CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF A COMMITTED PROPHET
#353 CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF A COMMITTED PROPHET
Scripture Amos 3:2, NIV
Orig. 1/22/1967 (10/1981)
Rewr. 11/7/1986
Passage: “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
Purpose: Following revival, to give my people opportunity for serious soul-searching to determine the working of grace in their own lives.
Keywords: Forgiveness Responsibility
Grace Revival
Introduction
What is the link between faith and the way we live? Are acquaintances able to read by our actions and our words that being a Christian brings some pronounced changes in our lives?
The story is told of two [men] who were riding a train together. One punched his friend, pointed toward a man sleeping a few seats from them, and said, “Isn’t that the evangelist that preached that arbor revival last summer?” The other looked as carefully as he could and replied, “Well, it does look like him, but I don’t believe it is ‘cause he don’t have on one of those loud coats.”
Well, they got into an argument. One was sure it was. The other was sure it wasn’t. Finally, one who raised the question pushed it further, “I bet you $50 that that is Rev. Ambusher.” After getting his friend’s consent he went up to the sleeping man, awakened him, and asked if he were the reverend. The awakened man lit into the questioner. He was angry because he had been awakened, and told the man in no uncertain terms how he felt. In fact, he called the man by some very unpopular names.
The one who initiated this scene sheepishly returned to his seat. He declared to his friend. “The bet’s off! He wouldn’t tell me his name! I don’t know if he’s Ambusher or not!”
It is a sad day indeed, when one cannot substantiate differences in the lives of so-called believers from those around them.
I. The First Principle is that Grace is Extended. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.”
Grace is extended through election. Deuteronomy 7:7, “The Lord did not set His love upon you and choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest, . . . but because the Lord loved you.”
Do our rich gifts mandate a worthiness? Am I worthy of health when tens of thousands face lingering deaths? Do I deserve the pleasures of family when so many are alone? Were there no others who would have been more receptive of the miracle of forgiveness than I?
By so many important considerations, we are recipients of undeserved grace. Little boy on Today Show, born without arms, stubs for legs, but this glorious attitude about life. Veteran who lost legs to land mine; in Boston marathon, took five days to finish, born-again Christian—“First step is hard, afterward you’re on your way home” (Bob Wieland).
Some home types we have known.
It was a grace that was to be reflected in human righteousness. Psalm 23:3, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation. Sin is a reproach to any people.” Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
It was to be reflected in worship and praise of God. Some think that non-tongues speakers can “praise” God. Isaiah 60:18, “Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.”
It was to be a reflected grace in terms of social justice. Amos 5:15, “Hate the evil and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.” 5:24, “Let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”
II. The Second Principle is When Grace is Extended, Responsibility is Demanded. “. . . Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
It is the requirement of His sovereignty to punish sins. But understand punishment in God’s use of the concept. We think of punishment for the drugged rapist, or the child abuser. Whatever it takes to protect. (Little interest in reforming.) With God, punishment is redemptive: Meted out to effect human good—ultimately on the back of Jesus, “With His stripes we are healed”; meted out to change society.
Yet, how ready we are to prevent this redemptive punishment. Jesus worked closer and closer with the disciples. They were more and more included in Jesus’ life and works. Yet, when told of His approaching death, the ready response was, “Master, this shall not be.”
Such punishment is the only thing that will bring the human ego to the point of spiritual awareness. Most of us wax soft on capital punishment—biblically sound; rationale the criminal mind understands; to punish by taking human life is inhumane.
But there is no doubt that such pending punishment keeps us spiritually aware. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, “He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.”
III. The Final Principle is that God’s Judgment is Rendered in Mercy.”
Listen to a further word of the prophet.
· 5:1, “Hear ye this word of Lamentation.”
· 5:18, “Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord.”
· 7:8, “Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel.”
· 8:3, “. . . The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day.”
But listen as the book is concluded. 9:11-15, “11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. . . . 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them . . . . 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up. . . .”
The highest of principles illustrates
· First, God’s judgment, meted out in the person of His only son Jesus: John 10:11, “The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”; I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”
· And second, in the midst of moral perversity, [that] God’s redemptive judgment is at work.
Conclusion
The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
. . . It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.
. . . in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV Scene I
FOUR INDISPENSABLE THINGS
#753 FOUR INDISPENSABLE THINGS
Scripture Hebrews 13:1-22, NIV Orig. 8/26/1979
Rewr. 5/24/1989
Passage: 1Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. 18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Benediction and Final Greetings
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.
Purpose: To share with my people the call of the gospel for believers to know and live by the indispensable mandates of God’s message.
Keywords: Blood of Christ Christ as Saviour Faith Forgiveness Sin Works Revival
Timeline/Series: None
Introduction
It never has been easy to convince others, or ourselves, to get involved. There are times when, after it is all over, we hear someone of lesser heart say, “Well, it is your own fault for getting involved.” I wonder how many people have said as much about the family fishing at the D’Arbonne spillway last week (5/20). Going to the assistance of two stranded fishermen, all three drowned. Too many come away from such as this even more firmly resolved to mind their own business.
When we enter the electrified air of the New Testament, however, we stumble over a totally different concept. The chronological accounting of Jesus’ ministry began when He became “involved” at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. He went from there to Jerusalem for Passover. In the temple, He found money-changers polluting not only the temple, but the spiritual tone of the people as well. He drove these men away with a scourge. He made enemies that day who would dog His trail until they saw Him die on a cross.
There is no greater sign of His involvement than that cross. He came not only to touch the world, but to involve Himself in your life and mine. Had He chosen not to do so, things would be considerable different for all of us today.
Getting involved means taking a chance. There is the possibility of being misunderstood, of getting hurt, even of losing one’s life. We are told quite candidly “the disciple is not above his master” (Matthew 10:24). For Jesus, involvement was costly. What does your involvement cost you?
I. Without the Shedding of Blood There Is No Forgiveness. Hebrews 13:12f, “Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him . . . .”
It was not God’s view of man that had to be changed. He had no interest in divesting Himself of His holiness. He had no intention of compromising His position relative to man’s sin.
The attitude that must be changed is that of man, himself. You see, the cross was not to the point of changing God’s mind about us. Rather, it was to the point of changing man’s view of himself before God. Man, with his potential to reason, would her be motivated spiritually.
News articles told of the need of true spiritual experience: Eddie Tuinman abandoned at rest stop on I-84 near Boise, Idaho (1989/1-11); Pennsylvania teenager who starved to death—Father had $3,700 in tithe money; Steven Stayner—stolen at seven.
Old Testament law confirms sin’s hold on man, and the issue of blood forgiveness. Leviticus 16:27, “And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place . . . carry forth without the camp; and . . . burn.”
The New Testament removes bulls and goats and substitutes the blood of Jesus. God accomplishes man’s pardoning. The agent of pardoning is Himself man. When such a price as this has been paid, who would dare to voice reservations? Sanctification, then, is not an attainment, it is the state into which God calls us in grace through the blood.
The place where Jesus suffered was outside prescribed religious ritual. We still do not find Him by human directive. It is the blood drawing us outside the camo drawing us to Himself alone.
II. Without Faith it is Impossible to Please God. Hebrews 13:15. “By him (Jesus) therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
It is more directly said earlier, Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who seek him.” “Diligently” (KJV), “earnestly” (NIV) is not found. Verb is present participle teaching repeated action, “those who keep on seeking.”
We are taught that there are two parts to this act of faith. To believe that God is: childhood teaching, reading, fear/uncertainty, little more than mental combustion. Agnostic concludes that there may be a God; atheist will sometimes doubt [his] doubt. I can count the atheists on one hand. To believe that He is rewarder of those who seek Him: First, He communicates His presence; He is able to bless in personal encounter.
There is a necessary result of such faith. Offering the sacrifice of praise. Nothing changes disorder to order like praise. Nothing answers enigmas like praise; see Psalm 73 for answers: V17 “Until I went into the sanctuary of God.” Nothing adds vitality to life like praise. Understand that such praise is not a passive thing: Hebrews 13:15, “the fruit of our lips giving praise”; Hebrews 1:16, “doing good for others”; Hebrews 13:22, “suffer the word of exhortation.”
III. Without Works Faith Is Dead, (James 2:17). Hebrews 13:20f, “. . . The God . . . that brought Jesus from the dead . . . through the blood of the . . . covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will.”
Faith is born in the heart of the believer at the initiation of God. It is not accomplished apart from will. But the initiation is God. The mark of such faith is confirmed through one’s labors. It attests to sufficiency of faith; it affirms the satisfaction of faith. Matthew 7:16, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, . . . these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works.”
IV. Without Jesus We Can Do Nothing. Hebrews 13:20f “Now the God of peace . . . working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever.”
I call you to the One who died outside. Outside the camp of Israel. Outside understood religious systems. Separated from human compromise.
He is not hiding, but we are too reluctant to seek Him where He is known to be. The Old Testament goat (scapegoat) was turned loose to be stilled by the hand of Providence. So the God-anointed substitute in the wilderness away from Jerusalem. Raised to life again, he transports the believer from sin-death to spirit-life. Jesus Himself attests to this sufficiency. John 15:5, “Without me ye can do nothing.” If nothing significant happens without Him, every sufficient thing happens in Him. John Newton, the great song writer (Amazing Grace, etc.) late in life memory almost gone, “Two things I remember: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.”
Conclusion
Charles Dickens began A Tale of Two Cities1: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything behind us, we had nothing before us, we were all going straight to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”
Dickens lived long before the oldest of us. The time he described was long before his own time. But how well it describes this late 20th Century. The one way out of the inharmonious times that he described, then and now, is Jesus.
He who calls us to Himself, calls us to commitment. He reminds us that it is to “total” and not “token” commitment.
1 Dickens, C. (2013). A Tale of Two Cities. (Reprint). Collins Classics.