ABOUT
PURPOSE
In Proverbs 2 the wisdom from God’s Word is portrayed as Hidden Treasures. The more time we spend in His Word, the more treasures we find.
The greatest Treasure we can find is Jesus Himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3
DISCLAIMER
Though some tend to think they have a perfectly accurate understanding of Bible doctrine; according to I Corinthians 13:9-13 no one has a perfect and fully complete understanding of the Bible just as no one is sinlessly perfect. I John 1:8.
Please understand that I am not claiming my thoughts and ideas are God’s Hidden Treasures. My desire is to simply help you mine them from God’s Word.
As one must sift through placer deposits of sand and gravel to find the true gold; so you will need to sift through my imperfect and incomplete understanding of the Bible to find the true gold of God’s Truth which can only be found in God’s Word,
AVAILABLE FOR YOUR EDIFICATION AND ENJOYMENT
On this site you will find over 630 practical topics under 153 categories, the distillation and essence of 55 years of pastoral ministry. At 78, I retired Nov. 2011. Furthermore you will find over 80 thought-provoking GEMS of truth gleaned from my reading and over 40 jokes under A MERRY HEART.
PIANO CONCERTS
The summer of 2009 our grandson, Andrew, video taped my unrehearsed piano playing from our living room. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8AbzBQdHJs
A piano concert I presented at our church Oct. 9, 2011
HOW TO GAIN THE MOST FROM THESE STUDIES
Approach these studies prayerfully, as you should studies from any preacher or Bible teacher, asking God for discernment to distinguish truth from error. Use your Bible as you check the references scattered throughout these articles.
You may not agree with everything I have written. That’s fine. I don’t totally agree with every preacher I read; however, I have found that those who hold to the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible and to the deity of The Lord Jesus Christ and love Christ and His spiritual Body, the Church, and are intent on building up the Body of Christ and not seeking to divide it; usually have something worthwhile to share.
Sincerely Mal Bicker
Albuquerque, NM
God’s anointed
Jesus Wants You
The first eleven chapters of Romans are about what God in His love and grace did for us by sacrificing His Son to die on the cross for our sins. We gratefully receive His salvation, His gift of eternal life, as a gift of His grace, apart from any works of self righteousness.
Now, beginning in Romans 12, we begin to learn in verse 1 what our response to God should be as Christians for His wonderful Gift of salvation. Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore brethren” (fellow Christians) in the light of what you have learned about your salvation in the first 11 chapters.
“present your body as a living sacrifice to God.” Nothing less than the total surrender of our bodies; including our life, time and strength is worthy of Christ who made the supreme sacrifice for our salvation.
This surrender of our bodies, our time and our strength to God our Saviour is the theme of not only Romans 12:1-2; but also I Corinthians 6:19-20 and II Corinthians 5:14-15.
Notice that Paul does not command our submission and obedience to Christ. That would be painful, useless legalism. Rather he beseeches us to voluntarily present ourselves and surrender ourselves to the control of Christ by His indwelling Holy Spirit in consideration of the great sacrifice He made for us on the cross.
WHY SHOULD WE PRESENT OURSELVES TO CHRIST?
Let me give you ten reasons for your consideration. These are all reasons that drew me to make that surrender to Christ as a young man. I had already received Christ as my Saviour at the age of nine.
1. In the light of what I had learned about Jesus and His Great Commission I was aware of my responsibility to share what I had learned and experienced. In Luke 12:48 Jesus says. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
2. Jesus bought me, body and soul, with His precious blood sacrifice for my sins. I am rightfully His, according to Acts 20:28 and I Corinthians 6:19-20.
Let me share a story that illustrates this. Bobby carved from a block of wood, a little sail boat and then took it to the lake to see how it floated. Suddenly a gust of wind took it out on the lake beyond his ability to retrieve it. He was saddened, but could do nothing about it. It was gone!
Several months later he happened to be in a small town miles away on the other side of the lake. There in a hobby shop show window he spotted his boat for sale for $55.00. He went to the owner of the shop and told how he had lost it. The owner insisted that if he wanted it back he had to pay the $55.00. Sadly he walked away and returned home.
In time, he finally earned the money needed and returned back to the hobby shop. There was his boat in the shop with the $55.00 price tag still on it. He went in and laid the money on the counter and asked for his boat. The owner gave it to him. As he walked out the door with his possession, he was heard to say, “Now little boat you are mine twice. I made you and I bought you.” That’s exactly what God did for us. He created us to be His. In our sins we wandered away from Him. But because of His love for us, He purchased us back from Satan with the shed blood of His Son, Jesus. We are twice His. He made us and He purchased us from Satan’s slave market of sin.
3. A third reason I should present my body to God is because He needs me. He could have chosen to use angels, but He chose to use you and me, redeemed sinners. All that He asks is that we be clean II Timothy 2:19-20 and available for His use. Ezekiel 22:30
4. I ought to present my body to Him because it is the least I can do for Him, in the light of all He has done for me.
5. I ought to present my body to Him for His use because it is my reasonable service. Romans 12;1
6. It is the safest investment of my life. There is no way I can lose. Jesus, the owner, assumes all the risks. He keeps me and provides for all my needs. II Timothy 1:12, Philippians 4:19
7. It’s the most rewarding investment I can make. Take it from me. I’ve served him all my adult life, and though I have made personal sacrifices, the rewards far outweigh the sacrifices. I’ve been richly rewarded in this life and look forward to the eternal rewards yet to come. Hebrews 11:26-27 and II Timothy 4:6-8
8. It’s the most worthwhile investment of my life. I’ve remembered this little poem since childhood. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
9. The life not yielded to Christ is open to the devil’s control. Romans 6:16-18 You are either being used by Christ or the devil. Which will it be for you?
10. Do you love Jesus? Is He your Lord and Master? Read this story of the pierced ear in Exodus 21;1-6 Make up your mind. Read II Corinthians 5:14-15. Who is your Lord? Christ or Satan? It’s one or the other.
HOW DO I PRESENT MY BODY TO GOD?
1. Come just as you are with your strengths and weaknesses. He made you as you are for His special purpose. He has all kinds of vessels. Each one is different. II Timothy 2:20-21 He can use us with our strengths and weaknesses, if we are clean.
2. He’s cleansed and made us holy by His shed blood.
3. Trust Him. He loves you more than you can imagine. He’s concerned for your happiness and your fulfillment. Will you trust Him with your life?
4. He wants you as a living sacrifice while you are young and have energy.
Don’t wait until you are old and about dead.
God does not promise to reveal all your future to you now. He leads us one day at a time, one moment at a time. Will you trust Him? As a Christian, you have no rights to your body. You belong to Him. II Corinthians5:14 God doesn’t let you test His will on a 30 day free home trial.
I entrusted my life to Him as a teenager. He’s never let me down. My wife and I can testify that His will is best. Life has been an exciting adventure for us throughout. He has already rewarded us beyond our wildest imagination. As for God, His way is perfect!
Our Inscrutable God
As we come to the end of Romans 11, we not only conclude our immediate study in this chapter of God’s plan for Israel as it relates to our salvation; but in these first 11 chapters we conclude the most exhaustive and complete study of God’s plan of salvation found anywhere in Scripture; unless it would be Ephesians 1-3 which is rich in the doctrine of salvation.
If you are still without understanding and assurance of your salvation, I encourage you to go back to the beginning of this series; and with your Bible opened to Romans, read through these studies again asking God to give you a clear understanding and assurance of your own salvation.
Remember, our recognition and confession of our sinful condition before God and our rejection or acceptance of Christ as our Saviour from sin, determines our eternal destiny in Heaven or in Hell.
Now in Romans 11:33-36 we conclude this section of the book with a doxology of praise to God for all we have learned, some of it perhaps too deep for any of us to fully comprehend.
I. THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD
1. The wrath of God
That wrath is described in Romans chapter 1. All are born sinners and are described in this chapter. Until we understand our fallen state and God’s wrath on our sin; we have no desire nor ability to move on to understand the love of God. John 3:36 explains the two categories of people who end up in Heaven or in Hell: those sinners who refuse to recognize their fallen condition and continue to reject Christ, continue under the wrath of God. Those sinners who have seen their fallen condition and reached out in faith to Christ to save them are regenerated and made fit for Heaven. Each of us stands this very moment in one of those categories. Which is it for you?
2. The Love of God
The song writer describes the love of God as an ocean, far greater and deeper than anyone can fathom or explain or understand. Think of it! God, reaching down in His love to a world who hates Him and reviles Him and providing our salvation by sending His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, into this world to be hated and despised and eventually crucified on a cross, thus paying the death penalty which each of us who deserved to suffer in Hell fire for eternity.
Thank God, He rose from the dead on the third day and is in Heaven today, willing and ready to save anyone who puts his trust in Christ’s blood sacrifice onCalvary’s cross. That, according to Romans 5:8 is the way God shows His love to us as sinners. You and I must take our place as sinners and receive that love by faith, or suffer the eternal consequences in Hell.
3. Justification by Faith Alone
Romans 3:21-5:21 clearly teaches God’s plan of salvation, through faith in Christ alone. Our own works, including our efforts to try to keep God’s holy laws do not save us, nor add even one ounce of righteousness to our account. Observing religious ceremonies, including baptism and partaking of the Eucharist, that is, the Lord’s Supper, do not help us gain Heaven. Read Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5-6, and Romans 3-5. You must grasp and rest in this truth of justification by faith alone apart from any works of self-righteousness, before you are saved and ready to learn more about the Christian life.
4. Our Sanctification through our identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
Once we’ve come to the place of saving faith and rest in the sacrifice of Christ’s shed blood for our sins, then and only then are we ready to progress in an understanding of the truths that enable us to experience victory over sin, and grow and mature in the Christian Faith.
The basics of these sanctifying truths are found in Romans 6-8. If you struggle with victory over sin, I encourage you to review the previous studies covering these chapters.
5. The on-going sinful desires of the Old Nature
All of us, regardless of how long we have been Christians, struggle with sinful desires. Why does God not remove the temptations of Satan and our old sinful nature when we are saved? Romans 7 teaches us that God does not presently remove Christians from the temptations of this world of sin nor deliver us from our sin-loving flesh natures. Instead, God gives us as Christians His overcoming power to live victorious lives in the midst of the sin all around us. In Heaven we will be delivered from the very presence of sin forever; but not until then.
6. The power to live out the righteousness of God’s Law
That’s the theme of Romans 8. That power to live victoriously over sin is the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we stay surrendered to Christ.
7. The dual truths of God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility.
How and why God chose us to salvation from before the foundation of the earth and yet how and why we are given the responsibility to choose to receive or reject Christ are both true facts, and yet mysteries beyond our full comprehension.
8. How God hardens our hearts and yet man hardens his own heart.
That again is a mystery Paul discusses in Romans 9. But more than a mystery, Read the sober warning in Hebrews 3:7-19 to Christians to guard our hearts from being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
9. The Fall and Restoration of Israel and how the Gentiles are blessed through Israel‘s Fall.
This is a great mystery and theme of both the Old and New Testament, which Paul explains in Romans 9-11
II. HOW DO WE RESPOND TO SOME OF THESE DIFFICULT TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE?
Are we so brash and foolish as to think that we have a full and complete understanding of God’s sovereignty and all of His ways?
Or do we, as the unbelievers, rebel at His ways?
Or do we reverently humble ourselves, knowing that our understanding is finite and limited, and bow in reverent praise and submission to all His ways which are beyond our ability to fully understand in this life. Read Romans 11:33-36. and simply worship Him and give Him praise for His inscrutable ways.
Take time to read through the wonderful doctrine of salvation as it is found in Ephesians 1-3. Note also how Paul ends his explanation of these wonderful truths by bowing his knees to God breaking once again into a doxology of praise to God in3:14-21 for these wonderful truths that are almost beyond our power to fully grasp.
God Cares
God sees, He hears, He knows, He understands, He cares for us! I remind you of
I Peter 5:7. “Casting all your care, (your worries, concerns and burdens) upon Him for He cares for you.”
Those truths are difficult for us to understand. God seems so distant and so different and so unapproachable to us. He is Almighty God. We are but mere dust, sinful men and women.
It’s only as we come to know Him intimately through trusting His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to pay for our sins and to give us His salvation and it’s only as we spend time in His presence by reading and listening to His Word and communing with Him in prayer that we begin to understand just how much He loves and cares for us.
Read Psalm 139 and listen to it with your heart. The Psalmist, speaking for all of us, is lost in wonder and amazement and worship of His Creator and Friend who has known and been intently present with us from the moment of conception in our mother’s womb. His interest and concern continues as our bodies are formed with all the differences that make us individuals, unlike any other person who has ever been born.
In fact, before the world was ever created He was thinking and planning for each of us in eternity past. In Ephesians 1:4 we learn that He knew about us with all of our strength and weaknesses and with all of our idiosyncrasies and we were loved and chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to know Him and belong to Him forever.
You may think, “But I am only one of billions of people on this earth. How can He think and care about me?”
Let me answer that by reminding you of even more staggering facts. Jesus reminds us in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:26 that He cares for the birds of the air. Certainly He is aware of all the animals, birds and even insects. He feeds them and provides for them and Matthew 10:29 reminds us that He is aware when they fall to their death. To think that through is far beyond our comprehension.
Mathew10:30 reminds us that He is aware of the number of hairs on our heads. That number changes daily, perhaps hourly. Why would God be concerned enough to know the number of the hairs on our head? I don’t know. All I know is that it shows how much and how intimately God cares for each of us.
The Psalmist continues in Psalm 139:17-18 to make us aware of God’s constant, multiplied thoughts concerning us. Those thoughts are more in number than all the sands of all the seas in the world. The Psalmist describes them all as precious thoughts.
So the next time you get depressed over your situation in life and feel that God has totally forgotten you and does not care about you, give yourself a good shaking and take time to read Psalm 139 again and rejoice that He understands.
I close these thoughts with a song that has meant much to me.
NO ONE UNDERSTNDS LIKE JESUS
by John W. Peterson
1. No one understand like Jesus,
He’s a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy,
He is waiting for you there.
Chorus
No one understands like Jesus,
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus,
Cast your every care on Him.
2. No one understands like Jesus,
Every woe He sees and feels;
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.
3. No one understands like Jesus,
When the foes of life assail,
You should never be discouraged,
Jesus cares and will not fail.
4. No one understands like Jesus,
When you falter on the way,
Tho’ you fail Him, sadly fail Him,
He will pardon you today.
Israel’s Restoration
As we have continued our study of Romans 11, we have been struck with the obvious fact that God’s relationship with Israel is the major theme. We’ve noted that Israel has been described as the cultivated olive tree; the main branch which was cut down when they rejected the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and into which we Gentiles, the wild olive branch, have been grafted.
God is not through with Israel!
Read now Romans 11:25-32 and learn the following truths.
1. Israel’s blindness is temporary. Romans 11:25
2. All true Israel is eventually going to be saved. Romans 11:26-27
Going back to Deuteronomy 30:1-6, the fact of their restoration is not a question of IF but WHEN!
Read the following prophecies of the Jew’s recognition and reception of their Messiah when He is revealed. Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-24, 30, 36:17-21, 23-28, 37:11-28.
Presently Israel hates and rejects the Gospel of Christ. Romans 11:28
This is the age of The Church, composed of regenerated Jews and Gentiles, who have put their trust in Jesus, the Messiah.
God has not forgotten His everlasting covenant to the Jews. He still loves them and will restore them to Himself.
We are all sinners and in need of God’s mercy. Romans 11:30-32
As Christians, let us show mercy to the Jews to whom we are so indebted, by reaching out to them with the Gospel of Christ that they will also see the big picture of what God is presently doing in this Church Age and what lies ahead as He restores them to Himself in the Age to come.
Israel’s Future
In Romans 9 we dealt with Israel’s past as a nation. Though they had a great heritage as God’s chosen people of all the people on the face of the earth, they rejected God when they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, calling for His crucifixion. They were temporarily switched to a side track, as far as God’s purpose was concerned. The Church Age began at Pentecost and has been on the main track of God’s purpose ever since.
In Romans 10 we see Israel spiritually blinded and sitting on that side track through the Church Age. When the true Church is raptured to Heaven, Israel will once again be switched to the main track of God’s purpose for a week of seven years, known as The Great Tribulation and described in The Revelation.
In Romans 11 we learn of Israel’s future; when through their sufferings during The Great Tribulation, they will come to know and receive Jesus, their Messiah, who died on the cross for them; as well as for the rest of the world. At that time of conversion to Christ, Israel will be given a new heart.
THE REMNANT
Throughout Israel’s history there has always been a remnant of Jews who have turned to God, as for example in Elijah’s day. Throughout the Church Age there has been a remnant of Jews who received Jesus as their Messiah. Read of that remnant in Romans 11:1-6
THE REMAINDER
The remainder of Israel has been spiritually blinded, according to Romans 11:7-10. The reason for their spiritual blindness has been hearts hardened by sins to the message of Christ. See Matthew 13:10-17 concerning this blindness.
When people reject the Light given to them, it results in hardened hearts, as we learn in John 12:30-41. This was prophesied in Psalm 69:20-28
GENTILES BLESSED
In God’s sovereignty, Israel’s spiritual blindness and rejection of Christ opened the door to God’s blessing of the Gentiles. See Romans 11:11-22. But in the future, perhaps soon, Israel will turn to Christ as their Messiah and through Israel’s restoration, the entire earth will be blessed, according to Romans 11:12.
THE OLIVE TREE ILLUSTRATION
In Romans 11:15-24 we read of two olive trees. One, picturing Israel, is cultivated and well cared for. The other, picturing Gentiles, is a wild, uncultivated olive tree.
In this 11th chapter of Romans we read of the cultivated olive tree, picturing Israel, being cut off. That took place when Israel rejected Christ, calling out at the cross, ” We will not have this man reign over us. We have no king but Caesar.”
At that time the branch from the wild olive tree, (The Gentiles), was grafted into the cultivated olive tree, (The Jews) That’s what happened when Israel rejected Christ. We Gentiles began to be blessed by our relationship with Israel’s God. The warning to us as Gentiles is to not be high-minded and mistreat the Jews, because of their rejection of Christ. We Gentiles are grafted into the cultivated olive tree. We are blessed through that relationship withIsrael.
Read Romans 11:25-32. Israel, after undergoing the purification of persecution during the Great Tribulation, is going to turn to Christ and receive Him as Saviour and Messiah.
This is prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:1-8 and Ezekiel 34, 36 and 37. Romans 11:25-36 concludes with the wonderfully good news forIsrael, and concludes with a benediction of praise to God for His amazing mercy and grace shown us, as well as Israel. Is this too much for your mind? It is also too much for my mind. Rejoice with me in the truth of God’s unsearchable wisdom described in Romans 11:33-36.
Unity and Beauty
Unity and Beauty of the Declaration and the Constitution
An Interview with Larry P. Arnn
LARRY P. ARNN, the twelfth president of Hillsdale College, received his B.A. from Arkansas State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the Claremont Graduate School. From 1977 to 1980, he also studied at the London School of Economics and at Worcester College, Oxford University, where he served as director of research for Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill. From 1985 until his appointment as president of Hillsdale College in 2000, he was president of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. In 1996, he was the founding chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative, the voter-approved ballot initiative that prohibited racial preferences in state employment, education, and contracting. He is the author of Liberty and Learning: The Evolution of American Education and The Founders’ Key: The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk By Losing It (forthcoming February 2012).
The following is adapted from an interview by Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution for his show “Uncommon Knowledge.” The interview took place on October 3, 2011, at Hillsdale College, and it can be viewed in full at hoover.org/multimedia/uncommon-knowledge/96901.
Peter Robinson: Larry, I am quoting from you: “You can read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in a few minutes. They are simple. They are beautiful. They can be understood and retained.” Place the documents in their historical context. Why did they matter?
Larry P. Arnn: There are three incredible things to keep in mind about the Declaration. First, there had never been anything like it in history. It was believed widely that the only way to have political stability was to have some family appointed to rule. King George III went by the title “Majesty.” He was a nice and humble man compared to other kings; but still, when his son wanted to marry a noble of lower station, he was told he mustn’t do that, no matter what his heart said. That was the known world at the time of the American Founding.
Second, look at the end of the Declaration. Its signers were being hunted by British troops. General Gage had an order to find and detain them as traitors. And here they were putting their names on a revolutionary document and sending it to the King. Its last sentence reads: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” That is how people talk on a battlefield when they are ready to die for each other.
The third thing about the Declaration is even more extraordinary in light of the first two: It opens by speaking of universal principles. It does not portray the Founding era as unique—“When in the Course of human events” means any time—or portray the Founding generation as special or grand—“it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another” means any people. The Declaration is thus an act of obedience—an act of obedience to a law that persists beyond the English law and beyond any law that the Founders themselves might make. It is an act of obedience to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” and to certain self-evident principles—above all the principle “that all men are created equal” with “certain unalienable Rights.”
For the signers to be placing their lives at risk, and to be doing so while overturning a way of organizing society that had dominated for two thousand years, and yet for them to begin the Declaration in such a humble way, is very grand.
As for the Constitution, first, it is important to realize that some of the most influential modern historians suggest that it represents a break with the Declaration—that it represents a sort of second founding. If this were true, it would mean that the Founders changed their minds about the principles in the Declaration, and that in following their example we could change our minds as well. But in fact it is not true that the Constitution broke with the Declaration. It is false on its face.
The Constitution contains three fundamental arrangements: representation, which is the direct or indirect basis of the three branches of government described in the first three articles of the Constitution; separation of powers, as embodied in those three branches; and limited government, which is obvious in the Constitution’s doctrine of enumerated powers—there is a list of things that Congress can do in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, and the things that are not listed it may not do. And all three of these fundamental arrangements, far from representing a break with the Declaration, are commanded by it.
Look at the lengthy middle section of the Declaration, made up of the list of charges against the King. The King has attempted to force the people to “relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.” He has “dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.” He has “refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” So he has violated the idea and arrangement of representation.
What about separation of powers? As seen in the charges above, and in the charge that he would call together legislatures “at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant…for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures,” the King was violating the separation of the executive and legislative powers. And in “[making] judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries,” he was violating the separation between the executive and judicial powers.
Similarly, he violated the idea of limited government by sending “swarms of Officers to harrass [the] people, and eat out their substance,” by importing “large Armies of foreign Mercenaries,” by “imposing Taxes on [the people] without [their] Consent,” and in several other ways listed.
By violating these arrangements—which would become the three key elements of the Constitution—the King was violating the principles of the Declaration. This is what justified the American Revolution. And the point of this for our time is that in thinking about the American Founding, we should think about the Declaration and the Constitution together. If the principles and argument of the Declaration are true, the arrangements and argument of the Constitution are true, and vice versa.
PR: I quote you again: “Woodrow Wilson and the founders of modern liberalism call these doctrines of limited government that appear in the Declaration and the Constitution obsolete. They argue that we now live in the age of progress and that government must be an engine of that progress.”
Wilson was dealing with conditions that the Founders could scarcely have imagined: industrialization, dense urban populations, enormous waves of immigration. So what did he get wrong?
LPA: The first thing he got wrong was looking back on earlier America as a simple age. There was nothing simple about it. The Founders had to fight a war against the largest force on earth. They had to figure out how to found a government based on a set of principles that had never formed the basis of a government. The original Congress was called the Continental Congress, although no one would understand the extent of the continent until Lewis and Clark reported to President Jefferson in 1806. They had to figure out a way for the first free government in history to grow across that continent. These things took vast acts of imagination. And this is not even to mention the crisis of slavery and the Civil War. So the idea that the complications of the late 19th century were something new, or were greater by some order of magnitude, is bunkum.
The second mistake Wilson makes is fundamental, and goes to the core of the American idea. Wilson is opposed to the structure imposed on the government by the Constitution—for instance, the separation of powers—because it impedes what he calls progress. But what idea was behind that structure? James Madison writes in Federalist 51:
[W]hat is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.
In other words, human nature is such that human beings need to be governed. We need government if we are not to descend into anarchy. But since human beings will make up the government, government itself must be limited or it will become tyrannical. Just as we outside the government require to be governed, those inside the government require to be governed. And that has to be strictly arranged because those inside the government need, and they will have, a lot of power.
Against this way of thinking, Wilson argued that progress and evolution had brought human beings to a place and time where we didn’t have to worry about limited government. He rejected what the Founders identified as a fixed or unchanging human nature, and thought we should be governed by an elite class of people who are not subject to political forces or constitutional checks and balances—a class of people such as we find in our modern bureaucracy. This form of government would operate above politics, acting impartially in accordance with reason.
Now, it’s pretty easy for us today to judge whether Wilson or the Founders were right about this. Look at our government today. Is the bureaucracy politically impartial? Is it efficient and rational, as if staffed by angels? Or is it politically motivated and massively self-interested?
PR: You’ve spoken about restoring a rounded and rigorous sense of constitutional government, and you have put forward, in a tentative way, four ideas or “pillars” to suggest how to begin doing that. The first pillar is this: “Protecting the equal and inalienable rights of individuals is government’s primary responsibility.”
Here’s a problem though: Something like 47 percent of Americans now pay no federal income tax, and we hear a great deal about the tipping point—the point at which more people become dependent on the federal government than pay into it. What is it within the Constitution, or within a revived constitutional government, that prevents this majority from simply voting itself the property of the minority?
LPA: Well, the first thing is the majority’s larger self-interest rightly understood. Is that practice working out in Greece right now? As Margaret Thatcher used to say, pretty soon you run out of other people’s money.
I myself am not particularly gloomy about the tipping point you mention. I do understand that there will come a time, if we do not repair our problems, when we will not be able to repair them. But given that so many people today clearly think the government is out of hand and does not represent them anymore, I think we won’t pass that tipping point. I’ve had the privilege of studying Winston Churchill for a long time, and his great belief—and I think this should be the model for us today—was to make the great political questions clearer to the people and then to have faith in them. I am optimistic partly because the explanations of the great political questions given to Americans have not been very good or very clear since Reagan. What if we were to get better in explaining them? That is our hope, I think.
PR: Okay, pillar two, still quoting you: “Economic liberty is inversely proportional to government intrusion in the lives of citizens. We must liberate the American people to work, to save, and to invest.”
But here’s a constitutional question that Milton Friedman noticed and that James Buchanan won a Nobel Prize for writing about: The benefits of federal spending accrue to small groups who have incentives to organize and agitate for more and more spending, whereas the costs of federal spending are diffused across the whole population, so that no one has a counterbalancing incentive to organize and agitate against spending. Therefore, you get this ratchet that always leads in the direction of greater spending. Did the Constitution not foresee this problem?
LPA: Two points. The first is that we should not blame the Constitution. It is the longest surviving and greatest constitution in human history, and the effort by Progressives to overturn it is now more than 100 years old. It is not a failure of the Constitution, but the success of the political rebellion against it—which has been systematic and going on for a very long time—that brings us to where we are today.
Second, public choice theory as you describe it is a true and sufficient explanation of things as far as it goes. But is there not more to it today? Milton Friedman used to say that subsidies to farmers are going to grow and subsidies to old people are going to decline. Why? Because there are so many old people that for us to give them $100 will cost us $175, whereas there are so few farmers that for us to give them $100,000 will cost us only $10. That is public choice theory in a nutshell. But isn’t the fact now that a growing number of people know we are broke? And that they are going to have to pay more and more to sustain the voracious appetite of the bureaucratic state?
I believe there is an abiding or overarching sense of fairness that touches a majority of the American people. If there is, constitutionalism will look more attractive than it used to look. I think that if Americans are provided a good and clear explanation of the choices before them, they will be willing to begin moving back toward constitutional government.
PR: On to pillar three: “To accomplish its primary duty of protecting individual liberty, the government must uphold national security.” That seems perfectly straightforward. You also write: “Promotion of democracy and defense of innocents abroad should be undertaken only in keeping with the national interest.”
Where do you place your views on the spectrum between Ron Paul and George W. Bush?
LPA: I side with Thomas Jefferson when he said, “We are the friends of liberty everywhere, custodians only of our own.” Foreign affairs are prudential matters, and prudential matters are not subject to narrow rules laid out in advance. But that practical statement by Jefferson is a brilliant guide.
Also, we have to remember that it is a very dangerous world. Churchill believed that one of the effects of technology is to make us both wealthier and more powerful. And both wealth and power can turn to destruction. The great wars of modernity have been much larger in scale than ancient wars, and equal in intensity. Churchill believed that liberal society contains in this respect and others seeds of its own destruction. It is the work of statesmen to find the cheapest possible way to defend their countries without consuming all the resources of those countries.
I pray that Iraq is going to be a free country, and I think there is a chance of it, and I give George W. Bush credit for that. But I have been skeptical, and it is a more complicated question than many seem to understand. A senior person in the White House said to me one time, “Don’t you think the Iraqis want to be free?” And I said: “Sure they do. But have you read The Federalist Papers? Do you divine from its arguments that wanting to be free is sufficient?” As it turns out, it is hard to obtain civil and religious liberty, and it is hard to maintain it.
But do I think we did a good thing imposing a new constitution on Japan after World War II? Sure I do. Japan did a terrible thing to us, we conquered it, and there was an opportunity in that. It would have been a false economy not to seize that opportunity. Does that mean that in every country where there is a threat to us, we won’t be perfectly safe until they are democratic? Maybe. But even so, is trying to make them democratic practicable and the most practical way to serve our security? Probably not. Again, these are matters of prudence.
PR: Pillar four: “The restoration of a high standard of public morality is essential to the revival of constitutionalism.” What is your distinction between public morality and morality per se?
LPA: Public morality means laws about morality. Murder is a moral harm, and we have laws against it. Public morality also includes laws supporting the family. Human beings were made for the family, and we should uphold that. It is hard to raise kids right, and it takes a long time. Laws should support that effort, not undermine it. This extends to reducing the size of government so that it does not become a burden on families. The Gross Domestic Product of the United States is about $15 trillion, and state, local and federal spending is about $6.7 trillion. So we are $800 billion away from taking half of GDP out of the private sector, and the new health care bureaucracy is coming. Once it comes, if it does, government will be larger than society.
The principles of our country stem from the laws of nature and nature’s God. This word “nature” is full of rich meaning. It comes from the Latin word for birth, so of course the nature of man, and natural rights, must be understood to include the process of begetting and growth by which human beings come to be. This process takes longer, and is more demanding and expensive, than for any or nearly any other creatures. If families do not raise children, then the government will. What then becomes of limited government?
PR: And as a constitutional point, do things that undermine public morality and degrade people include the garbage language in some pop songs, or the proliferation of pornography on the Internet?
LPA: Yes. At this college, students are supposed to be civil, and we don’t have many problems because they subscribe to that before they come. Having an honor code makes for good order and operation. Teachers, students, and staff come together and make a common effort. A well-functioning college is a microcosm of constitutional rule, and shows what can be achieved in a country when everyone is governing himself.
It is important for all of us to understand that free people are not governed by rules. Here at Hillsdale we are governed by goals, and then the rules are very broad. Tell the truth, be straight, do not cheat, do not be foul, take care of other people. Those are rules. But the federal rules pertaining to colleges number now more than 500 pages. We at Hillsdale do not live under these rules because we do not take federal money. But I asked our lawyer once to send me the list to read anyway, and he said I wouldn’t be able to read it. I replied that even though I am not a lawyer, I am a pretty smart guy, maybe I can. No, even he can’t read it, he replied, it is incomprehensible.
Ask yourself, who gets powerful under a system like that? The answer is, whoever has the power to interpret the rules. They can do whatever they want.
This is the point I hope every American will come to understand—that in our country, we are supposed to have a very powerful government in order for it to do what it must, but also a government of a far different character than the kind we have today. The distinction between constitutional government and bureaucratic government is fundamental.
PR: How can we get there from here? I am quoting you once again: “There is only one way to return to living under the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the institutions of the Constitution. We must come to love these things again.” How?
LPA: First, you have to know about them. I am like the hammer who looks at everything as if it were a nail. Everything is a teaching opportunity. Teaching is, of course, what we do here at Hillsdale. But the great presidents are teachers as well. It is a generous and fine thing to do, to labor to make important things clear to people—which of course you cannot do unless you are able to make them clearer than if you are just talking to yourself. That is why Abraham Lincoln’s speeches are beautiful. You cannot read many of them unless you read them carefully. An example is Lincoln’s Peoria address on the history of slavery. He labored for months putting it together, and Americans could learn how slavery moved in our country because he laid it out. And then at the end of the speech he combined that history with a lovely explanation of why the principles of our country are capable of reaching and protecting every human being, and ennobling them, because they get to participate in rule. To know that about the principles of our country is to love them. I see that happen all the time in the classroom. So what we need is for people to know and understand our country’s principles. Love will follow.
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What chance?
What a Bible! What a Savior!
copied from Jim Kinnebrebrew
A Needy World
Earlier we pointed out that Romans 9 deals with Israel’s past, Romans 10 deals with Israel’s present and Romans 11 deals with Israel’s future. In the previous message from Romans 9, we dealt with Israel’s past. In this message from Romans 10 we deal with Israel’s present state.
Picture Israel and The Church as two trains on the railroad track of God’s purpose. In the Old Testament we saw Israel on the main line of God’s purpose and the Church had not yet come into view.
When we come to the New Testament, we begin in the Gospels with Israel still on the main line. The Church is still out of sight. After Israel rejects Christ as their Messiah and crucifies Him, Israel is moved to a siding as we enter the Book of Acts. We see the Church appearing for the first time on the main track of God’s purpose. That’s the way it has been these past 2000 years. The Church has been on the main line of God’s purpose and Israel has been sitting on a siding.
When Christ returns for His Church, composed of regenerated gentiles and Jews, the Church will be whisked off to Heaven and Christ-rejecting Israel will once again be on the main track of God’s purpose on this earth for a period of seven years, known as The Tribulation. During this time, all Israel will be saved, at the cost of their own lives, by receiving Christ as her Messiah and Saviour. That’s the message of Romans 9-11 and prophesied in many Old Testament Scriptures, such as Ezekiel 36-39 and Zechariah 12-14.
Reading Romans 10, we become aware of three divisions of the chapter.
Romans 10:1-3 The need of the world
Romans 10:4-13 God’s answer to that need.
Romans 10:14-17 Our responsibility as Christian in the light of that need.
I. THE NEED OF THE WORLD Rom. 10:1-3
In these verses we find Israel as sinners in desperate need of God’s righteousness just as we found ourselves and the whole world in that sinful state back in Romans chapters 1 and 2. We’re all in the same boat, sinful, helpless to do anything about it and condemned by a Holy God and in need of His Salvation through Christ.
Note Paul’s concern for his own people, the Jews, as expressed in Romans 9:1 and 10:1. Like Paul, known as Saul of Tarsus, before he was converted to Christ; they have a zeal for God, but without the true knowledge of God. Zeal without knowledge is terribly dangerous. It makes for wild-eyed, hateful fanatics, just as Paul was before his conversion to Christ when he spent his life persecuting and murdering Christians.
Such are as the enthusiastic crowd of Jews were a week before Jesus’ crucifixion. Those same people, under the influence of their hateful, religious leaders, a week later became the murderous, Jewish mob when they shouted for the crucifixion of Jesus; not recognizing Him as their Messiah.
Today, enemies of Christ, as cultists come to our doors with their distorted religious propaganda; ignorant of God’s righteousness as it is revealed in the first five chapters of Romans. If you missed it, I encourage you to go back to the beginning of this series in Romans and learn how we are made righteous and fit for Heaven in the eyes of God.
II. GOD’S ANSWER TO MAN’S NEED Romans 10:4-13
Why does sinful man not submit himself to the righteousness of God? He is willfully ignorant and rebellious. See John 5:40.
How are we saved? Just believe what God says in His Word, the Bible concerning Jesus Christ. God’s only begotten Son, who died on the cross, shedding His blood for our sins, is the only answer. Romans 10:4. His salvation is near. Romans 10:8.
If you believe Him, confess Him openly and unashamedly with your mouth.
Romans 10:9-11. Confess that Jesus is your only righteousness and your only hope of salvation. To simply confess Christ as your Lord, without first recognizing Him as your Saviour, will not save you. Confess Him first as your Saviour and then you will desire to confess Him as your Lord. Don’t be ashamed to make that confession before others. Read Romans10:11 and consider this carefully.
Note in Romans 10:11-13 that this salvation is available to both Jews and Gentiles. Those two designations cover everyone in the world. You are ether a Jew or a Gentile. Note the designation “whosoever”. Read it in John3:16 and Revelation 22:17, the last invitation in the Bible.
III OUR RESPONSIBILITY Romans 10:14-17
Every true Christian has been given the responsibility to share the Gospel with others. We are all witnesses first. Everything else is secondary.
Don’t be sidetracked to lesser concerns. such as cleaning up the environment, solving social problems, being involved in political causes, or any other cause. Meeting eternal spiritual needs is much more crucial than meeting temporal material needs. Meeting temporal needs such as providing clean drinking water and food and clothing are important, God can use that effort to open doors to share the Gospel. But limiting your involvement to meeting social needs and ignoring spiritual needs can send well fed, well clothed sinners to Hell.
The supreme task of the Church is the evangelization of the world. Every one of us as Christian should take that Great Commission seriously and personally by either going personally or helping to send others in our place. We do that by praying the Lord of the Harvest to send forth reapers into the harvest fields of the world and giving to help support them.
Will you read and consider how you fit into God’s plan, as you read Isaiah 6:8 and Matthew 9:37-38 and Romans 12:1-2 ?
Romans chapter 10 concludes with a problem. Not our problem, but God’s.
Paul asks whether everyone in the world has had a chance to hear of God? The answer is yes according to verse 18. Review Romans 1:18-21. God has spoken to everyone of His existence and love through His Creation. See also Psalm 19:1-4.
Today the Jews are provoked to jealousy by God’s grace shown to us Gentiles who have been saved. See Romans10:19 Nevertheless, many Jews continue to reject their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Romans10:21 Would you pray for the Jews that they may find their Messiah yet in this Church Age of grace?
Hardened Hearts
Why is it that the Word of God seems totally ineffective in some lives? Why do so many reject the Gospel? God’s Word is not powerless and ineffective. Our witness is not necessarily ineffective. The fact is that not everyone is going to be saved.
When God made His Covenant or promise with Abraham to bless the world through him and his Seed; not all of Abraham’s descendents inherited the Covenant. Only the family of Isaac; not the family of Ishmael. When the Covenant passed to the next generation, only the family of Jacob inherited it. Of Jacob’s twelve sons, only the family of Judah inherited the Abrahamic Covenant. Those outside the Abrahamic Covenant found their hearts hardened by God. Rom.9:17-18
But don’t blame God for hardened hearts. God only hardens the hearts of those who have already hardened their hearts towards Him. Note, for example, Pharaoh of Egypt in the time of Moses. Pharaoh hardened his own heart towards God before God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. See Exodus 8:15,32; 9:34-35, 10:1,20; 11:10; 14:4.
WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US ABOUT GOD?
1, God is faithful. His Word is true. He promises to save and not cast out anyone who comes to Christ for salvation. John 6:37 “All that the Father gives to Me, shall come to Me and Him that comes to me I will in no wise or under no circumstance cast out.”
Don’t get hung up on the first part of that verse and blame God for not being saved. Focus on the second half of that verse. Do you want to be saved? Then come to Christ and trust His blood sacrifice on your behalf. Look at the promise. I will in no wise cast out.
Christ promises to keep us saved all the way to Heaven. Listen to Jesus praying for His own in John 17:6 and 11. If you are a Christian, you cannot lose your salvation. You security is not in your ability to live the Christian life. You security is in Christ who has His own in the palm of his hand forever. Read John 10:27-30 That’s security!!!
2. God is righteous. Read Romans 9:14. We must NEVER question God’s righteousness. even when we do not understand His ways. Read the story of Job who faced severe testing, even though he was a righteous man. How that book has encouraged and comforted me in my tmes of severe testing!
3. God is compassionate and loving. Read Romans 9:15. God loves the whole world, according to John 3:16; but to learn how He loves the world, read Romans 5:8 and I John 4:9-10
Those who reject His love by turning their backs on His Son, face His fierce wrath. John 3:36
4. God is merciful. Romans 9:14-18. No one deserves God’s mercy. We never have and never will deserve it. We only deserve God’s judgment and Hell. In His mercy He saves some. Others reject Christ as Saviour and remain lost.
It is not our prerogative to judge whether God is fair or not. It is none of our business. God is merciful and long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. Don’t ever besmirch God’s character by teaching it is God’s will to condemn some to hell. Will you rest in the truth of II Peter 3:9 ?
Our business as Christians is to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, starting with our family and friends and our neighborhood. God will save some. Evangelistic effort is our business. Evangelistic success is God’s business; not ours.
5. God is sovereign. Learn Romans 9:19-29 and rest in it. What a comfort this truth is in times of crises. God is God and He is under no obligation to explain His ways to His creatures. Read Romans 9:20-21. We Gentile Christians and the Jews saved in this present church age are His vessels of mercy. God has promised that a remnant of Jews will be saved. Read Romans 9:27-29
OUR RESPONSIBILITY Romans 9:30-33
Let’s leave God’s sovereign ways in His hands.
Away with all our self-righteousness and pride.
Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation.
Most Jews, as well as gentiles have stumbled over that Rock.
Those of us who have received Christ as our Rock of Salvation are not ashamed of Christ. We rejoice what He has done for us.
Let’s thank Him for His love and mercy in seeking us out, drawing us to Himself and saving us by His grace and mercy.
Privileged People
WITH PRIVILEGE COMES RESPONSIBILITY
Everyone enjoys special privileges. In this article, you will discover that Israel is a privileged people. You will also discover that Christians are also a highly privileged people. When we grasp and understand these privileges, it does not make us proud. Rather, it humbles us and burdens us with a heavy responsibility to reach the lost who do not yet know Christ, for with privilege comes responsibility.
ISRAEL‘S EIGHT PRIVILEGES Note them as they are listed in Romans 9:4-5 Note also that through Israel’s privileges the whole world is blessed through Christ.
1. CHOSEN AND ADOPTED
Genesis 12:1-3 records how Abraham was chosen and called out of Ur of the Chaldees to be the father of the Jewish race to bless the world through Christ who would come through his line; so we who have put our trust in Christ have been chosen and adopted into the Family of God to be a blessing to this lost world.
In Deuteronomy 7:6-8 God reminds Israel they are a chosen, blessed people above all the nations of the earth in that God chose them to be the channel through whom Christ would come who would bless the world. He repeats this in Psalm 33:12, but makes it clear that any nation who honors Him is blessed.
Read Ezekiel 16:3-14 for a very touching story of how God found and chose and blessed Israel to be a blessing to the world. Then read the rest of that chapter to see how Israel forsook her God and brought down God’s judgment on themselves.
In this Church Age we Christians can rest and rejoice in the truth that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and we are adopted into His family all to the glory of His grace, as taught in Ephesians 1:4-6.
2. EXPERIENCED THE GLORY OF GOD
Israel was privileged to sense the presence and glory of God as He led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When camp was set up, the glory of God dwelt in their midst in the Tabernacle.
But all of this was but a type of the more wonderful relationship we Christians have with God through Christ, as we experience the constant presence and glory of God through His Holy Spirit residing in our bodies, as explained in I Corinthians 6:19-20 and II Corinthians 4:6-7.
3. THE COVENANTS
Abrahamic Covenant
The story of Abram begins in Genesis 12 with God’s command to him to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees and follow God’s leading to Canaan which God gave to him and his descendants. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and made an eternal covenant with him known as The Abrahamic Covenant.
This covenant is recorded in Genesis 15 and reconfirmed in Genesis 22 after Abraham showed his willingness to offer his son, Isaac, as an offering to God. Read the beautiful story in Genesis 22. It’s a foreshadow of God’s offering up of His Son, the Lord Jesus, on the cross for our sins.
This covenant is basically God’s promise that through Abraham’s seed would come the Saviour, the Lord Jesus.
Davidic Covenant
The Davidic Covenant found in II Samuel 7:12-16 assures David, who is in Abraham’s line through Isaac and Jacob (whose name was changed by God to Israel) and Jacob’s son, Judah, that through his seed would come Jesus who would be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
New Covenant
The New Covenant is not limited to the Jews. Today we Jews and Gentiles who put our trust in Christ are made beneficiaries of The New Covenant, promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:21-38 and Hebrew 8:6-13. It involves a personal relationship with God through our personal relationship with Jesus, in whom we trust for our salvation.
Instead of being in bondage to God’s Holy Law; we are freed from condemnation to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit, to live out the righteousness of the Law through our hearts in our daily conduct, as Romans 8:1-4 teaches. Legalism is foreign to this gracious work of God in our lives.
4. THE LAW
Israelites were eye-witnesses of Jesus, as well as writers and custodians of God’s Law, the written Word of God, the Bible. The entire Bible, both Old and New Testament was written by and given to the Jews. We Gentiles are blessed by the Bible which we read and internalize, allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to live out the life of Christ through our lives. Our carnal natures which are with us until we die, keep us from living Christ’s life perfectly, even though that is our desire. This truth is taught in Romans 6-8.
5. SANCTUARY SERVICES
Sanctuary services were performed by the Jewish tribe of Levi only, we read in Exodus 25:8-9. In this Church Age our bodies, as Christians, are the temple or sanctuary of God’s Holy Spirit. So instead of going to Church, we ARE Christ’s Church or Spiritual Body and we are to gather together regularly each week, to be edified and challenged by God’s Word to live Godly lives and offer faithful service to Him, as Hebrews 10:25 commands us. As Christians, our bodies are holy property. Therefore, as we learn in I Corinthians 6:9-20 and II Corinthians 6:14- 7:1; it is our solemn responsibility as Christians to live a morally clean life, turning from sin whenever we are faced with temptation.
It’s extremely dangerous for a Christian who is part of Christ’s body, to allow sin, or sinful influences, to control his body. If you want to live dangerously, go play with electric wires or with lightening; but don’t play with sin. You may escape getting shocked by electricity, but you will NEVER escape the consequences of sin. Numbers 32:23 warns us
BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT!!!
When you as a Christian sin, deal with it immediately by confessing it directly to God, not to some man. God will immediately forgive you without any penance on your part. Jesus paid the full price for all your sins when He shed His blood on the cross for you. For you to attempt to offer money or anything else as payment for your sins is an insult to God.
Read I John 1 to fully understand how Christians are to deal with sin in their lives. You will find I, II and III John, at the end of the Bible, just before Jude and Revelation.
6. GOD’S PROMISES
The Old Testament is filled with God’s promises to Israel. Here are only a few. Deuteronomy 28, Joshua 1:9, Jeremiah 33:3. By God’s grace, we Christians are blessed through these promises to Israel and hundreds of other promises to Israel and to the Church throughout the Bible.
I challenge you to read through the Bible, underlining every promise. As a child, we used to sing a little chorus, “Every promise in the Book is mine. Every chapter, every verse, every line. All are blessings of His love divine. Every promise in the Book is mine.” For example, read through Psalm 37 and underline the promises made to you. Memorize them and claim them in time of need, as I have repeatedly throughout my life.
7. THE FATHERS
Finally, we are given the Fathers, that is the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and on down to David, and Solomon and other through whom Jesus came. You can read the two genealogies of the man, Jesus, who was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was God come down in human flesh to die and shed His blood for our sins. You will read His genealogy through Joseph, His adoptive father, in Matthew 1 and His genealogy through the virgin Mary in Luke 3.
ISRAEL
Though Israel as a nation rejected Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour, yet we are indebted to Israel for giving us Jesus and we have the responsibility at Christians to share the Gospel with them. That’s why Paul, a Jew and a Pharisee and Jewish leader, after being converted to Christ, had such a heavy burden to reach his nation with the Gospel. He shares that burden in Romans 9 and 10 as we’ve already seen.
AS AMERICANS
Surely America has been blessed over the past two centuries because the founders honored God and His Word, the Bible. Christianity is woven into the fabric of our founding documents, including our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
Being an American doesn’t save us, but it certainly is a blessing to us as we live in a nation that was founded by Godly men and women. We have more access and opportunity to hear the Gospel than almost any nation on the face of the earth. For much more on this thought, go to category, AMERICA.
Travailing for the Lost
In our study of the first eight chapters of Romans we’ve learned how God takes a lost, unworthy sinner and imputes God’s righteousness to his account through faith in Christ who shed His blood to pay the penalty for our sins. We’ve also seen in Romans 6-8 how God sanctifies us, enabling us to live holy lives through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.
Now in Romans 9-11 we learn more wonderful truths concerning our salvation and how Israel fits into the picture. In these three chapters we learn of Israel’s past in chapter 9, her present in chapter 10 and her future in chapter 11. We focus our attention now on the first three verses of Romans 9.
PAUL’S HEART-CRUSHING SORROW
Paul, who had been a Jewish Pharisee and a chief enemy of Christ before his conversion, speaks in Romans 9:1-3 and 10:1-3 of his great heaviness of heart and his crushing sorrow for Israel who rejects Christ as her Messiah and Saviour.
We Christians should all bear that crushing sorrow for our loved ones, both family and friends, as well as our nation, for Israel and for a lost world who are still without Christ.
THE SEED SAVES, YOU AND I DO NOT SAVE ANYONE!
Psalm 126:5-6 encourages us to go to those we love with the Gospel. We can’t save anyone; but the Gospel can. This passage encourages us with the promise that if we go to those we love, weeping with a broken heart, sharing the Gospel; that we will doubtless come with rejoicing bearing our sheaves with us. That is, we will see success. We don’t save anyone, but God can save them if we just give them the Good News. As you grow in your love for God, you will also grow in love for lost sinners.
Sharing a good Gospel tract is one way. I try to find creative ways to share my Hidden Treasures web site with friends and strangers. If this web site has helped you, I encourage you to share it also. When you do, you offer people the opportunity to read over 600 Bible-teaching articles on a vast array of practical topics, including The Gospel which is woven throughout.
I keep pouring my time and energy into this web site with the assurance that even though I may never meet nor hear of converts to Christ now, one day I will have the joy of meeting them in Heaven. Perhaps you are one of those who have come to faith in Christ. I look forward to an eternity of getting to know you.
You may have noticed that I include good jokes under A Merry Heart and Gems of other writers in this web site. I trust that those who read the jokes and gems may also read salvation messages and be saved.
The Gospel, (The Good News) clearly presented in II Corinthians 5:21, is the germinating Seed which must penetrate the heart of the unbeliever in order for him to have eternal life.
Before a woman can have a baby, she must travail in pain in labor and delivery. Isaiah 66:8 reminds us that Israel travailed before she had children. So when we travail in sorrow for the lost and share the Gospel with them, some are going to be saved.
That burden has constantly been on me throughout the years of my ministry. Actually that burden came upon me after I was saved at the age of nine. My heart constantly aches for the lost. Now that I am retired, that sorrow for the lost does not let up. Wherever I am, whatever I am doing, the weight of a lost world is always on my heart and mind. When I go into a restaurant for a meal, I see people around me, including the waiter/ waitress and think about ways I can reach out to them with the Gospel.
Recently I was in a grocery store and heard the man in the check-out line ahead of me telling one joke after another to the cashier. So I suggested to him that he might like to go to my Hidden Treasure’s web site and read over 40 good jokes he might enjoy. He appeared to appreciate my suggestion and I expect he has already been to this site.
Luke 19:41 tells us that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Are you weeping over your nation and over a lost world? In America we are in the most desperate times I have ever seen. I am tempted to be depressed and angry over the ineptness and stupidity of many of our politicians; but as Christ, I need to have a broken heart and weep over a sin-sick nation. Our disease of sin as a nation is far deeper than the vast chasm between liberal and conservative politics.
Dear reader, have you received the Good News of the Gospel, as found in II Corinthians 5:21, John 3:16, Acts 16:31? I’m not asking you to change your life. God will deal with you concerning any change you need to make in your life and He will give you His supernatural power to make the change. Trust Him now while God is speaking to you through His Word. See the urgency of getting off the road to Hell and getting on the road to Heaven in II Corinthians 6:1-2 NOW! Then get into a serious reading and studying of God’s Word. Submit yourself to Him and He will make the necessary changes.
Is God Fair?
Is God unfair? The ungodly and sometimes we Christians in our weaker moments have no problem charging God with unfairness. How dare we! Paul, dealing with the ungodly as they hurl their charges of unfairness towards God, writes in Romans 9:20 “Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it say, ‘Why have You made me thus?”
Those introductory questions, lead us into our current studies in Proverbs as we come to the 11th chapter and are introduced to the theme of the justice of God. We read in Proverbs 11:1 “A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight.”
God is fair and just. He loves honesty and fairness. He hates dishonesty and cheating and so should we.
Anyone who understands the truth of Justification should understand and appreciate the truth that God in infinitely fair in His dealings with us.
Let me ask you a question. Is God fair when He condemns all of humanity as fallen, sinners because of Adam’s sin six thousands years ago?
CONSIDER THE OPTIONS
1. God could have overlooked our sins. Is that possible? In no way! A holy just God cannot overlook sin. Sin must be punished. God had warned Adam, “In the day you eat of that fruit you shall surely die!” God is holy and as such He cannot overlook and excuse sin.
2. God could have allowed every man to stand or fall on his own merit. I’m so glad God did not choose that option. Yes, it would have been fair and just. But no one can stand before God. As sons and daughters of Adam, we have inherited his sinful nature. There would have been no hope for anyone.
3. And so God in His love and justice chose to save us through a Representative. That Representative was no less than God Himself come down in a human body, the Lord Jesus! Jesus took our place and bore our sins in His own body on the cross and then God took Jesus’ perfect righteousness and put it to the account of every sinner who would come in humility before God as a sinner and put his trust in Jesus as His Representative and Saviour.
WHY DID GOD CHOOSE TO SAVE US THROUGH CHRIST?
As the entire human race fell into sin and condemnation in the person of Adam, so all those who put their trust in the Second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, are freed from the condemnation of sin and are given the Gift of eternal life through Christ. Read Romans 4:12-21 Underline the words, one and many and all. Read that passage again and ask God to help you grasp the truth of one, many and all, as I have just explained to you.
IS IT FAIR FOR GOD TO DECLARE YOU PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS AND FIT FOR HEAVEN IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST, THE SECOND ADAM?
No, it is not fair! It is MORE THAN FAIR! It is GRACE! It is ultimately the only way God could save us and declare us perfectly righteous and fit for Heaven. If this is not yet clear to you read Romans chapter 5 over again until you grasp it. Read this message over again until you see that this is the only way God could have saved us. For you to miss this truth is to remain lost in your sins with no hope of salvation. God is gracious. He gives us far more than we deserve. Listen to Paul rejoice in the wonderful grace of God as you read it in Romans 11:32-36.
Revelation 15:3 tells us that the day is coming when we will join the Saints throughout the ages in singing together the Song of the Lamb, “Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints.” Can you sing that song of The Lamb, (the Lord Jesus) who was slaughtered on the cross for your sins? If your trust is in Christ, you can start singing that song from the depths of your heart right now, even as you will throughout eternity in Heaven.
Concluding where we started in Proverbs 11:1, no wonder God delights in a just weight. God is absolutely just. But He is more than that. He is loving and gracious.
Tending to Life or Death
We continue contrasting the wise and foolish, the righteous and the unrighteous, in Proverbs 10, beginning with verse 16. Understand that we’re not talking about self-righteousness. There is nothing good about self-righteousness. It is repulsive and stinks to high Heaven. The only true righteousness is Christ’s righteousness which God imputes, or puts to the account of sinners who trust His blood sacrifice on the cross as the atonement for their sins. I trust you know Christ as your righteousness. If you don’t, I urge you to go to my SALVATION series and get that settled today. Then follow along in your Bible in Proverbs 10 by reading the verse first. Then follow along with my comments on the verse.
Do you tend to life or death?
Basically verse 16 is teaching us that everything that a Christian who is clothed in Christ’s righteousness thinks, says or does tends to life. He has eternal life. Eternal life is a new quality of life, not just an extension of the old life you had before you were saved. It is the imputed life of Jesus which results in His life being imparted to you so that you begin to think and live as Jesus would live and love as Jesus would love. Not perfectly! But you begin the journey which will ultimately culminate in perfection in Heaven.
On the other hand, everything the natural, unconverted man or woman thinks, says or does tends to his physical and spiritual destruction and death. Romans 3:10-18
How do you handle reproof?
Verse 17 teaches that if you truly are saved and are on that journey with Christ, you will show it by the way you respond to reproof and instruction from the Bible. On the other hand, you are treading on dangerous ground if you refuse reproof and instruction from God’s Word.
Does what you say and how you say it bless or curse others?
Verses 18-21 concerns our tongue, that is our speech. I remind you of what I said in our previous study about verses 11-14 of this chapter which also concern our speech. The righteous bless with their words; whereas the wicked stir up strife and eventually destroy themselves and others.
Verses 18-21 warn us to beware of attempting to hide our hatred of others with lying and flattering lips or outright slander. Which is worse? It’s all despicable sin.
Verse 19 warns us to beware of talking too much. The more we say, the more chance we have of saying something worthless; or worse, plain evil. That’s a warning to me, a preacher. I’ve spoken a LOT of words in my 55 years of pastoring and I’ve written a LOT of words and posted them to this web site. My constant prayer is that whenever I speak or write, it always brings glory to God. You’ll have to be the judge as you read Hidden Treasures.
Basically, if our purpose is not to glorify Christ, then perhaps we had better not speak it or write it.
Verses 20-21 reminds us that the words of the wise feed many; whereas the words of fools is worthless and harmful. Fools die for lack of wisdom and if they are written or preached words, they can lead their listeners to Hell.
What do you covet?
I love verse 22. “The blessing of the Lord makes rich and He adds no sorrow with it.” On the other hand, those who covet material wealth are going to be led astray and lead others astray and be plagued with sorrow. That was Paul’s warning to young Pastor Timothy in I Timothy 6:10 and to all who read, that those whose chief purpose in life is to gain wealth, end up bringing much needless sorrow into their lives. Wealth in itself is not evil, but a life given to that one great purpose of accumulating wealth can bring sorrow.
Proverbs 10:23 warns us that fools enjoy doing mischief or sin. They also enjoy reading and enjoying sin on television and at the movies. It becomes their life. It’s on their minds continually day and night. They have a desire to live out what they’ve seen and heard.
Proverbs 10:24 warns us that what we expect, will probably happen; whether it is a wicked man’s fear of evil or a godly man’s righteous desires. Our thinking has much bearing on what happens. Psalm 37:4 reminds us to “Delight ourselves in the Lord and He shall give us the desires of our heart.” God has proven that to me repeatedly through my life. Christ has been the delight of my life since I trusted Him as a child and I have repeatedly enjoyed the desires of my heart throughout my life.
Are you a good or evil influence on others?
Proverbs 10:25 reminds us that the wicked soon pass away and are forgotten. The righteous in Christ have eternal life and their godly influence continues to bless many.
Are you lazy?
Proverbs 10:26 warns us that we cannot trust lazy people. They will always let you down. Therefore lazy people cannot be entrusted with any responsibility.
I Corinthians 4:2 reminds us that the most important qualification for any responsibility and privilege is faithfulness. If you can’t be faithful in keeping your room clean, you need not apply for anything more important.
Do you want God to use you? Be faithful in the little things and Luke19:17 tells us we will be faithful in the big opportunities that come our way.
What does your future generally hold for you?
Proverbs 10:27 reminds us and warns us that those who have a healthy fear of offending a holy God with our sins is probably going to live a long, healthy life. There are exceptions to that statement. We’ll leave the exceptions with God and not try to understand all His ways. But verse 27 continues, ” the years of the wicked shall be shortened.” Give this serious thought.
Proverbs 10:28-29 reminds us that the righteous can expect a life of gladness; whereas the wicked can expect a life of sorrow and destruction.
Proverbs 10:30 reminds me that as a joint-heir with Christ, this earth which is going to be renewed by Christ, is mine for eternity. On the other hand, the wicked are one day going to be removed from this earth to spend eternity in Hell. See my messages on HELL on this web site, to learn more about this eternal habitation of the wicked who reject Christ.
How important is your speech?
Verse 31-32 of Proverbs 10 close out this chapter with the matter of our speech. The Bible has much to say about our speech. Our speech says so much about us. It reveals our heart and what is most important to us. We either bless people or else we are simply empty, boring wind-bags.
May we constantly be aware of the little things we say and do and the values we hold and the interests that consume our attention and our faithfulness in the little things. They all affect our success and usefulness in this life and throughout eternity.
Wise vs Fools
The entire book of Proverbs contrasts wisdom vs folly and righteousness vs unrighteousness.
Proverbs 1-9 introduces us to the topic of Heavenly Wisdom, contrasting it with sinful folly.
Beginning with chapter 10 we are introduced to specific, but unrelated statements contrasting wisdom and righteousness with foolishness and unrighteousness. Let’s consider them.
WISE AND FOOLISH SONS CONTRASTED 10:1
Nothing accomplished in life by Christian parents and teachers brings more joy than seeing our sons and daughters and students grow up to know God and live in obedience to His Word. See also Proverbs 23:15-26
Nothing in life brings Christian parents and teachers greater heartbreak than raising foolish, rebellious sons or daughters or students. Proverbs 15:20.
Parents are given the responsibility in Proverbs 22:6 to train up their children in the way they should go. We will deal with this further, Lord willing, when we come to that passage in this Proverbs series.
WEALTH OR POVERTY 10:2-10
Proverbs 10:2-5 teaches that the wicked can offer nothing of eternal value or profit to God for themselves. Their efforts and resources are of no value to God. Matthew 6:19-20 and Luke 12:19-20. Their material wealth is of no value when it comes to eternal life.
Only righteousness enables us to gain eternal life. Of course, that righteousness is not self-righteousness, as Titus 3:5-6 makes clear. Therefore, the only righteousness which is of eternal value is the imputed righteousness of Christ to our account. That is justification, which is clearly explained in Romans 3:21- 5:21in my Roman’s series.
That imputed righteousness changes our hearts and makes possible a changed life of God’s imparted righteousness. Such righteousness is taught throughout the New Testament as the doctrine of Sanctification.
God promises to meet all our needs, as promised in Proverbs 10:3. This promise is repeated throughout the Bible, as seen in Psalm 1:6, 3:8, 5:12, 23:1, 34:17, 19,22, 37:25, Matthew 6:25-26 and Philippians 4:19.
There may be times when we are physically hungry, as Paul testified of himself in I Corinthians4:11and II Corinthians 11:27; however, God promise our souls will never be famished or starve. My wife and I experienced this through different seasons of our lives, especially early in our marriage and through some financially lean years; however we never starved and these experiences taught us to appreciate what we had and how to manage our money wisely.
For a number of years during the early years of our ministry, we lived well below the poverty level, but we never starved and we always experienced the enriching presence of God in our poverty. For that reason we never considered ourselves as poor nor did we ever apply for government assistance.
Let me warn any would-be preacher that you are crazy and evil to choose the ministry as a way of gaining wealth. If you are not in the ministry for the spiritual wealth of others, get out now before God brings down His judgment on you. Proverbs 10:3 warns that God casts away the substance of the wicked!
Read God’s warning in Luke 12:29-20 to the foolish, wicked farmer who lived only for himself and had no heart for God. Paul warned of preachers who were in the ministry for filthy lucre’s sake. I Timothy 3:3, Titus 1:7,11, Peter warned of it in I Peter 5:2,
Proverbs 10:4-5 shows the path to wealth and to poverty?
Laziness is the path to poverty and shame. See also Proverbs 19:16, 20:4,23:21, 24:30-34.
Diligence and hard work mark the path of those who are blessed materially. Proverbs 10:5, 13:4 and 22:29.
The righteous are blessed and memorialized while the wicked are destroyed and often violently. Proverbs 10:6-10
THE POWER OF OUR WORDS 10:11-14
The righteous bless with their words; whereas the wicked stir up strife and eventually destroy themselves
DON’T TRUST YOUR RICHES 10:15
Read in Luke 12:16-21 of Jesus’ warning concerning the rich farmer who lived only for himself.
Christ is our City of Refugeand our strong tower in which we hide from the wrath and judgment of God. Proverbs 18:10-11 Have you fled to Christ to hide from the judgment of God on you as a sinner? Do it now! Come as a guilty, helpless sinner to God and cast yourself on Christ who died to pay the penalty of your sins and give you eternal life.
The Choice is Yours
In Proverbs 9 Wisdom is personified as speaking and challenging us to come to Him for wisdom. Most Christians are familiar with the truth that Christ is our Redeemer, our Righteousness and our Sanctification. In I Corinthians1:30-31 we learn that The Lord Jesus Christ is also our wisdom. You may recall from our study of Proverbs 8 that the theme of that chapter is Christ our Wisdom. We continue that theme in Proverbs 9.
The mystery of Christ is that He who is eternal God the Creator, came into this world 2000 years ago as a new born baby, the supernaturally- conceived Son of God born to a virgin, Mary.
He is the Saviour to all who come in humility as sinners and trust the sacrifice of His shed blood on the cross as the full payment for our sins. This Saviour is also our Wisdom.
Chapter 9 begins by emphasizing the rich feast provided for us by Wisdom. Solomon, who had the magnificent Temple built in his day, is speaking in this chapter of this beautiful temple. We Christians in this Church Age are being built together a Christ’s Holy Temple. I Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:15-20
Christ by His Holy Spirit dwells in us.
THE RICH PROVISION OF CHRIST Proverbs 9:1-2
Christ, previously seen as our wisdom in chapter 8 is now seen in chapter 9 as furnishing us a feast. This feast is a picture of our redemption.
Solomon’s temple is a picture of the House Wisdom has built. This is a veiled picture of Christ’s Church which He is building today.
The feast is described in Proverbs 9:1 and 5 as including bread and wine. This refers to Communion, also known as The Lord’s Supper which is a type or picture of Christ’s sacrifice of His body and His blood sacrificed for our redemption.
Ephesians describes our salvation as a feast of blessings which commences with our salvation and continues throughout our lives. Read through Ephesians to begin to grasp the wealth of our salvation. Ephesians 1-3 describes our wealth. Ephesians 4-5 describes our walk and Ephesians 6 describes our warfare.
THE INVITATION IS GIVEN Proverbs 9:3-6
The Maidens, referred to in Proverbs 9:3 are a type of the Church. sent out to invite people to the Gospel banquet. Isn’t it amazing how the unsaved try to avoid those who would invite them to the Gospel banquet? Somehow the devil has programmed into their thinking that Christian witnesses are trying to rope them and bring them into some sort of religious bondage. I’ll admit that there is religious bondage found and taught in some churches. But Christ’s true Church simply desires to invite people to a Gospel banquet of salvation and freedom from the bondage of sin and religion offered freely to anyone who recognizes and confesses his need of Christ.
Who is invited to the Banquet? The Simple. Review the third message in this Proverbs series to identify the Simple. Basically the Simple include those who recognize their need of Christ and trust Him.
WHAT IS THE INVITATION? Proverbs 9:4-6
The invitation is salvation from sin offered to all to come to Jesus. This invitation is found repeatedly in the Gospel of John. John 6:35, 51-58, 63.7:37-38 and in Revelation22:17. The invitation is also found in the Old Testament. One example is in Isaiah 55:1-3.
With the Gift of Salvation is the challenge to turn from sin to a new direction. 9:6. It is evident from Scripture that when one is justified through faith in Christ, sanctification and spiritual growth follow. Sanctification and growth follow conversion. I Peter 2:1-3
RESPONSE TO THE INVITATION Proverbs 9:7-9
Some receive the Gospel invitation and are saved. Others scorn and reject it and remain lost.
The Bible is not teaching us that preachers are never to reprove. On the contrary, Peter reproved in Acts 2 and the Church grew. The Deacon Stephen preached and reproved in Acts 6-7 and was stoned. Paul, moved and convicted through Stephen’s preaching and martyrdom was saved and transformed. Paul teaches preachers in II Timothy 4:2 to reprove and rebuke their congregations in love and honesty. Jesus reproved Pharisees.
Preachers are told in II Timothy 2:2-3 to reprove, those who may or may not listen to them. The Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:4-11 was also commanded to warn Israel to listen to and obey God. The response of the listeners was not Ezekiel’s responsibility; nor is it the responsibility of preachers in this day.
As a preacher through fifty-five years of ministry, I also have experienced the varied responses of listeners from those who loved me and appreciated what I taught them to those who hated me and would have tried to remove me from my pulpit. Whenever God’s Word is preached, there are no neutral listeners. People will love or hate the preaching of God’s Word and they either love or hate the messenger. Christ-rejecters will hate us and those who love Christ will love us and grow wiser. That’s the message of Proverbs 9:8-9.
RESULTS OF OBTAINING WISDOM AND REDEMPTION. 9:10-12
Wisdom begins with a respectful fear of offending a Holy God. Proverbs 9:10 and 1:7
A knowledge of the Holy comes with study of God’s Word. Proverbs 9:10
Such knowledge of God may result in long life. Proverbs 9:11
God’s wisdom is profitable to our well being, profit and a long life. 9:11-12
Reject God and His Word to your hurt.
IN CONTRAST TO CHRIST AND HIS WISDOM, EVIL INVITES US TO FOLLOW HER INTO SIN. Proverbs 9:13-18
In contrast with what Christ offers, what does Satan and his evil workers offer us? Noise, confusion ignorance, death. Sounds like the typical TV and movie fare.
What is her message? That Illicit sex, smoking and drinking and taking drugs is fun and brings popularity and good feelingss. Proverbs 9:17
But it doesn’t tell you the whole message. It tries to hide the fact that sin brings misery, a wasted life and ultimately judgment and death. Proverbs9:18; 2:18-19, 5:22-23, 7:24-27, Romans6:23 Galatians 6:7-8 Ecclesiastes 11:9
Your choice is to choose Christ and live or reject Christ and die.
My Concert 10/9/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1fb0YFvrMo
A piano concert I presented to Alameda Bible Church on Oct. 9th 2011 just before I retired as pastor on November 6, 2011. If you wish to sing along, copy and paste and print the songs below as I play them in this order.
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JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY
John W. Peterson
Someday life’s journey will be o’er
And I shall reach that distant shore.
I’ll sing while ent’ring Heaven’s door-
Jesus led me all the way.
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Chorus
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Jesus led me all the way.
Led me step by step each day.
I will tell the saints and angels
As I lay my burden down.
Jesus led me all the way.
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If God should let me there review
The winding paths of earth I knew
It would be proven clear and true
Jesus led me all the way.
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And hitherto my Lord has led,
Today He guides each step I tread.
And soon in Heav’n it will be said
Jesus led me all the way.
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I’ve A Longing in MY Heart
Dorothy Masters
I’ve longing in my heart for Jesus,
I’ve a longing in my heart to see His face.
I am weary, O so weary, of traveling here below,
I’ve a longing in my heart for Him.
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We Shall See His Lovely Face
Norman Clayton
We shall see His lovely face, some bright golden morning,
When the clouds have rifted and the shades have flown
Sorrows will be turned to joy, Heartaches gone forever,
No more night. Only light. When we see His face.
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God shall wipe away all tears .some bright golden morning.
When the journey’s ended and the course is run.
No more crying, pain or death in that home of gladness
Trials cease. All is peace, When we see His face.
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We shall meet to part no more. Some bright golden morning.
At the gates of glory where our loved ones stand
Songs of victory fill the skies in that hour of greeting.
Endless days, Endless praise when we see His face.
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Song of the Soul Set Free
Oswald J. Smith Alfred H. Ackley
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Fairest of ten thousand is Jesus Christ, my Savior,
The Lily of the Valley, The Bright and Morning Star.
He is all my glory, and in this heart of mine
Forevermore I’m singing a song of love divine.
Refrain
‘Tis the song of the soul set free,
And its melody is ringing.
‘Tis the song of the soul set free;
Joy and peace to me it’s bringing.
‘Tis the song of the soul set free;
And my heart is ever singing,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The song of the soul set free!
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Once my heart was burdened, but now I am forgiven,
And with a song of gladness, I’m on my way to heav’n.
Christ is my Redeemer; my Song of Songs is He.
My Savior, Lord, and Master–to Him my praise shall be.
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Angels cannot sing it–this song of joy and freedom,
For mortals only know it, the ransomed and the free.
Slaves were they in bondage and deepest misery;
But now they sing triumphant their songs of liberty.
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HE GIVETH MORE GRACE
Annie Johnson Flint
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He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
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His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
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When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
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I NEVER WALK ALONE
Words and music Alfred H. Ackley
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I never walk alone, I have the Saviour,
Who walks beside me everywhere I go;
My heart rejoices in His loving favor,
And all who will His saving grace may know.
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Chorus
I never walk alone, Christ walks beside me,
He is the dearest Friend I’ve ever known,
With such a Friend to comfort and to guide me,
I never, no, I never walk alone.
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I never walk alone, in stormy weather,
When winds of trouble sweep about my head;
I know I’m safe, because we are together,
And ’round me His protecting love is spread.
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FOLLOW ME
Ira Stanphill
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I traveled down a lonely road and no one seemed to care,
The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair,
I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me,
And then I heard Him say so tenderly,
“My feet were also weary upon the Calv’ry road,
The cross became so heavy I fell beneath the load,
Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see,
Just lift your cross and follow close to me.”
_
“I work so hard for Jesus” I often boast and say,
“I’ve sacrificed a lot of things to walk the narrow way,
I gave up fame and fortune; I’m worth a lot to thee,”
And then I heard Him gently say to me,
“I left the throne of glory and counted it but loss,
My hands were nailed in anger upon a cruel cross,
But now we’ll make the journey with your hand safe in mine,
So lift your cross and follow close to me.”
_
Oh Jesus if I die upon a foreign field someday
‘Twould be no more than love demands, no less could I repay,
“No greater love hath mortal man than for a friend to die,”
These are the words he gently spoke to me,
“If just a cup of water I place within your hand
Then just a cup of water is all that I demand,”
But if by death to living they can thy glory see,
I’ll take my cross and follow close to thee.
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Negro spiritual
I’m so glad Jesus llifted me.
I’m so glad Jesus llifted me.
I’m so glad Jesus llifted me.
Singing glory, Hallelujah!
Jesus lifted me.
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I Will Pilot Thee
Emily D. Wilson
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Sometimes when my faith would falter
And no sunlight I can see
I just lift mine eyes to Jesus
And I whisper, “Pilot me.”
Chorus
Fear thou not, for I’ll be with thee
I will still thy pilot be,
Never mind the tossing billows,
Take my hand and trust in Me.
_
Often when my soul is weary
And the days seem oh so long,
I just look up to my Pilot
And I hear this blessed song.
_
When temptations round me gather
And I almost lose my way,
Somehow in the raving tempest,
I can hear my Saviour say,
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When I come to Jordan’s river
And its troubled waters see
On the brink I’ll see my Saviour
And I know He’ll pilot me.
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The Secret of His Presence
Ellen Lakshmi Goreth George C. Stebbins
In the secret of His presence
How my soul delights to hide.
Oh, how precious are the lessons
Which I learn at Jesus side
Earthly cares can never vex me,
Neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me,
To the secret place I go.
To the secret place I go.
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When my soul is faint and thirsty
‘Neath the shadow of His wing
There is cool and pleasant shelter
And a fresh and crystal spring;
And my Saviour rests beside me
As we hold communion sweet:
If I tried, I could not utter
What He says when thus we meet.
What He says when thus we meet.
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Only this I know I tell Him
All my doubts, my griefs and fears;
Oh how patiently He listens
And my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne’er reproves me?
What a false friend He would be,
If He never never told me
Of the sins which He must see.
Of the sins which He must see.
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Would you like to know the sweetness
Of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow:
This shall then be your reward;
And when- e’er you leave the silence
Of that happy meeting place,
You must mind and bear the image
Of the Master in your face,
Of the Master in your face.
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The Haven of Rest
H.L. Gilmour George D. Moore
My soul in sad exile, was out on life’s sea,
So burdened with sin and distress,
Til I heard a sweet voice saying “Make me your choice.”
And I entered the haven of rest
Refrain
I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest,
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep o’er the wild stormy deep
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.
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I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
And faith taking hold of the Word,
My fetters fell off and I anchored my soul.
The haven of rest in my Lord.
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The song of my soul since the Lord made me whole
Has been the old story so blest,
Of Jesus who’ll save whosoever will have
A home in the haven of rest.
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Holy Holy Holy
Reginald Heber John B. Dykes
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our songs shall rise to Thee
Holy, Holy Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.
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Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crown around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee
Which wert and art and evermore shall be.
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Holy, Holy, Holy, .Tho’ the darkness hide Thee,
Tho’ the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; There is none beside Thee
Perfect in love and power and purity.
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Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty!
God in three persons, Blessed Trinity,!
Christ, Our Wisdom
The theme of Proverbs 8 is Christ our Wisdom. That is in harmony with what Paul teaches us in I Corinthians 1:30-31 where he teaches that Christ is not only our righteousness, sanctification and redemption, but He is also our wisdom.
Only those who know, trust and love Christ, have wisdom. Those who reject Christ and the eternal life He offers those who trust Him, are fools. In an earlier study in this Proverb’s series, we identified the four categories of people.
1. The Simple are those who know nothing or very little. All children are born simple.
2. As we grow and mature, we are confronted with the truth of God’s Word. Those who approach it half-heartedly and carelessly, choosing to reject it and go their own way are scorners.
3. In time, scorners become set in their rejection of God’s Word and become fools.
4. Those who take the Bible seriously and receive it as God’s holy, infallible Word and determine to live by it become wise.
DEFINITION OF WISDOM
Wisdom is the God-given ability of one who has received Christ as Saviour and Lord, to also receive the Bible as it is, the inspired, infallible Word of God and use knowledge and his I Q (whatever it is) to process facts, situations and assess people with discernment and good judgment so as to make the right choices and enjoy favor in the eyes of God and bless others to the glory of God.
Now from Proverbs 8 note:
I. GOD’S WISDOM AVAILABLE 8:1-5
Contrast the call of sin in Proverbs 7:6-20 with the call of wisdom and salvation in Proverbs 8:4-5 to those who are yet simple and fools.
Would you note that those who have an understanding heart will have an understanding mind? Proverbs 8:5.
Wisdom is primarily a heart matter; not an intellectual matter!
Only those who have a love for God, according to Proverbs 8:17 will earnestly seek it from God’s Word, according to Proverbs 2:1-11,16 and find deliverance from sin.
II. GOD’S WISDOM DESCRIBED 8:6-9
It is described as excellent Psalm 8
It is described as right in Proverbs 8:6-8 So to do right is to do what God’s Word says.
It is described as truth in Proverbs 8:7 Jesus also identifies Himself as the way, the truth, and the life in John 14:6
As the Bible is God’s Holy Word; so Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life is also opposed to sin, according to Proverbs 8:7-8
The Bible is plain, simple and easy to understand to those who want to understand it. Proverbs 8:9 and Proverbs 28:5.
III THE VALUE OF WISDOM 8:10-21
Jesus taught In Luke 18:18-26 that God’s wisdom is more valuable than money & material wealth.
IV. CHRIST HIMSELF IS OUR WISDOM 8:22-36
He is eternal Proverbs 8:22-26
He is the Creator of this earth, as well as the universe. Proverbs 8:27-29, John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1 and Revelation 1
As Jesus is His Father’s delight. Proverbs 8:30, so we who have come to Him by faith are Christ’s delight Proverbs 8:31-32
Christ is our Saviour and wisdom. Proverbs 8:32-36 I Corinthians 1:30-31
V. INVITATION FOR US TO KNOW CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOUR, OUR LIFE AND OUR WISDOM Proverbs 8:32-36
Thoe who listen to, read and search God’s Word, find Christ and in trusting Him discover life and eternal life.
To reject Christ is to remain in spiritual death and destroy ourselves. Proverbs 8:36
Installation of Pastor Lee
Charge to the Church and the new Pastor
on the occasion of the installation of
Pastor Peter Lee as pastor of Alameda Bible Church,
Albuquerque, NM. Nov. 6th 2011
by retiring Pastor Mal Bicker
Wake Up and Get Dressed!
Isaiah 52
Isaiah 52, as well as the entire Old Testament, though addressed to Israel, has application to Christ’s Church. Paul states in II Tim. 3:16-17 . “All Scripture (from Genesis through Revelation) is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for direction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, fully furnished or equipped unto all good works.”
The Isaiah 52, prophecy of God’s ultimate victory for Israel over her enemies, applies to the final triumph of His Church over Satan and his anti-God world system.
Note in this 52nd chapter of Isaiah a:
CHARGE TO THE CHURCH 52:1-6
CHARGE TO OUR NEW PASTOR 52:`7-12
THE MESSAGE WE PREACH. 52:13-15
Let’s start with the message we preach as we consider Isaiah 52:13-15.
I. THE MESSAGE WE PREACH. Isaiah 52:13-15
“My servant” is no less than Christ, the Son of God. Read a companion passage to this in Isaiah 42:1-8. Here is another of more than a dozen Messianic references in Isaiah referring to Jesus as “My Servant”.
Isaiah 52:14 clearly prophesies and describes the crucifixion of Christ and the unspeakable cruelty of His enemies before and during His crucifixion. His face was so marred, it was shocking to look on Him.
Verse 15 refers to the sprinkled blood sacrifice of Christ on Calvary’s cross for the sins of the world.
Peter writing about our salvation through Christ’s blood in I Peter 1:2. writes, “Elect according to foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience of Christ” who endured the cross and whose blood was sprinkled to save us.
Aaron, Moses’ brother and the High Priest in the days of Israel’s wilderness experience, sprinkled the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle with the blood of animal sacrifices for sin. All of this description of bloody animal sacrifices for sin, as it is described in Lev. 16 and throughout that Book is a foreshadow of Christ’s purchase of His Church through His shed Blood.
The Apostle Paul, in his warning to the Ephesian elders in Acts20:28, refers to the importance of preaching Christ’s blood. It is one of the Fundamentals of the Faith, Apart from faith in that shed blood sprinkled for our sins, there is no salvation.
Another Fundamental of the Faith and major theme of our salvation found in the Isaiah 52 passage is Christ’s Resurrection and His exaltation, as prophesied in Isaiah 52:13.
Perhaps the major passage in the Bible concerning the exaltation of Christ is found in Philippians 2:5-11 where it speaks of His resurrection from the dead and His return to Heaven where God has exalted Him as Lord.
One day He is returning to this world to be exalted as King over all earth, we read in Psalm 2 and many other passages of the Bible.
This is the message we preach and has been preached here at Alameda Bible Church for over seventy-two years. Christ’s deity and His blood atonement is a message which must never be surrendered nor compromised.
II. CHARGE TO THE CHURCH Isaiah 52:1-6
This charge to the church is primarily addressed to Israel concerning Zion, a hill upon which Jerusalem and the temple were built and where God dwelt. Zion is also a type of the Church. So Zion has application for us, the church, as do all Old Testament and New Testament Scripture,
In Isaiah 52:1-2 We are charged to awake from our spiritual slumber and be separate from sin. Christ’s Church could be likened to a sleeping giant, unaware of her strength.
To backslide is to sell ourselves into bondage to Satan, Isaiah 52:1-3. There we are urged to get out of the dust and filth of this world and be clean and beautiful for God’s glory. We are urged to reflect our beautiful garments, Christ’s righteousness described in Isaiah 61:10. That’s what attract people to Christ!
Isaiah 52:3-4 continues to describe how as we sold ourselves into sin in the person of Adam, our first father, so without money we can find freedom from the penalty of sin and victory over the power of sin, through trusting in Christ, our mighty Deliverer.
Isaiah 52:5-6 continues with the truth that no longer need we be enslaved by the world and it’s sins and blasphemy of Christ’s name. Through trusting Christ, the Gift of God’s free grace, we can be redeemed from our sins and be given the free Gift of eternal life in Heaven.
Though we have all followed our first father, Adam, into sin. we can’t pass the blame to him. We are each responsible for our own sins. But thank God, we can be redeemed from our sins without price to us, for the Lord Jesus paid the full price for our sins on the cross. Thank God for the free Gift of God’s grace to us.
We can & must be delivered from worldiness. Isaiah 52:4-6 reminds us that God’s name is blasphemed by the wicked lives of those who call themselves Christians. Paul also warns Pastor Titus in Titus 2:1-10 of the importance of Christians living a godly life in their homes as well as in public so that Christ name be not blasphemed. Such sin among Christians breaks my heart far more than the evil of lost, hell-bound sinners.
Isaiah 66:8 reminds us that when Zion travailed in prayer, She bore children. Psalm 126:5-6 teaches the same truth. When the church goes forward bearing the seed of the Word, the Gospel and travailing in prayer, we return rejoicing, bearing precious fruit.
Psalm 137:1-6 reminds us that as the Israelites in captivity were homesick for Zion and too depressed and heart sick to sing their songs of Zion; so when we are backslidden and out of fellowship with Christ, we have no heart to sing our songs of Zion.
May God protect Alameda Bible Church from ever becoming a proud, uppity social club who know all the correct doctrine; but who gives the cold shoulder to visitors who may be spiritually ignorant and may not look and act as we do. Perhaps some might even appear difficult to get to know and love and some may appear plain rude, ignorant and obnoxious. We are commanded to love them to Christ.
III. THE CHARGE TO THE MESSENGER. Isaiah 52:7-12
Isaiah begins by describing the beautiful feet of Gospel preachers in Isaiah 52:7. Paul quotes this same verse in Romans 10:15. Before we can preach the Gospel to sinners, we have to go where they are. Seldom are they going to come to church.
In Ezekiel 34:1-10 Ezekiel gives a scathing rebuke from God to self-serving shepherds who make no effort to reach the lost with the Gospel.
Again, in Ezekiel 3:17-19 God warns Christians, especially Christian leaders of the awesome responsibility we have to warn sinners of the danger or rejecting God’s salvation through Christ.
Alameda Bible Church has had faithful Watchmen throughout her over seventy-two years of existence. Now I pass the baton, the sacred responsibility to you, Pastor Lee, to keep watching and waiting and serving the Lord as the days grow darker before the dawn of Christ’s return.
Paul warns in I Corinthians 16:13 “Watch ye, stand fast in the Faith, act as men, be strong.” In the next verse,16:14 he reminds us to serve the Lord in love. In fact, he devotes the entire chapter of I Corinthians 13 to reminding us to serve in love to Christ and to those we minister.
Pastor Lee, as a minister of the Gospel, I remind you from I Peter 5:2-4 that we pastors and Christian leaders are not to lord it over The church, but to be godly examples of faithfulness, humility and love,
Don’t hesitate to give us the Truth. They’ve proven to me that they can take it and not be offended, if it is Scriptural, if it’s spoken in love and if it is backed by integrity and consistency.
MY TESTIMONY
I thank God for the privilege these past twenty-two years of being Christ’s messenger to Alameda Bible Church. These have been some of the most blessed and certainly the most peaceful years of my life. as a pastor.
I thank you, Alameda Bible Church for your kindness, respect, care, love and generosity to Pat and me ever since we came.
And now I challenge you to show that same loving support to Pastor Peter Lee who has been called here to continue the work of living and preaching the Gospel. May we all show that same love and acceptance to his wife, Sandy and to their children, Andrew, Matthew and Emery
INSTALLATION PRAYER
Elders come now and lay hands on our new pastor as Dr. Larry Bacon, Chairman of our Elder Board, asks God’s power and blessing on him and as we offer our prayerful support and encouragement to him.
Afterwards your new pastor, Pastor Peter Lee, will lead us in a closing prayer.
Then Pastor Peter Lee and his family will join me in the foyer to give you all an opportunity to greet them and get to know them.
