YOU and GOD

Asked to define a home, one person said: “A place where there is a roof to keep out rain, four walls to keep out the wind; floors to keep out the cold, yes, but a home is so much more. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is the first school and the first church for the young ones, where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick; where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving-kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home. God bless it.” (Ernestine Schuman-Heink)

Remember the “nuclear family?” That was a family, common in the 1950s and 60s, comprised of a father and mother with their own biological or adopted children. But, beginning in the 70s and 80s, that compact household began to break down. More and more families in those decades were headed by a single parent due to a rising divorce rate. Today, 39% of marriages end in divorce. Infidelity and finances are the most common causes. The average marriage that ends in divorce lasts about 8 years. In 2023, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that there were 674,000 divorces in the United States, which is down from a previous high of one million divorces (annually) in recent decades. In 2022, 39.8 percent of births in the U.S. were “out of wedlock,” versus 18 percent in 1980. Patrick Fagan, sociologist, says that “it is now a widely accepted premise that children born into single-parent families are much more likely than children born into intact families to fall into poverty and welfare dependency.” One could add crime and violence to the list of pitfalls more common to children born into single-parent families.

The family that prays together is even more uncommon. Studies show that where there is a Mom and Dad in the home, both of them attending church regularly, their children will also remain spiritually faithful in 72% of cases. Where only Dad attends church, 55% will remain faithful to church. If only Mom attends, the percentage drops to 15; and where neither Mom nor Dad remain attached faithfully to a church, just 6% of the children will attend church faithfully as adults.

The old-time evangelist knew something about what it takes to make a house a home when he said, “You can stand anything when you have a peaceful home. It does not matter how hard life is if you have a little place called ‘Home Sweet Home’—a little place where everybody loves everybody. Oh, it may not be a rich home, you know. It does not have to be rich, just a home where there is love, understanding, gentleness, kindness, and patience—and the authority vested in the head of the family. Oh, yes, there will be some ups and downs. If a man tells me he never had a cross word with his wife, I know there is something wrong with one of them. I am not going to lie about it: I have been married forty-nine years, and that is a long time to stick to one woman and never lose your temper! But you know, it has been pretty wonderful. What would life be without each other? What would it be? No children, no mother, no father, no home?

“Say, how about fixing yours up like it ought to be? You know, Jesus can fix it. He met the chief of the publicans at Jericho, looked up at him in the tree and invited himself home with him for dinner. I will venture that home was never the same after that—never the same again.” (Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.)

In 1677 a man who was notoriously immoral married a woman of like character, and 1,900 descendants came from that union. 771 were criminals; 250 were arrested for various offenses; 60 were convicted thieves; and 39 were murderers. This family spent 1,300 years behind bars, collectively, and cost the state of New York millions of dollars.

About the same time, Jonathan Edwards—the famous preacher, who became president of Princeton—began a family line. 1,334 descendants were born and traced to this line. Many of them became college presidents or professors. 186 became preachers, and many were active church members. 86 were senators; three were congressmen; 30 were judges, and one became vice-president of the United States. None of them spent any time in jail, nor were any of them an extra expense to the state. (copied)

One final, profound thought that “Prof” Howard (Howie) Hendricks—who taught at Dallas Theological Seminary for sixty years—shared with a class of preachers in training: “Your home is not apart from your ministry; it is part of your ministry.”

Home, Sweet Home. Let us strive to promote, preach, and propagate the Biblical model of a home that is truly sweet because of His prevailing and pure love!

“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it…Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” (Ps. 127:1,3)

The Bible has been called a biography of the human race, and rightly so. It sets forth our record from creation, to the fall, to our death for sin and our death to sin through redemption and regeneration through Christ.

Not only does it give us a record of man, it also tells us of men—individual, particular men. It tells us how they lived and how they died. It gives us glimpses of their words and works. We have at times profiles, and at times portraits—of good men and of bad men.

Of all the biographies of the Bible, none has made more impact than those of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.  They were those who were closest to our Lord during his three and one-half years of earthly ministry. They heard His every word and saw His every deed. They felt His pulse, as it were, heard His prayers, witnessed His trials, and watched His tears. They were chosen by Him to carry on what He had begun.

And, of the 12, none is more important than the one who leaned on His breast at the Last Supper in the Upper Room.

We know him simply as John. He was one of the first to be called to this holy vocation, and he was the last to have lived out the will of God for his life on earth. We can benefit greatly as we study his life in the New Testament—noting his profile as an apostle, his performance as an apostle, and his pen as an apostle.

1. His profile.

• He was one of the “sons of Thunder,” brother of James, sons of Zebedee. His mother, Salome, was a devoted follower of Jesus. Zebedee employed his sons in the family fishing business. Jesus gave James and John the name “Sons of Thunder.”
• Andrew and Peter were also in this business with Zebedee and his sons. It was a thriving business.
• He was a disciple of John the Baptist and was led to Christ by the Baptizer. (John 1:35)
• He wrote five books of the New Testament and was known as “the one whom Jesus loved.” (John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7; 21:20)
• He outlived 12 Roman emperors, including Augustus and Nero. Two of these emperors committed suicide and seven were murdered.
• He was doubtless in his teens when Jesus called him to follow Him as an apostle; he outlived all others apostles, dying (it is believed) in his 90s.

2. His performance.

•  John probably enjoyed the most intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
• He was the last person Jesus spoke to before He “gave up the ghost.” It was John to whom Jesus committed the care of His mother, Mary.
• He was, along with Peter and James, one of the three who made up the “inner circle” of Jesus during His earthly ministry. At the Last Supper, Peter asked John to find out from Jesus who the betrayer was that Jesus had alluded to. (John 13:23,24)
• He became a close companion of Peter: at the Supper; at the place of Judgment, both Peter and John were on site; and both were at the sepulcher, John arriving before Peter. (John 20:1ff)
• Peter and John were fishing when Jesus, in a post-resurrection appearance, met them on the shore and fixed breakfast for them. (It was John who first said from the boat, “It is the Lord.”)
• After the resurrection and following Pentecost, this apostolic duo was often together, as at the healing of the lame man at the Temple. (Acts 3:11)
• They were persecuted, imprisoned together, and withstood the authorities when told they must stop preaching.
• Their personalities were very different: Peter was open, John closed; Peter was quick to act, John given to thinking first.
• Both possessed an unquestionable love for, and devotion to, Jesus of Nazareth.

3.  His pen.

• John’s writing was his greatest contribution. He wrote more than any of the 12. Yet, he never mentioned his name in the 21 chapters of his classic gospel, the only gospel which does not contain a list of the 12.
• The one word that characterizes his writings is “love.” For example: “God so loved the world.” “Let us love one another.” “God is love.” “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.” “There is no fear in love.” “We love Him because He first loved us.”
• One writer said of John: “He gave in his writings a definition of love that the world has not found in any other literature.”
• One learns a lot about John by noting the words he uses repeatedly in his gospel: “light” (23); “life” (52); “love” (7); “truth” (25); “believe” (98); “world” (78); “witness” (30) “testify” (13); “testimony” (25). In his writings, John uses the word “love” a total of 80 times.
• It is fair to say that the Apostle John wrote to present incontrovertible evidence that Jesus is God and that God is love.

His place among the 12 was unique. He spent the latter years of his life in exile on the isle of Patmos, where he received the indescribable Revelation!

John was the only Apostle who was not cruelly martyred. Legend says that he was put into a cauldron of boiling water, from which he escaped in a miraculous manner. Afterward, he was exiled to Patmos, where he received the Revelation of Jesus Christ as recorded in the last book of the New Testament.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid a hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last.”(—the Apostle John, Rev. 1:10, 17)

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2021, with 46 states reporting, there were in the U.S. 625,000 abortions; and, in the years 2013 through 2022, there were on average 625,000 abortions reported. One will find varying statistics, and some have reported that the number of abortions annually in our land of the free is over one million. And, since the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade the number of abortions reportedly has actually risen.

For those of us who believe that life begins at conception, it is not a stretch to conclude—with Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged by the Nazis for trying to subvert the German World War II holocaust—that “destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life, and that is nothing but murder.” (quoted from Bonhoeffer’s book Ethics)

Consider that in America’s horrific Civil War there were 498,312 casualties; in World War II, there were 407,316; and in the Vietnam War, 58,098. But by the most conservative reports (CDC) there are over 600,000 casualties every year in America’s War on the Unborn, or America’s Daily Holocaust on the unborn.

A missionary, in a prayer letter written some years ago, mentioned the magnitude of the problem in Russia: “A friend told us the average Russian woman has had 10-12 abortions in her life. That was verified a few weeks later when we read an article in a local newspaper which stated that 300,000 girls between ages 15-19 have abortions each year, and that 10% of the girls under 19 in Moscow have already had an abortion. By the time a woman reaches 26 it is not uncommon for her to have had as many as 12 abortions.”

The termination of an embryo’s life does not, however, cause the “problem” to go away. A doctor at the University of Minnesota, according to the Christian Action Council, published a study on the long-term (i.e., five-to-ten year) manifestations of stress from abortion. The study, including women from diverse backgrounds, revealed that (1) 81 percent reported preoccupation with the aborted child; (2) 73 percent reported flashbacks of the abortion experience; (3) 69 percent reported feelings of “craziness” after the abortion; (4) 54 percent recalled nightmares related to abortions; (5) 35 percent had perceived visitations from the aborted child and (6) 23 percent said they experienced hallucinations related to abortions.

Interestingly, the original plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade case petitioned a federal court to take a second look at the 1973 decision to legalize abortion. She said, “My case was wrongfully decided and has caused great harm to the women and children of our nation.” (Norma “Jane Doe” McCorvey in a friend of the court brief 5/31/01, Third Circuit Court of Appeals; reprinted in The Baptist Courier, 7/5/01) Later in life, McCorvey became an anti-abortion activist, stating that she regretted her role in the Roe v. Wade case; and, when the ruling was finally overturned, the 55 year-old McCorvey  was quoted as saying her involvement in Roe was “the biggest mistake of my life.” (Wikipedia)

One prolife advocate, whose name at one time had almost universal recognition, said, “America needs no words from me to see how your decisions in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts—as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience.” (Mother Theresa, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94)

Consider: American war casualties since 1776: 1,077,200. Americans killed by heart disease, cancer or stroke in 1994: 1,425,300. Babies aborted in 1992: 1,528,930. (Figures from Right to Life) In 1997, a Crisis Pregnancy Center noted that “on average, over 75 babies are killed each week in our city (Indianapolis)—even during the holidays.”

The annual Right to Life march will be held again this year on Saturday, January 24, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The first one was held in March of 1974 to lobby Congressional leadership to find a legislative solution to the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize abortion.

Someone has posed these questions: (1) A minister and his wife (who are very poor) have fourteen children. Now she finds she is pregnant with number 15. Considering their extreme poverty, would you recommend an abortion? (2) The father is sick; the mother has TB. They have four children. Child one is blind; the second has died, the third is deaf, and the fourth has TB. The mother finds she is pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you recommend an abortion? (3) A male raped a thirteen-year old girl of a different race who finds herself pregnant following the assault. If you were her parent, would you go for an abortion? (4) A teen-age girl is pregnant. She is not married. Her fiancée is not the father of the baby, and he is very upset. Would you consider recommending an abortion?

If you did recommend an abortion to the minister and his wife, you would have agreed to kill John Wesley; in the 2^nd case, you would have been party to the murder of Beethoven; in the 3^rd Ethel Waters, gospel soloist; and in the 4^th case, Jesus of Nazareth.

“For thou hast possessed my reins (kidneys); thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” (A Psalm of David, Ps. 139:13)

 

Since I have spent more than 50 years preaching, often several times a week, I am always interested in learning more about what kind of preaching God is pleased with, and what kind of preaching the Holy Spirit uses to transform the lives of the preacher’s hearers. “Preach the Word,” Paul exhorted Timothy in his final loving admonition to his protégé, defining what to preach and also how to preach: “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (II Tim. 4:2)

Having introduced the subject then of preaching, I want—in this and maybe some ensuing posts—to share some thoughts from various teachers and preachers, past and present, that may be to my readers (both preachers and those who are recipients of preaching) the blessing they were to me when I was fulfilling my commission to “preach the Word.” God calls all sorts of men to preach, all sizes and shapes, from various and sundry cultures, with unique personalities, idiosyncrasies, training, levels of education, years of experience, and on and on.  So, I will share some principles of preaching that hopefully will help any preacher in some way, as well as those who are regularly receiving your pastor’s preachments.

For years I received a publication called Pulpit Helps, edited by Spiros Zodhiates, a Greek-American Bible scholar and director of AMG (Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel) International. Zodhiates wrote a column, “Delivering a Message,” in which he shared several salient tips regarding our preaching. Here are a few of them: “(1) Know as much as you can about your audience; speak to them as one who is part and parcel of their problems; (2) Avoid addressing your hearers with a negative attitude as though they were your adversaries; they are there because they want to hear you; (3) Don’t try to imitate any other popular preacher; be yourself; (4)  Don’t generalize; (5) Don’t condemn all because of something that one has done wrong; (5) Try to meet the people before you get into the pulpit to speak to them; (6) Pick a few friendly faces and develop eye-contact with them; their expressions will help you in your expression of ideas and relationship with the people; (7) Never read your messages; people will unconsciously think that they could stay home and read a message of their choice instead of your choice; Don’t use more words to convey an idea than you have to—remember that the time of the people is precious; (8) Don’t speak so fast that your listeners do not have time to absorb your thoughts; (10) Never memorize a sermon and give it word for word; (11) Speak from an outline and notes, but don’t feel you have to deliver within the allotted time everything that you have prepared; (12) Speak with authority, but not with authoritarianism; (13) Do not try to present the entire Bible in one message, for instance giving Scripture after Scripture….”

I never heard Zodhiates speak in person; but, though he died in 2009, his advice is just as pertinent for preachers as any you might hear from today’s contemporary spokesmen for God.

Another preacher/teacher of yesteryear, J. Vernon McGee—pastor, Bible Teacher, and author of a whole commentary on the Bible—once challenged his contemporaries on the subject of preaching on Hell. He had read an article written by a seminary professor with a Ph.D. who was “letting us in on a new way of preaching. The subject was formerly called hermeneutics, and it instructed young men to declare the whole counsel of God. That would include a sermon on Hell at least once in a lifetime. The new thing, according to this young professor, is to avoid being negative. ‘Be positive, pleasant, pleasing.’  The important thing, according to this young theologue, is to sell yourself. The article was largely psychological. It was fine for the Fuller Brush man.”

McGee concluded: “This new method of preaching may also be the reason why some folk think it is great fun being a Christian and that the lost may even throw snowballs in Hell! Isn’t it about time we start rescuing sinners who are on the way to Hell? Fads and fancies will pass away. Entertainment has its place, but people don’t go to Hell laughing. There is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun.”

And, Dr. Edward Caughill, when he was on the staff of Tabernacle Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Virginia Beach, wrote on “The Priority of Preaching,” reminding us that preaching is not loudness (“While a monotone preacher may be dull, a screaming one is irritating”), nor is it length (“A sermon does not have to be eternal to be immortal”). Caughill listed, instead, several components of good preaching: “communicating truth; declaring a message; heralding forth good news; telling the ‘old, old story,’; sharing the gospel; informing hearers; teaching the basics; exercising a gift; soul-saving; fulfilling a calling; reaching others for Christ; pleasing God; building others up in the faith; awakening faith”—and, finally, Dr. Caughill said, “preaching is a solemn responsibility.”

Chuck Swindoll, Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, writing to preachers, asked: “Is the pulpit a priority to you? Are you investing sufficient time in your study? Do you still search the Scriptures in depth and with diligence? When was the last time you purchased several solid volumes for your library? Have you become predictable in your delivery, maybe even a little dull and boring? Should you renew your commitment as a preacher…as one who stands boldly for that which is right?”

Preachers, I hope these challenges are used of God so that you, through His Spirit, might stir up the gift that was bestowed upon you. “You and God” will have more posts, from time to time, in this “On Preaching” series.  

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself…that I might testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24)

 

 

A great conductor was once asked: “What is the hardest position in your orchestra to fill?” His reply: “2^nd fiddle. Everyone wants to fill the first chair, but not many enjoy being 2^nd fiddle.”

Andrew, the apostle, was a man who in many ways was “2^nd fiddle.”

He wrote no books that bear his name.

He preached no great sermons that were recorded for posterity.

He has no heroic endeavors or wise words attributed to him.

He was not chosen to go with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, just prior to the arrest and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus.

Unlike his brother Peter, Andrew was not chosen to accompany John and Peter with Jesus to the Mount of Transfiguration, where Christ’s unveiled glory was made manifest to His inner-circle of followers.

His only claim to fame, one might say, is that he was Simon Peter’s brother!

Andrew was one of those very special people who, like many in life, are best known because they are the brother or sister of so and so, or someone’s son or daughter. 

Some might resent that role; but the gospels give no hint that Andrew entertained an ounce of resentment because he lived in the shadow of the towering figure of his brother, Simon Peter.

He was, in many respects, a model disciple. Though we have only two or three brief snapshots of him in scripture, and only a handful of words are attributed to him, enough is said and seen of Andrew to reveal a man whose character and conduct merit, in many ways, emulation. Note with me the life, labors, and last of Andrew:

1.  The Life of Andrew.

• With his brother, Simon, he was a fisherman. Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw “Simon, and his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.” (Mark 1:16)

• They hailed from Bethsaida, a town on the north shore of Galilee, near where Jesus fed 5,000 and where He also healed a blind man. (John 1:44) Jesus denounced this fishing village (also home to Phillip), along with Capernaum and Chorazin, for its unbelief: “Woe unto thee Chorazin! Woe unto thee Bethsaida; for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sititing in sackcloth and ashes.”  (Luke 10:14,15)

• Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. (John 1:36-40) He believed the kingdom of Heaven was at hand (Matt.3:2) and was baptized by the “Baptizer” to identify with this kingdom message and messenger. John announced the coming of one whose shoe latchet he was not worthy to stoop down to loose, one whom He would identify as “the Son of God, the Lamb of God.” (Mark 1:7; John 1:34-36)

• Andrew was one of the first followers of Jesus, calling Him “Rabbi” and announcing to his brother that “we have found the Messiah.” (John 1:38-41)

2. The Labors of Andrew.

•  Andrew was a soul-winner. (John 1:41) Think of all that Peter did; the thousands that were saved at Pentecost; the multiplied millions who have read his epistles. When you consider all that Peter did, never forget it was Andrew who FOUND and brought Peter to Jesus. The testimonies of men like D.L. Moody and C.H. Spurgeon can often be traced back to an otherwise unknown, unseen, and unsung believer who had a burden to share the gospel message—which, in turn, was driven by God’s Holy Spirit into the hearts of men who would, in turn, broadcast it to the world for His kingdom’s sake.

•  He was a serious student of God’s Word. (Mark 13:3)

•  He was a man of humility. Peter was named before Andrew in every list of the apostles, and in many respects Andrew’s identity was that he was the brother of Simon Peter. “Grace humbles a man without degrading him, and exalts a man without inflating him.”

• He was a man of faith, cf. John 6:8.

• He was a man of compassion and love. (John 12:20-22) The first and last glimpse of Andrew in the gospels is that of him bringing someone to meet Jesus.

3.  The Last of Andrew (according to “extra-biblical” records and tradition).

•  He is said to have taken the gospel to Russia, Greece, Asia Minor, and Turkey.

• He lived to be old and died a martyr’s death in A.D. 69.

“In the city of Patras, in Achaea, Greece, Andrew’s missionary work was very successful. Many turned to him including Maximilla, wife of the Roman proconsul Aegeas. Enraged at Andrew’s success in the city—and especially in his own household—Aegeas ordered Andrew to lead the people in a sacrifice to a heathen god. Refusing to do so, Andrew was beaten severely and then crucified, on a X-shaped cross. He was fastened with cords rather than nailed on so that he would linger longer in death. While on the cross for two days, Andrew preached to the people, praising God and exhorting his listeners to repentance and faith. After his death, Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul, claimed Andrew’s body and buried it with loving care.” (copied/unknown)

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10)

 

 

If there is a fundamental attribute or characteristic of God, it must surely be His holiness, for at the very center of every concept of the nature of God is—and ever has been, and must always be—the pillar of His holy and righteous character.

It may be debated that there is one fundamental attribute of God. Some say that the essence of God is love, and truly God is love; but God’s love is governed by His holiness. God, out of love, never acts in a way that violates His holiness. Man does, but man is not inherently holy, and man is not naturally loving.

God is love; but God is also holy, and God is characterized by a holy love and a loving holiness.

God is fundamentally holy, and His holiness is fundamental! Isaiah, the silver-tongued prophet, was given a divine call from God to preach and prophesy to an unholy people. His task was an impossible one: getting blind people to see and deaf people to hear.

The people to whom this prince of prophets was sent were described by Isaiah in chapter one of the book that bears his name: they were a nation of individuals, and, as a whole, their head was sick and their heart was faint:  “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, bruises and putrefying sores.” (Isa.1:5) Isaiah characterized the apostacy and depravity of the people to whom he was sent as being total: “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers.” (Isa. 1:7) So total was the spiritual defection of Judah at that time, Isaiah had to conclude: “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”

Before Isaiah could stand before a people such as that, he had to first of all receive a divine call. He did, and it is recorded in Isaiah 6:1ff. Consequent to this call, there had to be a cleansing. Isaiah, after experiencing heartfelt contrition, received divine cleansing, resulting in his unqualified consecration, followed by God’s commission of him. All of this is set forth in Isaiah 1:1-10. That which prefaced the call—the contrition, cleansing, consecration, and commission of Isaiah—was a vision of the HOLINESS of God.

He saw, as a man, what he’d never seen before. It changed his life so that he was never the same. The vision came in the year that King Uzziah died. This king’s long and glorious reign over Judah ended in tragedy and terror. Having been blessed with material prosperity and many spiritual blessings, King Uzziah fatally erred in one of his final acts as Judah’s king. In II Chronicles, we read the account of how he presumed to take upon himself the duties of a priest, offering burnt offerings before the Lord—a high privilege never enjoyed by any of the kings over Judah, a privilege that was reserved rightfully only to the priests. King Uzziah learned, too late, that trifling with God’s holy law can and does end in judgment.

Isaiah saw this—and, in the midst of such a situation, he also saw the Lord. No doubt he, like his peers, had for some time seen many things other than the Lord. They had seen the power, prestige, and popularity of King Uzziah. They had witnessed their little nation rise to unprecedented military prowess. But now, with the death of the king, their world was beginning to crumble about them. Spiritual prosperity had long since passed. Now, material hard times seemed inevitable. In such a context, after Isaiah had gotten his eyes off of a man, he saw the Lord. We can, should, and must see the Lord: His glory, as Moses saw Him, and His holiness, as Isaiah saw Him. Note in this passage:

The Revelation of God to the prophet, vss. 1-4
♦ God’s position of exaltation, v. 1
“The Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.”
♦ God’s position of exultation, vss. 2,3
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

2. The Response of the prophet, v. 5
♦ Woe because of his internal condition: undone—“Woe is me for I am undone.”
♦ Woe because of his external condition: “I am a man of unclean lips.”
♦ Woe because of his environmental condition (in the midst of an unclean people).
♦“Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

3. The Restoration of the prophet, vs. 7.
♦ His iniquity was taken away.
♦. His sin was purged.

Isaiah saw the Lord, and he heard the voice of the Lord (“Go and tell this people,” v. 9.) To God’s question—“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”—Isaiah replied, having seen the Lord high and lifted up in all of His glorious holiness: “Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 1:8)

Today, in America, we are witnessing a nation that has been “on the brink.” What is God doing? We wait. We pray. We watch. We must keep our eyes off the man and on the Almighty. We are living in the midst of a people of unclean lips. God is yet saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” Will you? I was reading Isaiah as a 19 year-old pre-law student in 1961. I answered God’s question with “Here am I; send me.” Is He calling you?

 

Jesus chose 12 to be with Him and that He might send them forth to preach. Though the Lord Jesus had some half- (or step-) brothers, they were not chosen as members of the select group who would perpetuate His teachings and propagate His truths.

Following the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection and ascension of Jesus back to heaven, this band of 12 (minus Judas Iscariot) became the foundation of His church, Himself being the chief cornerstone. And, when the 12 apostles died, the office of apostleship ceased. No person living today was with Jesus when He was baptized by John; no one living today walked and worked with Jesus during the course of His three and one-half years of earthly ministry, or saw the Lord Jesus in His resurrected body. Consequently, no living person since the close of the first century (with the death of the apostle John) has qualified to be an apostle in the New Testament sense of the word. (cf. Acts 1:21,22)

But like Abel of old, the 12 apostles, though dead, still speak. They live on through the lives of those still being reached because of their words and works, which still impact men and women 21 centuries later. And, outside of the Apostle Paul, none made a greater impact upon the world than did the man called Peter.

From day one of the School of Apostles until the story of their lives and labors closes, Peter permeates every page. There are some apostles who, if you wrote a book about these chosen men, you might leave out and the omission might not be glaring. But if you left Peter out of the story, there would be a gaping hole in the narrative. His presence amongst the 12 was pervasive. No one was closer to the Lord (except maybe John the beloved) than Peter. No one followed Him more fervently; no one failed Him more famously! Here’s a closer look at this one who heads every list of the 12:

1. His Call

» He was called from family. Son of Jona, he was married. (I Cor. 9:5) When Jesus called Peter to follow Him, with the other apostles “he forsook all and followed Him.” (Mark 1:18; Luke 5:11)

» He was called from fishing. James and John, sons of Zebedee, with their father, were partners with Andrew and Peter. (Mark 1:16; Luke 5:10)

2. His Character

» Impetuous, impulsive, impatient, and impossible!
» Brave yet cowardly
» Wise yet foolhardy
» Fearless yet fearful
» Consistently inconsistent!
» A leader

3. His Confession, Matt. 16:13ff.

» A confession of revelation, v.17
» A confession of formation, v. 18

4. His Compromise, Matt. 26:41-75

» His was a problem of prayer, Matt. 26:41
» His was a problem of proximity, Matt. 26:58a
» His was a problem of pride, Matt. 26:69-75

5. His “Conversion,” Luke 22:32

» His repentance, Matt. 26:75
» His reassurance, Mark 16:7
» His restoration, John 21

All of His apostles suffered persecution, torture, public shame, and eventually death. One historian reported that all but the aged apostle John died violent deaths. According to the best tradition, Peter was crucified head downward—at his own request, because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the same way His Lord was.

“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” (I Cor.4:9)

It was time for God’s people to enter the long-awaited “Promised Land.” After 40 years of wilderness wandering, the Lord directed Joshua to lead the congregation—through 12 ark-bearing priests—through the overflowing river of Jordan. How could this be? Well, when the priests’ feet hit the water and went into it, God would command the waters of the flooded Jordan to stand at attention on either side while the people marched through on dry land. The secret was that they would need by faith to go “into” the river; and God would do the rest, so that they would come “out of” the river on the other side, all with dry feet! (Josh. 3:13,15,16)

As we look into the swollen waters of the year ahead, we might be wondering, “how can I ever make it from this side of the heaped waters of life that loom largely ahead of me, to the other side, intact?” The answer: by faith, one step at a time, just as did the Israelites of old.

Contemplating the New Year, I want to share with you some thoughts that have inspired me through the years. Nothing original here, on my part, but this pool of assembled wise thoughts have buoyed me time and again—and do now, as I face another new beginning at the age of 82. 

“I said to the man at the gate of the New Year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way.’” (Selected)

“Another year I enter, its history unknown; Oh, how my feet would tremble, to tread its paths alone! But I have heard a whisper; I know I shall be blest: ‘My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.’” (Evangelical Christian)

“I cannot be afraid; He has not once my trust betrayed, nor will He now, though bombs should fall till death’s dust settles over all. He loves me and keeps the soul He made; I cannot be afraid.” (Martha Snell Nicholson)

“He does not lead me year by year, nor even day by day; But step by step my path unfolds; my Lord directs my way. What need to worry then, or fret? The God who gave His Son holds all my moments in His hand, and gives them one by one.” (Barbara C. Ryberg)

“Another year is dawning! Dear Master, let it be, in working or in waiting, another year for Thee. Another year in leaning upon Thy loving breast, of ever-deepening trustfulness, of quiet, happy rest. Another year of service, of witness for Thy love; another year of training for holier works above. Another year is dawning! Dear Master, let it be on earth or else in heaven, another year for Thee!” (Francis Ridley Havergal)

And, from the writer of “Amazing Grace,” John Newton:

“The year we have now passed through, His goodness with blessings has crowned; Each morning His mercies were new, then let our thanksgivings abound. Encompassed with dangers and snares, temptations, and fears, and complaints; His ear He inclined to our prayers, His hand opened wide to our wants. How well it becomes us to cry, ‘Oh, who is a God like to Thee? Who passeth iniquities by, and plungeth them deep in the sea!’ Assist us, we pray, to lament the sins of the year that is passed. And grant that the next may be spent far more to Thy praise than the last.” (Olney Hymns)

“What shall I wish thee? Treasures of earth? Songs in the springtime, pleasures and mirth? Flowers in thy pathway, skies ever clear? Would this insure thee a happy new year? What shall I wish thee? What can be found? Bringing the sunshine all the year round? Where is the treasure, lasting and dear, that shall insure thee a happy new year? Faith that increaseth, walking in light; Hope that aboundeth, happy and bright; Love that is perfect, casting out fear—Those shall insure thee a happy new year. Peace in the Savior, rest at His feet, smile in His countenance, radiant and sweet; Joy in His presence, Christ ever near—this will insure thee a happy new year.”(Havergal)

And, from J. Sidlow Baxter: “On the first day of the (tenth) month were the tops of the mountains seen.” (Gen.8:5) “This verse has a unique application to the first day of a new year. The ‘tenth month’ here corresponds with our January, so the ‘first day’ is our January first. What an exhilarating discovery were those uncovered mountains that first day! The flood was declining. God had not forgotten to be gracious.

“Those mountain tops speak to us on the first day of this year. What will the new year bring of joy or sorrow, achievements or frustrations, health or sickness, good or ill? We cannot foresee what darksome vales or verdant plains or surprise vistas the unfolding months may unveil. Yet if we are truly Christ’s, we are not in total obscurity. Up from the unknown, misty morrows, certain grand securities stand out in advance view.

“Some of the Lord’s people live, as it were, in the basement of the ark, in the twilight of a faith which is never quite sure. They lie against the ribs of the ship, hearing the thud of the waters, and nervously asking whether the ark can survive the strain…this is a joy-killing suspense. Fellow believer, as the new year comes in, climb the ark!  Gaze out from the higher places, with ‘assurance of faith.’ Lo, the ‘tops of the mountains!’”

Good Advice, all! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

“Yet there shall be a space between you and it…that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people: Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” (Josh. 3:4,5)