December 31, 2004

If our killer tsunami had struck in Bible lands in Bible times, would the Old Testament prophets have declared it was a judgment from God? We know they said the Flood of Noah was, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was, and the drought of Elijah’s day and the locusts were (Gen. 6:11, 12; 18:20, 21; 1 Kings 17:1; Joel 1:1-7, etc.). And don’t forget, the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 6:1).

We are not prophets, but the Lord at least wants to give us some understanding; we know that “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives [plural], they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was in the days of Lot, . . . even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed” Luke 17:26ff.). “When they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them” (1 Thess. 5:3).

Side by side in one chapter in Revelation we have (a) the glorious denouement of world history in the Good News message that lightens the earth with glory, preparing a people to survive the seven last plagues (18:1-4), and (b) the detailed catalog of judgments from God that display His anger “in one hour” against the crimes of “Babylon” who has trafficked in “the souls of human beings” (vss. 13, 19) and in whom “was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (24).

“Come out of her, My people” is God’s desperate call (vs. 4). But if the whole world is “Babylon,” where can you “go”? Some people have actually thought that some island in the South Pacific would be the paradise in which to live in bliss. But that would be selfish! (And now we know, not safe either.)

How do we “come out of Babylon”? By living in the world as Jesus and His apostles lived in it, but not being “of the world.” The last vestige of Babylon’s “me-first” philosophy would be to indulge fanatical selfishness by isolating yourself from your fellowmen who are in the world who need your ministry.

December 30, 2004

The Flood of Noah was a greater disaster than our recent Southeast Asia tsunami; so probably was the cremation of Sodom and Gomorrah, at least for the impact it has made on the world.

But there were some disasters in the time of Jesus that elicited from Him comments relevant today. We read of a massacre perpetrated by the Roman governor Pilate who had “mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices,” and of “the tower in Siloam” that “fell” suddenly on “eighteen” people (Luke 13:1-5); these disasters were the talk of the media of that day. Jesus commented: “Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem?” He anticipated questions that we wonder--could these multitudes who perished in the horrible tsunami have been greater sinners than “all the other people” in Asia? Or in the world? Jesus answered His own question with ours: “No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did” (vss. 1-5).

One of the most poignant images in the media is the luxurious beach-front hotels filled with care-free tourists who were wiped out along with the poor fishermen and paupers. Jesus tells us not to try to discriminate in our judgment as to who was the most sinful; He used the mini-disasters of His day as a call to corporate repentance addressed to us all. Whatever were the sins of others, they are in reality our sins but for the grace of Christ as our Savior. In other words, we are no better innately than others, whose sins we abhor. Given the same gnorance that afflicted them and given their same temptations in the same intensity, down we would go.

We have known for a long time that “the coming of Jesus is near.” More dire “warnings” are not the solution; fear works only temporary reformation. The time is here for a “winning” message that goes beyond mere “warning,” one that transcends the fear motivation. The thousands who died suddenly will be cared for mercifully in the final judgment yet to come; let’s learn from Jesus how to tell those who are left a “winning” message.

December 29, 2004

There are no words to describe it: tens of thousands of people swept away into eternity without a moment’s warning. And now the surviving multitudes are not only bereaving, but going about utterly homeless.

Whether they believe in Hindu gods or no god, or in Allah or in the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator/Redeemer, the question haunts everybody: “Why does God [whoever He is] permit such
horror?”

The Bible is not helpless in times of disaster such as this. The dead are in God’s care; it’s the horror now of the survivors that is our heart burden. This disaster is an extenuation of the cataclysm that was Noah’s Flood. It was the Flood that originated the earthquakes that our earth suffers. Whatever sinful guilt anyone can say these tragic people had acquired, we must not try to say; we all share it as the human race corporately. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are God’s textbook for disaster survivors. The people of Jerusalem had suffered the most horrible defeat and destruction; they lost everything. After lamenting their utter tragedy, the prophet wrote: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. . . . Let us search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord” (3:22, 40).

The Flood was a curse to the whole earth from which it has never completely recovered. The earth was mortally wounded; it needs to be completely re-created. That must come when the Lord Jesus returns. The sooner, the better!

That’s why those who ponder the teachings of the Bible long for the promised second coming of “the Savior of the world.” Whatever days of peace and pleasure are granted to us, let us thank God for them, realizing even our next breath is a gift of His much more abounding grace. Let us give and give as best we can to send relief to those who suffer across the oceans; then let us look at everything we have in a new light: nothing we have liked to call “ours” is ours; it is lent us in trust to use for the good of others.

December 28, 2004

It wasn’t this way long ago but now almost all Christian churches say they believe in the second coming of Christ, and many believe it is near. Even the supermarket tabloids scream at you about it. But there is one big question that still divides many Christians: do we need a special preparation to be ready for Christ’s soon coming? Many say, No; just live a good Christian life day by day so you can be ready if you have to die suddenly--keep your debts paid up, keep your sins confessed every day, keep going to church, and trust the Lord. That’s all that’s necessary. If Jesus were to come today, you’d be ready; it’s all the same as dying; if you’re “ready” and you die in a plane crash, you’re OK.

But a great big question comes up: when Jesus returns, He will come in person, with the glory of the Father. And Hebrews 12:29 says that “our God is a consuming fire.” If anyone has sin buried in his/her heart, even sin that he is not aware of, to meet God face to face would be sudden death--which is precisely what happens to the wicked when Jesus returns according to 2 Thess. 1:8, 9: Those “who know not God and that obey not the gospel” will “be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come.” He will come with “flaming fire.” Jesus says that only “the pure in heart” will be able to “see God” without perishing (Matt. 5:8).

Isaiah asks, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that . . . stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil . . .” (Isa. 33:14-16; what about the TV we watch so often??). The context of these questions is “the sinners in Zion,” that is, the church members themselves. Yes, there is a special preparation needed in order to meet Jesus when He returns, and to be happy in His presence!

That special preparation is not a fear-induced frenzy of good works, but a clearer understanding of the gospel of His grace. By grace are we saved, and by grace will God’s people experience translation--through faith.

December 27, 2004

Today’s Sacramento BEE has a prominent article entitled, TODAY’S KIDS [that is, American] ARE BORN TO BUY.  It says we are “the most consumer-oriented society in the world. . . . More than 46,000 shopping centers. . . . The size of houses continues to expand rapidly. . . . Own more TV’s than inhabitants of any other country.”

Does God feel sorry for these kids, more than He feels sorry for say African children who have almost nothing? Are people guilty if they enjoy the wealth they are born to, who never know any different way to live? How many of the children born to poverty would be unselfish if they were born to wealth? Are poor people innately more righteous than wealthy?

Selfish, wasteful, arrogant children are not pleasant to watch. They usually grow up to be the same way UNLESS, somewhere along the line it becomes their privilege to learn the basic principles of the gospel. And the earlier in life they learn, the better for them. Parents can’t teach them to their children unless they sincerely, genuinely live them.

Rich children deserve our sympathy and pity and they must have God’s, for Jesus says, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24). So don’t criticize the rich people; “judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged”  (Matt. 7:1). The Lord might turn around and reverse your fortunes, and you become a multi-millionaire--then what would you do?

Both the rich and the poor need to “survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died.” Only then are we able to view life in the right light--our “richest gain to count but loss, and pour contempt on all [our] pride.” The heavenly Father of us all is taking special care to bless the proclamation of that love of Christ to “every nation, kindred, tongue, and people” in these last days. Our response to the vision is our final judgment.

December 26, 2004

The angel told the poor shepherds camping outdoors near Bethlehem, “Do not be afraid, . . . I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to ALL people!” (Luke 2:10).

This caught their attention so that they scrambled off to town to see for themselves. But just what was the substance of the “good tidings”?

After more than 2000 years, we are still arguing about it. There is probably not one church body on earth totally united in their understanding of it.

Some (many!) believe that the “good tidings” is that if we do this or that, then the Savior born in Bethlehem will save us. In other words, it’s “good tidings” to those who do the right thing, but terror to those who don’t. “Has to be!” these people say. “We must tell it faithfully!” They say we are born lost, under condemnation; we must do something to get out from under the curse. Jesus has come to show us how, but He hasn’t really saved anyone until that person does those right things. Very popular teaching.

But the angel said it’s “tidings of great joy . . . to ALL people!” So the angel did not differentiate; and right here is the reason why Christian people worldwide still after more than two millennia can’t agree on what the “good tidings” is.

The angel said, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (vs. 11). He didn’t say, “born to some of you . . .” Years later the Samaritans seem to have gotten the right idea when they said He is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

Christianity says “Yes!” In dying for us, Christ took on Himself our curse, our condemnation, and has given “all men” the actual gift of eternal salvation; but many refuse it and throw it away. But the angel’s message still goes on.

December 24, 2004

I remember as a child the festive excitement from Thanksgiving on through December to Christmas. Then I remember the let-down feeling that came with December 26--how dreary the future seemed--364 boring days until another Christmas can come again!

It wasn’t only that there would be no more presents: we didn’t have much that way in those days. It was the joylessness of no more Christmas songs about the birth of Jesus until late next year, no more tellings of the Bethlehem story; we must put the shepherds and the Wise Men away from our focus of attention, the “Star in the East” won’t shine again for a year. It was going to be a bleak eleven months. For this child, life revolved around Christmas.

No one in my little circle seemed to know how to tell really what was the “good tidings of great joy” that the angels told the shepherds the night when Jesus was born. The theological definitions were of course in words beyond my childhood grasp--atonement, justification, righteousness by faith, reconciliation; they all of course were over my head. But what I would have loved to hear would have been the story told in simple words how Jesus by His life and death had already given me eternal happiness that would brighten all my 365 days in the year to come; each day would be a better-than-Christmas “in Christ.” I needed to understand the character of the Father and of His Son; there were shadows in the non-Christmas preaching I had heard about the wrath of God and an ever-burning hell. Once my thankfulness for my few Christmas presents wore off, I frankly didn’t know what to be thankful for, any more. The somber non-Christmas life I was facing from December 26 on was not very bright.

I suspect that there are still other children as bewildered as I was. Even though we can “put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11), I pray that the Lord Jesus may teach me through His Holy Spirit how to tell the pure Good News to children in an intelligible way that will brighten their lives now and forever.

December 23, 2004

For these three months, millions of Christians around the world have been giving special study to the book of Daniel. This was probably planned before 9/11, so it’s providential that their study parallels some of the most portentous news developments we’ve faced in many decades. Daniel is a book to read in sober times.

It’s of special interest that in the same discourse when Jesus told us especially to “read” and “understand” “Daniel the prophet,” He cautioned us soberly, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation . . . and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly, like a trap” (Luke 21:34, NIV). The KJV presses the message vividly, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting” (Strong says the Greek word means “by analogy, gluttony”). The “at any time” in the KJV comes from the Greek word MEPOTE which, with the emphasis on unexpectedly swift judgment, makes it appropriate. Jesus must have meant that He included Thanksgiving and Christmas feasting. The story of Daniel’s three-full-week partial fast comes into focus (10:2, 3) as an example of Day of Atonement living--the only way to “live” now. We can be sure that during Christmas/2004, Jesus is on high alert as still one of us (“Immanuel, . . . ‘God wth us,’” Matt. 1:23). So should we be.

Our hearts go out to our servicemen and women who can’t even sit down to lunch except under the fear of sudden death from insurgent bombs; and how can we corporately forget the Iraqis whose terror must far outweigh our own? In our little foothills village in the Sierras we eat in peace, which apparently no one can do in Iraq (and we EAT--which many innocent people in Darfur can’t do at all!).

The scholars who have joined in this special study are not quite positive that Islam has no place in Daniel; we know that the divine Author of Revelation saw fit to include an entire chapter devoted to Islam (9). Let’s fast and pray for a clearer grasp of Daniel’s “present truth.” We are very close to living in Daniel 12:1 when Michael [Christ] must “stand up”! Yes, now is the time of high alert for the whole world.

December 22, 2004

Is the future of this world good news, or bad? According to that wonderful last chapter of Daniel that Jesus said we must “read” and “understand,” it’s both. We need to know which is which. When “the king of the North . . . shall come to his end and no one will help him, . . . there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time” (11:40-12:1). The whole world will become worse than Iraq. God’s simple common sense would tell us, “Get ready!”

But the good news in this verse is what’s important: “And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.” The meaning is clear:

Daniel’s “people” are the children of Abraham, but they are more than those who claim physical descent, whether Israelis or Arabs--they are people who cherish “the faith of Abraham” (Rom. 4:12-16). The divine “promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (vs. 13).

Therefore this “time of trouble” that is coming on the world must not terrify us. “The book” is of course “the book of remembrance [which] is written before” the Lord. He says of those whose names are in it, “I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him” (Mal. 3:16, 17).

Whose name is “written” there? “Those who fear [reverence] the Lord and who meditate on His name,” the verse says. Difficult? No! What do they “meditate” on? “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”--that’s a lot to “meditate” on! The “meditating” leads every honest-hearted person to “believe,” and not one who believes will “perish” because Jesus promised that “the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 3:16; 6:37). The “believing” reconciles the alienated heart to God and the reconciled heart is now obedient to God, at peace with Him (Rom. 8:7-17).

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December 21, 2004

A thoughtful subscriber asks, “How could the Wise Men from the East who followed the star to Bethlehem have known the time of Christ’s birth? All they knew from Daniel was the time of His death--‘in the midst of the [70th] week’ (of years, 9:24-27, which would be the final seven years of the 490 ‘cut off’ from the 2300 of 8:14)?” Well, let’s look at a few points:

(a) Daniel had made a profound impression on the philosophers of the East. Historical evidence supports his contact with Zoroaster, and also that Confucius was indebted to him. His influence affected Persian religion (Wilkinson, Truth Triumphant, pp. 17, 126-128, 335-341).

(b) The words of Jesus were fulfilled in these “wise men from the east” (“the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light,” Luke 16:8). God’s own people were so heart-alienated from Him that Daniel’s prophecy had made little or no impression on them. Most of them didn’t even want Messiah to come!

(c) The Magi doubtless studied Daniel 9 carefully and understood the 70 “weeks” and the Messiah being “cut off”(vss. 26) in the midst of the 70th as His sacrifice for the world. They knew well when the 490 years should begin--from “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (vs. 25), which they knew to be 457 B.C. (in their calculations).

(d) They doubtless knew that in Israelite culture Levites began their full-service at 30 (cf. the remark detailed in Gen. 41:46). A little simple arithmetic could have brought them to the approximate time when Messiah’s birth should be expected. After all, they were “wise”!

(e) Thus when they saw the “star” they could relate all this knowledge.

For all eternity the Jews of Christ’s day must bear the shame of not recognizing the Desire of ages when He came to them. “Wise,” thoughtful Gentiles did welcome Him. Are we also incognizant of the latter rain coming to us? Could the blessing slip by, unseen, unrecognized by us?

December 20, 2004

Yes, we MUST study and learn the message of Romans and Galatians--what Christ accomplished for us by His sacrifice on the cross, the Good News of the atonement, what is the New Covenant, how to overcome sin--yes, all that is super-important.

But this is an out-and-out plea that we “read” and “understand” the books of Daniel and the Revelation. “You don’t have time? Too much of the world swirling about your feet?” Well, we must face the truth: anybody who wants seriously to live in the new earth and not “perish,” must become educated in order to enjoy the privilege (John 3:16; you can’t “believe” unless you grasp some truth). You could never be happy living in the same world where the resurrected Jesus is unless you come to understand Him personally. The new earth won’t be big enough to hold both you and Jesus if you are strangers to each other. And you’d be miserable among His people if you have educated yourself only for the things of this world--not the next.

You DO have time; drop your obsession with novels, sports, TV, money-making, and “set your affection on things above” (Col. 3:2). The angel told Daniel that “from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding” and discipline yourself before God, he came to help him (10:12). Self-denial is indeed the pathway, but it becomes an easy one once we kneel down and watch the Son of God die on His cross. It’s that simple, that easy; “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32).

The book of Revelation is “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (1:2). It’s where He exposes His heart. Put those two texts together and we have the truth: today around the world Jesus is “drawing” people to study and understand the book of Revelation! And Daniel is “the little book open” that underlies Revelation (Rev. 10:2), which Jesus especially wants us to understand with Revelation (Matt. 24:15). Thank God!

December 19, 2004

Suppose one of the greatest angels of heaven were to come to you, and encourage you by telling you that you are “greatly beloved” by the angels in heaven! Your fellow human beings on earth have tried to kill you by throwing you into a den of hungry lions, but there’s a real Life beyond this world of persecution, and there your reputation is high! Good news!

That was Daniel; we don’t read that he ever made a mistake. “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved!” is what the angel told him (9:23; 10:11). I have never had an angel tell me that, and I know myself to be “less than the least” of all God’s servants; but the Bible tells me that “God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son that I might not perish.” That is better than having a thousand angels tell me! The Bible is God’s message book to my soul.

An angel may meet with me for a few minutes and tell me that, but then he is gone. The Bible tells me that, 24/7. In a special way Jesus says that “blessed” are the people who have never seen Him resurrected physically as Thomas did “and yet have believed” on the testimony of His apostles (John 21:26-29).

And yet did you know that the good man Daniel’s prayers were “hindered”? He couldn’t understand! He wondered, why wasn’t God listening to Him? He became so concerned about the apparent indifference of Heaven to his heart request (he was praying for God’s people, not for himself!) that he voluntarily went into the fasting mode for three whole weeks (10:2, 3). Jesus once fasted twice that long (Matt. 4:1, 2), but He did not work hard physically during that time, but apparently Daniel did keep on working during his partial fast. Then Daniel tells us why his prayers were apparently not answered--Christ Himself joined the angel in “contending” with the “prince of Persia” and then with “the prince of Grecia” (Dan. 10:20), until they did what God wanted them to do--release His people. “From the first day” Daniel’s prayer had been heard (vs. 12), and was in process of being answered! Your prayers also are being heard and are in process of being answered. Be patient, trust, and believe.

December 18, 2004

There is a fascinating Christmas story tucked away, hidden, in the most unlikely place: a book called The Great Controversy. It presents details that are not in the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages.

A special angel was appointed to visit the earth to find who was prepared to welcome the long-awaited Messiah. He visits the palaces of kings, the offices of philosophers, teachers, the rabbis, the synagogue elders, the leaders of the one true church on earth of that day with headquarters at Jerusalem, even the high priest's palace. Will the angel find anyone whose humble, contrite heart is longing for the coming of the long-awaited world's Redeemer? If he finds such a person, he will give him the glad news that He is about to be born! But sadly, he finds no one, and is about to return to heaven with the shameful news when he spots a group of lowly shepherds camping in the fields. They love to think and talk about the prophecies. They are not discussing politics, buying presents for each other, worldly possessions, or pleasures; they express their longing for the coming of the world's Redeemer.

The angel cannot contain his exuberance! He tells them the glad news and directs them to "the wretched hovel prepared for cattle" in Bethlehem where they will find the One who "unto you is born this day . . . a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

As that angel encircles the earth today, visiting the homes, schools, churches of the people who claim to be God's one true people, does he find anyone talking about the coming of the long-awaited "latter rain" of the Holy Spirit? Does anyone care that it has been delayed a century and more?

Does anyone wonder why? Does anyone long for its return? Or is there a secret fear that if and when the blessing comes, a lot of worldly "fun" will come to an end? Yes, it's true: the path to Bethlehem will lead on to a cross, which anyone who follows Jesus will also bear.

December 17, 2004

Around the world this week, millions of Christians are giving special study to Daniel 10. That’s good, for Jesus urges us in this great cosmic Day of Atonement which is “the time of the end” (11:35; 12:4) to give that portion of Daniel special attention (Matt. 24:15). And, He encourages us to believe that the Holy Spirit will give us “skill and understanding” in reading it (9:22), to “show us what is written in the scripture of truth” (vs. 21). Far from supposing that Daniel is still a “sealed” book today, everything encourages us to believe that it is God’s will that our “knowledge shall be increased” (12:4).

But may the same dear Holy Spirit give us grace to remain humble! At the beginning of “the time of the end” after the close of the 1260 years of papal oppression (post-1798 A.D.), the Holy Spirit greatly blessed the faithful Christians of many denominations in what became known as “the Great Advent Awakening.” If the Jews had understood and believed Daniel 9 they would never have rejected and killed their Messiah, for they would have recognized the time prophecy that predicted when He would come (9:24-26). Let us learn a lesson from them: the main outlines of prophetic understanding that God’s people found in their study of Daniel are still valid. Truth that was truth then is truth today. There are not “new models” of prophetic truth.

The reason for prevailing confusion today is not that the understanding of Daniel and Revelation that illuminated that great advent awakening was wrong; the problem is that when the dear Lord sent a “most precious message” of righteousness by faith to prepare that generation for the coming of Jesus and for translation--that message was “in a great degree rejected.” The problem is that the Laodicean lukewarmness of heart that has prevailed now for far too long still hinders our understanding (cf. Rev. 3:14-21).

What the Holy Spirit is giving us now is (a) a renewed confidence in those time-tested understandings of Daniel and the Revelation and (b) a far deeper heart appreciation of what Christ accomplished for the world on His cross.

December 16, 2004

A little thought demonstrates how reasonable is the idea of a “pre-advent judgment.” Jesus says that the people who are privileged to be resurrected in glory when He returns of course will have been “accounted worthy” of that reward in a judgment beforehand (Luke 20:35). Otherwise, how could the angels know whom to call forth in the first resurrection (“blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection,” Rev. 20:6), and whom to allow to sleep through until the dreadful second resurrection (vs. 5)?

Further, there will be two classes still living on earth when Jesus returns--those who are to be translated without tasting death, and those who will be unable to endure the sight of seeing Jesus come in glory. How will these two groups be distinguished unless there is a pre-advent judgment?

Jesus speaks of it in Luke 21:36: “Watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy . . . to stand before the Son of Man.” Those solemn words were spoken of today--this very day now dawning. The “accounting” is today’s agenda.

Actually, no one can judge us against our will. This pre-advent judgment is determined by ourselves. God can never force anyone into heaven or hell against his/her own will. He gives us each a new 24-hour day that we may demonstrate to the world and to the universe exactly where we want to be. Your first conscious moments after waking indicate your free choice.

It’s wisdom to remember what the Bible says--each day begins with “evening” (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Spend your last hour of each day in prayer and contemplation of heavenly reality; then your waking hour will also be “blessed and holy.”

December 15, 2004

We know the great truth behind all truths: “God so loved the world that He gave . . . that whosoever believes . . . should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Yes, He SO loves that He wants every human soul to know it and understand. But how can everyone come to know?

We know the answer to that also: The Son of God was “lifted up” high on a cross for all the world to “see” for His disciples “go . . . into all the world and proclaim” the message (Mark 16:15). Revelation 14:6 tells how they will proclaim “the everlasting gospel . . . to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people” culminating in “a loud cry” with “great power [so that] the earth [is to be] lightened with . . . glory” (18:1).

But how will this be? Our best efforts seem to be but a whisper. Meanwhile, a message has captured the intense interest of nearly every thoughtful person on earth: the fate of Scott Peterson. Something closely related to that “everlasting gospel” is getting through to world consciousness:

(1) “Sin pays its wage” (Rom. 6:23, GNB). “Every man” identifies with the helpless Scott as he faces either death or life in prison among judgment-seeking criminals who want to “pay” him his “wage” when the guard isn’t looking. God hasn’t had to lift a finger or raise His voice above a whisper; the message is “out.” God is not torturing Scott with “everlasting fire.” In his case, we see a pre-Judgment “opening of the books.” Every miserable detail of his crime is laid out for the world to ponder. But for “all men” the same will come when at the end of the thousand years of Revelation 20 “the books [will be] opened” and they will be “judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works” (vs. 12). God won’t need to say a word. Scott may find some way to deaden his consciousness now and sleep it all off, but in that second resurrection there will be no Vodka or pills to take. Conscience 100% aroused will be worse than physical hell fire
could ever be.

(2) God does not need to condemn the sinner; the sinner will do the job himself. But “in Christ,” God has taken the condemnation itself upon Himself--literally, truly. On His cross, Christ endured all the horror of it--refusing the drug offered Him to deaden the agony whether physical or mental (Matt. 27:34). The “death” He “tasted for every man” was that “second death” of ultimate hell (Heb. 2:9; Rev. 20:14).

(3) Don’t “judge” Scott Peterson telling yourself proudly you “could never do that.” Remember, his defense lawyers made a big deal of how good a man he was! It sounded like he might have been a better man than you. But he knew no Savior to save him from acting out a sudden evil impulse when he became infatuated with Amber Frey. What could you, what will you, do, if you divorce yourself from that Savior?

(4) Thank God for Him today, and humble your proud heart. That message is going to the world.

December 14, 2004

No court of law will permit a person to confess guilt which is not a fact. For example, in the recent famous Laci Peterson murder trial, the court would not have permitted a friend of Scott Peterson to confess he did the double crime unless there was clear circumstantial evidence.

But here in Daniel 9 we have a man confessing guilt in enormous sins for which he is utterly innocent! And God righteously let him do it! He painfully enumerates the sins of his people, the Jews, and calls it “MY confession” (vs. 4), “WE have sinned, . . . and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled . . . departing from Thy precepts.” He goes back in history and assumes guilt for the sins of “our kings, our princes, and our fathers” and of “all Israel.” He even confesses that “we” deserve “the curse that is poured upon us” (vss.
4-11).

Yet Daniel did not take part in any of these sins that led to the captivity in Babylon. The Bible records no sin against him. Why then did he make this abject confession, and why did the Lord let him make it if it wasn’t true in fact?

This was the same kind of “confession” that Jesus Christ made when He asked John the Baptist to baptize Him; John refused for he was authorized to baptize no one except sinners, and he knew that Christ was sinless. Christ was innocently taking the sins of the world on Himself, numbering Himself with the transgressors where He didn’t belong. Daniel was so close to Christ that he was voluntarily partaking of the corporate repentance that Christ experienced for the world.

In the end of time there will be “144,000” people who also will voluntarily confess the sins of the world as their sins but for the grace of a Savior who has saved them from those sins. They will fully realize the truth that “in [their] flesh dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). They will finally understand “the message of Christ’s righteousness.”

December 13, 2004

During this month of December, some Christian people around the world are giving special study to Daniel 8 through 12. Good idea, for Jesus urges us to “study” and “understand” just that! (Matt. 24:15). It’s a fascinating assignment for the prophet tells precisely when the Jews were to expect the first coming of their “Messiah” (9:25), but they sinfully ignored Him and ended up doing the very thing the angel Gabriel told Daniel they would do--they “cut [Him] off,” murdered Him!

Now the corporate body of God’s people are facing the momentous second coming of the same “Messiah”: and we are in grave danger of a “just like the Jews” repeat performance--unless we learn their lesson well. George Santayana said long ago, “The nation that does not know its history will repeat it.” If God’s people today neglect the cosmic Day of Atonement as the Jews neglected Daniel 9; if they live worldly lives as though there is no cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary in process; if they join with “Babylon” instead of crying “Come out of her,” they will have to kneel down with the ancient Jews in the final day of judgment before the Great White Throne and share their lethal embarrassment (Rev. 20:11, 12).

The ancient Jews wanted to disfellowship anyone who truly believed the words of Daniel and said so out loud. That’s why they crucified their Savior and persecuted His disciples--yes, and stoned Stephen. In this great Day of Atonement we face the Judgment of the ages (Rev. 14:6, 7). In fact, we will judge ourselves, just as the ancient Jews did in Pilate’s judgment hall when they cried out, “Crucify Him! His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt. 27:22-25). Silently, day by day, the record is being entered in “the books” in heaven; do we welcome bearing a cross with Jesus or do we yield to our peer pressure and follow the crowd in crucifying Him afresh?

December 11, 2004

Words can’t come any closer to solving our core human problem: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

For Abraham Lincoln, one problem was the untimely death of the girl he loved--Ann Rutledge. God could have prevented that: why didn’t He? Abe was never fully reconciled.

For Hosea, it was the girl God told him to marry--why did He let her become a prostitute and break his heart? (3:1, 2).

For Jeremiah, the problem was why did the Lord torture him with endless heartache in the one place on earth where he should have known comfort and joy--the fellowship of His people in His true church? (12:6; 17:16, 17; 20:7-10, 14-18). For him, to be “reconciled to God” meant the pain of endless tears (9:1).

Each of us has an individual problem too deep for words: we don’t want to be alienated from God, but each has an enormous question--“WHY?”

For us here this week there is our 16 year old teenage girl, the only child of her 43 year old mother, who must ask when she’s alone, “Why did God let my mother die when I need her so?” We piously tell her, “Be ye reconciled to God,” but will shallow words help?

The Holy Spirit “implores [us] on Christ’s behalf,” let the One who “comforts” us with something deeper than words (John 14:16), LET Him do His blessed work: don’t resist His healing balm, let the river flow. The pain may be deeper than your own words can say; just kneel wordless and silent, and let Him put His arms around you.

Don’t rush; if you wake up at 3 in the morning, don’t try to drown the pain with alcohol or even coffee; kneel to pray, let the tears come, “Wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). You can “believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (13). Don’t “despise” or “sell” your “birthright” of reconciliation with God (Gen. 25:23 24; Heb. 12:16).

December 10, 2004

Someone asks a sincere question: “Does a ‘decision’ to ‘accept Christ’ have in it an element of salvation by works?” I tremble to try to answer lest I inadvertently “frustrate the grace of God,” by which alone salvation comes to us (Gal. 2:21; Eph. 2:8, 9).

I attended Billy Graham’s “Hour of Decision” crusade in the stadium in Nairobi and heard him tell us that if we could see and hear Judas Iscariot as he writhes in the conscious torture of his eternally burning hell-fire, we would leave our seats and come down in front, making a “decision” to “accept Christ.” (a) But Judas was not at that moment writhing in eternal fire, according to the Bible; he was awaiting his final judgment at the end of the 1000 years of Revelation 20. (b) Such a motivation would have been basically egocentric fear, Old Covenant in nature; in such a case, the answer to our questioner would have to be “yes.” And Paul does sound like that in 2 Cor. 5:10, 11: “knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” Sounds like purely raw fear (phobos, Gk). What does he mean?

A few verses down Paul makes himself clear as sunlight: “The love [agape] of Christ constraineth us [compels us],” not “terror”! It transcends any egocentric “decision” on our part: “we thus judge, that if One died for all, then all died.” Simple common sense! “He died for all, that those who live [you and I] should live no longer for [self], but for Him who died for them and rose again” (vss. 14, 15). Your soul “judges” the cross where the divine Son of God died your second death. If you hard-heartedly “despise” the “birthright” thus GIVEN to you and “sell” it (Heb. 12:16, 17), you condemn yourself to join Judas, locking yourself in to hate Jesus forever. That for sure is UNrighteousness by works! “The truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5) will yet “lighten the earth with glory”—a purely New Covenant, totally self-less service for Jesus totally agape-motivated, totally imposed by the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and now at last totally appreciated. It will be what Jesus gave Himself to accomplish.

December 9, 2004

TIME and NEWSWEEK have given us their annual specials on the birth of Jesus. But extra-biblical details are thrown in which on close investigation turn out to be contradictory to Bible evidence:

(1) According to the Bible, December 25 could not be the birth date of Jesus. History is clear: paganism celebrated the winter solstice with a wild holiday at that time welcoming the return of the sun. Much of such paganism has become accretions to Christianity in general so that multitudes can’t distinguish between the pagan elements and the remnants of biblical truth that still survive.

(2) The reason why a December birth is impossible is the weather of Palestine. The Bible says that the birth occurred in the season when “shepherds were living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night” (Luke 2:8). December is the cold, rainy season, making such camping impossible.

(3) This give-away fact alerts us to want to demand a clear “thus saith the Lord” for all that professes to be Christianity. We may imagine that mixing paganism with the gospel is harmless--traditions are so warm and fuzzy and “comfortable.” But paganism is lethal; Daniel tells us how through history the Enemy of Christ has sought to infiltrate into the Christian faith his subtle twisting of the truth. Chapter 8 describes how paganism was “lifted up” or absorbed by apostate Christianity.

(4) The book of Revelation complements Daniel, and virtually screams at us in the intensity of the love of God, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. . . . Come out of her, My people”! (18:1-4). Earth’s rebellion against God is coming into judgment. Paganism from the beginning has been the “continual” uprising against God. We can’t help having to use the pagan names for the days of our week, but we must not let its dark shadow confuse us in our worship of our Lord and Savior.

This Christmas season let’s re-read the simple true story as it is in Matthew and Luke, and re-read John 3:16 with it: the story is true. Let’s humble our hearts, and believe it, miracles and all.

December 8, 2004

I had never thought of it before--(now it seems so obvious!)--when in Daniel 9 the angel told the prophet that “seventy weeks are determined [cut off] upon thy people” from the grand total of 2300 years (8:14; 9:24-27), that meant that the Lord was giving Israel 490 annual days of atonement as their last cumulative, corporate probation as a nation, 490 gracious calls from heaven! Talk about patience! Peter, wake up.

Peter expressed our usual sense of impatience with the foibles of other people with his question, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, ‘ . . . Up to seventy times seven’” [490!] (Matt. 18:21, 22).

The annual day of atonement in ancient Israel was their call to corporate and national repentance. As it came each year on the tenth day of their seventh month, it was their invitation from heaven to ponder anew their sin of national rebellion against God that must culminate at last in the cruel murder of the Son of God--unless Israel as a nation in the meantime should repent.

Sporadic efforts were made from time to time, but never did the nation corporately grasp their divinely appointed calling. Always, since Mt. Sinai, the Old Covenant had dwarfed their understanding. Now the Lord will demonstrate the extent of His forgiveness--“up to seventy times seven” solemn days of atonement passed over while unrepentant, the call unheeded. Then the divinely appointed limit. And then they stoned Stephen in 34 A.D., exactly 490 years after the beginning of their 2300 year prophecy.

Now we’re living in the great antitypical, cosmic, grand Day of Atonement for the world. Thank you, Peter, for helping us with your question. Shall we stone “Stephen” anew?

December 7, 2004

Moses wrote the timeless words; we shall recite them forever until the Lord Jesus Christ descends down the heavens at His second coming: “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Psalm 90:1, 2).

But the words that beckon for our understanding are verse 12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (vs. 12).

(1) It’s something you can’t learn unless the Lord Himself teaches you. He may employ the things He has created in nature as His assistant professors, but it’s a personal God who is a loving heavenly Father who must be your Tutor. The lesson is taught in love (agape). Only in that way can we learn to economize our life by “numbering our days.”

(2) Life is a time to be spent building the “house” we will live in for eternity. If the dear Lord in great mercy gives us another day--“today”--let’s ask Him for His free grace that will enable us to do or say something today that will be another stone set in the “house” we are building, to do something that has eternal results for good.

(3) The Lord loves to help those who know they have wasted their days of opportunity, who come to Him in older age broken and penitent, foolish spendthrifts who fear they will arrive bankrupt at the gate of the Holy City. They fear that the shame they will feel forever in heaven will detract from whatever joy there may be in eternal life. If you spend your century of “days” as the wandering sheep that’s been lost, and the Lord gives you even one day to spend in repentance, you can build a temple not to be ashamed of. (This is not said to encourage wildly spendthrift living; there may come a time when you simply don’t want the “wisdom” you could have applied your heart to! There comes a point where opportunities wasted become so forever. God forbid!)

(4) A heart surrendered that understands “the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5) can accomplish a    marvelous ministry of love in just one day! Now, let’s give this new day to the One who went to hell to find us. Do the only sensible thing: sign your name on to Psalm 90, and apply your heart unto wisdom.

December 6, 2004

Most of us have lived our lives serenely unaware of the great cosmic war raging unabated just this side of the threshold of “the door in heaven” (Rev. 4:1). Some like to speak of it as the “great controversy between good and evil,” but it is far more than that: it’s a battle between two great personalities--Christ and Satan. And more is involved than even this little planet’s destiny; ultimately, according to the book of Job, the fate of the universe itself has been involved. Our little planet has become the battleground arena on which these cosmic issues are to be decided.

Little children whose diet is only milk can rest content that “Jesus has won the victory! Relax! Let Him handle the problems!” And indeed, on His cross He won the decisive victory over Satan and his evil hosts. “Rejoice, it’s all been done! Smile! The war’s over!”

But wait a moment. What does the unfallen universe (that must be rendered secure for all eternity), what do they see as they watch their version of the evening news on the equivalent of TV that they have? (Don’t kid yourself--they’ve got better communication than we have, and yes, they ARE interested!). Do they see the fulfillment of, “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth”? Do they see that “He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder”? And “burneth the chariot in the fire”? (Psalm 46:9).  Yes, they see the flaming wrecks of Humvees in Iraq; but anyone (human or celestial) with open eyes can see that Christ is not yet SEEN to be triumphant on planet earth, however triumphant He is in biblical pages. Too much suffering in Darfur, too many dying unjustly of AIDS, too much triumph of sin; not yet has the “earth” been “lightened with his glory,” that is, the glory of the fourth angel who “comes down from heaven having great power” (Rev. 18:1-4).

A child can’t comprehend the burdens of her father who must provide for the family against great odds; she just rests in the arms of daddy. But the church can’t “rest” there as a “saved” infant forever; she must “grow up unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). The theme of Ephesians is love (“agape”), which is beyond childhood; we have to learn something. It’s our cross. Agape leads to “the marriage of the Lamb.” It’s time for our thinking to become mature.

December 5, 2004

In our little local church we are having to lay to rest a young woman whose life has been so short that she hardly had time to begin to live. Our loss has sobered the lot of us.

The solemn words ring like bells in our hearts: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). In other words, live as though your days are like the pitiful little gasoline you have left in your tank when the gas gauge says “empty.” You coast down every hill you can and shut the engine off while you wait at a light, and you hope, how you hope, you can get to a filling station in time.

A day--24 more hours--is priceless. When you begin to “apply [your] heart unto wisdom” you realize what a treasure you’ve been throwing away repeatedly. Throughout history it has been customary for us humans to spend the days of our youth recklessly. It has seemed almost obscene for a youth, girl or boy, to be serious; you’re not supposed to begin to “apply [your] heart unto wisdom” until old age begins to set in (do you remember when 30 was thought “old”?). So again we have done as people have always done--we bear into the land of emptiness the priceless wisdom that we might have learned in early life; and again with the Wise Man we end up saying it’s all “vanity.” And again, it’s too soon.

An hour spent kneeling in humility (maybe humiliation) before the cross of Jesus will change the heart; we can begin to see that “wisdom is more precious than rubies.” A teen can begin to realize that “all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her” (Prov. 3:15).   The miracle of the ages can at last happen: the love of self laid aside, “the dearest treasure [we] have known” is dedicated freely (albeit with tears!) to Jesus Christ. Youth will honor and glorify the Lord Jesus. It’s time for “the sanctuary [to be] cleansed.” The Good News is the work will be done for God’s word says it will be done!that one through; it will set your heart singing.

December 4, 2004

How can you feel thankful when everything has gone wrong?

There are multitudes for whom this has happened. They are utterly poverty-stricken; they are homeless; their health has broken down; their prospects are fatal. Many are dying of AIDS. Can they feel thankful? Could you?

I remember reading once of a War Vet who had lost his arms and his legs, and his eyesight, and his hearing. The Prince of Wales was visiting him; all he knew to do was to bend down and kiss him on his head.

If everything has gone wrong for you, say “No!” to the temptation to idolatry; that is, don’t let any human being usurp for you the place of “the Comforter” whom Jesus promised us (John 14:16-18). When everything goes wrong we naturally latch on to any human soul nearby like we are drowning. Thank God for any such friend, but . . . don’t grab hold of anyone except that divine Comforter.

You are jumping out of a plane and the only “parachute” you have is faith in that divine Comforter. Unbelief says, “Don’t pull the cord; there is nothing there.” But faith believes the Gift has already been given to you; you haven’t seen it yet or felt it, but you “know and believe” (1 John 4:16; John 6:69). Now say so. Be a witness to the Savior. The truth is that you are an extremely important one. You have been entrusted with a privileged honor. Fasten your seatbelt for this one: there are some categories of suffering that Jesus did not have time to go through. You have been given one of them (Col. 1:24), and it is actually “a weighty trust and highest honor,” says one wise writer. Honor your Savior!

And when you can’t think of anything else to be thankful for, thank Him for the Gift of eternal life “in Christ.” He died your second death! Think that one through; it will set your heart singing.

December 3, 2004

The world’s attention, including the UN’s and President Bush’s, has been called again to the distress and agony that AIDS brings in places like sub-Sahara Africa, China, and India, to say nothing of America’s inner-cities. Over half of all victims suffering from AIDS are now women or girls. And all of our best medical help we can summon appears to be little more than a band-aid. In some hospitals in Africa the plague has cut down a third of the nurses themselves and many others emigrate to find better jobs, leaving their sisters virtually abandoned. How would you like to be one of those AIDS-plagued women?

They may be innocent of sexual promiscuity but they are either raped or their husbands who work in the mines or drive trucks bring the disease to them. Many ignorant girls yield to the blandishments of “Sugar-daddies” who infect them (who don’t mind driving helpless females into the grave if only their own sexual lust can be satisfied inexpensively). But must the girls always remain “ignorant”? Is God caught off guard with this plague?

Has anyone thought of the love [agape] of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ as the remedy for this plague? “Pitifully small impact,” many say. In the first issue of NEWSWEEK for 2000 George F. Will made a plea for some church or group of Christians to send a “John Wesley” redivivus to save Africa as the Reformer saved England from the horror of the French Revolution. If only some church somewhere could awaken to realize that the message of Christ’s righteousness truthfully understood and proclaimed is the divinely inspired cure for promiscuity! Yes! No other message has that “power” (Rom. 1:16). And Revelation 18 tells us that if and when some church somewhere awakens to comprehend and proclaim that message, there’ll be no “small impact,” for the earth itself is to be “lightened” with the glory of that message (vss. 1-4). It will glorify the Son of God!

December 2, 2004

One of the holy names of Jesus the Son of God is “the Truth” (“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6). If you profess to believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16-like) but you reject any truth that the Holy Spirit brings to your attention, you are believing your profession. You are setting yourself up eventually to reject the holy “seal of God” and receive instead “the mark of the beast.” The supreme test will come in the final crisis of the great cosmic controversy between Christ and Satan (cf. Rev. 7:1-4; 13:1-18). Our Lord calls Himself “the Lord God of truth” (Psalm 31:5). He is the Source of truth.

“Buy the truth and sell it not” says the Wise Man (Prov. 23:23, KJV). Jesus wouldn’t claim to be “the Truth” if it were impossible for any of us to understand the truth. God has promised every one of us, “Turn at My reproof: surely I will pour out My Spirit on you; I will make My words known to you” (Prov. 1:23). Truth and an honest human heart were both made for each other; when they finally meet, they lock onto each other for eternity. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” Jesus promises (John 8:32). Free from what? The grip of Satan who “is a liar and the father of it” (vs. 44). Sin is devotion to a lie; you can’t continue in sin without believing a lie, and you can’t believe “the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5, 14) and go on living in sin! Thank God, they are impossibilities.

When I was 12 I discovered what the Bible says about the truth of the Bible Sabbath day, and I thank God that He gave me the courage to latch on to it immediately and face the ridicule of my high school friends. Ever since, the dear Lord in His great mercy has granted me a “love of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:10). I join an earnest Bible student, John N. Andrews, who said he would gladly trade a thousand lies for one truth. How about you? It’s not too late to make the swap. Even a little Bible truth is tremendously important to grasp.

December 1, 2004

Hundreds of times the Bible tells us to “praise the Lord.” The psalms, for example, are full of the idea but it’s not that we should be sycophants mindlessly saying nice things about God hoping for a handout from our divine Santa Claus. (We get the idea in the Bible that He can’t stand that kind of pagan flattery from us humans, even in church.)

In fact, what He loves is for us to “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18). He would rather we bring our dark complaints against Him out in the open; He values honesty from us more than any “praise” induced by the love of self. Surely He sympathized with Job in his terribly severe trials but He loved Job’s being utterly honest with Him, pouring out his heart just as it was. We owe an immense debt to Job; he blazed the trail for us. And it broke the Father’s heart to hear His Son complain on His cross, “Why have You forsaken Me?” but it had to be or the universe could never get straightened out. Jesus had to experience our complaining.

This “coming” and “reasoning together” that we are invited to indulge in is what the Bible calls “prayer.” You haven’t begun to live unless you’ve had a down to earth, frank discussion with God, no holds barred. You say you’re afraid to “pray” that way lest He punish you? If so, you’re alienated from the real, true Deity who says that He is agape personified (1 John 4:8). “Come now,” is His public invitation, let’s have it back and forth; at the risk of horrifying some of the “saints” I must say it right: He invites you to “come now, let’s have a good knock-down argument.” Yes, He would love to have you get acquainted with Him in a total self-disclosure. No more masks. What you need is a good wrestling match with God like Jacob had (Gen. 32:24-30).

You say that on your part you can’t stand that. Well, that means you can be of no help to those myriads of people in our world who need to get acquainted with the Father as He truly is--and with the Son as He wrestled in genuine prayer with His own Father while on His cross. Come, join God’s universe; get to know Him as He is. Know what Reality is. Help others!