THINK" SERIES: PART 9 - "WHATEVER IS PURE"

 THINK BIBLICALLY - #5

 " Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things". (Philippians 4:8)

For decades in America, Ivory Soap was considered the purest soap in the market, for sale to anyone. Of course, it was not actually 100% pure. There is no such thing. Ivory was sold as 99 44/100% pure. Today, organic and homemade soaps lack any chemical impurities and may claim the same - pure.

The Scriptural exhortation in our key verse - Phil. 4:8 - is even more intensely pure than the most natural soap which can make the physical clean. The Biblical Greek word for "pure" is hagios which has a distinctive meaning. It is not just to be free from sin, impure thoughts and conduct, or just plain innocent, but to be free from defilement. You and I may think we do not defile God or ourselves. So what does that even mean?

Actually, Jesus Himself told us! He says in Matthew Chapter 15. He says two important things about what defiles a man (person). In Verse 11, Jesus says "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

Even if people say the first thing that comes to their heads, they will still have to briefly consider that thought. In verse 15, Jesus is talking about a thought that is NOT good, which will defile the person.

Then, a few verses later, He got even more specific and scary. Scary in the sense of this: we had better pay attention to our thoughts, even if we consider ourselves above the fray and free from all evil. Jesus says in Verses 18-20a "Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man."

But there is more to it than that. Not everyone walks around with the thoughts that Jesus describes above.  Maybe at one time, we violated every one of those sins. But there are thoughts that we cannot control that invade our minds at the most inopportune time, especially when we are praying!

Many of us prayer warriors remember this one - we would be deep in prayer and boom! Out of the blue, a completely unrelated worldly thought comes across our minds and threatens to almost disconnect our conversation with our Heavenly Father. We do have the power within us, due to being born-again and indwelled with the Spirit of Christ, to cast that thought out and get back on track!

There is no Christian who ever lived, who has never had that happen to them in prayer. So keep control of the narrative. Stay in the Scriptures. The evil one, the devil and accuser of the brethren's job is to take our joy, our journey with Jesus and the fact that we are joint heirs with Christ - away from us. 

Keep your mind on Christ. Keep praying to Him and staying away from disputes, indiscretions and even disgusting people. Focus on the good of anything - food, nature, your co-workers, your family, God!  The more you fellowship with the good, the easier it is to maintain a good, clean heart and one that will be open to what the Lord is doing today in your life. Amen

Father in the Mighty Name of Jesus, I thank You that through it all, you were with us even in the depths of our depravity. Even in our depraved thoughts, words, and deeds. But You saved us. You pulled us out of the muck and the mire and put a new song in our hearts. A hymn of praise to our God - You, oh Lord, our Heavenly Father and King Jesus the Savior. Thank You again, Lord, and keep working in us, to make us more like You, in Spirit and in Truth, in Jesus' Strong Name amen. 

Image Credit: Free Christian Illustrations

THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE, PART 8: "GET A GRIP, MAN!"

2 Samuel 3:6 "But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned."

The Bible is full of difficult verses to comprehend, even when taken in context. Sometimes we have to go back to another passage or number of chapters to find the true meaning and background behind a statement, which the Holy Spirit put in there for us to behold.

In order to understand what a great Hebrew general named  Abner meant, when he told a man named Palti to “go back home”, it is necessary to read the entire chapter of 2 Samuel 3. It is a stark reminder of the width and depth of the depravity of human sinfulness.

There are some incredible charges, counter-charges, sinful talk, double-crossing and more….in just twenty verses (2 Samuel 3:6-26 and beyond).  God had already taken away the kingdom from the disobedient King Saul and handed it to David.  In the process, Saul had promised his daughter Michal to David if he killed and did some despicable things to Philistine men, which David did. Then jealousy got the best of Saul and he tried for 13 years to kill the Lord’s next appointed King – David, who was now on the run all across the land of Israel.

In the meantime, Saul’s daughter becomes a bigamist and marries another man named Palti. This was too much for Abner a great warrior general, who, while loyal to Saul as King, was also tuned in to the fact that the real Commander in Chief – God – had deposed Saul and replaced him with David. Except Saul would not cooperate.  To get back at Abner, one of Saul’s wicked sons Ishbosheth accused Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s many women (outside of his marriage) also known as his concubines. 

The honorable general Abner was rightly outraged and vowed then and there to help David ascend to his rightful place on the Throne of Israel, as ordained by God. His loyalty to Saul was betrayed by Saul’s son so Abner reached out to David, who then said he will deal with Abner only if Abner brings Michal, his (David’s) wife to him. This was agreed to and Abner was on the way to David with the latter’s wife, while her current husband Palti, followed crying over the loss of Michal!

The bigamist story, involving Michal, had a sad end for this unfortunate young man – Palti, as General Abner instructed him, to go back to his house. In a no win situation, we read in 2 Samuel 3:16, that Palti complied.

What is the message here for us in the 21st century? This ancient tale has a horrible ending with Abner who just executed the Will of the Lord, being killed by Joab, who had a personal grudge extending far beyond official duties. A few things are obvious: 

-      You can’t make some of this up, even in on Hollywood screenwriter’s desk! All this intrigue stemmed from one man’s disobey and sinning constantly against the Lord.  Because of Saul’s sin, his daughter committed bigamy. His son accused a loyal general of sexual misconduct. Bickering and slander ensured and hearts were broken (Palti).

-     Sin will find you out and there will be a price to pay. Saul was told by the great prophet Samuel that God had taken away his kingdom and given it to the shepherd boy/harpist and poet David. Yet he refused to step down, allowing his pride and arrogance to eventually cost him his life.  The  price sin exacts is not worth the temporary rush of self-satisfaction.

-     Partnering with sin will bring humiliation. While Palti is to be pitied here in 2 Samuel 3:16 for having to following a mighty general in Abner, who was simply following God’s will in getting David to the Throne of Israel which was rightfully his, he (Palti) knew what he got into! Here, as we learn in this verse, was Abner returning David’s rightful wife to him and here was this woman’s second husband hanging on like a puppy dog after something he had no chance of winning. When he “married” Michal, he was completely aware that she was married to David. There was no divorce according to the Law of Moses, in force then nor was there a death of a spouse, which would have enabled Michal to remarry. These were the only two grounds for Palti to legally claim Michal as his wife.  The lesson here is this – we lose EVERYTHING when we put our heads in the sand and pretend God sees nothing, knows nothing and will say nothing.  He – God – always has the final word, and if we line up on the wrong side of Him, we too will pay a heavy price.

KEYS TO REVIVAL

KEY #2 - REPENTANCE AND THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

There are two things to which every Christian must agree. These are the Total Depravity of Man and the Perseverance of the Saints. A truly rejuvenated, born of the Spirit and saved individual immediately knows the depravity from which she or he was rescued.  This is the point where we literally came to a knowledge of the sinful condition of our hearts, bodies, minds and soul and either choose to continue - or surrender our entire being to the One Who Created and saved us, by His Grace. 

In his psalm of Repentance, King David "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being..." (psalm 51:5-6a). The great man of God, who broke God's commandment of not just adultery, but of coveting, lying, murder, idolatry etc...was describing the depraved and corrupt state of the human condition, brought forth by original sin. We do not have to go into detail about the perversion of modern man. It was already written of in Genesis 6 when God wiped out mankind and started over with Noah. The modern state of corrupt humanity is to be acknowledged, pitied and then prayed about.

When we have come to the knowledge of our transgression against God by breaking all of His laws and statutes, as David did when he killed one of his best friends to steal his wife, we are on the road to restoration. Or maybe not! Many choose to follow that road to their destruction - again as we see in the modern American and European society where God is mocked. Unfortunately, most will choose the road to perdition. But not so, those who seek a city, where the builder and architect is God.

These are undisputed facts. Mankind has been totally depraved since the Fall in the Garden and anyone who questions that just has to look at American culture, TV and society. This alone should lead us to repentance. Even if Repentance as the key cornerstone of Sanctification is not taught in your church or mine. Those who walk by the Spirit instinctively know when things are not well with the soul. Repentance is not a change of mind, contrary to what prosperity gospel preachers like Joseph Prince say. If repentance was a change of mind, you can easily change your mind back to sinning ways, unless your mind has been stayed upon Jehovah.

Repentance is a COMPLETE CHANGE OF DIRECTION. Psalm 51 is the Biblical model of Repentance (click here). When we have gotten so far away from the commands and statutes of God that we are "outside the camp", that we are faced with two options - either keep going over the cliff, or turn around. This is where we are at in terms of seeking Revival. This type of Revival is personal. Before a Spiritual Awakening could take hold and catch fire as it did with George Whitefield, or Duncan Campbell or The Jesus Movement, it must begin with you and me. It must bring us to our knees as we grasp the awesomeness and sheer power and scope of first the Majesty of God and then His Wrath.

It is vogue in the West to ignore the part of the Bible which talk about the Wrath and Judgment of God. People ignore this attribute of God at their own personal peril.  We must be on our faces, even, crying out for mercy like the hundreds in Enfield, Connecticut in July 1741 when the great Jonathan Edwards preached the most famous sermon ever in America - Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God! People were literally on the floor in tears with their fears, as Edwards read monotone from the amazing prepared text he brought! What was it that brought such conviction and the need to repent and make things right with God? It was the Word of God and the very fact that Jonathan Edwards pierced their hard hearts. All he had to do was remind that it is only the Grace of God which kept them from being sent to hell, this very minute. They believed him to their eternal credit. Today, no one believes us. But we never give up. We lived repentant daily lifestyles of light, liberty and leaning on the very same Word of God which drove us to our knees and then gave us the victory.

Many are praying for America to be in a Third Great Awakening or for some sort of region, city or state where "Lord bring Your fire" sort of Revival.  This will never happen unless the saints of God are fully repentant, in one accord before the Throne seeking personal and THEN corporate forgiveness as a church. It is only at such a time, when this has been accomplished that we can corporately pray for the Lord to move on a nation, with expectation. Anything else is praying into a horizontal cross-breeze, not up to the Throne.

With these matters settled before the Lord, it is only then we can even begin to speak about the bookends to the Total Depravity of man - and that is - Perseverance of the Saints. This is too important to just briefly describe in a blog posting. What is most critical to know about Perseverance as a child and follower of God through Christ is that only Jesus can give us the ability to persevere. A life of daily repentance or walking in the Spirit and the Light of Christ make persevering through these evil days all the more bearable and even edifying towards maturity, if we see things through His Eyes. We can only have those Eyes if we, who are called by His Name, understand from whence we came, the Price paid for us and what is expected of us. Anything less than earnest repentance will not bring us where we need to be, if we are seeking personal and corporate Revival.

(Photo courtesy National Day of Prayer Australia)