Good fight of faith

"The verse doesn't say 'fight the good fight of thee faith'; the doctrine. There's a struggle you have everyday to take the truth you know and make it applicable in your life. Circumstances come up and you have a struggle--'Do I take what God says is truth and obey it there, or do I just go on my previous resources?'

"Sometimes you go on your previous resources and realize, 'Oops, I didn't take that into consideration,' and you have to back up. But it's a struggle of the application of truth to your life. Timothy walked through Paul's life and saw him do that over and over again. That's a valuable kind of thing.

"Paul writes, 'With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.' I love that verse in Corinthians that says 'the more I love the less I'm loved.'

"When you practice Ephesians 4:32 nobody can insult you. It says, [32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

"It's a matter of faith. It's a matter of the good fight of faith in the face of insult, injury. That works. Endure affliction. When the C&S Gang (circumstances and situations) come and start beating on you, your endurance is in Christ. It's going to come. Do the work of an evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry.

"That's saying, 'Don't stop. Don't quit.' In Colossians 4:17, Paul says, 'Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.'

"It's always too soon to quit. Might not seem like it; circumstances might not agree with that,  but it's always too soon to quit.

"Accountability is what grace allows you to be. The idea that you're responsible without accountability is not grace. If you can't look at your failures honestly, you can't put them off. 

"How you will be dealt with at the Judgment Seat of Christ is on the basis of faith, not condemnation, not shame, not reproach. You'll be able to look at it the way God looks at it through the blood of Christ.

"When you learn to do that daily in your life then the Judgment Seat of Christ won't be something you fear. When you see people fearing it, it's because they don't understand the grace life. You can be responsible; that's how you grow."

(I can now type (barely) with my left wrist in a cast and my right wrist sore and tender all over, as is the other wrist. I was using 3 lb. weights, powerwalking, when I fell and hit the pavement.)

Far up in the sky

"Life is like a balloon. If you never let yourself go, you’ll never know how far you can rise.”

“If you take a balloon and blow it up, you fill it with air; you inflate it by blowing into it. What you’re doing is making it larger.

"When you are ‘strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,' He’s coming in. You’re able to comprehend what God’s doing. You come to a deepening, expanded capacity to appreciate who God really is.

“Now the idea of 'being filled' in the Bible is the idea of being controlled by something. When something FILLS you . . . it has to do with, when you fill something up you take it over completely.

“Acts 2:1-2 says, [1] And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

“It says when that sound FILLED all the house, in other words, it was in every heart in the house. There’s none of the house that it didn’t occupy. When you fill something, it’s complete in every way. It’s there all over.

“Acts 5:28 says, [28] Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

“You can fill a room with sound; you can fill a city with doctrine! What does that mean? Everywhere in the whole city people got this. So you can fill inanimate things and it’s the idea of, ‘It’s completely everywhere.’

“But when it’s used about people, it isn’t just that it occupies everything in you; it means that it takes over and controls everything about you. It begins to dominate your life."

Ant in Winter

(new article later today. in meantime here is post from September, 2014 on the Winter period from the book The Fourth Turning)

No matter what a person’s age, this decade will be the most influential decade of their lifetime.

We’re now nearing the fourth quarter of this current winter cycle where the issues of decision-making and applying the will of God are crucial to an individual's future.

Proverbs 6 says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

Jordan says, “Be like that ant. Be wise, redeeming the time. There’s a sense in which you and I have a responsibility to go out and rescue time from being lost. If these things about wintertime are true, and that life is seasonal, the time that you make the most difference is here.

“Once in a lifetime you go through the opportunity to live that once-in-a-lifetime privilege of making or breaking the heart of the future. Winter is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to heal or to destroy the soul of a people who goes through that next cycle. It’s a critical time with critical opportunities.

“That last wintertime era is the one that gave birth to what we know as the ‘the grace movement.’ J.C. O’Hair became pastor of North Shore Church in 1924. He died in 1958 as pastor of the church. The heyday of the ‘Grace Movement’ as we’ve come to understand it was there. The big names you hear—C.R. Stam, Charles Baker and O’Hair—that’s their era.

“Now, I’m no J.C. O’Hair and you’re no Stam or Baker, but we don’t need to be. All we need to be is who we are. We just need to be where we are taking advantage of who we are to the fullest—to be for this season who it will need us to be.

*****

“Every springtime in this country has had a spiritual awakening. That’s the cycle in Anglo-American history in which the Reformation took place. The first reformation was a recovery of Pauline truth.

"The next great awakening was the Puritan awakening. The era of the Puritans, in the first quarter of the 1600s, produced the King James Bible. The fruit and on the vine. It’s the era of tremendous, wonderful activity in America. Jonathan Edwards and the great New England revivals changed the course of America—justification by grace through faith.

“The next great awakening in the 1800s was led by Charles Finney and had to do with the doctrines of identity. The next great awakening was the one that led into dispensational understanding. The fourth great awakening, in the 1960s, was called in history the ‘Conscience Revolution’ and it’s the first awakening in American history that wasn’t based on Bible. It was a New Age awakening. Historians call our world today Post-Christian.

“If you don’t know that, then you need to wake up and quit reading books written 50 years ago about reaching people 50 years ago, and look around you today. The best in Christendom today is so washed out and shallow, and sorry and flesh-oriented, that it couldn’t even get in the door 50 years ago.

“Unsaved men 50-75 years ago had three times the character of Christian leaders today. Christian people today accept low-living and character defects in fellow Believers, and give them ministries that when I was a kid people would have looked at them and sneered and said, ‘How in the world do you call yourself a Christian and do all that stuff? I don’t want to know what you have to say.’

“Today you’re involved in ministering to the first generations in American history that didn’t have some basic spiritual consensus or underpinnings that pointed them at least in the right direction.

“How you come out of winter into the next spring is up for grabs. It’s up for grabs during the winter.

*****

“If you want to see how nations operate, you’ll see it laid out in Genesis 8-10 and you’ll the satanic counter-attack in Gen. 11 (internationalism and getting rid of the pattern set up). Genesis 9 lays out the great ethnic divisions among the nations.

“Noah’s three boys—Ham, Shem and Japeth—are the progenitors of the three ethnic races that make up humanity. With each one of those boys and their descendants, Noah gives a prophecy about them and when he does, he gives a prophecy about the contribution each is to make.

“Those divisions are not designed to be divisions; they’re designed to be distinctions in the contribution. If you’ve done something, you know that one ingredient does one thing and another ingredient does another, and another, and then you have the whole. It’s the old sin nature that makes them divisions. When each division makes the proper contribution it’s designed to make then you have the proper functioning of the whole. In the ages to come in the millennial kingdom, that will be exactly what happens.

“That’s why when the gospel goes into any culture, no matter what culture it is, it doesn’t bring the culture of another group into it, it goes into that particular culture and purifies that culture and brings out of it all the best that culture can contribute.

“And instead of trying to go in and Westernize or Southernize or Midwestize or Californiaize, you come in and honor the dignity of who these people are and that God designed them to be that way, bringing in the gospel and the life of Christ, and the truth of God’s grace and what that brings out, and then the group is full and able to make the contribution to the whole that it’s designed to make.

“I’m telling you what the answer is to the ethnic, racial strife in the world! I’ve read accounts of missionaries, sociologists, anthropologists, etc., going into the most hinterlands of humanity, where people have had no contact at all with civilizations, and they sit down and say, ‘What are your dreams, what do you want, who do you think you are, what is it you desire?’ and you know what? The list they come away with is exactly the list you’d make! They say, ‘I want a better life for my children.’

“You say, ‘Hey, this people have never been civilized yet; touched with the blessings of the civilized world. How do they know all of our questions?!’ Folks, it’s because we all come from the same place. The same God made us and made us to operate on those four basic principles laid out in Genesis.”

Humbleness is about being overwhelmed by the privilege

" 'Serving the Lord with all humility of mind,’ as Paul calls it, comes by hearing and how do you hear? Look at Romans 10:14: [14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

“There’s a process, see? There’s a sending and a preaching and a hearing and a believing--because you heard, because it was preached, because someone was sent! Faith comes by hearing," says Richard Jordan.

“It starts with the possession of His Word, but then it starts with taking that Word and preaching it, being a minister, putting it out there. The heralding of it and the hearing of it creates faith in what’s said.

“Paul says, ‘[8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

“Look at all the privileges you and I have at our disposal that we didn’t do anything to produce. The Body of Christ has produced them for us, put them into our hands. We call this the ‘Information Era’ and it really is, but you see it’s that information that people need to hear.

“That ‘humility of mind’ Paul talks about comes from just appreciating what God has provided for us. The Body of Christ produced truth and made it available. There ought to be no other course for your life or for mine than to proclaim God’s truth so that others can hear it.

“How can we just sit on it?! That humbleness is about being overwhelmed with the privilege you and I have of possessing God’s Word in our own hands, and the tools to study it, investigate it, examine it, analyze it, think deeply and reflect upon it.

“Paul says, ‘Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.’ God help us not to just leave it on the table. ‘To whom much is given much is required.’

"The thing that changed Paul’s attitude was seeing all the abundance of what God had given for him in Christ.

“The thing that can give you the humility of mind that grace produces is to take a moment and think about all the wonderful privileges God’s given you in your life. I’m not talking about just in Christ; I’m talking about how it’s impacted your LIFE and then let that motivate you.”

******

"Paul says in Ephesians 3, 'Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.'

“Think about how in the time of the Apostle Paul in the Greco-Roman world, the literacy rate had reached a pinnacle in ancient history. The Greek world, the Greek philosophers, the Roman world . . . Historians say that the Roman civilization was based on ‘the book and the register.’

“No one, either free or a slave, could afford to be illiterate. The written word was all around them, both in public and private life, through the law, calendars, regulations on shrines, etc. Funeral epitaphs were engraved in stone or bronze. The republic amassed huge archives of reports on every aspect of public life. So people were literate, but when the Roman Empire fell, literacy became a fleeting thing.

“You go into a period called the Dark Ages, and during that age only about 30 percent of the population in Europe could read, and they would be the clergy or the wealthy who had time to do it and teach their kids.

“Now you imagine if you lived in, say, 1,000 A.D. and you couldn’t read that verse in Ephesians because you didn’t have a bible, because bibles back then were all handwritten, and if you had one, you wouldn’t be able to read anyway.

“II Timothy 2:15 says, 'Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.'

“The word ‘study’ means ‘the application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge as by reading, investigation or reflection. To research or a detailed examination and analysis of a subject. To endeavor, to think deeply, to reflect, to consider what God says.’

“Paul says ‘Study!’ and you think, ‘Oh, geez, I need to apply my mind to the acquisition of knowledge by reading, but I can’t read by investigation! I got to go find somebody to read it for me by reflection and thinking deeply.’

“What would you do? Look at you this morning. How many of you don’t have a Bible in your lap? I’ve got the Bible on my phone, my tablet, my IPad, my laptop, my desktop.

“If I told you today, ‘I’m going to send you to a remote island all by yourself and you’re not going to see anybody for 10 years, and I want you to study God’s Word,’ what books would you take with you as study aids?

“First thing I would do is take a King James Bible, an English dictionary, a concordance, Treasure of Scripture Knowledge. Maybe you’d take a bible dictionary, take a commentary or two. Take a 1611 Bible. Take a Strong’s Concordance.

“Do you realize a Strong’s Concordance was first published in 1890? It was the first English concordance. In 1885, if you wanted to find a verse, you had to remember where it was. You ever do that? ‘I know that verse’s in there somewhere; where’s it at?’

“Now you don’t even own a concordance anymore because the Bible app you got on your stupid phone is hooked into it. Do you understand you are a privileged group of people that in church history didn’t exist?!

*****

“The printing press was introduced by Guttenberg in 1445. By the way, Guttenberg’s said to have invented the printing press and that’s not true. In 1437, there was a fleet of Chinese vessels that went up into the Mediterranean and delivered to Pope Edmond information from the Chinese emperor, part of which was printed books. The Chinese had developed the printing press long before. They had mapped the circumference of the planet. They developed latitude and longitude.

“That’s the reason the Venetian mapmaker everybody talks about that Columbus might have saw—did he see or didn’t he see?—the map that he got . . . what he did was introduce the printing press.

“In the 14th century when Wycliffe first translated the bible, 80 percent of English adults couldn’t spell their name. In the 15th century, when Gutenberg introduced the printing press, only about 30 percent of European adults were literate.

“By the 17^th century, the number went up to 60 percent. By the 18^th century it was ubiquitous. Did you know in Sweden in the 17^th century, the 1660s along in there, there was 100 percent literacy rate because the church required people to be able to read.  Do you understand you could have lived in an era where you couldn’t read? A lot of us wouldn’t have been able to.

“I wear glasses because I can’t read without them. Did you know the first eyeglasses were introduced in the 1200s? Nero, Seneca, the 1^st century; they were the first people in recorded history talking about magnification, but it wasn’t until the glass-blowing industry got going in the 11^th and 12th centuries that they made ‘looking stones,’ as they called them. The first glass put into frames was in Italy in 1286.

“So if you could get a bible and you could read, but you couldn’t see . . . Paul says in Galatians 6, ‘You see what a large letter I’ve written you.’ He’s not talking about how long it is; Galatians is a short little book. He’s talking about, ‘I wrote this with my own hands and I put it in big letters because I need that to see.’ You see, if you write letters big enough, blind as I am in one eye, you can still see them.

*****

“Several years ago, a guy in New York handwrote the King James Bible; he wanted to figure out how long it would take him. It took him four years. Now, if you were in Wycliffe’s day in the 14^th century, and you got a Lombard bible that Wycliffe translated into what was English at the time (English just began in the 1300s), you know how he did it? He didn’t have a nice fountain pen with a big reservoir. He had a quill tip and he dipped.

“Before that, they first started writing with chalk. Then they figured out how to add wax and graphite together. Then they had wax and color together—crayons. Before that, they chiseled it into rock. Can you imagine toting a bible like that around?! Well, you couldn’t do it.

“Now, that guy with a felt-tip pen writes that Bible and it takes him four years. How many quills do you think he went through? Lots. I got this nice pen with a gold tip on it and it will write forever. If it doesn’t, they’ll put me a new one in it. But when you use those bible marking pens, how long do they last? 2-3 months. Why? Because you wear them out. If you had to have a quill, you would have to have a bunch and that’s just to get one copy.

******

From the 6^th century to the 12th century, there were followers of the Apostle Paul, i.e., preachers of Paul’s truth, who were completely unplugged from the religious system and dubbed by their enemies as “Pauliceans.”

“They accused them of pretty much the exact same things they accuse us of, but the wonderful thing is it’s not about us; it’s His inheritance and we get to participate in what God’s has for Himself."

"If you just relax and see that, it will blow your mind. We’re ‘fellowheirs,’ equal participants in this inheritance in which God’s forming a spiritual body of Believers through whom the Lord Jesus Christ MANIFESTS Himself.

“We’re fellow partakers of His promise, meaning ALL that He’s planned to do in His Son, it’s ALL by the gospel, and that’s why Paul says in Romans 16:25, ‘Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.’

“Everything God does today is based upon the Crosswork of the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul says in Ephesians 3, ‘Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.’

“Paul says, ‘That’s what I’M made a minister of.’ Kind of an odd thing when you read through the passage is how Paul keeps returning to this PERSONAL issue.

“He talked about it back in verses 1 and 2. He addresses HIS place in this ministry, and how he’s been placed INTO the ministry of this great truth.

“Verses 7 and 8 are sort of like a personal moment for Paul. He’s talking about this great stuff and then he says, ‘And you know what He did? He made ME the one to tell people about it!’

“Paul writes, [8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

“When I read that, I go, ‘Wow, God took a proud, religious, scholarly, rabbinical rabbi and turned Him into a servant! You talk about a change of mind!’

“By the way, he didn’t say, ‘Unto me who am less than the least of all apostles.' He would never say that! In II Corinthians 12 Paul states, ‘I don’t come one whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles.’

“Paul would NEVER say that about his office. He said, ‘I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my office,’ meaning this POSITION Christ gave him to proclaim this new message. Paul never minimized that. Whenever he thought about himself, he had what he calls that ‘humility of mind,’ because he knew it wasn’t anything about him.

“In Philippians 3:4, Paul says, ‘[4] Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: [5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. [7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

“Paul’s saying, ‘Listen, I can strut my stuff. I can be a high-minded rabbinical scholar and tell you all of my pedigree.’ But, he says, ‘I counted loss all those things that I could brag about--that I spent my life pursuing so that I could have status.’

*****

“He tells you in Galatians 1:14 that he ‘profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.’

“ ‘They were gain,’ he said, ‘but I counted them loss for Christ. I found something in the Lord Jesus Christ that was far more to be treasured than all those things.’ He says in Philippians 3:8, ‘Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.’

“When he says, ‘Yea, doubtless, and I COUNT,’ he’s saying, ‘I didn’t just meet Christ on the Road to Damascus and realize, There’s reality! I’ve learned day by day to count all those things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffer the loss of all things.’

“When I read verse 8, I’m conscious of the fact we’re getting to look into the heart of the Apostle Paul here. That’s the only time he ever uses that terminology.

"The Lord Jesus Christ had captivated his heart, and when Paul got a good look at Him, it gave him a good look at himself, and he realized he had someone, not in himself, but in Christ, to treasure. He came away from there with a ‘humility of mind,’ as he calls it--a thinking process that could only say, ‘It’s not I, it’s Him.’

*****

“When he talks about being a minister, look at what he writes in I Corinthians 4: ‘1] Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

“Paul says, ‘When you think about me, don’t think about my pedigree, all my standing. Don’t go around telling people I got my Ph.D. at the feet of Gamaliel; tell them I’m a minister of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God.’

“The he writes, ‘Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.’ You see it doesn’t say ‘successful’? Doesn’t say ‘popular.’ It doesn’t say ‘the crowd’s hanging on my words.’ It says ‘faithful.’

“The ministry of Christ and the ‘steward of the mystery’ are two ways of describing the same thing. So, what’s a steward?

"In Luke 12:42 Jesus told a parable about a steward. It says, [42] And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?’

“Notice what a steward is. They don’t own anything. A steward is a servant of his master and he takes his master’s goods and gives it out to others. He’s not the owner, he’s not the boss. He takes the orders from the boss, the master, and goes and gives that . . . he doesn’t decide, ‘I think I’ll give you this, I like you better; I’ll give you that.’

“He says, ‘The master says you get this, and the master says you get that.’ He’s saying, ‘I’m just the guy handing out the stuff.’ That’s why he’s got to be faithful. He’s got to be faithful to what the master said.

*****

“I Thessalonians 2:4 says, [4] But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

“He says, ‘I’ve been allowed of God.’ Grace is an underserved favor. Paul’s saying, ‘I’ve been given by God this undeserved privilege to preach this. I’ve been allowed of God to be put in trust; He’s taken His goods and entrusted them to me, and then I give them out as a wise steward. I’m just a minister. I’m just a servant. I’m just the pipeline. I’m not the issue; HE’S the issue! The message is the issue.’

“Ephesians 4: 7-8 says, [7] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
[8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

“Paul’s not talking about salvation; he’s talking about his ministry that was given to him as a gift of grace. He’s saying there’s a ministry privilege that’s given to YOU and ME! Every one of us has this grace! We have the privilege of being part of a ministry of the truth of God.

*****

“In Galatians 2:9 Paul reports, [9] And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

“These men saw the special privilege given to Paul to preach this special message to the Gentiles. That’s what Galatians 2 is all about, by the way.

“Paul went to Jerusalem and communicated the gospel, which he was preaching among the Gentiles to the Jerusalem saints who didn’t know it. He brought them up-to-date and they PERCEIVED that unto Paul ‘who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.’

“There’s two ways to take the word ‘unsearchable.’ The word means ‘untraceable.’ When you can’t trace something, you can’t search it out. Jesus said, ‘Search the scriptures for they are they which testify of me.’

“Here’s a truth you can’t search the Scriptures and find. That’s interesting. But when it’s unsearchable, it means you can’t find it; it’s too wide, too deep; it’s too broad. You go on down in chapter 3 and it says it ‘passes understanding.’ You can’t get your mind around . . . He prays that you’d comprehend it because it’s just so big. It’s as big as God.

“Paul says, ‘I’ve got this message and I’ve been given the privilege of preaching it,’ and that changed his whole thinking process.’ ”

(new article tomorrow)

Bearing witness of that Light

"When J.C. O'Hair died, both Mr. Stam and Mr. Baker did his funeral. Stam said, 'We didn't coordinate ahead of time what we were going to talk about, but we both chose the same text.'

"It was John 1:6: [6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

"The name John means 'the gift of God.' When it says John was sent from God that wasn't a colloquial expression. This guy was sent directly by God on purpose through divine revelation. God went to John and said, 'Okay, I want you,' just like He went to Old Testament prophets all the time.

"The passage continues: [7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

[8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
[9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

"Go down to verse 29: [29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

"John recognized the deity of Christ; he knew the pre-existence of Christ. John the Baptist was a cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ.

*****

"A brother in Christ asked me once, ‘What is your favorite subject to study in all of the Bible?’ Usually my favorite book is the one I’m studying at the time because you just get caught up and fascinated in it.

“But I thought for a minute, ‘If there’s one subject in the Bible that you like to study that does more for you when you study it than any other subject, that would be your favorite subject, that when you’re down in the dumps, it’s the subject you’d study and it’d get you up, and when you’re up already it’s the subject that would bring you up more . . .’

“The word ‘enthusiasm’ is a Greek word--‘en’ and then the word ‘theos,’ or God. Into God. The Greek word is the idea of being inspired and lifted up. You get into God and it gets you into life.

“If there’s one thing I could study, and that I do study a lot, and just enjoy studying that always revs me up, it’s what Christ told that guy to do. It’s the deity of Christ.

"Of all the subjects in the Bible, for me personally, and I think for every Believer, ought to be the most powerful subject in your life, is just to stand back and look at who the Bible says Jesus Christ is and appreciate the fact that you’re in Him and that you’re complete in Him, and that it’s Him who is the source of all your blessings, and the source of your true, real identity, and He’s the one you have all your status in.

“You see, that’s the thing that’s so wonderful about the grace of God; it’s that it makes Jesus Christ everything. And the Bible says that ‘it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.’ If you ask God the Father what is the most exciting subject in all the universe, He’d say, ‘My Son.’

“Psalm 16 says ‘at my right hand are pleasures forever more.’ Well, who sits at the Father’s right hand? Any way you cut it, slice it, dice it, look at it, think about it, take it apart and put it back together, Jesus Christ is the apple of the Father’s eye. He’s the thing that causes the Father’s heart to rejoice. He’s the one.

“It’s mindboggling when you really look at what the Scripture says about who He is. It’s sort of numbs your mind. It’s SO big, and it just keeps getting bigger, and you can never just get your arms around it."

(new post tomorrow. i broke my wrist yesterday morning walking on broken up asphalt. it's called Colles Fracture. can only type with finger from right hand)

Could we with ink the ocean fill

Only weeks after Obama won his second term in office, I attended as part of my job a symposium at the University of Illinois Chicago medical campus. The subject was the Affordable Care Act and the lecture hall was filled with med students and various instructors.

The moderator said as part of her introduction, “I hope you were pleased with the election results . . . and if you weren’t, well, there’s nothing you can do about it.” The crowd laughed. As someone who was then working with this med school's students as part of the job, I knew this was the overwhelming sentiment.

As a physician with a private practice, my dad was very conservative and never hid it. He even used to play classic patriotic songs in his office waiting room in between classic old hymns.

Kate Smith to Tennessee Ernie Ford were piped in over the stereo system from LPs my dad would play on a turntable and flip over himself from the hallway next to his office. Later on, he had me make cassette tapes where I was given the creative freedom to put together my own compilations from his dozens and dozens of albums of hymns and patriotic tunes.

One day when rearranging storage boxes I inadvertently opened a box that, to my surprise, contained a hodgepodge of really old family mementos, including an original blue clothbound and gold-stamped church hymnal published at 218 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, in 1925.

Inside the cover was a black-and-white photo of Billy Sunday with his signature and cursive writing of II Timothy 2:15. There were quite a few hymns I’d never heard of before, including Steal Away to Jesus. 

The lyrics are: Steal away to Jesus, to the secret place of prayer; Steal away to Jesus, for that fellowship so rare; He has tasted our life’s grief, He can give you full relief: Steal away to Jesus, His own peace will greet you there.

2.      Steal away to Jesus, sorrow-crowned His life has been; Steal away to Jesus, His blood covers ev-’ry sin; He has ever loved you so, there the peace of God you’ll know. Steal away to Jesus, healing grace you’ll have within.

3.      Steal away to Jesus, with the vexing cares that fret; Steal away to Jesus, where your trials you’ll forget; He your soul is ever near, to his heart your life is dear; Steal away to Jesus, where the banquet feast is set.

The song was written by Samuel M. Glasgow and considered a Scottish hymn by roots. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find its lyrics online, reminding me of how my pastor often laments that many of the great old hymns representing our Christian heritage have been all but lost. Younger generations have no idea they ever existed.

For me, as someone tremendously blessed to have grown up with LP records of hymns playing in our home (and even on cassette for car excursions including any road trips we made, even down to Miami Beach for annual summer family vacations), the lyrics lend precious insights into the hearts of the writers.

The lyrics are often so intimate and sincere in their relaying of personal struggles and shortcomings, godly desires and yearnings, victories and enlightenings, repentings and reprovings, on and on.

It’s like you’re reading their love poems to Jesus Christ and God’s Word. Often their command of the King James Bible is readily apparent in the usage of verses and stories.

On page 10 of the song book, for example, is Jesus, Rose of Sharon, written by Ida A. Guirey in 1922. The lyrics include:

1.      Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom within my heart; Beauties of Thy truth and holiness impart, That where-e’er I go my life may shed abroad Fragrance of thy knowledge of the love of God.

2.      Jesus, Rose of Sharon, sweeter far to see That the fairest flow’rs of earth could ever be, Fill my life completely, adding more each day Of Thy grace divine and purity, I pray.

Here are some great lines from a number of the songbook’s hymns separated by ellipses:

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, Discord filled my heart with pain, Jesus swept across the broken strings, Stirred the slumb’ring chords again . . . 

O Savior Thou art patient still, Tho’ I have grieved Thee sore, Have slighted Thee, betrayed and Denied Thee o’er and o’er; Yet in Thy mercy wide and deep Thou hast not turned away . . .

Sweet secret prayer, comfort divine, There do Thine arms, Lord, round me entwine, There do I feel I truly am Thine, Rivers of love and mercy there flow, Balm for all sorrow that mortal can know . . . 

Dear Lord, take up the tangled strands, Where we have wrought in vain, That by the skill of Thy dear hands Some beauty may remain, Transformed by grace divine, The glory shall be Thine; To Thy most holy will, O Lord, We now our all resign . . .

I left it all with Jesus, The myst’ry of my pain, The meaning of my sorrow—Some day He’ll make it plain, I left it all with Jesus, And now I am at rest, My all is in His keeping, And what He wills is best...

Go out on the streets and highways, Go out with the message of love; Go tell in the corners and byways, Of Jesus, the Friend from above, Go forth in the strength of the Master, Fear nothing, for He is your Guide; Go rescue their souls from disaster, The Savior will stand by your side, For he that is wise winneth souls . . .

Work, for the night is coming, Work thro’ the morning hours; Work while the dew is sparkling, Work ’mid springing flow’rs; Give every flying minute Something to keep in store; Work, for the night is coming, When man works no more . . . 

He calls you, for He loves you With a heart most kind, He whose heart was broken, Broken for mankind; Now, just now He calls you, Calls in accents clear, Will you be enlisted As a volunteer? A volunteer for Jesus, A soldier true! Others have enlisted, Why not you? Oh, why not? . . .

In a flood of light supernal, While the angel chorus sings, With the hosts of heaven watching, Trumpet sounds and joy-bell rings, Oh, the glory of His coming, From the throne in heav’n above, Bringing down from realms eternal Wonders of God’s love. Till the day dawns and the shadows flee away, Guide me, O Thou dear Redeemer, Keep me faithful all the way . . . 

What purpose burns within our hearts That we together here should stand, Pledging each other mutual vows, And ready to join hand in hand? . . . 

Blessed Lord, Thee is refuge, Safety for my trembling soul, Pow’r to lift my head when drooping ’Midst the angry billows’ roll. I will trust Thee, I will trust Thee, I will trust Thee, All my life Thou shalt control, All my life Thou shalt control . . . 

Upon a wide and stormy sea, Thou’rt sailing to eternity, And thy great Adm’ral orders thee:--‘Sail on! sail on! sail on!’ . . .

See the glorious banner waving! Hear the trumpet blow! In our Leader’s name we’ll triumph Over ev-'ry foe. ‘Hold the fort, for I am coming,’ Jesus signals still; Wave the answer back to heaven, ‘By Thy grace we will' . . . 

*****

The hymnal's song, "The Love of God," was written in A.D. 1050 by a Jewish poet, Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, a synagogue singer (cantor) in Worms, Germany. His poetry was only found in 1917, penciled on the wall of a patient room in a mental asylum. According to the Cyberhymnal, “The writers of the hymn, Frederick M. Lehman and his daughter Claudia L. Mays, found the poem that was obviously written during the period when the patient was sane. They added the first two stanzas and the chorus.”

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.”

Here is yet another priceless hymn:

Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high: Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
2	Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, oh, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing.
3	Thou, O Christ, art all I want; More than all in Thee I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy name, I am all unrighteousness; Vile and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace.
4	Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart, Rise to all eternity. ( i fell on early morning walk with mom. messed up my left wrist and right knee. praying i did not break the wrist. it is very swollen and i am pecking away with one hand right now. i was using 3 lb. weights in each hand, as i have done since my nyc days, to enhance workout. write an update tomorrow)

Peace that belongs to the God of peace

Paul writes in Philippians 4: 9, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

In verse 7, he says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

In John 14, when Jesus Christ met with the apostles in the Upper Room the night before He died, introducing to them the new covenant and how the Holy Spirit would operate in them, He told them, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

"If the peace of God is going to keep your heart and Jesus Christ said ‘my peace,’ could you figure out what the peace of God is if you looked at the peace Jesus had?" says Richard Jordan. "He was God and He had peace. The next day He’s going to die.

“Philippians 2:8 says, ‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’

"Where did He get his peace from? He got it from being obedient to the will of His Father. He rested in a complete total confidence in the will of His Father.

“He goes from this Upper Room event out into the Garden. Matthew 26:39 says, ‘And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“In going to the Cross He knows He’s going to accomplish the will of His Father. When He came out of that Garden that issue had been settled in His mind.

“The Cross wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t something where He was dragged kicking and screaming, going, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to go!’

“He went there in obedience to the Father’s will and He says to the apostles, ‘My peace I leave you. The same kind of relaxed mental attitude of confidence in the will of the Father that I have is what I want to give to you.’

“What I want you to see in that is what the peace of God is. It's the peace that God Himself possesses. You see that in the person of Jesus Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh, and w'hat’s the peace that Christ had?

"His peace is, ‘I’m completely content to trust the will and the Word of my Father. I’m relaxed in that. I’m sitting in the easy chair. The will of my Father is absolutely the place of safety for me,’ and He’s relaxed in that.

“Philippians 4 says that peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your heart. That word ‘keep’ there is like ‘guard it; protect it.’ That relaxed mental attitude of confidence in the will of your Father keeps your heart and mind. That’s the God of peace being with you.

*****

“John 20 says, ‘Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
[22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
[23] Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’

“That expression ‘breathed on them’ occurs three times in the Bible. The idea of breathing on something in Scripture has to do with creation. Psalm 33:6 says, ‘By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.’ The breath of His mouth has to do with the creative power of His Words. It’s the idea of creating the universe.

“Three times in the Bible God breathes on someone and it has to do with an act of communicating life. In Genesis 2:7 it says, ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’

“He formed man out of the dust of the earth—there’s his body. He breathed into man the breath of life—there’s the spirit. And man became a living soul—there’s your soul. Spirit, soul and body.

"Those are the three parts of what makes up the essence of a human and that communication of life in the original creation by an act of God, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. Breathing on him had to do with communicating life.

“You have the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel. Those dudes were dead and their bones were dried out. They’re breathed on, though, and then they come back to life.

“When He breathed on them He put His Spirit in them. Now if you think about what’s going on in John 20, you can see the parallel. He’s creating, He’s resurrecting, He’s reclaiming."

(new article tomorrow)

As Enoch walked in days of old

Just like in Noah's day, where getting into the Ark saved the family from being destroyed by the Flood, getting into the "little flock" will save the Believers in Israel from destruction in the tribulation.

Genesis 7 says they came in and God shut the door. There was a door of entrance into the Ark; there's a door of entrance into the "little flock".

Jesus Christ says in John 10: [1] Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

[2] But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
[3] To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
[4] And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
[5] And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

The passage continues: [6] This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
[7] Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
[8] All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
[9] I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

[10] The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

"He's contrasting His ministry with that of the religious leaders of Israel; the vain religious system," explains Richard Jordan. "They're trying to climb into the sheepfold some other way. God has a door for them to come in. And there's a porter who will open it for them.

"The shepherd, when he comes, he comes to the door, the porter opens it and he goes in. The porter's John the Baptist and the door is water baptism.

"In denominational religion they say, 'Baptism is the door to the church.' Well, they got the wrong church but they've got a point because the way you got into that sheepfold was through the door.

"John the Baptist says in John 1:31: [31] And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

"In other words, John says, 'I didn't know who He was yet but I knew that I'm baptizing with water because the Messiah is going to come in the door.'

"Luke 7:30 says, [30] But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

"They wouldn't go in the door, so they didn't get into the 'little flock', the place of safety. 

*****

"It's important to understand in I Peter the issue is there's a period of longsuffering back in Noah's day that allowed people to get into the Ark. Peter's talking about the fact there's a longsuffering going on for them in the tribulation too; an extension of mercy being given to Israel for them to get in.

"II Peter 3:9 talks about, [9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. There's a longsuffering period.

"Now come back to Genesis 5: [21] And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

[22] And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
[23] And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
[24] And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

"Think about that. There's something that obviously took place with the birth of Methuselah that caused Enoch to begin to walk with God.

"In Hebrews chapter 11, what's often referred to as 'the heroes of faith' passage, Enoch’s influence is specifically identified: [5] By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

"That's why you have that next verse that is so often quoted: [6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

[7] By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

"Where does faith come from? Paul says in Romans, 'So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.'

"You can't have faith if you don't have a Word from God to trust. So when it says by faith Enoch did something, that means God communicated some information to Enoch for him to believe and it had to do with his translation; with him being delivered from the wrath."

The song "O Let Me Walk With Thee, My God" has the lyrics:

1 O let me walk with thee, my God,
As Enoch walked in days of old;
Place thou my trembling hand in thine,
And sweet communion with me hold;
E'en tho' the path I May not see,
Yet, Jesus, let me walk with thee.

2 I can not, dare not walk alone;
The tempest rages in the sky;
A thousand snares beset my feet,
A thousand foes are lurking nigh;
Still thou the raging of the sea;
O Master, let me walk with thee.

3 If I may rest my hand in thine,
I'll count the joys of earth but loss,
And firmly, bravely journey on;
I'll bear the banner of the cross
Till Zion's glorious gates I see:
Yet, Saviour, let me walk with thee.

(new article tomorrow)

Love so amazing, so divine

One of the great hymns of faith, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", written by Isaac Watts and published in 1707, "is significant for being an innovative departure from the early English hymn style of only using paraphrased biblical texts," according to Wikipedia, "although the first couplet of the second verse paraphrases Galatians 6:14a and the second couplet of the fourth verse paraphrases Gal.6:14b.

"The poetry of 'When I survey . . . ' may be seen as English literary baroque.^[1]"

According to Barry's Hymns blog, "It is said that as a teenager Watts complained to his father about the monotonous way Christians in England sang the Old Testament Psalms. His father, a leading deacon, snapped back, 'All right young man, you give us something better.' "

Wikipedia: "The second line of the first stanza originally read, 'Where the young Prince of Glory dy'd'. Watts himself altered that line in the 1709 edition of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, to prevent it from being mistaken as an allusion to Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, the heir to the throne who died at age 11.^[2]

"The hymn's fourth stanza ('His dying crimson . . .') is commonly omitted in printed versions, a practice that began with George Whitefield in 1757.^[3]

"In the final stanza, some modern variations substitute the word 'offering' for 'present'."

5. Were the whole Realm of Nature mine,
    That were a Present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.

Of the hymn's critical acclaim, Barry's blog notes, "Tedd Smith is quoted as saying, 'It seems to me that Isaac Watts wrote this text as if he were standing at the foot of Christ's cross.' Charles Wesley reportedly said he would give up all his other hymns to have written this one. Concerning the hymn's creation, there is no special story that makes it stand out from others that he wrote.  But what makes this hymn unique is the particular beauty of its language and imagery, and the power with which it highlights the most significant event in human and personal history - the cross of Jesus Christ."