Where, death, is your sting?

As far as I can recall, the first piece of poetry that I ever wrote was for my maternal grandmother - on a card that was placed on a wreath at her funeral service. It read, very simply: "Today are met both joy and sorrow. Gran's gone just now; we'll meet tomorrow." Okay, hardly worthy of the Poet Laureate - but those simple words contained a great truth; one of which I was reminded again this morning when my wife and I were informed of the death of a dear friend of many years. 

She has been suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, as did the late Stephen Hawking. However, that was not the only thing that they had in common. It wasn't that my friend ever had the celebrity status of Stephen Hawking. He was known all over the world; she only to her family, her friends, those whom she served for many years in Nepal, those who knew her at a personal level. No, the other thing that they had in common is that both were sinners in the sight of Almighty God.

That, of course, is also where there was a major difference. To the best of my knowledge, Stephen Hawking did not acknowledge his sinful nature, not least because of his declared personal conviction that the Creator God does not even exist. My friend had confessed her sins, and sinfulness, and accepted the salvation that was made possible for her through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. She is with Him today - not because she was a good and faithful daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother; not because she served for all of those years in Nepal; not because she was kind and helpful (but with, at times, a "wicked" sense of humour!). She is with Him because of the grace of Almighty God, and nothing else.

When I e-mailed her husband, this morning, I reminded him of Paul's words "...  we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." (I Thess.4:13). The point that I made was that we do grieve! He no longer has the physical companionship of his wife of so many years; their adult children no longer have a mother with whom they may share. However, our knowledge of his wife's life in Jesus assures us that, to use the now well-known words of the late Billy Graham, "She is not dead. She has simply changed address, and is more alive now than ever she was on this earth."

It was Billy Graham who also said that our last breath in this life is immediately followed by our first breath in the next - the fuller life that is assured for those who die (physically) in Jesus. Paul made the same point to the Corinthian believers: "...  we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (II Cor.5:8).

Whilst I was never a committed "Trekkie", I did enjoy the early series of Star Trek. However, the opening sequence was in error. It is not space that is the "final frontier", but death! It was Benjamin Franklin who said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." and, as the Rapture is delayed, that is most certainly true. Of course, I at least know beforehand what taxes I have to pay, and when they are due. Death is not always as considerate! It can come at any time, and tomorrow is not guaranteed to any one of us - rich or poor; male or female; famous or unknown; black or white; religious or atheist. The important thing, therefore, is to be ready for whenever it comes!

How can we be ready? By following the example of my late friend, and coming to the foot of that cross of which many will be thinking especially deeply on Friday, there to confess our sins  and claim the salvation that is available to all who will come to the One Who hung on that cross, in repentance, and faith, and yield their lives to Him.

Have you done that? If you have, then death holds no terror for you, and you may state with Paul: '"Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" ' (I Cor.15:55). If you have not, then I urge you to do so, and to do so while you have time. Stephen Hawking, as far as I know, did not do so and, with all of his great intellect, has now entered a Christless eternity. Do not join him there. 

You need to know the problem!

In January, on our way back to France, we collected a small caravan as we really have been missing our caravan holidays. It's a 24-year-old Eriba - caravans that were, I am convinced, designed by the designers of Dr Who's Police Telephone Box. They certainly seem to be able to hold much more than the external dimensions would indicate.

Anyway, last week we took the 'new' caravan for a test break, just to check that everything was working correctly. One of the differences between this Eriba and previous "full-size" caravans, is that the water supply is kept inside - with separate containers for the kitchen and the wash-hand basin in the toilet (yes, it isn't totally primitive!). I filled both containers when we arrived on-site, and  we settled down for a pleasant 'long week-end'. It was when my wife used the wash-hand basin that the problem surfaced (no pun intended!). The tap was obviously operating, as we could hear the pump in the reservoir working. However, instead of water flowing from the tap, it was bubbling into the cupboard below.

The resident  plumber (me!) was called to the scene and started to look for the source of the unwanted water-flow. I checked the connection to the tap, but all was well. I checked the top of the container, but it was tightly sealed. Eventually, I discovered that, when I had removed the container in order to fill it, I had inadvertently disconnected the feed pipe from the top. This meant that the water was being pumped out from that spot!

Well, having discovered the problem, I was able to easily deal with it, and the water flowed as it was intended to!

So why am I sharing this? Simply because I see, in the experience, an analogy of human life. So many are searching for meaning and purpose in life. However, if they are looking in the wrong places, they are never going to find the solution. Some will try to find it in their job; some in relationships; some in drugs (including alcohol and nicotine); some in power and authority. However, it was a wise man, named Blaise Pascal, who pointed out that "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing," or as Augustine put it many centuries earlier, "Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." Even further back in time, the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes wrote: "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." (3:11).

Our problem is what the Bible describes, so very simply, as "sin", defined by the Shorter Catechism as "... any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God." In more contemporary language, that is saying that if we fail to keep God's laws, or break any of them, then we are guilty of sin! And, of course, as the Bible also points out, that includes every one of us: "... there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Rom.3:22-23).

That's the problem! My sin separates me from my Creator, and there is nothing that I can do to rectify the situation. Thankfully, He has already dealt with the problem. The Blaise Pascal quotation continues: "... but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." He, and He alone, is the answer. He gave Himself, as God in human flesh, on a cross at Calvary, that you and I might have the opportunity to be reconciled to God. What a wonderful offer! Have you taken it up? If not, then I urge you to do so without delay. 

You now know the problem - grasp the solution while you still have time. Remember, tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us"

Limitations on God's Promises

Each day, in my e-mail Inbox, I receive a message based on a verse of the Bible. This morning's message was under the same heading as this blog-post and read as follows:

«“Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:37)

The people of Israel, in spite of all God had done for them, continually rebelled against Him, even turning to other gods. One might think God would have destroyed them and started again, but He had made a promise first to Abraham, then to Isaac, and then to Jacob, that this nation would be His special people, and He would not break that promise.

In our text God reveals the “conditions” under which He would cast off Israel, but they are such that there is no possibility of their being met.

If heaven above can be measured: Neither Abraham nor Jeremiah could have had any concept of the number of stars or the depth of space. Now, with modern telescopes, we see unthinkable distances and even farther and farther as our technology increases. Estimates of the radius of the universe now stand at around 46 billion light-years, and no end is in sight.

If the foundations of the earth [can be] searched out beneath: Sometimes scientists claim they know more about the sun than they do the earth. But in reality, only one percent of the earth’s radius has been explored. The pressures and temperatures that exist deep inside the earth are unthinkably great, and we don’t even know how matter acts under those conditions. The promise to Israel is secure.

Scripture is likewise full of “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4) made to the believer. Our text indicates God’s attitudes toward His promises. We need not worry that He will keep His Word.» (Days of Praise - http://www.icr.org/homepage/)

That estimate of the radius of the universe really caught my attention! Up came the calculator, and I started to work. As many will know, a "light year" is the distance that light travels in one earth-year - at a speed of approximately 186,000 miles per second. This means that, in distance, a light year is 186,000x60x60x24x365.25! My calculator couldn't handle even that. However, I did manage to get to a "light-day" at more than 16 billion miles. Continuing from there, and now working only in billions (!), I arrived at the conclusion that the current estiimation of the radius of the known universe is 27²² miles (approx.)! That represents a figure of 27 followed by 22 zeroes:

220,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles (approx.) - and that is only the radius of what we know!

What an amazing universe! If we had reached the very edge, and it was a perfect circle, then the area covered would be (no pun intended!) astronomical! Of course that would also immediately raise the question as to what lay beyond the circumference of the circle!

Within the known universe, mankind (or 'peoplekind' if one is the rather silly and immature PM of Canada!) can predict the arrivals of comets; can plan journeys through space (at least through the Solar System - a mere speck in what we can see - although one tiny spacecraft has, if memory serves me well, gone beyond the Solar System but has lost contact with Earth); can plot weather systems. Yet, there are those who would continue to insist that all of this came from nothing (okay, you physicists, from a singularity: but from whence came the singularity?!) and, simply by a process of random chemical reactions, and random collisions, etc., became the amazing, ordered, predictable entity of which we still mknow only the tiniest part!

As I state in one of my own books: "It requires a great deal of faith to be an atheistic evolutionist"! 

A clear conscience.

An Indian was asked by a Bible translating missionary to define the word "conscience". After having thought for a minute, the man pointed a finger at his breast and said: "It is a little three-cornered thing in here. When I do evil, it turns around and hurts very much. However, if I keep on doing wrong, its sharp edges wear off, until it doesn't bother me any more." 

There was a lot of wisdom in those words, and his definition was amazingly accurate! If I disregard the warnings of my conscience, and continue in sinful practices, then that conscience can be impaired. If I abuse my conscience, it becomes "seared" and useless. So Paul writes to Timothy: "The Spirit says clearly that in later times some believers will desert the Christian faith. They will follow spirits that deceive, and they will believe the teachings of demons. These people will speak lies disguised as truth. Their consciences have been scarred as if branded by a red-hot iron." (I Tim.4:1-2). This is why we must never callously allow ourselves to mute the pleadings of our own consciences!

However, valuable as this "internal monitor" may be, we must admit that it has become dulled by mankind's fall into sin. No longer can it be an infallible guide to right conduct. It needs to be enlightened, and sensitised, by our being born anew of God the Holy Spirit, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, the Son, by the grace and love of the Father. We then need to keep it in good condition by our daily reading, and studying, of the written Word of God, and by daily communion with Almighty God in prayer. Only then can we follow the leading of our consciences with safety!

When a disciple of Jesus does find this inner voice accusing him/her of wrong deeds, or words, or thoughts - or, indeed, of the failure to do, and speak, and think as we ought! - then we must come before the throne of grace and, confessing our sins - of omission as much as commission - before our heavenly Father; receive the forgiveness that was gained for us at Calvary; and seek the ongoing sanctification that is available to us by the work of God ther Holy Spirit in our lives. I have a little home-made, laminated, plaque on my study wall - just above the desk at which I sit for my devotions. It is a play on words in the English langiage, and reads: "In this life I shall never be sinless; but, by the grace of God, I may sin less!" (emphasis not in the original!).

Perverse attitudes, and evil practices, cloud the spirit when we resist the "soft whisper" that warns. It is only as we ask the Lord to cleanse us anew, and allow His Word to direct us , that we may say, with Paul as he made his defence before the Roman governor Felix: "... I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people." (Acts 24:16). As someone has said: "Conscience can only be our compass if the Word of God is its chart."

Now that I am a man!

I have just been working on some minor revisions to my second book: "Foundations of the Faith" - an introduction to some basic Christian beliefs, based on the words of The Apostles' Creed.  That Creed (or 'Statement of Belief '), begins with the words "I believe in God ..." That, for many in our post-Christian, humanistic, materialistic, society is the problem! They don't! They accept the notion that everything has come from nothing - and claim that science supports their totally unscientific position!

I recall, during my teaching years, that it was a question often posed by pupils – usually those about 14/15 years old.  That is the group which, in my personal experience, have reached that wonderful stage at which they do know everything about everything, and who have also come to the conclusion that the mere adult at the front of the classroom knows nothing about anything!  Not, of course, that I am tarring all young people in that age group with the same brush! 

Anyway, when the question was posed, I answered as follows:  

Pupil: “Sir, if God made everything, who made God?!” Me: “That’s obvious.  It was a man in a yellow submarine!” (Giving away something of my age to those who remember the song!).  The blank stare was the sign for me to continue.  “So, I suppose you want to know who created the man in the yellow submarine!”   “Who?” the pupil invariably asked.  I answered, in another age-giver-away, “A pink purple-people eater!”  Another issue had obviously been raised.  “Who made the pink purple-people eater?”   This time we moved to the inanimate world – which, by the way, is where the evolutionist must start.  “A giant cricket bat.”, I would answer.  By this time, it was usually the case that the pupil had caught on and responded with another question.  “Who made the giant cricket bat?”  “God!” I would reply.  “Now, how did this conversation start?”

Of course, this is not what is taught by most school text-books! Rather, these suggest that primitive matter evolved (from nothing!), through billions of years, into living creatures that eventually inhabited the jungles (that had "just happened"!).  From these, in turn - after many more billions of years - came modern mankind. There will usually be a series of pictures supposedly accounting for, for example, the bone structure of the human head. They might begin with the shark (with no reasonable explanation of how the shape of the shark's head came about); advancing to the lizard; 'evolving' into a monkey, followed by an ape and, finally you and me! This pseudo-scientific presentation leaves me with the conclusion that my existence is the result of nothing more than a series of chemical accidents (chemicals which, by the way, also "just happened"!), and that my life has no real purpose.

What a contrast to what I was reading this morning, in  the book of Ezra the scribe! Reading through the list of names in what we know as chapter 8 - an exercise that, on the surface, may seem to be tedious and unnecessary! - one is almost forced to conclude that behind every movement, and every action, of this remnant that had remained in Babylon when the first group had returned to Jerusalem when Cyrus was king of Persia (modern Iran!), lies the supervising ministry of God the Holy Spirit (HaRuach Kadosh), bringing about the divine purposes of the Father.

The Bible makes it perfectly clear that we are created, "... in the image of God ..." (Gen.1:27), that we might live for Him, and bring glory to His Name.Your life, and mine, have significance! We are accountable to Almighty God to manifest in thought, word, and deed, His eternal glory and purpose. 

Recognising that you are a man - or a woman! - and not just another animal, should affect how you live today, and every day! Will it?!

A word from heaven!

In my personal devotions, I am currently reading in the Old Testament book of Ezra. This morning I read the fifth chapter and, in the opening verses, read these words: "Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechari′ah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel Who was over them. Then Zerub′babel the son of She-al′ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo′zadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them." (Ezra 5:1-2).

It was those simple words: "... in the name of the God of Israel Who was over them." that jumped out at me. To give a brief background note Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, had conquered the Babylonians and, in fulfilment of the 200-year-old prophecy of Isaiah, he released the Jews who had been taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar; instructed them to rebuild the Temple that Nebuchadnezzar had had destroyed; and even returned the Temple vessels that had also been taken to Babylon. [On a side note, it is interesting that Persia is the country that, since the overthrow of the Shah (ruler) in 1979, and the installation of the Islamic Ayatollah Khomeini, has been known as the Islamic Republic of Iran - Israel's sworn enemy! One wonders how many Iranian Muslims are aware that it was the founder of their nation who ordered that the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt, and even gave a grant towards the cost of doing so!] However, any attempt to build and establish something for God will soon attract the attention of the enemy, and it didn't take long for a group of Gentiles to commence a campaign of harassment and opposition that, eventually, led to the abandonment of the work. A new king has ascended the Persian throne, and the opposition took this opportunity to write to him, in the most fawning of terminology, requesting that he demand that this work be terminated. This he did!

Some sixteen years later, the Lord sent two prophets - Haggai and Zechariah - to call the people to renewed commitment and faith. They quickly roused the Jews into action, inspiring their flagging spirits, and reinforcing them with renewed strength and dedication. That is what I was reading earlier. In spite of the fact that an official veto on the work remained in force, they recommence the building project, realising that, although an earthly king has forbidden them to do so, the heavenly King has now spoken - they have heard a word from heaven!

Mike Spence, the Vice-President of the United States of America at this time, was recently criticised, and mocked, for claiming that the Lord speaks to him. Yet is not this what the Church today needs more than anything else? All of our fancy planning, and courses, are as nothing if we are not hearing from the Lord. The sounding forth of the true prophetic voice is, surely, one of the greatest needs of the hour. These words, written almost forty years ago, are increasingly relevant: "For too long we have listened solely to the voices of the politicians, the statesmen, the scientists, and others who shape and mould today's society. We need now, more than anything to hear again a word form heaven. We need to hear the voice of God."

Of course, if the Lord is to speak, we must take the time to listen. Yet how many, who would claim to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, spend little or no time reading the Word, and in prayer? One day, each one of us will stand before the judgement throne of Almighty God. Those of us who are "in Christ" and who are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, are already acquitted at that throne. However, we then have to face the judgement seat of the Lord Jesus, and answer to Him for what we have done with our lives since we yielded them to Him. That's a sobering thought!

The old song has the refrain "By and by, when I look on His face; I'll wish I had given Him more." May we give Him more, now. It will be for our good, and to His glory. Listen for that word from heaven. It could be directed towards you"