Communion

It was back in 2008 - remember those days when we were free to meet regularly, without any concern about 'social distancing' or the wearing of masks! - that, during Communion in the fellowship with which we then worshipped, the following words came to me. I published them, on this blog, that evening with the comment that: "It’s never going to be classic literature, but the thoughts are sincere, and intended to bring glory to the Lord." I found a hard copy at the weekend, and decided that it might be an encouragement to someone of I posted it again.

It’s only a tiny piece of bread, but it speaks of a God above
Who came, in the Person of the Son, to show how great His love.

It’s only a tiny piece of bread, but it speaks of atoning death
As Jesus completed His earthly work, and breathed His last human breath.

It’s only a tiny piece of bread, but it speaks of new life for me.
It reminds me of all that Jesus did, on that cross, at Calvary.

It’s only a little cup of wine, but it speaks of the Saviour’s blood
Shed on that cross, for all mankind; fulfilling the sacred Word.

It’s only a little cup of wine, but it speaks of the mighty flow
Of the mercy of God, to a sinner like me, and the grace that e’en I might know.

It’s only a little cup of wine, but it speaks of great sacrifice
As it spurted from head, hands, feet, and side; and the soldiers threw their dice.

It’s only a tiny piece of bread, and a little cup of wine;
But, each time I partake, I rejoice once again, in His wonderful love divine.

Blessings, and shalom.

Noah, and the Flood: part 2

In the previous post (which, ideally, should be read before this one!) we started to look at the record of the man, Noach - the only righteous man that Almighty God could find on the earth, so soon after the creation. Because of the rebellion, and sinfuness, of the rest of mankind, God decreed that He would cause a great flood to envelope the earth, destroying all land-based life - including all humans except Noach and his immediate family.

"I, Myself, will bring the flood of water over the earth to destroy from under heaven every living thing that breathes; everything on earth will be destroyed. But I will establish my covenant with you; you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you." (Gen.6:17; CJB).

God instructed Noach to build a huge box ('tebah' in Hebrew; not a boat!) capable of holding one breeding pair of every animal, and seven pairs of those that were considered to be 'clean'. "From everything living, from each kind of living being, you are to bring two into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they are to be male and female. Of each kind of bird, each kind of livestock, and each kind of animal creeping on the ground, two are to come to you, so that they can be kept alive." "Of every clean animal you are to take seven couples, and of the animals that are not clean, one couple; also of the birds in the air take seven couples - in order to preserve their species throughout the earth." (6:19-20, 7:2-3; CJB). 

Now a box may not be as difficult to constuct as a boat would have been - but the dimensions of this particular box show that this was no small undertaking! The ark was some 500 feet long; 75 feet wide; and 45 feet high! (Precise measurements depend on the interpretation of the 'cubit' which was between 18" and 20", but this was no toy from the "Early Learning Centre"!). Sceptics scoff, and say that even such a vessel could not hold, along with the food necessary for their survival, approximately 1 million species of insect; 25,000 species of bird; 2,500 species of amphibians; 6,000 species of reptile; and several thousand species of mammals; together with cultures of tens of thousands of micro-organisms that can be identified without the aid of a microscope! What such people fail to realise is that the Biblical record doesn't refer to "species", but to "kinds" or "families" from which the various species descended - each according to its "kind"! So, for example, there may well have been just one pair if "felines" from which all of the 'cat' family descended - not by "evolution", but by adaptaton!

The fact is that there may only have been about 16,000 creatures aboard; the median size would have been no more than that of a large rat (only young would have been rescued!), and no more than 12% larger than a modern sheep! Considering that, even using the 'short' cubit, there would have been some 1.5 million cubic feet of space, there was definitely no overcrowding in the ark!

Of course, the ark had to be water-tight, and so Noach is commanded to seal it, on both the inside and the outside, with pitch (tar), thus ensuring its 'floatability'. Of course, it also has to withstand 40 days and 40 nights of continuous rain, together with the tossing caused by gigantic waves. Even after the rain stops, another 150 days would pass before the waters had receded. So, adequate provisions are taken aboard: "Also take from all the kinds of food that are eaten, and collect it for yourself; it is to be food for you and for them." (6:21; C.J.B.).

Finally, the ark "... came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." (8:4; C.J.B.). No single 'mountain' is named! It is a bit like saying that something happened "in the Grampian Mountains" (in Scotland!). That covers a wide area! However, when the waters appeared to be receding, Noach checked by sending out one of the ravens. It could not find anywhere to rest, so "... flew back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth." (8:7; C.J.B.). After another week, he sends out a dove - but the end result was the same. Then, later, he sent the dove out again and, this time, it returned with a freshly-plucked olive leaf, and Noach knew that the waters had dried up sufficiently to allow vegetation to grow again. He waits a further week and sends the dove out again. This time it does not return, and he realises that it is safe to leave the shelter of the ark.

Then in a scene, reminiscent of the Creation, "God said to Noach, 'Go out from the ark, you, your wife, your sons and your son’s wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing you have with you - birds, livestock and every animal that creeps on the earth - so that they can swarm on the earth, be fruitful and multiply on the earth.'" (8:15-17; C.J.B.).  "God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you. Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything - only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat. I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by a human being will his own blood be shed; for God made human beings in his image. And you people, be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it." (9:1-7; C.J.B.).

So, humans are now permitted to eat meat - but not the blood of the animal; and the death penalty, for the murder of another human being, is instituted. This passage is a reminder that, when we look at others, we must view them as having been created in the image and likeness of Almighty God. It is this that marks us out from the animal kingdom.

Okay, that's all for now. Part 3 will be published, D.V., in a couple of days' time.

The way of the cross.

While speaking with a friend, earlier this week, he made the point that too many in the church today don't preach the Gospel of salvation.  "All that I hear", he stated, "is that we should 'love one another' and be nice, kind, people.  That," he said,"is not the Gospel."!

He certainly had a point!  We may learn a number of things about the Gospel of salvation by observing the actions of the two who were crucified with Jesus.   For example, it is possible to want salvation, and yet not experience it.  Luke provides the record: "One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, 'Are you not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!'" (Luke 23:39).  

Paul assures us, in his letter to the infant church in Rome, that "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom 10:13). Why, then, was this particular man lost?  We may see three reasons:

1. he was thinking only about physical deliverance;

2. his plea was not genuine.  Luke informs us that he "railed" at the Lord Jesus. That's a word that may be defined as "reviled or scolded in harsh, insolent, or abusive language."  Some other translations use terms such as "scoffed" (NLT); "hurled insults" (NIV); "spoke insultingly" (Darby).

3. he didn't want salvation by the way of the cross.  He cried out: "Save Yourself and us!'".  What he didn't realise was that if the Lord Jesus had come down from the cross, He could not have rescued others!  

Again, writing to the Roman believers, Paul assures them that "... God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8; emphasis added).  The anonymous writer of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus tells us that "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Heb 9:22; emphasis added).

Yet, in spite of these clear instructions in the written Word of God, many appear not to want anything to do with the message of the needed sacrificial work of the Christ. They call it a "bloody" Gospel - and it is!  They would rather talk about Jesus' life, teachings, and example.  Now, it is true that the Saviour's life is important; His teachings are an absolute storehouse of wisdom and truth; His example is worthy of being followed by all.  However, it is not only through His life, but also His death and resurrection, that salvation and forgiveness can be offered to a guilty world.

The other malefactor came as we all must come - in humility and faith.  Luke continues the record: "But the other rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.'  And he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" (Luke 23:40-42).  What a difference in attitude!  And he received a response from the Saviour: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:42).

If you wish to reach heaven, you cannot avoid the way of the cross.  It's the place where, as Graham Kendrick reminds us in one of his songs, "wrath and mercy meet" - where the sins of the world, and the love of Almighty God, met in the redemptive encounter.  It is only "... the blood of Jesus, His Son ...", John reminds us, that "... cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).

Have you been "washed in the blood of the Lamb?"  Have you come by the way of the cross?!

In death, is life!

In the previous post, I suggested that the Cross is all around us.  This picture is exactly the kind of thing to which I was referring!  The sign, of course, gives it added value!

The Cross of Jesus was not something that began in the minds of men, but was conceived and enacted in the very heart of Almighty God in eternity.  When God laid down the broad beams on which He built the very structure of the universe, those beams were stained red with the blood of the atoning sacrifice of the only-begotten of the Father - for He was, as we noted, "the Lamb, slain from before the foundation of the world."

This means that the Cross is not only written into the text of the written Word of God - the Bible - but is also ploughed into the very texture of the universe itself!  We may discern this everywhere - no life without death.  As Spring approaches, gardeners will be sowing their seeds.  Jesus said: "... unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24).  The seed must die to produce the life that produces the fruit!

The Cross is not some bizarre absurdity that occurred on the first "Good Friday" - it has been in the whole of life from the very beginning!  The sublime act of the death of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus, the Messiah) on that hilltop outside the wall of the city of Jerusalem, some 2,000 years ago, focuses in a ,moment of time something that is actually timeless!  It is a mystery - but a wonderful mystery. Over the next few posts, we will try to understand it better - approaching it with reverence, and awe.

Come with me on this journey of discovery - it could change your life, not only for time, but also for eternity!

The blood of Christ.

I spent most of today with a power-washer, dealing with the slabs and monoblocks that cover our fairly long driveway, and the slabs the form the patio in front of the summer house, at the back of the garden, as well as the slabs beside it.

It's not the most enjoyable of tasks, as the muck and moss sprays up all over the place - including over one's jeans (wellie-boots only protect so much!).  I do have an attachment that is supposed to confine the aforementioned muck - but it doesn't seem to do as good a job with cleaning the slabs/blocks!

It was as I watched the total transformation of the slabs/blocks from grubby, same-coloured dirty, surrounded by all of that moss and other gunge; to clean, distinguishable (colour-wise), bright slabs/blocks that I found myself thinking how good it would be if I could purchase a power-wash that would deal with my sins in the same way!  How wonderful it would be if all that I had to do was stand under such an amazing power-wash, and be transformed from the grubby, sinful, person that I am into a clean, fresh, person!

Then I remembered that, of course, I do have access to such a power-wash!  It's called the blood of Jesus and, according to the apostle John, "... the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7)

Of course, those slabs and blocks will not, now, remain clean forever!  I have to attend to that job on a fairly regular basis.  And, similarly, I have to seek God's cleansing every single day.  But I know that, because I have made that eternal-life-giving commitment to the Christ, that the cleansing is always available to me.

The hymnwriter put it like this: "There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb.  There is is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb."   And that cleansing power is available to all who come to Him, in repentance and faith.

With an offer like that, who would want to be a dirty paving slab?!