From the pulpit
Sparks From The Gospel Anvil
2 Kings 18:1-8
Suppose God were going to write your history and mine, what would He say of us? Would God have to write of you, or me, “They are a disappointment to Me, they have turned their back from following Me,” or would He say which is written of King Hezekiah in our Scriptures, “And the Lord was with him.”
And there are certain elements in a person’s biography that are important when we get to know them. It is usually their parents, their past, their profession and the many particulars about a person. But for Hezekiah it was that the Lord was with him. Can we say that today of ourselves? We, that are called by His Name? You know if it is written that God called His people to turn from their wicked ways, does that speak to us today? Do we really want others to see Jesus Christ in us?
If I were to say all that I have been thinking lately, what a speech I would write, but what God wants us all to remember and it’s worth emphasizing – that all about us in Union County, and not only here, but all about you are people that are hungry for God. Beneath all the apparent, superficial laughter, there is an eternal unrest. The groups you see outside the bowling alley, the movie theater and PJ’s, where people will sit for hours, they are sitting there in a deep hunger for the things of God, for the abundant life, for the risen life.
And that is our opportunity. Even as we go over the viaduct (or under it)
God does not leave Himself without a witness.
In the g roce r y store, Walmart or casually walking on the town square, just talk to people and you will soon find out how quickly and seriously they respond. Do we want them to see Jesus? Then let them see Jesus in you, so that they can’t help but want to stop and talk about their spiritual condition.
As I was walking up to someone the other day, their dog at first barked at me, but once I got closer, it wanted me to pet it. I take that as a compliment, if a strange dog wags its tail at me. Yet, I know some church goers I wouldn’t wag my tail around if I were a dog. I have seen lots of dogs with more joy in their tails than some Christians have in their faces.
Questions? Oh, all sorts have been put to me and my answer is always Jesus. If a person is sin-stained, restless and hungry, what’s the good of telling them to change their environment? A clean shirt and sports jacket, doesn’t necessarily go with a clean heart. There is no essential connection between a clean shirt and a new creation. You don’t change the nature of a pig by putting it in your living room.
I know which will change the quickest – and it won’t be the pig. You don’t purify water by painting the pump. You don’t make an old house new by white-washing it. There is far too much white-washing, when we ought to be washing white. What do we know about psychology? What do I know about metaphysics? What’s the use of prating about things we don’t understand?
If you love the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s easy to talk about Him. The worst hell I can think of is to talk about Him when you haven’t got Him. The Name of Jesus is power, life, victory, heaven. Don’t tantalize the wrongs and sorrows and miseries of the world. In God’s Name don’t aggravate by any antidote that is sure to fail. The only cure for the sting of sin is Jesus and He will never fail.
(Lieutenant Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado).
Ancient Words — Jesus Our Sabbath Rest
In six days God did his work of creation and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy… (Ex. 20:8-11). The two prominent words in this command are Sabbath and holy. God did not need to rest from his labor as we understand rest but instead he ceased, he stopped, he finished all of his work, because his work was completed. The commandment of the Sabbath was good and beneficial to
Israel for its time, but the religious order of
Jesus’ day used this precept to bring charges against him which led to the trial and ultimately to his crucifixion. Jesus worked seven days a week. He healed on the Sabbath, he plucked corn for food on the Sabbath.
These actions for good incensed Israel’s religious order. They contrived ways to catch him and accuse him as a lawbreaker, never minding Jesus’ responses: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” and “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” and “Is it not lawful to do good on Sabbath days…?”
The Sabbath day command was a shadow of a new order in the new covenant written about in this manner: Heb. 4:9 “There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” We are to make every effort to enter that Sabbath-rest. Just as God did cease and desist from his own work, we are to work with all of our heart as working for the Lord.
Heaven is our eternal Sabbath-rest, our heavenly rest. For an eternity, we will cease from earthly toil and enjoy a blissful life as a new creature in a new creation — a new heaven and a new earth. We work and finish the race of life, then enter the Sabbath to rest forever.
A Sabbath rest also exists for today: “Come unto me all of you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest ( a Sabbath rest) unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and in Him we find a rest because of his love, grace and mercy! Indeed, the Sabbath rest for today is a new order! The eternal Sabbath-rest, however, is still under construction. Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place (a Sabbath rest) for you….” (John 14:1-4).
Without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Our walk with The Lord is a daily walk. Different from Israel’s people being holy only one day a week, Jesus has set a higher standard for his disciples to be holy every day of the week. In keeping with all 10 commandments the bar has been raised because the stakes are much higher.
Eternal life is at stake and Jesus paid the debt that would have pronounced eternal death for all of us. Jesus Christ our Lord, through the Spirit of holiness, was declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:1-6). “If the part of the dough offered as first-fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches (Rom. 11:16).
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”… (Rom. 12:1-2).
We all know there is only One who is truly holy: “Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev. 4:8). God has chosen the Christian nation before the foundation of the world, that its citizens should be holy and without blame before him in love (Eph. 1:4).
None wear a badge of holiness. We can only attempt to live in a manner that serves not the needs of self but serves the needs of others. Jesus, the Holy One of Israel, came with a single-minded purpose: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” so that we can enjoy the Sabbath rest now and for eternity.
(Scott Johnson is pastor at East Faulkner Church of Christ and author of the BRG Bible).