Reformation.

Having commented, in the previous post, on the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act in the UK Parliament, and the almost nine million deaths that have resulted from it, I want to comment, in this post, on a 500th anniversary - that of the nailing, by the German monk Martin Luther, of his "99 Theses" to the door of the church building at Wittenberg. It was that event that started what is known to historians as the Reformation (although there were a number of folk who had raised serious doubts about some of the teaching of the Church of Rome, prior to Luther. By the way, I deliberately use that term as "Roman Catholic" is, in fact, an oxymoron!).

Many are the books that have been written about the Reformation - both its history and its theology - so all that I wish to do is to look, briefly, at what are known as the "Five Solas". These are five basic doctrines/principles that sum up the difference between the Church of Rome and what the Reformers saw as the truth of the written Word of God. Undergirding these five solas is the phrase: ecclesia semper reformanda est, which means”the church is always to be reformed.” The very authority of the written Word of God is the subject of the first Sola:

1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).

Rome did not deny the authority of the Scriptures but, like others, they added to them! In their case, they taught the authority of the church (of Rome); its traditions; its councils; its pope. The Reformers disagreed! They claimed, and taught, that all Christian practice and doctrine should be based on the clear teaching of the Bible.

Of course, God Himself has established certain authorities: the state (Rom.13:1ff); elders in the church (I Tim.5:17; I Pet.5:5); parents (Eph.6:1); but Scripture alone is truly ultimate. If any of these other authorities depart from Biblical teaching, they are to be rejected.

The Scriptures are the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient Word of God. When the Bible speaks, God’s people should hear, heed, and obey the Word by His grace. Not only this - the Bible proclaims the Truth of the other solas, namely that salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ. Man has not been saved for his own purposes but for God’s purpose and glory. Also, from beginning to end, the Biblical record points towards the Lord Jesus. So, the second of the Solas concerned 

2. Solus Christus (Christ alone).

The issue that started Luther on his journey of discovery concerned the sale of "indulgences". Put simply, this practice stated that one could obtain forgiveness of sin by making a cash donation to the church, for which one received a piece of paper stating that the donor's soul was ready to be admitted to heaven! The practice was started by Leo X in order to raise funds to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Failure to purchase indulgences meant that one had to pay for one's sins in purgatory - the unBiblical Roman concept of a "limbo" in which the dead may finish atoning for their sins.

Luther was passionately opposed to this practice, and he and the Reformers taught the Biblical truth that salvation is through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus, on the cross - and that alone! As far as I know, the sale of "indulgences" within the Roman church no longer takes place. However, there is still great store put on the intercessions of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and of the so-called 'saints' (every true believer is, in New Testament terms, a "saint" - just read the NT letters!). However Mary, though honoured among women, cannot help in the area of salvation. In fact, she herself had to be saved by the finished work of Christ in His perfect life and vicarious death. This is why she could say that she rejoiced in “God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47). What is true of Mary is also true of all the so-called 'saints' of the Church of Rome. There is no treasure chest of merit in heaven out of which the church can draw saving merit. Nor do we need a priest to intercede for us. Indeed, through Peter, God the Holy Spirit states clearly that all disciples of Jesus "... are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, ..." (I Peter 2:9; emphasis added). Salvation is through Christ alone Who is Himself “... the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6; note the definite article as emphasised).  Charles Spurgeon said, “I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.”

The third of the Sola principles is

3. Sola Gratia (Grace alone).

Sinful man can never - absolutely never - be reconciled to Almighty God by his own efforts. I cannot earn His fellowship; I cannot buy His fellowship; I do not deserve His fellowship. All that I - and you! - deserve is His judgement and wrath. The only reason that I may be the recipient of His great salvation (Heb.2:3) is by His grace - His unmerited favour and blessing. This is often defined using the word as an acronym: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. In Jesus, Almighty God paid the penalty for my sin and so satisfied both His justice and His love. As Paul states, in his letter to the believers in Ephesus: "... by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (3:8-9). What a wonderful gift it is - and it is yours if only you will open yourself to Him (Who already knows you through and through!) and, in repentance and faith, accept it. And that faith is the subject of a fourth Sola:

4. Sola Fide (Faith alone).

The Reformers rightly taught that all of our Christian life is by grace from beginning to end. Not only is the gift of Christ a gift from God, but the very faith required to lay hold of that gift is itself a gift. One of the great themes of Reformation theology was "justification by faith", and not by any declaration of the church (of Rome), or through penance, indulgences, or any other means. Justification is the declaration, by Father God, that we are treated as sinless in His sight because of the atoning sacrifice of the Son, at Calvary. In the English language, it is sometimes explained as God treating me "just as if I'd" never sinned - even although I have sinned; do sin; and will continue to sin while in this mortal body that I inhabit.. Of course, filled out correctly, the doctrine should be: "Justification is the act of God by which He declares sinners to be righteous because of Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone." The final Sola is

5. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone).

The bottom line is that the Triune God receives the glory and honour for my salvation. Paul wrote to the early disciples in Rome: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?' 'Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen." (11:33-36; emphasis added). The Psalmist had the same aim in mind when he wrote: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory, for the sake of Thy steadfast love and Thy faithfulness!" (Ps.115:1; emphasis added). This Sola emphasises the the glory of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - as the goal of true life. As the compilers of the Shorter Catechism were later to put it, in the Q & A form of the catechism: "What is the chief end (i.e. prime purpose) of man?" "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." (emphasis added).

These five teachings were at the heart of the Reformation. Would that they were at the heart of the church, worldwide, today! As I look around, I see so much of the church that, rather than being a prophetic voice to the nations, is no more than a subservient reflection of the social norms that, sadly, are so much at odds with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, the Christ! T.F.Torrance wrote: “The world likes a complacent, reasonable religion, and so is always ready to revere some pale Galilean image of Jesus, some meagre anaemic Messiah, and to give Him a moderate rational homage. . . . The truth is that we have often committed adultery with alien ideologies, confounded the Gospel with the religions of nature, and imbibed the wine of pagan doctrines and false principles and deceitful practices. We have sought to bend the will of God to serve the ends of man, to alter the Gospel and shape the Church to conform to the fashions of the times. We have yielded to pride and to the lust for power. We have been intimidated by the might of the beast through society, or the crowd, or the state, and betrayed, again and again, the cause of our Saviour.” (The Apocalypse Today; James Clarke & Co Ltd; 1961; p.155). His words show, sadly, how far the church has departed from those early Reformation principles.

Let those of us who seek to see the Name of Jesus honoured and exalted pray that, in these last days, the Lord will move, by the Spirit, in cleansing and purifying power throughout the church in the UK, and elsewhere, removing all that would seek to dilute, denigrate, diminish, deny, and even destroy, the true Gospel message, and revive His true people that there might be, in these end times, a mighty ingathering of precious souls to the Kingdom of God - and all to His glory.

Footnote! To the best of my knowledge, there is no "set in stone" order to the Five Solas. However, the order in which I have given them above is not, I realise, the most common. I use it because I find it to be more "consecutively accurate"! By this I mean that it is the Scriptures that tell me of the Christ, and the grace of God that I may receive by faith, and all to His glory.

Some of the words and concepts used here are dealt with, more fully, in my first two books (vol.3 currently being proofread - available, DV, early in the New Year). Please see the links at the top of the page.

Remembered, not celebrated!

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the passing into UK law of the Abortion Act - that heralded the deaths of almost nine million (9,000,000) human beings in the place in which they should have been most protected: their mothers' wombs. In the space of those fifty years, almost nine million  unborn human lives have been deliberately destroyed, in England, Scotland, and Wales - the vast majority of them for no other reason than being an "inconvenience" to the mother!

I published a four-part series of posts on the subject of abortion in August 2014. If you missed it, or have forgotten what I shared, then you might wish to scroll down to the Blog Archive (right-hand-side); click on 2014; then click on August; then click on the four relevant posts. Alternatively, you may try clicking on this link

http://crazyrev.blogspot.fr/2014/08/

and scrolling down to the first of the four posts before reading the others in chronological order.

Of course, fifty years ago, when the UK Parliament debated the Abortion Bill, introduced by David Steel (Liberal) as a private members bill, there were all kinds of assurances given. This was merely to take abortion out of the hands of the infamous "back-street abortionists"; there would have to be agreement between two independent medical practitioners; there would never be "abortion on demand". So much for the assurances of politicians! Of course, in the intervening years we have seen the same kind of situation repeated with "civil partnerships" that would never become "marriages"; with the decriminalisation of homsexuality that would never become the condoning of deviant sexual acts; with "human rights" (that are not, genuinely, human 'rights' at all) that would never infringe on the freedom of others; with no intention of introducing a ban on smacking - that, just months later, becomes the introduction of a Scottish Parliament Bill to do just that. You get the picture?!

Of course, changes have been made to the law over a period of fifty years. And further changes would be made if some people were to have their way! There are efforts made to make abortion legal - right up until the time of birth! Imagine, just before a sound and healthy child is to be delivered, it is murdered in its mother's womb - and that would be legal!

Some of the reasons given for abortion requests are, quite frankly, ludicrous. So many tests are available today, during the pre-natal period. So a child may be murdered because it is the "wrong" gender! That, of course, is still officially illegal; but the recent case brought by Aisling Hubert against two doctors who confessed, and were recorded, to performing abortions on these terms, was taken over by the English Crown Prosecution Service - and dropped "for lack of evidence"! Others discover that their unborn child will have some form of physical disability - and decide that parental love simply doesn't stretch far enough to handle the anticipated "burden" of caring for such a child. Far easier just to have it "dealt with" now! There are even cases of children being aborted because it has been discovered that they will be born with nothing more serious than a "hare lip"!

However, by far the greatest number of abortions (I have read figures as high as 95%) are for personal and social convenience. A female indulges in unprotected sexual intercourse; discovers, a couple of months later, that she is pregnant, and decides that her career/social life/personal selfishness is unwilling to accept the responsibility for this unwanted intrusion to her life. No problem! Just "get rid of it"! The final post in that earlier series mentioned above, deal with some of the common methods of abortion as carried out in the UK. I would love to have every female who seeks such a procedure to be obliged to sit through a full video that explained, graphically, those methods, before being allowed to make a decision on whether, or not, she really wanted to go through with the abortion!

Of course, there will always be those who insist that "It's the woman's body." Wrong! The unborn child is a totally separate, unique, individual that is, for approximately nine months, dependent upon it's mother's body to provide it with protection and nutrition. Of course this dependence continues for a considerable time after the birth! Is infanticide, therefore, fully acceptable?! Others will ask: "What if the female has been raped?" Personally, I consider rape to be a worse crime than murder, as the victim has to live with the memory of the experience for the rest of her (and sometimes, his!) life. However, this is certainly a case in which two wrongs do not make a right! Does having an abortion make the memory and the trauma of the rape disappear? Of course not. It only adds to it - and it makes an unborn child pay the ultimate price for the crime of its biological father!

Today's Scotsman newspaper, in what some may interpret as somewhat cynical timing, reports that the Scottish Government, yesterday, gave women in Scotland the right to take the so-called “abortion pill” at home. So, while Nicola Sturgeon insists that Scotland needs immigrants, she is encouraging the deliberate murder of the indigenous population! http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-women-can-take-the-abortion-pill-at-home-1-4597661

There is, in my opinion, only one valid situation when an abortion may be the lesser of two regretful options, and that is when the life of the mother can be genuinely shown to be at risk. However, that would cover less than 1% of the abortions carried out in Great Britain in any given year!

Abortion! A glaring example of "man's inhumanity to man", and something that saddens the very heart of Almighty God. In a couple of weeks we will be saying "We will remember them" as we think of those who died in two world wars, and in many other conflicts. Let us also remember those who have died before they even had the opportunity to breathe. We certainly cannot 'celebrate'!

Love - real love!

I suspect that most of us have had times in our lives when we have been really "down". It isn't a pleasant place to be - but we usually manage to rise out of those dumps again.

Remember Gomer? We thought about her a couple of posts ago. She was the wife of the Old Testament prophet, Hosea who, after bearing him a child was unfaithful to him and bore two more children - to other men! Each of these children was given, by Hosea, a prophetic name as they, like his marriage, were to be an object lesson to the Children of Israel. The threat contained in their names was of divine judgement on a nation that had been as unfaithful to YHWH, the Covenant God of their forefathers, as Gomer had been to Hosea. Her infidelity symbolised Israel's spiritual impurity and corruption; and the names of the children reflected God's revulsion at the moral and spiritual condition of the ten northern tribes.

We are not given any specific information on what happened to Gomer after the birth of her third child, but the language of chapter 2 of the prophetic book indicates that she left Hosea completely - presumably seeking out her old lovers (remember that she had been a prostitute before her marriage) and dropping back into her blatantly promiscuous lifestyle. Hosea, however, resisted any desire he might have had, to bring her back - because, of course, he was 'under orders' from God to await the right time. As Hosea waited, he came to understand that his own situation, painful and distressing 'though it was, was as nothing compared to the hurt in the very heart of YHWH.

God allowed Gomer to hit rock bottom before He impressed upon His servant the need to find her and bring her home. When Hosea tuned in to God one morning, he received the message "Go, and get your wife again and bring her back to you and love her." (3:1). Hosea sets out to find Gomer - and discovers her in a slave market - a piece of human flesh for sale! The purchase price was "... fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley." (3:2). Now that may not mean much to you and to me - but it was a very low price: she was nothing more than a knockdown lot, fit only for the bargain counter; or the bin in a bookseller's that is labelled "remainders" (books that are marked down to less than £1 because no-one is buying them at their marked price). We may only speculate why this was the case for Gomer. Had her profligate lifestyle taken its toll on even her physical body and looks? 

We may also speculate on the sight of Hosea walking into the market-place to buy back his bride! Doubtless the gossip-mongers would have carried the story far beyond the immediate locality! Can you imagine some of the things that they would have said? "How could Hosea - this man who claimed to be a prophet of God - lower himself to do such a thing? She simply wasn't worth it!" However, even as they would have talked among themselves, YHWH was quietly using the situation to bring home to there own hearts the message of His own faithfulness, and undying love.

When Hosea arrives home with his wife, he explains that there will be no physical relationship between them. To Gomer, 'love' appears to have been nothing more than a matter of sexual activity. This was what she had lived for in the past. Now, she must learn what love, and marriage, are really all about! God's bride needed to learn a similar message: Israel will be a long time without a king or a prince, and without an altar, temple, priests - or even idols! (v.4). Like Gomer, Israel - the Northern Kingdom - was taken up with the physical side of her relationship with YHWH: leaders, sacrifices, rituals, and ceremonies. She used religion as a substitute for relationship, as Gomer had used sex as a substitute for true love. 

So what has all of that to do with you and me in the early years of the 21st century AD? If we claim to be disciples of Jesus, it is surely a call to examine ourselves! Not other people, but ourselves. How easy it is to allow familiarity to breed - if not contempt, certainly a dangerous complacency! How easy it is to convince ourselves that "going through the motions" is sufficient. How easy it is to think that if we are saved, then that is all that matters! We forget, so easily, that we are enjoined, in the words of Paul, to "... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Phil.2:12-13). The apostle also remind us that, while it is true that it is "... by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." it is also the case that "... we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph.2:8-10; emphasis added). The problem arises when we depend on our works rather than His grace; when we 'put the cart before the horse'!

God has illustrated the depth of His love to us at Calvary. Let us seek, by the help of the indwelling Spirit, to return that love in all that we say, and do. It will be to His glory - and for our own good!

Propaganda!

Once again, the world is being urged to act on a lie! Someone named Mohammed Mahmoud has posted the following on Facebook:  

Mohammed Mahmoud: appealing to the world for funds for Gaza· 

Help make it happen for Gaza's children in need of clothes for Warm Winter.  FreeGaza

This is the accompanying picture - which would surely touch any but the hardest heart.

The only problem is that this picture was 'lifted' from The Los Angeles Times - and shows a boy in the Philippines, with the caption:

"A Filipino boy stands behind a vehicle to keep out the cold wind in a heavy downpour. Tropical Storm Meari will make its presence known as it strengthens into a Category 1 typhoon sometime between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. It will continue on its northwesterly course to the northeast of the Philippines."

The picture was taken on June 23rd, 2011 - more than six years ago!

It is yet another example of the blatant, and false, propaganda that is pushed out by those who wish only to see the nation State of Israel condemned and, eventually, destroyed. I am reminded of another "damning photograph" from a few years ago. It was captioned as being of a "Palestinian" home that, allegedly, had been targeted by Israeli troops who slaughtered the family of innocent "Palestinians"! However, closer inspection of the photograph showed a mezuzah on one of the doorposts of the home. For those who do not know, a mezuzah is a small container - made of wood, metal, or some other suitable material - that contains the words of the Shema written on a small piece of parchment. The Shema is the text of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and is recited on a daily basis by every orthodox Jew (and even many who would not class themselves as Orthodox). It is certainly not something that would be found in, or on, any "Palestinian" Arab Muslim home! The picture was later shown to have been of an Israeli home, targeted by Muslim militia, and in which a whole family of Jews had been slaughtered! Of course, the MSM didn't see any need to publish that information!

It is also worth pointing out that the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the dismantling of all Israeli settlements in the "Strip" had been completed by September 12, 2005. So much for Mr Mahmoud's tag of "FreeGaza"! More than twelve years out of date!

Please take the anti-Israel reports that you hear so constantly with a very large pinch of the proverbial salt. 50% of them are lies - and the other 50% are not true!

L'chaim Ysrael!

Sh’alu shalom yerushalayim.

Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai.  

Gadol Adonai mehulal me’od.

"Telling", or "Showing"?

During some long-needed tidying-up in my study this afternoon, I discovered a piece that I had published in a church magazine - a very long time ago! However, as I read it, I decided that it might be worth publishing on this blog. It's a true story with, I trust, a clear lesson!

We were travelling through the Belgian city of Brussels, en route to visit friends in Germany, when we missed a turning! It was already quite late in the evening; it was dark; our children were young; and with neither map, nor knowledge, of the city we were completely lost!

I stopped at a petrol station and, in faltering French, asked for directions to the airport as we had arranged our overnight stop close to it. The directions were willingly given - but completely in French, and at a speed that left us barely any wiser than we were before. 

Our next attempt at finding help was somewhat better as, at an all-night café, we at least received some directions in the English language. However, by the time that we had crossed over the same little bridge for the third time, we had realised that we were getting no closer to our destination.

Eventually, just two simple words brought clarity to the situation. We asked a young man, who was topping up the radiator in his own car (it really was a long time ago!), if he could help. "Certainly", he replied, "Follow me!" and, as we did so, we quickly arrived at the main road leading to the airport, and were then able to find our planned destination.

FOLLOW ME! There is a world of difference between telling someone the way, and showing them the way. In I Cor.11:1, Paul issues an amazing invitation to his readers. "Follow my example," he writes, "as I follow the example of Christ." Writing to the believers in Thessalonica, he uses similar language: "You became imitators of us, and of the Lord." (I Thess.1:6). Jesus, Himself, not only said that the wise man is the one who "... hears these words of Mine, and puts them into practice." (Matt.7:24); He also said: "I am the Way ..." (Jn.14:6), "Follow Me." (Mk.1:17).

You (if you are one!) and I may be able to tell others how to live the life of the disciple of Jesus, but it is a different thing to show it! Paul was saying, in effect, "Doing as I do will ensure that you are walking in the footsteps of Jesus." It's as we live "... in the fear of the LORD." (Ps.34:11) that we "... live lives worthy of God, who calls [us] into His kingdom and glory." (I Thess.2:12), and are able to say to others who would seek Jesus - "Follow me!"

What's in a name?

When a couple are expecting a child, one of the exciting things that they tend to do is to think about what name(s) they will give the baby when it is born. When my wife was pregnant, we had chosen two sets of names - one if the baby should be a girl, and another if the baby should be a boy. Today, of course, the gender of the unborn child may be known from quite early on in the pregnancy - giving the lie to any suggestion by the pro-abortion lobby that what is aborted is merely an amorphous lump of cellular material!

In the last post, I looked at the Old Testament prophet, Hosea, and how he was commanded by Almighty God to take a wife - who would be unfaithful to him! However, as we read the book that bears Hosea's name, we discover that his marriage to Gomer appeared to have started well. Before too long, their first child was born. What name would they give this little boy? They didn't name him after his father - or after any other relative. Instead, in obedience to God, they gave him the name 'Jezreel' = 'God shall scatter' for, said YHWH, "... yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." (Hosea 1:4-5; see II Kings 10:1-11).

Then gradually, Gomer's interest in her marriage began to fade and, soon, the symptoms of an extra-marital affair began to show - unexplained absences; unreciprocated love; endless excuses; etc. However, although Hosea's suspicions were surely growing, it was not until the arrival of a second child - a daughter - that his doubts became certainty. "And YHWH said to him, “Call her name 'Not pitied', for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by YHWH their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen." (Hos.1:6-7).

After this little girl had been weaned, this unfaithful woman bore a second son. "And YHWH said, 'Call his name 'Not my people', for you are not My people and I am not your God'." (Hos.1:8).

What a sad story! According to the law of the time, Hosea was entitled to have his wife stoned to death for her repeated adultery. However, he chose to forgive her. His love for her was too strong to be broken by her infidelities. Of course, he was considering God's particular interest in his marriage. It was, after all, to be a visual aid for Israel, enabling them to see what was happening in the bigger 'marriage' between themselves and their Covenant God.

This, Hosea declares to the people. Speaking the words of YHWH, he says: "Plead with your mother, plead - for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband - that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked  and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst.

4 

Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot;  she that conceived them has acted shamefully." (Hos.2:2-5).

As I look around me, I see so much of that which claims to be the Church - the Body of the Lord Jesus, the Christ - acting like the kingdom of Israel. I hear those who have been ordained to the ministry of the Word, diluting it; diminishing it; denying it; destroying it. Those who proclaim from their pulpits that when Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6), He didn't really mean that He is the only way! Those who support the 'marriage' of persons of the same gender, in spite of it being contrary to the clear teaching of the written Word of God. Those who appear to be happy with the latest fad of 'transgenderism', by which I may simply declare myself to be a woman, and society must treat me as such - including allowing me to share the ladies' showers at the gym: a veritable pervert's charter!

There are those who claim that it is only by conforming to the standards of the contemporary culture that the Church can survive. Yet I see those denominations, and congregations, that espouse this point of view continuing to lose members (many of whom were only 'paper-members' in any case!) hand over foot. Perhaps they need to return to the Word; to reflect on the inspired words of Paul that we should "... not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom.12:2).

Of course, all of us may learn from Hosea, and the patience and forgiving love that he displayed towards his wayward wife. We will be learning from the Lord Himself - Whose love for us is beyond anything that we can think, or imagine. As I shared recently, in a preached message (you may hear the message here: http://www.eel-bergerac.fr/message%20du%2001.10.17.mp3 but I should warn you that it is in French!), He cannot love you any more than He already does - and Calvary proves it!

Walking the walk, not just talking the talk!

It's been a while since I posted on the subject of marriage. It is, however, a very important subject - perhaps more than ever in these days when its God-ordained status is being increasingly downgraded - not least by the fact that, Biblically, it is used as a picture of the relationship between Almighty God and His people: El Shaddai and the Children of Israel under the Old Covenant; and the Lord Jesus and the Church under the New Covenant.

The 'Minor Prophets' are a group of Hebrew prophets whose writings are gathered together, in English-language versions of the Bible, at the end of the "Old Testament". However, this is not the case in the Hebrew Old Testament (the Tanakh). One of these men, whose book is at the beginning of the Minor Prophets, is named Hosea, and his message is more than interesting! The book that is named after him commences with these words:

"The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Be-eri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When YHWH first spoke through Hosea, YHWH said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking YHWH.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son." (Hos.1:1-3).

Read those words again - carefully! Did you catch on what Hosea was commanded to do? Not simply to get himself a wife - nothing unusual in that - but to be married to a prostitute!

Hosea came into prominence some 700 years before the birth of the Lord Jesus, during what was a period of stability in the northern kingdom of Israel (Ten tribes; Judah, to the south, was composed of the other two tribes). Indeed, it was known as the "Golden Age" because of Israel's military, political, and economic strength: the greatest since that of the united kingdom under Solomon. Morally, however, she was rotten to the core! She had turned her back on the one thing that made her unique - her faith in the Covenant God Who had redeemed her from bondage in Egypt.

I suspect that I was not unusual when I proposed to the young woman who became my wife. I had high expectations for our marriage, and anticipated that any problems we encountered would be met by the two of us together.  However, when God spoke to Hosea at this point in the nation's history, and commanded him to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him, he "proposed" knowing that, right from the start, his marriage would be plagued with deep and disturbing problems. 

Why would God lead one of His chosen prophets into a marriage of such a kind?! The answer is provided in those opening words: "...  the land commits great harlotry by forsaking YHWH." or, as another translation puts it: "... for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." (NIV). In Exodus 24:3, we read that, after the Children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt, they entered into a covenant relationship with YHWH (the Lord) that they would be faithful to Him. The vow that they made to Him was similar to a marriage vow. However, by 'flirting' with other gods, the nation was guilty of adultery. So, in effect, God is saying to Hosea: "I need your help! I have marriage problems. Stick to Gomer, no matter what happens, and perhaps the nation will understand, through you actions, something of my undying love."

Hosea faced an astonishing request from God - not only to preach His message, but also to live it!

"Words", the old adage has it, "are cheap!". A similar proverb reminds us that "Actions speak more loudly than words!". Personally, I have to be honest and confess that, if God had given me a challenge similar to the one He gave Hosea, I would have had great difficulty in meeting it! Yet Hosea's is the level of faith to which all who own the name of Jesus are called - a faith that trusts Him, even although it cannot see the way ahead. Indeed, that is the only true faith. William Barclay states, somewhere, that for the disciple of Jesus, "faith is spelled R.I.S.K."

Are you willing to stake your all on Him today? Are you willing to walk the walk - or merely talk the talk? 

What, in the world, is happening?

Mass murder, and mayhem, in Las Vegas; mass uprising, and demonstration, in Barcelona; the mass of an asteroid the size of a tower-block forecast to miss planet Earth by just thousands of miles (close, in astronomical terms!); the growing threat of North Korea being the catalyst for World War III. This is the world in which we live - and it would be easy to despair in the light of these, and other, events happening around the world.

In my personal devotions, I am currently reading in the book of the Revelation of Jesus, given to the apostle John. It is not the easiest Biblical book to understand. It is of the apocalyptic genre, and is filled with symbolism. I certainly find it to be confusing, at times; but I am also being led to rethink some long-held ideas. However, the overriding lesson of the book is that, however events may seem to suggest otherwise, Almighty God is in control, and that He is working all things out according to His own eternal plans and purposes.

I have just reached chapter 20 of the book (not that John wrote it down in chapters and verses! These were added by others in order to facilitate finding any particular part of the book - and of the Bible). In the previous chapter, we have what we might refer to as the beginning of the end. John records:

"Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying,
            “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
              Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory,
             for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
             and His Bride has made herself ready; 
            it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” - 
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." (Rev.19:6-8).

Almighty God has been reigning in heaven throughout eternity. In His sovereignty, He has permitted evil men - and evil angels; the servants of the satan - to do their worst, and we are seeing some of that, on a daily basis, in our own time. However, there is a day coming - and it may be a lot sooner than some seem to think - when He will move in divine power, and His will shall be fulfilled on earth,  even as it already is in heaven. 

The Lamb, in this great chorus of praise is, of course the Lord Jesus, the Christ; and the Bride is the Church - not simply those who have their names on a congregational/fellowship roll, but those who have been truly born again through God the Holy Spirit, through repentance and faith. (see Jn.3:16; Eph. 2:8).

One day (soon, I believe) Jesus will return for His Bride, and take His faithful people to that dimension that we refer to as 'heaven'. So Paul writes:

"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the shofar of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord."  (I Thess.4:13-17). 

At the Judgement Seat of the Christ (see II Cor.5:10), the works of His people will be judged, and all spots and blemishes removed. It will be after this that Jesus will return to earth as King of kings, and Lord of lords, and will conquer His enemies and establish His kingdom.

The Revelation was first given to people who were going through similar experiences to what we go through today. As today, many were persecuted, to the point of death, simply for being faithful to Him. In Rev.19:11, we are introduced to "... a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, ..." Suffering saints then, and now, need to be reminded that our God is faithful, and never deserts us, because His promises are true. 

So how does this relate to current events? I would suggest that we are seeing more and more evidence that we are in the end-times. The devil knows - better than we do! - that his time is limited. He is doing all that he can to wreak havoc. There is no hope without Jesus. However, in Him, there is true hope, and life, and the assurance of an eternity spent in His nearer presence, where sin cannot exist, and where we shall praise Him, the Lamb upon the throne, our Saviour, our Lord, and our Friend.

How do you see the future? Perhaps it doesn't concern you! I believe that it should. I also believe that you need to ensure that your future is with the Lord. He gave Himself for you, on a cross - dying there that you (and I) might have the life that He offers - "... life in all its fulness." (Jn.10:10). Will you respond to His call? Will you accept the gift of salvation that He offers? It is a simple fact that tomorrow is promised to no-one - as the victims in Las Vegas have, sadly, discovered. What you do have is this moment. What will you do with it?