read unhurriedly, a chapter at a time, and with time to think. It is a book that will deepen your understanding and appreciation of what Jesus went through at Calvary. It will help you grasp the depths of Christ’s suffering, or at least to realise that they are beyond our grasp – what does it mean to be forsaken by God? What did he go through on the cross – this book will help you see beyond the physical suffering.

Prof Leahy brings us back to the cross to fill our hearts with gratitude to the one who “bore our sins in his body on the tree”. This short book of meditations will spur you on in your love for Jesus. It will cause you to praise him with heartfelt thanks. It will show you the awfulness of sin by the immense price that Christ paid that we might be forgiven.

Often as you read it you will find yourself pausing to say, “Thank you, Lord”.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Book Review - The End Times Made Simple - Sam Waldron

The End Times Made Simple
Samuel E. Waldron
Calvary Press

Does the ‘Left Behind’ series leave you confused? You maybe have an instinctive feeling that all that ‘Left Behind’ stuff isn’t right, but you’re not quite sure how to get to what you do believe about Christ’s second coming. Or maybe you’ve never heard of the ‘Left Behind’ series and are just looking for some straightforward and convincing explanation of what will happen at the end of the world.

This is one of the sanest books on this subject ever!

With a subtitle of “How can everyone be so wrong about biblical prophecy?” this book lets you know from the start where it’s coming from!

It’s a great book for a number of reasons:

Instead of starting with the complicated passages in Revelation or in Daniel, it starts with clear and straightforward passages, like Jesus’ teaching in the gospels. Once the basics have been established from the clear and straightforward passages the author moves on and uses what he has discovered in the clearer passages to determine what the more complex ones mean. That’s a good rule for understanding Scripture.

This book isn’t confined to simply looking at post, pre or amillennial viewpoints. It deals with many questions relating to Heaven and Hell, Christ’s second coming, the state of believers after their death, the Day of Judgment, eternal punishments, the new Heavens and new earth, etc. On the way through he also deals with some common misunderstandings about Israel and the Church, confusion over which has led many into a mixed up theology on different points. It’s a great handbook to have on anything to do with the end times.

It’s also a practical book. Throughout the chapters the author shows the practical impact of the Bible’s teaching on this subject to different areas of our lives.

It’s also a relatively simple book. I was a bit sceptical of the title at first, but Waldron avoids excessive use of technical jargon, and is easy to follow. He throws in a few diagrams along the way to make matters even clearer. The most complicated bits are when he has to explain the complex schemes various men have come up with. It really is the ‘end times made simple’.

Personally, I was glad to see such a clear and straightforwardly biblical book on the subject.

PS. Although he doesn’t state it explicitly, Waldron is coming from an amillennialist position.