One,or the other!

Isaac Rankin, an American clergyman of an earlier age, wrote these words:

"Just a few feet from my window stretches a wire that carries a heavy current of electricity for light and power. It is carefully insulated at every pole, and is well out of reach of the public. But if I could lean far enough out to grasp it, death would be as swift as a lightning stroke - yet the doves light on it and suffer no harm. Their safety lies in the fact that when they come in contact with the electrical wire they touch nothing else. My danger would be that while I held the cable, the walls of my house would serve as a ground, and the current would instantly pass through my body with a deadly effect. God wants us to seek our safety in complete surrender to His power and love. It is when we reach out one hand to Him while holding on to some forbidden thing with the other, that we are in grave spiritual danger."

Paul, the apostle, writing to the disciples of Jesus in Corinth, made this bold statement: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." (I Cor.10:21). What he was (and is!) emphasising is that fellowship at the Lord's Table requires complete requires complete separation from evil. He instructs these early believers to be singular in their devotion to the Lord Jesus, and not to cater to the idolatry of pagans. As he continues, in the letter, to challenge them about their further attitude to the Lord's Table, he further points out that such compromising would bring divine judgment upon them in the form of weakness, or sickness, and might even result in their death:

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died." (11:27-30). 

Does this mean that only perfect people may approach the Table? Praise God, that is not the case. " Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." It is as I examine myself, that I realise that I am not worthy - on my own merit - to come to the Table. However, I come - because I am invited, and because "... the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7). Not that I can take that cleansing lightly! It did, indeed, cost the only-begotten Son of the Father His life's blood. That is why I must take seriously those words of Isaac Rankin. Almighty God, and the devil, are calling for my allegiance - and for yours!. We cannot serve both!

The challenge of Joshua still applies to day: "...  if you be unwilling to serve YHWH, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH." (Josh.24:15).  Jesus said: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matt.6:24). 

So, who will you serve? It must be one or the other. 

Power.

It's a stormy end to the year in the East Neuk of Fife, where my wife and I are spending a couple of days with dear friends. Indeed, during a song at the worship service, this morning, all of the lights were suddenly extinguished; the projector cut out; the sound system died; and there was no accompaniment from the keyboard! Yes, the whole village had suffered a power-cut. Even when we returned to our friends' home, there was no electricity - we were glad that they have a wood-burning stove, and a gas cooker!

Power! when it comes to the electrical form thereof we are, it must be admitted, pretty well lost without it. I couldn't have even published this post as, while the battery would have provided adequate power for me to type it up, there was no internet access to enabe me to do anything else.

The written Word of God has a lot to say about power - although not the kind provided by electricity. In a conversation, just a couple of days ago, I was informed that we are all God's children. I had to point out that that is not what the Bible says! In words that were being read in many gatherings of disciples of Jesus just a week ago: "... to all who received Him [Jesus], who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13; emphasis added). In other words, I am not a child of God by nature, but need to experience His power in my life in order that I may be adopted into His family!

In one of the recorded prayers of the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, he utters these words: "Ah Lord God! It is Thou Who hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thy outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for Thee, ... " (Jer 32:17; emphasis added). The God of the Bible is the Creator of all that exists. He is the omnipotent One Who can do anything! (Well, as I pointed out in a post on Feb.3rd, 2008, there are some things that even Almighty God is unable to do! It might be worth your while, as we reach the end of another year, to check out what I posted then!).

Just one more reference. Writing to his son in the faith, the young pastor Timothy, the agèd apostle, Paul, gave these words of advice: "... understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people." (II Tim.3-1-5; emphasis added). Such words are but one of many indications that we are currently living in the end-times. As I look about me I see so much that masquerades as Christianity - but that is totally lacking in any evidence that it is operating in the power of God the Holy Spirit, and bringing glory to the Son.

Power! how important it is. If you want a good Word Study, you could do a lot worse than check out many more of the references to it in God's Word. However, the BIG question is: "Do I know that power of God in my own life?" 

We got by this morning - even if we had to revert to the "low-tech" of hymn books for the final song! I can only speak for myself, but I would not wish to enter 2018 without experiencing something of His power in my life. I trust that all who read this post will be able to say, with Paul, "... I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, ..." (Phil.3:8-10; emphasis added).

The point of tension!

Yesterday, my wife and I drove down, via Manchester, to Maidstone, Kent, where we spent the night with dear friends prior to crossing the Channel (La Manche!) in the very early hours of tomorrow (Saturday), leaving at 0030!.

As we drove down through Scotland, and northern England, I was struck by the number of wind turbines that were standing there, in the calm, almost totally still, weather conditions, with not even a hint of movement from their massive, propellor-like, vanes.  I have always thought of these monstrosities as a blot on so much of the landscape, but now they were showing themselves to be absolutely useless.  They were not generating a single watt of electricity.  They were merely taking up space!

Of course, I am aware that, as the wind strength increases, then the vanes begin to turn, increasingly quickly (although, if the wind is too strong, then the turbines must be turned off, lest the vanes spin off and cause much damage!) and that they would, then, be generating power at a substantial rate.  However, with no force coming against them, they just stood there - achieving nothing!

I suddenly found myself thinking of so many "church members"in the affluent western church.  Looking important, as they make their way to their particular meeting-place each Sunday (or less often!), they are achieving nothing!  Their idea of the Christian faith is built upon social requirements, rather than upon a living relationship with the Creator, through the Son, in the strength of the Spirit.

Then I thought of those in what we refer to, simply, as "the persecuted church".  They know what it is to face up to challenge, to hardship, to adversity.  They have experienced, and continue to experience, the harsh wind of secular humanism blowing hard against them.  And the result?  They grow!  It is in such difficult circumstances that their trust in the Lord Jesus is purified - as gold in the refiner's furnace.

The last thing that I want, for myself or for those who are nearest and dearest to me, is the same kind of physical persecution that is suffered by my brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus, in North Korea; in northern Nigeria; in Iraq; in Iran; in a total of more than fifty countries around the world.  However, such persecution could well come!  If it does, I predict two things - (a) there will be droves of people who will leave the church (whatever the denomination) as quickly as they possibly can.  They will be those who like to look good, and who are content to stand up in the calm, but who have no personal relationship with the Lord, and no true allegiance to Him; (b) the church will grow!  This is the experience in countries in which disciples of Jesus are persecuted.  As someone has said: "A faith worth dying for is a faith worth living"!

A minister with whom I worked, a long time ago, had a background in engineering.  He was constantly reminding me that "the point of tension is the point of growth."  I have never been absolutely sure what that means in engineering terms, but I do know that is has been shown to be true in terms of church growth.   If, and when, real persecution comes to "the west", I trust that those who follow this blog (and its writer!) will be found among those who are, if necessary, "faithful unto death". (Rev.2:10).