Living above the snake line

(sure enough i've just come through yet another time-consuming computer issue and now very thankful to have my laptop working again. will post new article tomorrow now)

For eons Christians have had this quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. leveled at them as a criticism: "Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." They don't get that Believers are actually living smartly with an elevated understanding of what's already true about them.

Here is excerpt from Christianity Today article:

1. Naturalists tell of an invisible line—real, definite, unchangeably fixed, at a given altitude above sea level—known as the 'snake line.' We are told that in certain mountainous areas in New England one of the first questions of a prospective purchaser of a farm is likely to be: 'Is this farm above the snake line?' Below that line there may be deadly reptiles, imperiling man and beast; above that line no snake can live. Below that line an unsuspecting child or an unwary adult might fall victim to one of these deadly reptiles; above, they may move about in untroubled security.

"Our hope is that while we're still here on earth, there are things we can do to redeem the time and bring people into the hope that we have. The glory that will be revealed in us gives us the capacity to function NOW in a way that's effective," explains Richard Jordan.

"Paul writes in Romans 8:14-15: [14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

"The spirit of bondage comes from the law; it comes from relying upon your resources to produce something that God accepts. That never works and it always keeps you afraid because you have that consciousness that you don't measure up. That isn't how God deals with us.

"That Spirit of adoption is God the Holy Spirit and having right now the Spirit that's going to resurrect us out there in the future. Adoption is to be placed in the position of an adult in God's family. I right now have the Holy Spirit who's going to produce that.

"That word 'Abba' is an Aramaic word kind of like saying 'Papa.' It's like looking at your dad and being able to say, 'Papa, I trust you.' The only other person in the Bible who ever said that is in Mark 14. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's in the garden of Gethsemane facing Calvary.

"He falls on the ground and prays, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.' When He does that He says, 'Abba, Father, I trust you above all other. I know you have my interest only on your heart.'

"You and I have that ability because we know the security of our future to trust Him now as though we were already there. Romans 8:16-17: [16] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

"To be an 'heir' is an inheritance. You have an inheritance out there in the future. 'Heirs of God.' That's who gives you the inheritance. You're an heir of the Creator of all things. A JOINT-heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the extent of your inheritance.

"Now, notice the suffering and the glory in verse 18. There's a correlation between what we go through now and the glory. When you put in your mind the things that are coming, it gives you the capacity to look at what's happening now and say, 'Hey, that's what's future and that's what's lasting.' It gives you the capacity to be sustained. It gives you patience not to be thrown off and just to keep at it.

"Hebrews 12:2 is the classic illustration of Romans 8. The verse says, [2] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

"Notice, for the joy that was set before Him He endured the Cross and said, 'It's no big deal.' It was a big deal when He was going through it. But He said, 'When you compare it with that glory, that joy, with what's going to be accomplished, it's no big deal.' The Lord Jesus Christ kept in His mind a realm of understanding about what was being accomplished at the Cross; what God was going to do through the Crosswork.

"When you and I keep that same viewpoint in our own thinking, it gives us the capacity to be sustained; the capacity to put on RIGHT NOW . . . when he says 'put on the helmet of salvation,' right now we're to think and view ourselves in light of what God's going to do with us in the ages to come.

"We're not just going to say, 'Well, out yonder when I get there . . .' We're going to put it on right now and it's going to produce in us a thinking process.

"Ephesians 1 says, [15] Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
[16] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
[17] That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
[18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
[19] And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.

"Notice He's the Father of glory. We're talking about the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father has a plan; He calls it glory. To exalt His Son. He explains what the plan is in the rest of this chapter. We're a part of it.

"Paul writes of 'the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.' He wants you to KNOW something. When you know it, chapter 3, Paul prays that it then would empower you. It can't empower you until you KNOW it, because it's the WORD that you know and becomes the energizing force when you believe it.

"What he's talking about in the verse is there's an attitude; a spirit. There's an outlook that you get when you have the wisdom that comes from the revelation of God's Word.

"When you get an understanding of God's Word, 'the eyes of your understanding being enlightened', it gives you a spirit; an attitude, a confidence, a good hope. That hope, the 'helmet of salvation,' that's the issue. And that is what we're to live in right now.

*****

"In I Corinthians, Paul is writing to the most carnal, fleshy, worldly-minded, completely self-oriented church. They evidently wrote Paul a series of questions and he's answering them. Before he does that, though, he spends six chapters rebuking them. You can divide I Corinthians into two sections. Chapters 7-16 is his reply.

"I Corinthians 6: [1] Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? It's as if you see somebody do something and you say, 'How dare you?!' In other words, Paul's saying, 'This makes no sense considering who you are!'

"What's happening is two guys are in a fight and they can't come to an agreement, so one of them sues the other; goes to the law to settle the argument.

"Here's why they shouldn't do that: [2] Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
[3] Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
[4] If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
[5] I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

"You get the idea. He's saying, 'Your destiny is to judge and rule and reign in the heavens over the angelic creation. If there's where you're headed and that's what God's going to use you for in the ages to come for eternity, don't you have sense enough to handle this little fight you got going on now?!'

"In other words, 'If you're equipped out here with this future it ought to affect the way you operate and think right now.' Just keep reading: [6] But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
[7] Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
[8] Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
[9] Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
[10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
[11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

"He's saying, 'You think lost people can answer things?! What?! Don't you realize who you are?!' Paul doesn't let them off. He doesn't excuse them. He says, 'This is a shameful thing among you because of the way you think.'

" 'Why do you not rather take wrong?' Uh-oh. What kind of an attitude would that be? Would it be called grace? Would it be called, '[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:'

"Or is it, 'Well, I'm not going to let them do that! You know what they did to me?! They're wrong, I'm right!'

"Paul says, 'Wait a minute, what'd grace teach you? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?' In other words, you ever heard the adage, 'There's his side, her side and then the truth'? That's always the way it is. Paul says, 'You're going to go out there and try and let unsaved people solve these things when God's given you the wisdom in His Word to do it yourself.'

"That's the context in which he says verse 9. Most of the time we pull verse 9 out without the context. Here's the doctrine: Lost people aren't going to be out there in that kingdom, you are! Be not deceived!

"In verse 11, he's saying to think about all those things in verse 9 and 10. Those are lost people. Paul says, 'You used to be lost.'

"You've heard me say over and over, don't get mad at lost people for acting like lost people. That's what lost people do. That's who they are. And if anybody understands that, it ought to be you because you used to be one of them! But you aren't anymore. Here's who you are now.

"You're washed. Revelation 1 says we're washed in His blood. We're cleansed from the defilement and the dirt. You're sanctified. That means you've been set apart. You're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. You've had a complete, radical change in your identity; in who you are. Not what you do but who you are, because who you are is where what you do comes from.

"Philippians 1:9: [9] And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

"Notice he's praying for their love, but that kind of love is not spelled l-u-v; it's not a warm, wonderful feeling for everybody. It's not an emotional, circumstantial-based love because it's going to increase in knowledge.

"This is a thinking, knowledge-based love. The idea of loving something is valuing and esteeming it. Paul says, 'I'm praying that your ability to value and esteem a thing would grow in knowledge and in judgment.' Judgment there is the idea of discernment.

"Verse 10: [10] That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. You remember that passage in Hebrews 5 where he says, [14] But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

"Verse 10 is saying, 'That you may always choose the thing that's of greatest value in life.' I can do this or that as far as God's concerned, but they're not all the thing of greater value. Can I do it? Yes, but is it the thing that has the best long-term interest for myself and others? What's the long-term benefit, the benefit in 'the ages to come,' as opposed to just me right now having my way and then getting a 'blank' out there.

"I need to have the capacity to look at life, look at my choices and discern the thing that's of greater value; approve things that are excellent. 'Here's something that's good, but here's something that's better. Here's something that's the best.'

"Why would you want to be doing that? 'That ye may be sincere and without offense.' You see, what you do now impacts what happens to you out yonder. He says, 'I want you to value and esteem what's going to happen to you out in the future enough that it controls and guides your thinking about what you're doing now.'

"There's that verse in I Corinthians 10: [31] Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Sometime the glory of God comes out yonder because of what you did now and you have to keep that in mind. Making decisions right now in light of who you are in Christ bears on what happens to you in the inheritance and the reward of the inheritance in the ages to come." 

In all the fat places of the land . . .

(new article tomorrow)

From an 8-minute YouTube clip posted by CBS This Morning that has nearly 8 million views: "For meetings, masons dress up in their Sunday best and just like the original stonecutters, wear aprons. At the center of any lodge room is an altar."

Freemasonry.com: "The historical story of the altar is noteworthy and fascinating. Throughout history, the altar has symbolized man’s search for God. No matter how barbaric, vindictive, or cruel humankind has been in the past, the altar is where man believes he can communicate directly with God and has come to represent a very sacred place.

"Regardless of a particular culture’s traditions, the altar has always been a place around which people can congregate and connect with God. Often, sermons are delivered directly from the altar and are read by a preacher from a Holy Book.

"What’s more, in ancient civilizations, sacrifices were often served up to God at the altar. The sacrifices were commonly of animals and luxurious possessions, but many tribes and cultures even offered human sacrifices to the Gods."

*****

Genesis 8: [20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

[21] And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

"When they got off the Ark they offered sacrifices. These guys in their high places to reach heaven are offering burnt offerings; they're counterfeiting what God's doing," says Richard Jordan.

"I've said to you thousands of times, the vain religious system is nothing but a plagiarized form of Judaism. These guys didn't have any original ideas. Satan said 'I want to be like,' and what they're going to do in all this stuff is COUNTERFEIT what God's doing and then plagiarize it and turn it into something He doesn't want.

"That's what the altars are for. They have all these Baal worship centers. Ezekiel is a priest and he knows these passages in Leviticus and he's hearing God talk about what He's going to do.

"This is the fifth cycle of chastening in Leviticus 26: [30] And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

[31] And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
[32] And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

[33] And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 

"That's exactly what He's telling them in Ezekiel 6 that He's going to do. Notice they have meeting places, church buildings, sanctuaries plural. God only gave them one; the tabernacle and the temple. But they've got their places to propagate their Baal worship; they've built these rival cultural centers of meeting.

"You'll see they built them not just in Jerusalem but all over the country. In all the fat places of the land; the mountains, the rivers, the valleys.

Ezekiel 6: [5] And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

[6] In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
[7] And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

"All of the things they're doing, and it's fascinating to kind of get an idea about what's happening there--that's why you have raised platforms and altars that are raised up."

(to be continued and new article tomorrow)

God failed beforehand?!

Outtake from David Reid (Columbus Bible Church) at the summer Bible conference:

Matthew 24:35: [35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

I Peter 1:23: [23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

"So is there ever a point in time when God's Word does not abide? No, there never is because it 'abideth forever.'

[25] But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

"You know good and well that's quoted in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4 as well. Jesus Christ says, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'

"Think with me just for a minute about this. If man needs every word, then what must be available to him? Every word. Doesn't it just logically follow that's the essence of what that is saying? 

"What this means is that God promised to preserve His Word and make it continually available. There are no gaps.

"Now think through this with me. God both inspired His Word and preserved His Word. If God promised to preserve His Word and it had to be continually available, then those simple principles mean that all new sources of information cannot be true.

"People get all excited about Codex Vaticanus or Codex Sinaiticus. Well, Codex Vaticanus is first listed in the Vatican library in 1475, but it's not publicly available until much later. Sinaiticus was first discovered in 1844. The modern critical text of Westcott and Hort was 1871. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1946.

"If any of those sources of information actually represent a more accurate text, if they're actually that, then that means what you have before was inferior and what it means is the Word wasn't preserved!

"What if you lived before the Dead Sea Scrolls and they were actually the most accurate? That means you didn't have them! Doesn't that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that that which is new cannot be better?!

"If you're saying that a modern discovered manuscript, or a modern version is more accurate because of that new information, then you must say that what existed before was inaccurate and inadequate and therefore God promised to preserve His Word and have it 'abideth and endureth forever' was simply false!

"Do you see how you're stuck? That simple principle means any 'new and better and greatly improved' thing cannot be true! Isn't that logically the case? It naturally follows from that.

"The very nature of preservation means that supposed new and better evidence cannot be so because it means that God would have been failing beforehand."

Tyndale and more Tyndale

Here is outtake from the study by Bryan Ross at the summer Bible conference:

"The King James Bible is what it claims to be on the title page. In the dedicatory epistle to the king, reading the bolded part only, it says: 'Out of the original sacred tongues, together with comparing of labors, both in our own and other foreign languages, of many worthy men who went before us, that there should be one more exact translation of the Holy Scriptures into the English tongue."

"So did they do exactly what it says? Did they start with the Bishops' Bible and compare it to the Greek? Then they say, 'Does one of these English bibles here better capture the Greek than the Bishops'? If they say, 'Yes,' they change it. If they say 'No,' then they do their own translation. So, rule one was followed.

"If you take that 1602 Bishops' Bible and that 1611 King James, 91 percent of it is the same.

"Here's what you're thinking? 'Isn't the King James Bible 91 percent William Tyndale?' Hasn't everybody always said that? Yes, but why?

"The King James Bible is a revision of the Bishops' Bible, which came from a revision of the Great Bible. Anglican bishops sat down in 1568 and they revised the Great Bible that created the Bishops' Bible. The Great Bible was a revision of the Matthew Bible (1537) done by Miles Coverdale.

"I'm telling you, the most overlooked, understudied and underappreciated Bible in this whole thing is the Matthew Bible. Here's why. The Matthew Bible, published by John Rogers, was the complete work of William Tyndale. It is two-thirds the work of Tyndale.

"John Rogers was friends with Tyndale. When they arrested Tyndale and were going to put him to death, Tyndale bequeathed to Rogers all of his unpublished translations of parts of the Old Testament that had not been published yet.

"So when John Rogers now does the Matthew Bible, he includes all of that heretofore unpublished material from Tyndale into the Matthew Bible. 

"What ends up happening is when the king decides that he wants a Bible, and he commissions Coverdale to make one in 1539, Coverdale revises the Matthew, which is two-thirds Tyndale.

"Wait a minute! Didn't the king just burn Tyndale? And now he's authorizing a Bible that's two-thirds Tyndale and he doesn't even know it!

"How is it that the King James Bible is 90 percent William Tyndale? Because of where it came from. It is 91 percent Bishops' while being 90 percent Tyndale because they are all revisions coming from the same what? Same source."

Urgency

Here's an outtake from Richard Jordan's message at the conference:

Colossians 4:5: [5] Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Ephesians 5:15: [15] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

[16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

"That issue of time. That's not the issue of, 'Well, it's 8:20 and I need to be sure that by 9 o'clock I've done these things.' It's not just the moment that you're living in.

II Timothy 3:1: [1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

"That's more than just a date on the calendar; it's the times in which we live.

"There's an illustration of this in I Chronicles 12: [32] And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

"The world you live in is designed by God to work on systems of cycles. They work in 80-year cycles, the average lifespan, then the 80-year cycles work in 500-year cycles, which work in 1,000-year cycles and there's this repetition in the cycles.

"The 'times' is the issue of where you are in the cycle. Ecclesiastes 3: [1] To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

[2] A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
[3] A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
[4] A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
[5] A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
[6] A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
[7] A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
[8] A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

"Paul says to redeem the times because the days are evil. The cycles that we live in are evil; the days of the times of the cycles are evil.

Ecclesiastes 1: [2] Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

[3] What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
[4] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

"Vanity means nothing, emptiness, nothing real. Without God, everything is empty. Nothing has a purpose without God. Life is total futility."

Agony of victory

II Corinthians 12: [8] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

[9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

"We quote that verse a lot but what does it mean? Paul's saying, 'Lord, if you take this away then' and we fill in the blank. God says, 'Paul, the doctrine works. Trust the doctrine.'

"Doesn't that therefore demonstrate that taking away the problem isn't the sufficient resource? Doesn't it also say, 'In the midst of whatever the problem is . . .'? Doesn't that demand that the doctrine is still going to work? In fact, it is the opportunity," explains John Verstegen in his study entitled, "The Agony of Victory."

" 'Perfect in weakness.' In whose weakness? There's the battle; there's the agony. The struggle is in coming to agree that there's value in us realizing, 'I'm weak; I can't do this. This is not about self-confidence, self-reliance. I've got to get over self.'

"How many of us think that our flesh likes the idea that there's no good thing in our flesh? 'The flesh is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be . . .'

"But the flesh goes, 'Well, give me a chance again,' and we give it another chance and the flesh goes, 'See, I got you again.' Doesn't it do that? Read Romans 7.

" 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'

"That statement right there completely revolutionized Paul's thinking about suffering forever. He realized, 'Wow, God's grace is the treasure; it is the resource. It is the POWER. It is the very thing that sustained Christ.'

"Paul says, 'In light of this, I can either stay over here in the agony, and whine and complain about Oh God, why are you putting me through this? Why don't you fix my problems. You must be mad at me,' all of which is false doctrine.

"Or we can say, 'Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.'

"Then he says, 'Most gladly therefore . . . '

"Public confession time. I'm not quite there yet. I'm still working on that part. I suspect I'm not the only one, but do you see the revolutionary change that happened in Paul's thinking and therefore how he approached the afflictions, the sufferings, the hardships, the difficulties? Completely changed his thinking forever.

"There's the agony for Christ's sake, 'For when I am weak then am I strong.' Because it is coming to the realization of, 'Yet not I but Christ.'

"Let's use Psalm 50 as an illustration: [14] Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

[15] And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

"That's a prophetic verse about what Israel's going to do in that tribulation period, but, boy, do you see the parallel? It is IN the trouble . . . our trouble brings us to the end of ourselves; at least it can if we let it. It brings us to the place where we call upon the Lord and let His Word deliver us, and by doing that He gets glorified.

Zechariah 13:9: [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

"You put it through the fires of death. 

II Timothy 4:7: [7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

"What made it a good fight? It's a good fight because it's a fight worth fighting. There's a lot of fights we get ourselves involved in that are a total waste of time. They're not worth fighting, but this fight is."

(new article tomorrow and conference notes--sorry for delay)

Determined not to quit

(Here's an outtake from today's sermon at Shorewood. I will post conference stuff tomorrow. I've had an especially rough re-entry into reality after coming home from the Bible conference. The return is always hard but this one has me especially down. Among other sorrow-makers, my dear friend of 20-plus years is in Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago and I visited her there when I was in town. She is part of a very experimental stem-cell program for patients with multiple myeloma and is experiencing a stroke-like aftermath from the side effects, including speech impairment. I don't have much family at all (now down to just my 86-year-old mother, my older brother and his wife, one niece and two nephews) and she's been so gracious to have made me feel like a sister all these years. She is Jewish and doesn't believe.)

*****

"If you don't preach the message God gave to us through the Apostle Paul, you're going to fail to do what God wants done. You'll be like in Ephesians 4 where you produce saints 'tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine' and carried off into confusion," said Richard Jordan Sunday morning.

"We have a book in the office where all the pastors of our assembly from 1900 to today signed it when they became the pastor. On September 1, 1923, J.C. O'Hair signed it. The ministry he had until 1958 had to do with the 'preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery' and standing for dispensational Bible study and that continues with us. That's what we teach and preach. His people, the ministry of the old North Shore Church--the grit, the determination. They were determined not to quit.

"When my wife and I moved up here in 1979, here was a church that at one time had been 1,000 to 1,200 people and it was down to about 60 and all the people in the church that were still there were over 60. My wife and I show up in our mid-30s and these great saints who loved the Lord, loved the message of grace, loved His Word, but one thing, they weren't going to quit.

"They were at that little corner down there at Wilson Avenue and Sheridan Road in Uptown--the worst neighborhood in the city of Chicago at the time. Most dangerous neighborhood in the city of Chicago. You'd get out of the car in the bank parking lot across Wilson Avenue and get in a group and it's all secured and fenced in and walk across over there.

"I remember Beulah Peterson, she was the organist and taught school . . . If you teach English in the government schools in Chicago you're pretty tough. We walked up those steps one evening and there was a drunk sitting there and Beulah says, 'Get out of the way,' and he looks up and says, 'Give me a kiss,' and like that, she took her pocketbook and 'POW,' hit him on top of the head. 

"Franklin Anderson and Roy Faber grabbed him by one foot and the other foot and dragged him out to the curb and I'm sitting there thinking, 'I ain't messing with her. She might be old but . . . '

"And they loved God's Word and they loved the message of God's grace and they weren't going to quit. They had a zeal for the sound doctrine and to reach other people with it. They were part of the first missions that went around.

"Pastor Kurz's mother, Julianna, got saved because some people from the church--Bob Price went door to door sharing the gospel and Alex, who was 7 years old, started coming to the assembly. Bob made Julianna so mad she was going to come and set him right, but she wound up getting saved.

"They actually had a radio station with a transmitter in the bell tower of the church back when you used a crystal. It was there until the '30s when the FAA came in and took over all that stuff. They wanted to get the message out and share it with others.

"Well, our folks here, the same kind of way. No less noteworthy in spirit and determination and grit and sound doctrine. Our ministry extends all the way around the world through that kind of effort. The TV, the radio . . . 

"The love of Christ constrains us. Why does it do that? The love of Christ is made manifest. You know what motivates the life of a Believer? It's not, 'Oh how I love Jesus.' It's, 'Oh how much He loves you and me.'

"When you see how much He loves you and you fall in love with Him who is the lover of your soul, and you're not doing it to get Him to love you, you're doing it because you can't do less for someone who loves you that much, the love of Christ constrains us.

"I've told you before, that word 'constrain,' when my wife and I were dating, she's shorter than I am, and I would stand down on the step and she would stand up a step, and our noses were nose to nose. 

"I would put my arms around her and pick her up and walk across the porch with her and I would say to her, 'One day I'm going to take you home with me,' and I'd sit her down and one day I put my arms around her and picked her up and walked off and I still got her.

"The love of Christ puts its everlasting arms around you and picks you up and walks across the portals of life into eternity. That's the constraining power."

Describing the indescribable

"When Jehovah appears to somebody He materializes; He's right there in front of them. He sits down and eats with them.

Genesis 19:1: [1] And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

"The two angels go to Sodom to get Lot out and Jehovah stays with Abraham.

Genesis 18:22: [22] And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

"Abraham is standing there with Jehovah who has appeared to him; it's not just a dream.

Genesis 19:24: [24] Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

"There's Jehovah in heaven and there's Jehovah on the earth calling down fire and judgment from heaven. There's two Jehovahs! That's not a split personality within the godhead; that's God the Father and God the Son.

Zechariah 12:10: [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

"By the way, the new bibles change that verse. Here's Jehovah talking to Israel. 

"If you go to John 19:33-37, John quotes that passage as being fulfilled at the Cross. John 19 says that person from Zechariah 12 is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 89: [8] O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

[9] Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

"Jesus stands on the bough of that little boat and says to the waves, 'Peace, be still,' and the storm goes calm. You know why He could do that? He was the master of the waves in the sea because He's Jehovah and He was demonstrating to those disciples who He was. He controls nature. What He was demonstrating was, 'I am the Lord your righteousness.'

Isaiah 35:

[1] The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
[2] It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
[3] Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
[4] Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
[6] Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

"Do you remember in Matthew 11 when John the Baptist is in jail? He's been preaching, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . . .  I'm the voice of the one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord,' and he winds up in jail. Things aren't working out like he thought they would.

"He sends his disciples to Jesus to ask, 'Are you really the one or are we looking for someone else?' Jesus said, 'Go back and tell John,' and He quotes that passage from Isaiah.

"What did that passage tell you? When your God comes and you see that, that's because God's here. He's telling John, 'I'm the guy back in Isaiah 35; it's me! You saw the things that happen when the Messiah appears. He's the healer.'

Matthew 9:

[2] And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
[3] And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
[4] And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
[5] For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
[6] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
[7] And he arose, and departed to his house.
[8] But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

"Think about that. He just said, 'Thy sins be forgiven.' They think, 'Who's He think He is?!' He reads their minds and tells them what they're thinking. That's not Houdini or that kind of stuff; that's God. I don't know about you, but if He just read my thoughts I think I'd be a little bit hesitant about grabbing this guy.

"You know why those guys were mad? They say, 'No one can forgive sins but God.' Jesus Christ stood there and said, 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.' They said, 'Nobody but God can do that!' He's demonstrating Himself to be God.

"He said, 'You need me to show you that I can do it? Rise up.' Why? Because He's also the healer. He's literally demonstrating Himself to be who He is. He's demonstrating Himself to be who all of the Scriptures said He would be. He manifests the glory of the Father. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

"You know, when you describe the Lord Jesus Christ, you're describing the indescribable."

(new article tomorrow. will present some thoughts on the conference in Chicago too.)

Confidence for those up for the cause

When Paul says in Romans 8:28 that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” the ‘good’ in the verse is not wealth, health, success, etc. It’s the purpose of God.

Paul says in Ephesians 4, 31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

"The transparent reality that ought to be there will be there," says Richard Jordan. "If you have the heart attitude and be what God’s given you to be--a member of the Body of Christ functioning in that way wherever you are--you’ll find He’ll open doors and begin to move you around when He’s ready to. Doors will open and you’ll go.

“Paul writes in II Corinthians 7:1, ‘Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’

“God’s will is that you be clean. Holiness, not a holy mess. God expects you to strive for perfect holiness in the fear of God.

“The will of God is not so much to worry about where you are as much as it is He wants you to BE where you are, living a sinless life. Your attitudes first, then your actions.

*****

“Romans 1:11 says, ‘For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established.’

“This is why Paul wants to go to them. Paul’s got a big heart. He’s just an affectionate, loving fellow. He loved them. He never saw them before but he loved them.

“That verse compares with 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.’

“The issue in Paul’s mind is, ‘I want to get down there and I want you people to be established.’ He says in I Thessalonians 3:10 that he’s ‘night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?’

“The issue in Paul’s mind is first and foremost, always and ever, maturity. Grow up. The spiritual gift he wants to give them is doctrine. That word ‘stablish’ means to be firmly grounded so that you can stand unshakably. Be grounded, stabilized, balanced-out so you stand. You’re not tossed to and fro.

“Verse 12 says, ‘And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.’

“You’ll always find that the teacher is as richly blessed as the pupil when you teach the Word and that’s what he’s saying there. Sometimes he sends a letter to do the job and sometimes he sends a man, like in I Thessalonians 3, he sent Timothy to establish the Thessalonians because he couldn’t come. The job is always to see the people get stabilized in your ministry.

*****

“Paul says, ‘I am ready, Rome.’ He’s ready to go. No hesitation in Paul about going and preaching. And he doesn’t miss a chance.

“He says, ‘I am debtor.’ He says, ‘I am not ashamed.’ That’s a good sermon outline.

“Acts 21:13 says, ‘Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’  

“He says, ‘I mean, what are you trying to do, break my heart? ‘For I am ready not to be bound.’ Brother, that’s a man that’s ready, you know that? He meant it when he said that. And he never missed a chance.

“Come over to II Timothy 4:6 and notice his attitude right at the end: ‘But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

[6] For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

[7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.’

“You see, that man could look at his life and at any time say, ‘I’m ready.’ ‘I’m ready to go, take advantage of the opportunities that come; I’m ready to meet the Lord.’

“Now, THAT'S the way to live your life, ladies and gentlemen, IF you’re going to LIVE it. That’s cocked and ready all the time. Rain or shine, hot or cold, whatever the situation.

“You are to be ready to do whatever God put you wherever you are to do, no matter what the cost, with a heart of love, but do it! See, do it!”

*****

Daniel wasn’t some rough, camel-hide-for-a-coat prophet over on the backside of the wilderness bellowing out rebuke,” says Jordan in a Grace School of the Bible study. “He was a man in the king’s palace, taking a stand. He takes a stand and God stands with him.

“I say to you, folks, any commitment you ever make in the things of the Lord is going to be tested to prove its reality. It’s cheap to say, ‘I’m gonna do this for the Lord.’ The Lord’s gonna find out whether you mean that or not.

“The great saints down through the ages got tested—every one of them—to find out if the commitment was real and to prove the reality of it to themselves. God knows whether it’s real or not, but to prove it to yourself and those around you . . .

“James said, ‘Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.’

“When I read Daniel 1:13, I say, ‘Man, there’s a man with confidence!’ You know something, folks, compromise results in doubt, but purity--that uncompromising commitment to do what God wants done--always brings confidence.

“When you’re sinning, you’re always looking over your shoulder and wondering if it will work. But when you just stand for the Lord and stand for what He says, you know what will happen? There’s confidence, that boldness to know, ‘Hey, the Lord’s gonna do it.’

*****

Daniel 1: 8-9 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

[9] Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.”

Jordan explains, “God had already worked on Daniel’s behalf, even though Daniel probably didn’t even know it. He had a life that reflected the genuine nature of the commitment he'd made.

“That’s why purity of life is so important. You need to have a sweet, gentle, loving, kind, outgoing spirit. Daniel had it and that validated his message. He showed the reality of God at work, so he’d already found some favor; already had some influence.

“There are number of people in the Bible who come to mind like that. Joseph found favor with Pharaoh, we’re told.

“Psalm 106 says, 43] Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

[44] Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:

[45] And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

[46] He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

“Isn’t that wonderful how God can do that? God sends Israel out there to be in captivity but He made the society that held them captive love them and pity them and be ‘kindly affectioned’ toward them. Why in the world did He do that? Because of His covenant.

“Proverbs 16:7 says, ‘When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’

“When those peoples’ ways walked in the ways of God, even their enemies we’re influenced by it and were at peace with them.

“Paul says almost the same thing in a different way in I Timothy 2: ‘I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

[2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.’

*****

“Now watch what happens to Daniel in Daniel 1:15. It says he was proved for ten days ‘and at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.’

“There’s a verse in Proverbs that tells you about that. Proverbs 3: 5-7 says, ‘Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.’

“Daniel knew what was going on and God honored him. He knew God would take care of him and he knew if he needed to keep a little color in his face and gain 10 pounds it wouldn’t be any problem for the Lord to put on a pound a day, no matter what he was eating.

“Daniel 1:16 says, ‘Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.’

“That verse is important. That verse tells me that Melzar, when he put that old porridge in front of Daniel and that glass of cold water, he’d put the beefsteak and the wine goblet down there too. But he took that away and just gave them the other from that point on; Dan and the boys don’t eat the king’s meat.

“Verse 17 goes on, ‘As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.’

*****

“Proverbs 22:29 says, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.’

“Listen, if you’ll be diligent in the little thing God gave you to do and thank Him, it’s a LITTLE thing and you’re not in over your head . . . Daniel and these boys put purity about everything else.

“My dear friend, purity is the MAIN business of the Believer. It’s of FIRST importance. Dan put it first and God gave him influence.

“There’s a verse in Jeremiah 45:5 that means a lot to me. It says, ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.’

“You want to have influence for the Lord? You just be faithful and uncompromising in your commitment to Him. If you’ll be faithful in the little things and remain faithful, God will give you influence for Him.

*****

“Daniel 1:20 says, ‘And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.’

“How many days back in verse 12 did He prove them? Ten days. ‘He found them 10 times better than all the musicians and the astrologers in all his realm.’

“You got to look at a passage in Psalm 119 with that. The psalm says, ‘O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

[98] Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

[99] I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

[100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

[101] I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

[102] I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

[103] How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

[104] Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.’

“Ten times greater than the best brains Babylon had to offer! You know how? Sticking with that Book, being true to what God gave them to do.”