YOU and GOD

Since my “You and God” blog hit your “inbox” last Tuesday more than three quarters of a million babies have been born worldwide! Some “guesstimate” that of that number, ninety percent of them will live, die and go out into eternity without having embraced the faith “once delivered,” the life-saving, soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ, the “Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Every snap of the finger more than two persons die somewhere in the world. That’s every 10 seconds that 26 people go out into eternity and of those twenty-six people 2 are Buddhists, 4 are Hindu, 5 are Muslim, 8 are secularists and 7 are Protestants. The truth is that of the 26 people who die somewhere in the world every 10 seconds, one could only hope that maybe four or five of them have truly heard the gospel presented and by faith have trusted Jesus Christ as personal Savior. His name alone, is the name whereby souls are saved. (Acts 4:12)

Many people simply have never heard a clear presentation of how to be prepared to meet God. “How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

Most of us can understand why someone who has never seen a Bible, never been inside of a church, never heard a gospel message would die and go to Hell if salvation were through Jesus alone who said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6)

But it is beyond understanding why men who have had every opportunity will refuse the gospel and go out into eternity with no hope. But they do and they will. What keeps people, we might ask, from going to heaven? God surely is not willing that any should perish, but that all men should come to the truth. He wants NO PERSON to be separated from Him and from Heaven eternally. He has done everything possible to keep souls out of the place, Hell, that He originally created for the Devil and his angels.  Yet men will choose Hell over Heaven.  Why?  Let me suggest a few reasons in answer to that question:

1.   The fear of what others will say. (John 12:42,43) We are told in John’s Gospel that when many heard the message from Christ and saw His miracles, they still did not believe on him; but many others who saw and heard the same miracles and messages did believe but STILL did not confess Christ and it was “because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” (John 12:42) Jesus had warned these people that they should not fear people who can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; “but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.” (Matt. 10:28)

Billy Sunday, before He became a widely heard evangel for Jesus Christ, was a professional baseball player for the Chicago White Sox. He was with a group of his ball buddies one Sunday afternoon and as they emerged from a Saloon, they heard a group of people playing instruments and singing gospel hymns and testifying about how Christ could save from sin. Those songs and testimonies triggered in Sunday’s soul memories of a log cabin in Iowa, an old church and a godly mother. Tears flooded Billy Sunday’s eyes and when he could speak, he said, “Boys, I’m through! Going to turn to Jesus Christ. We’ve come to a parting of the ways.” Some of his companions mocked him while others remained speechless; only one encouraged Billy to go with God. But Sunday turned from the ball buddies and entered the Pacific Garden Rescue Mission and cast his life upon God. He would later put it this way: “I became instantly a new creature in Him.” The ballplayer became one of America’s noteworthy evangelists holding massive meetings in some of America’s largest cities as thousands joined him in turning from sin to salvation. He refused to let the fear of man keep him from faith in God.  Many however do not make that life-saving decision.

•  The love of money. Paul warned young Timothy that “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (I Tim.6:9) A rich young ruler once engaged Jesus about eternal issues and when Christ told the wealthy man to let go of the security of his money and material possessions, and to follow Him, “he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.” (Matt.19:22) He made a bad choice for his eternal destiny and did not go to heaven because he chose riches over righteousness. An eternally bad decision.
•  Religion, ironically, will keep people from going to heaven. A sincere scribe, schooled in all things religious, having agreed with Jesus on matters of the Old Testament concerning what the law taught, but not confessing Jesus as Lord (Mark 12:28-34) went away having not chosen heaven, as Jesus commented, “thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven.” But as one aptly said, “To miss heaven by an inch is to miss it by an eternity.” King Agrippa would later tremble at the preaching of the apostle Paul as he said, “Almost thou persuadeth me,” but almost will not avail. People have and will miss heaven with “form over faith,” with a creed but not Christ, as a member of a church but not a member of His Body, His Church; as baptized in water but not by the Holy Spirit, as having to the inth degree all the trappings of that which is ritual but lacking that which is righteous.  This is why some will miss heaven.
•  One more thought:  Pride will keep multitudes from missing heaven, because it will keep people from acknowledging they that are sinners and from accepting Christ, and Christ alone, apart from any good works that they can do, as Savior. “Pride goes before destruction,” and it, pride, was the original sin that caused Lucifer to lose heaven and multitudes to follow him.  Pride keeps prospective Christians from humbling themselves and becoming as “little children.”
•  I must include just one more reason:  procrastination. In Acts 24:25, having heard a powerful appeal from Paul to accept Christ, Felix, a governor, responded, “Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

What is keeping you out of heaven?  Nothing I trust! But if one of the above reasons, or some other stumbling block, has kept you from believing and receiving, read Luke’s account of a rich man who missed heaven but out of Hell begged Abraham to send someone to tell his still earthbound brothers to accept God and heaven and to miss Hell.  It is a sad and sobering story. (Luke 16:19-31) Do not let anything keep you from missing heaven!

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

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Our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount plainly stated what has come to be known as “the Golden Rule.” He said: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31)

Peter, in his first epistle, succinctly stated another brief rule for Christian living when in I Peter 3:8 the Apostle that in the Garden on the way to Calvary took out his sword and smote off an ear of the High Priest’s servant, said, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.” Neatly wrapped up into one sentence Peter gives his readers what might be considered “Five Golden Rules” for Christ-like living in a world in which we live as pilgrims.

First, be ye all of one mind, governing our relationship to other believers. It means that in the body of Christ there should be a “same mindedness.”  Paul, writing to a “near perfect” church, admonished that the church needed to exhort Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. (Phil.4:2) In that same epistle Paul characterized believers as those who should have the “mind of Christ,” and His mind was first a mind of humility: “But He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil.2:5-8) There should, then, be an absence of division and divisiveness in His Church and, as someone aptly noted, “nothing will get the attention of the world as this.”

It has been noted that flocks of geese often fly in “V” formation. In so doing, each bird, flapping its wings, creates an upward lift for the goose that follows. When each goose is flying in formation it has been calculated that the whole flock has a 71% greater flying range than if they were to fly alone. When one goose begins to lag behind, other geese begin to “honk” that lagger back into formation.  Even in the natural world, God has created an illustration for us of the power of like-mindedness!

Next, Peter posits that as believers there ought to be “compassion one of another.” Compassion causes us to “feel with” others. When it is practiced, judgmentalism is not actively present. People who are compassionate one to another pray genuinely for those who are suffering or weak and they will give purposefully of themselves and of their means to minister to those who are in need of special help. It will move us to enter into the grief and disappointment that our brothers and sisters in Christ are living with. We have a high priest, a mediator between God and us, who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and this will move us to be touched likewise because of the infirmities of our family in the faith as well as the larger community of unbelievers.

D.L. Moody painted a word picture of Jesus in His risen body meeting with and commissioning His disciples to go into all the world with the gospel. Moody pictures wide-eyed Peter as he asks Jesus if they must go to the soldiers who drove the nails into His hands. Again, Peter questions whether they would need to go to the man that drove the spear through His side; and Jesus replies “Yes, tell him there’s a nearer way to my heart than that.” And those early disciples entered into the compassions of their Savior as the Holy Spirit came upon them “and broke down all their boundary walls.” Thus, Peter would later write “…have compassion one toward another.”

Next, the Apostle, who in the shadow of His cross denied that he even knew Jesus of Nazareth, would exhort his students to “love as brethren.” Every blood-bought believer has the same relationship to the Father: we are sons of God by faith. Each of us has in store the same inheritance “… incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” (I Pet.1:4) Every one of us who name His name have the exact same privileges (adoption, security, spiritual power), the same access through Christ to God the Father in prayer; the same provisions (“all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”) (Phil.4:19), and the same promises in and through His Word. How can we not love our family and how cannot that love reach beyond family to fellow travelers in this broken world who so desperately need the hope and help that God’s Good News provides?

“Oh, the love that God must have had for the world when He gave His Son to die for it! ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16) I have never been able to preach from that text. I have often thought I would; but it is so high that I can never climb to its height; I have just quoted it and passed on. Who can fathom the depths of those words: ‘God so loved the world’? We can never scale the heights of His love or fathom the depths.” (D.L. Moody). But Peter simply says “Love as brethren.”

Fourth: Be pitiful. That means, “have a tender heart.” Do not be quick to cut off others; do not be calloused to the misery of others; do not be insulated from the distresses of others. Here is the gold standard: “In all their affliction He (God) was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity, He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:9) Knowing what He has done for His undeserving people, can we not “be pitiful?”

Finally, “Be Courteous.” You can do this if you but recognize your position as a servant, and then acknowledge your privilege as a co-laborer. Jesus who said that He did not come to be ministered to but to minister and who most often called Himself a servant always displayed courteousness, even when goaded and treated in the most inhumane way. Whether in answering those who asked Him questions as they would try to trip Him up and in responding to ill-founded charges against Him, or to replying to those who would criminally crucify Him, Jesus never spoke unkindly or acted discourteously. Can we allow ourselves, His ambassadors in this foreign age, to do less?

So, for the remainder of 2022, we have our work cut out for us:  Be all of one mind; have compassion one of another; love as brethren, be pitiful and be courteous.  Can’t do it?  You are right!  You can’t, but He can and will do it through you:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Gal.2:20)

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Those were the words God repeatedly set before Joshua, the successor to Moses who had died having led the Israelites out of Egypt and through a 40-year maize of a wandering wilderness journey. At the age of 120 Moses, who had received the 10 commandments from God’s hand on Mt. Sinai, Moses, the larger-than-life legend, was, simply put, dead. Who could, who would follow this giant of the faith and faithfulness but his right-hand man, his understudy, God’s choice for the commission, Joshua.

It would be a herculean task. Taking the nation of young men and women with their children, in to possess walled cities, fortified city-states that would, as Jericho, appear impregnable.  Who would dare take upon himself the assignment? Only the person picked and prepared for the task by the Lord Himself, the great God who lived before Moses lived and who would live after Moses died, the Lord Jehovah.

Joshua is called as recorded in Joshua 1:1: “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua….” What God said was that Joshua was to arise, go over Jordan with all God’s people, unto the Land, the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, to possess “Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” (Joshua 1:3)

That call was accompanied by God’s commitment as recorded in verse 5: “…I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Two people are a majority anywhere, and on any occasion, if God is one of the two persons. It would be foreboding, but not outside of the realm of faith. “Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Consensus asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ Courage asks the question, ‘Is it right?’“ (Rod Rogers) And if it is right the safety issue will not top the list of determinates. Nor will the issue of what does everyone else think? God assured Joshua that the commission would be a success because “I will be with thee.” God’s commitment with His call is sufficient to move the man of God.

Doubtless, though, it would require courage. “Only be thou strong and of a good courage…be thou strong and very courageous….” (v.6,7) That’s why those words from God must have made all the difference to this not so young (80 years of age) recipient the mantle of Moses: “…I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (v.5) Ever feel, traveling on the narrow road of which Jesus spake in His Sermon on the Mount, that it is lonely out here? Edgar Guest wrote some lines that are apropos here: “The easy roads are crowded and the level roads are jammed; the pleasant little rivers with the drifting folk are crammed; But out yonder where it’s rocky, where you get a better view, you will find the ranks are thinning and the travelers are few.” But with God by your side and His promise ringing in your ears and through your heart that “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” you will muster the courage to go on. “Where the going’s smooth and pleasant, you will always find the throng, For the many, more’s the pity, seem to like to drift along. But the steps that call for courage, and the task that’s hard to do, in the end, results in glory for the never-wavering few.” (Edgar A. Guest, The Few)

So, Joshua has God’s call, His commitment and His charge for courage. Next, God gives Joshua in the simplest of terms, the command: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (v.9)

What has God commanded you to do this year? Where has He directed you to go?  Are you afraid? Does the prospect overwhelm you? Peter jumped out of the boat having seen Jesus walking on the water, then began to sink. Bramwell Booth of the Salvation Army told a story of his father, General William Booth and himself. “The old General,” he said, “had a great liking for Peter, but I always thought him a rather wobbly type. On one occasion I said to my father, ‘How do you explain the circumstances of Peter’s getting out on the water and seeing Jesus, and then with all of this to convince him, suddenly losing his faith and sinking?’ Well do I remember the old General’s reply, ‘Bramwell, my boy, you would never have gotten out of the boat.’”

With God’s call and commitment and charge to be courageous, we can and must obey His command, trusting Him to take care of our natural tendency to be afraid or even dismayed.

Finally, at the end of this great chapter which tells us of the change of command and of commanders, comes a word of caution from the willing hearted people themselves: “Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken to thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.” (v.18) That’s from the followers of Joshua, the children of Israel, who, having witnessed the call and commission of their new leader, with God’s guarantee of success in the doing of His will and work, join in as a great choir saying, “we will do it and if anyone rebels and refuses to follow Joshua and Joshua’s God that person will die!”  The chapter closes with the choir singing and saying “Only be strong and of a good courage,” taking the lyrics from the words of God Himself.  What a great day; what a great dawn for a new chapter in the fledgling nation’s history: the call, the commitment, the courage, the commandment and the caution to, in Caleb’s words, “take that mountain.”

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8

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Jim Binney, Christian counsellor, said “Success is the continual achievement of what God wants me to be and the continual achievement of the goals God has helped me to set.”

Pastor and author John Piper interestingly said this about success: “Our true success will never be known until all the branches of all the trees of all the seeds sown shall blossom in the sunlight of God’s eternity.”

Charles Malik chimed in: “Success is neither fame, wealth, nor power; rather it is obeying God. If you seek, you will know; if you know, you will love and if you love you will obey.”

Success has been elusive for many. Neil Diamond sang a song that gave testimony to that fact: “Did you ever hear the story about the frog who dreamed of being a king, and then became one? Well, except for the names and a few other changes, when you talk about me, the story’s the same one. But I’ve got an emptiness deep inside; and I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but it won’t let me go.” A man that by many would be considered successful concluded, “I’m not a man who likes to swear, but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone.” To him, success brought an emptiness, an aloneness that he could not rid himself of no matter the crowds, acclaim or achievements.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 19, a rich young man, by any of the world’s measurements, a success, came to Jesus asking the Master what he lacked, for though he was wealthy, his soul was not at peace and he was not confident about his eternal destiny. After a brief exchange with Jesus, Matthew relates that this very successful, wealthy and religious young man departed from Jesus sorrowfully, for the one thing that Jesus told him he was lacking, a willingness to cease trusting in his material possessions and instead trusting and following wholeheartedly God, His Word, Way and Will, the young man was unwilling to do. A successful failure against the backdrop of eternity.

So, in searching for success, it is imperative that one posits first and foremost a right relationship with God.  Success by His standard is not measured by the world’s canon but by the question, “What is your relationship with your Creator?  One of trust, obedience, submission?”  This is where and how success begins and unless one is in tune spiritually with the God of the universe, it matters not the heights to which he or she rises on the world’s measuring scales, success will be elusive and the emptiness will continue to be nagging.

But if you are in a right relationship with God through faith in the one mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, it is well that you should desire to succeed in pleasing Him. No follower of Jesus should desire to be a failure, but rather should look forward to receiving what the apostle Paul looked forward to receiving, the crown of righteousness “which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them that love His appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:8) It is good that each believer strives to hear his Lord say, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

So, on a practical note, concerning success, hear what some have shared with those who would be interested in achieving success in order to glorify God:

Lorne Sanny, founder of the Navigators, said, “If you are suffering without succeeding, someday someone will succeed after you. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because someone suffered before you.” On the front end or the back end, success usually will mean at some point, suffering. That may be why the wealthy young man, mentioned in Matthew 19, went away sorrowful. He would not allow the fact that to follow Jesus, giving up an enjoyment and dependence upon his wealth, would mean without doubt, suffering.

Teacher and author Kenneth Gangel, quoted Henry Ford on the subject of success: “Success is not rare. It is common. Very few miss a measure of it. It is not a matter of luck or of contesting, for certainly no success can come from preventing the success of another. It is a matter of adjusting one’s efforts to overcome obstacles and one’s ability to give the services needed by others. There is no other possible success. Most people think of it in terms of getting; success, however begins with giving.

One of my former pastors and teachers, Richard V. Clearwaters, pastored the Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 42 years. He was also founder of Central Baptist Theological Seminary. No one would have questioned his success. He was an extraordinary pastor-teacher and a master administrator. It was my privilege to have Dr. Clearwaters speak at the church I pastored in Indianapolis, shortly after he had retired. He said something that would yield an insight as to why he was successful; and so that I would not forget it, I wrote it down: “I recently retired (at 82) but still go to the office between 7:00 and 7:30 every day. My wife said, ‘Why do you go to the office every day at 7:00 when you are retired?’ I said, ‘It’s an old habit; I’ve just got some things to catch up on.’” People who have achieved success have cultivated some good (though “old”) habits through the years that have made them what they have become; those people, like “the Doc,” probably never feel like they have really ever “caught up” on everything.

One final thought from a person who reached the top rung in his profession, Sam Walton: “The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It’s terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stock boys.”

Knowing that some, if not many, of the readers of this “You and God” post are pastors or Christian workers, I leave you with this question: since it was important for Sam Walton to “get out into the store,” is it not also important for those of us who minister in God’s Word and Work to get out into the sheepfold and listen to what our people have to say? It just might enhance the possibility of our being or becoming a “successful” pastor, teacher or Christian worker.

“Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.” (I Cor. 4:2)

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Have you read the inspiring story of William Borden who was heir of the Borden Dairy estate in Chicago when God called him to the mission field of China (Mongolia)? He had attended Yale University where he founded a city rescue mission ministry as a student, then graduated from Princeton Divinity School whereupon his parents engaged Walter Erdman to accompany him on a cruise around the world. Young Borden had by then already committed himself to going to China as a missionary, turning his back upon what would have been a financial family gold mine, writing in the flyleaf of his Bible, “No Reserve.” While on the cruise, Borden contracted spinal meningitis in Egypt. He had already by then written another note in his Bible “No Retreats.” He would succumb to the spinal disease at the age of 25, never having made it to Mongolia as a missionary, but after his death a third note was found written in the same flyleaf of his Bible, “No Regrets.”

Three powerful resolves that reflected the heart of a potential multi-millionaire who turned his back upon material riches to serve as an ambassador for Christ in a needy land. Many no doubt would have considered William’s life a “waste” due to a misguided series of decisions on his part. But God keeps the only valid assessment of Borden’s life and eternity will without doubt reveal that seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness is never misguided. Borden’s decision to surrender everything to Christ in the service of His Lord touched, and continues to touch, lives in a way that would defy human comprehension or calculation.

No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets. As I thought about those powerful affirmations, it reminded me of many other words of wisdom that missionaries or missionary statesmen have uttered that continue to impact lives long after they may have been gone.  May I share some with you that have touched my heart and continue to do so:

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” William Carey

“Life is God’s great gift to be preserved for Him; not thrown away.” John G. Paton

“Do not have your concert first, then tune your instruments afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all in harmony with God.” J. Hudson Taylor

“This is no time to be idle. Oh, my Savior, may I not live to myself but to Thee.” Robert Morrison

“Not my plans, not my glory, but God’s plans for His glory.” Mary Slessor

“Is it pleasing to God?” Adoniram Judson

“My only joy is that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it.” C.T. Studd

“Lord, make us luminaries in this dark land.” Ann Hasseltine Judson

“There was a man, they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had.” James Ray

“I look upon foreign missionaries as the scaffolding around a rising building. The sooner it can be dispensed with, the better; or rather, the sooner it can be transferred to other places to serve the same temporary use, the better.” Hudson Taylor

“Overseas American businessmen outnumber missionaries by 100 to 1.” Impact, May 1981

“If God wants you on the mission field, neither your money nor your prayers will ever prove an acceptable substitute.” Anon.

“Our biggest need for missions is not for more money but for more prayer. There are more Baptist preachers in Texas than in the rest of the world.” Missionary Roland Simmeonsson

“It was a Jew who brought the Gospel to Rome; a Roman who took it to France; a Frenchman who took it to Scandinavia; a Scotsman who evangelized Ireland; and an Irishman in turn made the missionary conquest of Scotland. No people have ever received the Gospel except at the hands of an alien.” Dunkin

“I have had one long honeymoon with Christ on the mission field.” C.T. Studd

“We have twenty-five cents and all the promises of God!” J. Hudson Taylor

“The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God will not keep you.” Ron White

“Should a voyager chance to be on the point of shipwreck on some unknown coast, he will most devoutly pray that the lesson of the missionary may have reached there first.” Charles Darwin (Ok, not a missionary nor a missionary statesman, but I thought considering the source this was too good not to share!)

“Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me; lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any tie that binds me save the tie that binds me to Thy heart. O Jesus, my Lord, my King I again consecrate my life to Thee.” David Livingstone

“Dear friends, you sometimes say, ‘will the heathen be saved if we do not send the missionaries?’ I will ask you another question, ‘Will you be saved if you do not send out any missionaries-because I have very dreadful doubts about whether you will.’” Charles Spurgeon

Editor’s note:  Like a bee collects nectar from flower after flower, I have collected these quotes and quips from sermons, articles read, books and various and sundry sources over a lifetime of ministry. I have tried to carefully and accurately credit the proper sources.

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A friend of mine, teaching Sunday School, told (with tongue in cheek) how the Puritans dealt with absence from church.  “Here is how they did things: Miss one Sunday and you get no meals on Monday; miss two Sundays and you get a whipping; miss three Sundays and you go to jail; miss four Sundays: no one ever missed four Sundays!”

It is good is it not that Puritans are not overseeing church attendance today. It is generally agreed that church attendance, after the C-19 pandemic, will never be the same. Streaming of services has been the most radical change, not to mention social distancing, sterile communion services, masks, no handshakes, no passing of the offering plates, plus other “new normals.”

However, the Word of God is unchangeable and there is still that admonition that we should not “forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is….” Those words were written to a first century Church that was suffering severely the pangs of persecution which, in a different realm, left exhaustion, fear, and death that was pandemic in its reach and life-changing in its impact upon individuals and upon the Church. But the Church then, and now, survived and is surviving and will survive.

You have to love what the late Vance Havner once said about a childhood experience he had as he visited a church: “It was a shabby church house, the preacher was plain, the organ wheezy and the music off-key. But there was something that reminded one of the Upper Room.”

There have been and are churches like that world-wide. Big churches, small ones; country churches, city churches; churches with every possible accruement one could imagine and churches with one door for an entrance and exit, no carpet, no padded pews, but churches where when people lifted their voices in musical praise to God the Father, small bumps were raised on people’s necks and when the preacher opened up the Word of God to deliver the burden God’s Spirit had laid upon him, whether educated or uneducated formally, you could almost hear the holy hush of God move through the building as worshippers were drawn into God’s presence so that, like Havner, when you left you knew you had heard from God’s Word through God’s man.

Believers of all ages have loved to be in attendance, in person, when local assemblies of His followers were meeting for praise, prayer, communion and fellowship in His Word. We love to be with brothers and sisters in Christ and we love to be around those of like precious faith. General Westmoreland was once reviewing a platoon of paratroopers in Vietnam. As he went down the line, he asked each of them a question: ‘How do you like jumping, son?’ ‘Love it, sir!’ was the first answer. ‘How do you like jumping?’ he asked the next. ‘The greatest experience in my life, sir!’ exclaimed the paratrooper. ‘How do you like jumping?’ he asked the third. ‘I hate it, sir.’ he replied. ‘Then why do you do it?’ asked Westmoreland. ‘Because I want to be around guys who love to jump.’ We not only love to “jump” into the Word, we love to be around people who love to! You can be blessed at home participating in whatever way you can via the internet, but nothing can replace the in person, face to face, worship in and through the assembly of the church.

Now, most of my posts are of a pretty serious nature, as is this one. I am writing this the day after the National Football Championship game was played about 12 minutes from our house, in downtown Indianapolis, at Lucas Oil Stadium. So, football in some way or another, has been on our minds both here and elsewhere, especially in Georgia and Alabama. Allow me to “lighten” things up for a change and share with you some football strategies as they pertain to local church gatherings:

Instant Replay: the preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week’s illustrations.

Sudden Death:  What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes “overtime.”

Trap:  You’re called on to pray and are asleep.

End Run:  Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member.

Flex Defense:  The ability to allow absolutely nothing said during the sermon to affect your life.

Halfback Option:  The decision of 50% of the congregation not to return for the evening service.

Blitz:  The rush to the restaurant following the closing prayer.

Quarterback Sneak:  Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.

Draw Play:  What many children do with the bulletin during worship.

Half-time:  the period between Sunday School and worship when some choose to leave.

Benchwarmer:   Those who do not sing, pray, work or apparently do anything but sit.

Backfield-in-motion: Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service.

Staying in the Pocket: What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord’s work.

Two-minute Warning: The point at which you realize the sermon is about over and you begin to gather up all your belongings.

Hope you may have gotten a chuckle out of these, (copied, source unknown), but pray you will really never take His Church and the gathering together of His Body, locally in what we call “going to church,” lightly!

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It was the year 1916 that Charles E. Fuller wrote to his wife the following note: “There has been a complete change in my life. Sunday, I went up to Los Angeles and heard Paul Rader preach. I never heard such a sermon in all my life. Eph.1:18. Now my whole life and aims and ambitions are changed. I feel now that I want to serve God if he can use me instead of making the goal of my life the making of money.”

That testimony captured my attention because maybe 25 years later my father-in-law to be, Marvin Beshears, was painting ships in a Virginia shipyard for the war effort, and as he worked, he listened to the Mutual Broadcasting Network airing of the “Old Fashioned Revival Hour” and heard Charles Fuller in Los Angeles preaching to soldiers shipping out to their overseas assignments, many never to return home again alive, Fuller pleading with them to turn to Christ, to accept Jesus as their Savior. Marvin heard Charles Fuller’s passionate plea for soldiers to accept Christ, and as he painted in the shipyards he responded to the evangelist’s message and gave his heart and life to Christ Jesus. He returned to Wilkes County, NC, after the war where he would become a local church pastor and where, in 1945 his second daughter, Ellen, was born who would in 1965 be united in marriage to Anthony Slutz in the little white chapel in the Blue Ridge foothills that Marvin would pastor for 50 before being called to his eternal rest.

I cannot think of those things without marveling at “so great salvation” that God has made possible for all who will receive Him as Charles Fuller did, and as thousands of both soldiers and civilians would do upon hearing Fuller’s plain preaching of the Good News, wafted over radio waves far and near, drawing men and women to the person of the Savior of the world, Jesus of Nazareth.

Countless multitudes have experienced the same complete change that Charles Fuller and Marvin Beshears experienced. John Slater, missionary to the Republic of Ireland, would write: “All my life I had been playing at Christianity while being filled with a cancerous evil in my heart. I had truly been deceived by Satan and my own pride, never aware of the emptiness in my life. In that moment, I called upon the name of the Lord.”

Charlotte Elliot had a personal salvation experience as a young person. Troubled and anxious about her soul, she was very reticent about seeking help spiritually. But, a French pastor, visiting Charlotte’s father on one occasion, put the question directly to Charlotte: “Have you come to Jesus?” She replied, “I want to come, but I do not know how.” He simply answered the young girl, “Come, just as you are.” The girl fled to her room in tears and later emerged a saved person who would in time put the hymn to music, “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” Salvation, so simple, so universally possible for any who will come “Just as I am.”

Sadly, though, some still have not come. Some years ago, I visited an Indianapolis southside nursing home where an elderly Christian lady lived who was a member of our church. She had just received news that her only child, a 52-year-old son, had died of cancer. She said, “He was the apple of my eye. I was always there whenever he needed me.” I asked, “Was he a Christian?” She said, “No, I could never get him to accept the Lord. The last time he was here I told him that I had waited so long and had so wanted him and his family to know the Lord; the one thing that I wanted before I died. Now, he is gone and it’s too late…it’s too late.”

The wicked one, a liar, convinces people that salvation would be a good thing, but no need to be in a big hurry about it. Statistics will bear out, though, that after the age of 25 only one in 10,000 will confess Christ as Savior. After the age of 75 only one in 700,000 make that decision having put it off for so long.

Evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman told the story of a revival that swept through Princeton, NJ. Aaron Burr came to the president of the university and said, “Mr. President, I have made up my mind to consider the claims of Christ. Now, Mr. President, what would you do?” And the old president of the university gave Burr this advice, “Burr, if I were you, I would wait until the excitement of the revival has subsided, and then I would think it out carefully.” Aaron Burr, it is said, bowed his head then said, “Mr. President, that is exactly what I would do.” And, as Chapman would conclude the story, “…it is stated as a fact that never again in his life, did he express a desire to be a Christian….”

Ethel Heins wrote that “A God-shaped vacuum was made, within the heart of man, filled only if he humbly yields to His Creator’s plans.”

I am not sure who said this, but I am sure that many who read these lines will be able to say, “Amen” to what this person said:

“In 1943 I was a lad eleven years old. One night in an old-fashioned church I heard an old-fashioned message from an old-fashioned Book by an old-fashioned preacher. And I knelt at an old-fashioned altar, and I received an old-fashioned dose of the old-fashioned salvation. It is this way: God thought it, Jesus bought it, the Spirit wrought it, the Bible taught it, the Devil fought it; but praise God, I caught it! And, hallelujah, I am saved forever!”

How is it with you, my friend?  Do not let the old deceiver, Lucifer, whisper in your ear that it is all so very true but you can, as Aaron Burr was encouraged to do, think about it awhile longer.  Hear what God says:

“For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor.6:2)

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“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most High God?”

Maybe you’ve asked yourself that question!  It’s the question Israel asked itself as expressed in Micah 6:6.

How can a mortal man approach the immortal, invisible God of the universe?

We naturally think in terms of the physical, external. Can I do it with burnt offerings, Israel (the nation) asks?

If so, how many would it take to get His attention? Would thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of holy oil do the job?

Quickly, man begins to think of pleasing God in worship by quantity and by external grandeur. But that’s not what God wants, nor is it what He requires.

All the external trappings of religion: rich and awe-inspiring as they may be, can never please God in and of themselves.

How to come before God then? How to worship Him in a way that will please Him?

God gives us the answer in one succinct statement:

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” (Micah 6:8)

There it is. That answers the age-old question that man has raised heavenward. God says it so unambiguously:  Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with thy God.

You’ve got to love the simplicity of it! Aren’t you glad that God didn’t write it like the government bureaucrats would have? Like they do the instructions on how to file income taxes? We never would have been able to have figured it out! God is so wonderfully plain. Just three steps and you are there:

• Do justly. That is, “Do Right.” You must be right in order to do right. Doing right without being right is impossible and the attempt to do so leads to hypocrisy. Being right means to be right with God. One experiences that blessed state by trusting Him by faith for it is still true that if you “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ…thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31). The moment one believes on Christ by faith, what Paul said in Romans 5:1 is experienced: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Doing justly is personal (except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven, John 3:3), and doing justly is possible (“It is God that justifieth, Romans 8:33) and doing justly is profitable: “But the path of the just is as the shinning light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Provs.  4:18) Job asks “How can a man be just with God?” (Job 9:2) Paul answers that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, “but according to His mercy He hath saved us, by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Tit.3:5)

• To love mercy. “For the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.” (Ps.100:5) He is also “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.” (Ps.103:8). “For as the heaven is high above the earth so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.” (Ps.  103:11) And, “the earth is full of Thy mercy.” (Ps. 119:164) It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. How could we but help love mercy, we who have been[AS1]  such recipients of His abundant mercies that the song writer was inspired to sing, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercies like the wideness of the sea.”

A poor woman from the slums in London was invited to go with a group of people for a holiday at the ocean. Upon viewing the vast body of water for the very first time, the awe-struck woman said, “This is the only thing I have ever seen that there was enough of.” Such are the mercies of God. We love mercy, and

• We strive to walk humbly with our God. Think of it!  We can walk with God! Enoch did and was not for God took him. But the list of men and women, past and present, who have walked with God or are walking with God is almost incalculable. And it is possible to walk with Him because Jesus, as promised, when He departed back to heaven, sent His Holy Spirit who “dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” (John 14:17)

Walking humbly with (not before) God is not only a privilege, it is what has been commanded: “Humble yourselves in the sight of God and He shall lift you up,” and “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.” (James 4:10; I Pet. 5:6) We walk with God by faith (2 Cor.5:7) and we walk with Him in the light. (I John 1:7)

How to come before God? Do right, love mercy and walk humbly with Him.

“We mutter and sputter; we fume and we spurt: we mumble and grumble; our feelings get hurt. We can’t understand things, our vision grows dim, when all that we need is a moment with Him.”

“Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” (Ps. 100:2,5) 

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