Lucrative Charity

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]


I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. [Psalm 40:10]

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. [Romans 1:17]


Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. [Habakkuk 2:4]

I am finding it hard to walk up to people and have a conversation about Jesus. Do I just need practice, or are my inhibitions telling me something? If I am to preach in season and out of season, if I am to proclaim the gospel, how should I do it? I should not hide God's righteousness in my heart, but declare his reliability and ability to save/heal and not hide God's mercy and truth. What does that look like?
How is God's righteousness revealed? What about his salvation? His mercy? His Truth? Are these all the same things? If not, how are they different? Does it even matter?
Start with God's righteousness.
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith". Wherein is the righteousness revealed? Therein. Wherein is therein? Therein is "the (good news) of Christ". The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (good news) of Christ. What is the gospel? "(The good news) is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth". The good news is that God has power to save every person that has faith in him. This salvation is more than freedom from punishment and guilt, it is freedom from sin in every way (see Matthew 1:21; 1 John 3:8; don't have time to deal specifically with that here). How can I proclaim that?
One clue is in Habakkuk 2:4 where those who live by faith are contrasted with those whose souls are lifted up within them; the proud. How is the righteousness of God revealed? When people are good out of faith in Jesus not from themselves and they make their motivation for holiness clear in their words. "I did that for you not because I am a good person but because in the Bible Jesus tells me the more I serve the greater I am." "I make these choices about what I consume because in the Bible Jesus tells me that if I abuse the life he gave me I will lose it." These responses are honest and show no sense of personal superiority, they are not the response of pride but the response of faith. If I am paid $1000 to give a beggar $1; it would be despicable for me to take credit for that. If you believe Jesus will reward you in heaven as he says he will, how is it different when you don't declare that vested interest in your charity? Don't forget that despite the Christian-apologetics propaganda; there really are a lot of atheists that do wonderful charity - sorry guys, its true - just doing charity is not enough. We need to stop taking the credit for our charities and give the credit to God.
A bit extreme? Maybe. Unusual? Definitely. Valid? Possibly. Worth further investigation? Definitely.

I suspect as I continue to work through Isaiah 58 I will get more insights on this issue.

Spare Not

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. [Psalm 40:9]

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [2 Timothy 4:2]

We need to be ready to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus with love at any time. That readiness comes from a continual dependence on Christ, it comes from cultivating the habit of speaking. The best time to start forming a good habit is now. There may be negative consequences when you speak up; but speak up. Preach the word. Preach righteousness. Others may despise you and the message and be turned further onto their path of wickedness. That is not your problem; speak up, spare not.

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.  [Ezekiel 3:17-21]

I know it's hard, but people are dying and it must be done. Start with something, speak to someone every day. May Jesus give me the grace to do this.

Speak Up

I feel impressed to switch to Isaiah 58, I will start using the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge for references to go through it in detail.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]


His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. [Isaiah 56:10]

Jesus wants his servants to speak up, not to be silent because of fear or uncertainty. If I am going to serve God, I am going to need to learn to speak on his behalf when something needs to be said. I am going to need to live to the highest standard or my life will compromise my words. Lord Jesus please help me.

Sorrow and Beauty

Last time I used the Bible app on my computer was a couple of days ago to look up a name for my Hebrew studies. The name was Tamar. I saw the story when I looked at my Bible app just now. That is a name associated with so much sadness. I had to look Tamar up because although I understood the name when I transliterated it, it seemed to come from the wrong place. I was thinking about David's daughter Tamar (2 Sam 13), thinking about that story brings tears to my eyes. Was that really caused by David's sin? How can I harbour any sin if that kind of thing can be the consequence of it? How can I harbour any sin if Jesus suffers for it? There isn't really a good side to that story I don't think, it is just the miserable consequence of sin. Absolom named his daughter Tamar after his beloved sister. I rarely have so much sympathy for Absolom, he did so many horrible things. But he loved his sister, he was just ruled by his emotions, and how many others are like that?
The Tamar I was referred to in the study notes was the original Tamar (Gen 38). I knew about her, but I had forgotten her name. Yet another miserable story caused by sin after sin from men that should have been her spiritual leaders. This Tamar became active in finding justice, but in doing that she did things that must have felt disgraceful. There was nobody else to fight for her and she fought for herself, that must have been a miserable situation. Jesus was descended from this Tamar according the flesh, from Judah. One thing is certain, the world is complex and the Bible does not try to deny that. There are not always simple solutions because the sins of others complicate life. But God holds us accountable for our own sins, we should not compromise ourselves simply because others do.
Tamar is the name of a palm tree according to Euston's Bible Dictionary, you can find a palm tree as a reference for beauty in Song of Solomon chapter two.
Here is a promise and command from our Father:

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. [Psalm 92:12]
We are to look up to him and grow straight and tall in our faith, not to twist around or lazily creep across the earth. Life is miserable because of sin, but don't focus on that. Think about Jesus, focus on him, and look up to him as your example. Jesus will make you a person of beauty and help you through the consequences of sin in this world.

God Answers Prayer

Based on Mark 11:24

God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. We should ask things from God believing that he will answer and we should be ready to make record of answered prayer to the glory of his name.

Get a prayer journal and use it.

PS Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with (your wives) according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 Do right to your wife or it will hinder your prayers, just thought that was a good point to mention.

The Sinners Prayer

Based on Matthew 6:5-15

As I finish reading this passage I reflect on forgiveness. Jesus seems to go off on a tangent about forgiveness in the middle of his seminar on prayer. It seems forgiveness is pretty important. I wonder what the difference would be if people at church always forgave each other. Could Jesus really mean that if you don't forgive you will be lost? Lose your salvation?
Forgiveness must be important and have something to do with prayer. Pray for those you need to forgive - something simple - and forgive them as often as it takes. If you forgive others, you can be forgiven too. That may sound like salvation by works, but that is what Jesus says.
It's not actually salvation by works. It's quite simple. Faith works through love in the saved. Forgiveness is the result of true conversion. No forgiveness is evidence of no conversion. If you ask God to help you forgive and then do it, you have just proved to yourself that you are saved.

Long prayers and vain repetitions. Both have in common the disorganisation and rambling nature of the kind of prayer I am often guilty of. I need to make my prayer more focused and organised somehow, I'll start by getting a prayer journal.

The Sign of Faith

Based on Romans 4:9-11

Abraham was already declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised, showing that circumcision is not necessary for salvation. Abraham was commanded to be circumcised as a sign of the righteousness by faith that he already had. In the same way we can be righteous by faith today without being circumcised. Some theologians argue that baptism is the Christian equivalent of Jewish circumcision and teach that it was practiced on infants even in the early church. Other Christians teach that salvation is impossible without baptism. These doctrines are related to each other and belong to Romanism not Christianity. Both are addressed in principle by this passage. If baptism is the outward sign of the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus; baptism comes after faith. Therefore baptism cannot apply to infants and baptism cannot be a condition of salvation (only faith is).
That said; a believing Gentile that wants to be a Jew must be circumcised as an outward sign of faith, and a believing sinner that wants to be a Christian must be baptised as an outward sign of faith. Baptism is outward; a requirement for membership in the church. It is not salvific (able to save) but it is not optional.

In all my dealings I need to behave in a way that reflects the faith I have from the Bible.

Seeds and Soils

Based on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

It is so easy for me to identify with the meaning of this parable because I have seen it played out over and over as a Bible Worker and simply as a church member actively soul winning or standing to the side. I can relate to the parable itself from my gardening, but only enough to assent that it describes an essentially accurate picture of what different soils are like. Back to the meaning of the parable: I like the first and last types best; people who either have no interest or are consistently interested. People who seem interested at first but disappear suddenly harden me and I don't like it. I have more trouble being genuinely interested in new people because so many of them never come back. But I still do it, because God's grace is sufficient for me.
The thorny people are very discouraging too, especially when I feel like I might be one. But also just when I see them not really contributing much and just arguing and tearing others down. Mind you, they may be involved in many church activities, this kind of busyness can be weeds too.
Those that are consistent and faithful and become fruitful are the only encouraging ones, and we should keep our thoughts on them. Many seem very un-interested initially. Many progress slowly in their Bible Studies. Many have continual problems and you wonder when it will ever end. Many take longer than usual to make a decision for baptism. Many are very inept leaders and take a long time to learn the skills for the new duties they are given. They are precious and encouraging, because you see the Holy Spirit work in their lives, making them more like Jesus. That is when you think; this is so real, this is so important, I need to share this.
Be a good soil and share the gospel.

Good Enough for David

Based on Romans 4:6-8

Further evidence that Abraham was saved by faith not his own works is that David writes of the joy and privilege of being declared by God to be righteous and forgiven for past law breaking and even assured of future salvation. I'm sorry to say that is a relief to me.

Abrahamic Model of Faith

Based on Romans 4:1-5

It's a new day, the episode yesterday went as well as could be hoped, God answers prayer. I should also comment that I have been looking for proper work and struggling with knowing what direction to move in, and things are being to clarify, I praise God for his continued supportiveness and for helping things to work out. I am now returning to my study of Romans where I left off.

Last time I looked at Romans this is what I wrote:

"Because all are guilty of breaking God's law and all need Jesus to be saved by his blood which is beyond them to purchase we can conclude a few points… So the deeds of the law themselves have no power to save, they are an end of salvation not a means… Does the fact that faith is the source of our law-keeping make the law itself useless? That is a ridiculous proposition; the law tells us right and wrong but does not empower us to do it. Knowing right and wrong is not enough; we must do right and reject wrong. Only by faith will we be able to keep the law; faith establishes the law in our souls. That does not change the law itself; but our way of striving to keep it."

Abraham is the father of the Abrahamic religions, and his faith should serve as a model for our faith. Was Abraham considered good by God because he did good things? If he was that would be to his credit but he still would owe everything to God. The scripture says And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) Why does the scripture say "he counted it to him for righteousness"? Why not "and he was shown to be righteous"? Because Abraham was not yet righteous in practice (or in reality) when God ascribed (imputed, claimed the presence of) righteousness to him. Abraham did not yet deserve the label "righteous", he had not earned it, but God chose to give it to him because he had faith in what God had said, he took God at his word. If Abraham had managed to attain (get) righteousness by his own efforts he would have felt he deserved to be declared righteous. Remember though that Abraham was only born at all because of God's mercy, and his good upbringing was through God's providence (influence) and his own life was sustained daily by God's power. So in reality nobody can presume to deserve anything from God. However, earning his own righteousness would have created pride and self-sufficiency which would have made Abraham like Satan in character. Abraham never would have felt his need to obey God; he never would have been really righteous. But by relying on God and choosing to obey him (even to move to another country) and especially by accepting that God would work a miracle in giving him a son, Abraham exercised the kind of faith in God that is needed to be given salvation by God. He that makes the choice to proactively believe God's word that it can save sinners; his faith is counted for righteousness.

Abraham lived in a great location; plenty of jobs, lots of amenities, everything a sinner could wish for. There were many people for righteous Abraham to preach to and to reach in Ur, it was a great mission ground (same as Sodom). But God called Abraham out of that place to a land "out the back of Burke", "beyond the black stump". He called him to Hickville to be a missionary among the dodgiest people in the world (who were famous for practicing child sacrifice for instance) the accursed race (Gen 9:25). Oh, and generally speaking there were no mass conversions, Abraham was not particularly successful at winning the Canaanites. Abraham was called out to be the father of a great nation, great nations are here already and God has a different purpose for his people at the end of time. But it makes me wonder; have I been too "rational"?

Insane Folly

This morning I am about to go and help put a woman in an insane asylum. It's not a happy thought. We don't want to send her there, but her behaviour makes her unmanageable and she refuses to be helped. We have been trying to keep her out of there, but she accuses us of conspiring against her and now we are forced to take her away.

How often are we like that with God?

Praying

Based on Psalm 86

When I pray I usually have no doubt that God hears. The Psalmist has no doubt that God hears either. He is confident that when he comes to God in prayer God will hear and willingly be merciful. He believes that the world will come to Jehovah when they see the wonderful things he does in answer to prayer.


Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Verse 11)

We need power from heaven to finish this last work at the end of time. Every now and then, I need a little token of God's presence and favour as described here. But this cannot go on forever, I must trust God more than that before I will be ready for real testing.

Lord as I pray prepare me for that day.

Look upon Jesus

Based on Psalm 85

(Psalms 84 and onward are presumably not Asaph's)

Verses 1-3 describe the mercies of Jehovah in the past, this is a good idea.
God has been so good to his people. He has brought them back to Jerusalem, he has forgiven them in anticipation of the cross, he has not been angry with them as they deserve.
Verses 4-7 contain the Psalmist's appeal.
Once more cease to be angry with us, it seems to be dragging on forever, please save us because of your mercy.
Verses 8-13 seem to be prose.
Once again God Jehovah will speak peaceably to his people but after he has done this they must not turn again to their foolishness.
The Bible teaches that people can lose their salvation after a true conversion. Compare Ezekiel 33:12-19; 2 Peter 2:20-22.
It also teaches that foolishness can be a salvational issue; I mean behaving in a way that does not make sense in the context of God's truth leads to sin and destruction. Compare Proverbs 26:11; Matthew 7:26-27. Remember though that God's truth seems to be foolish to the perishing, whose values are upside-down.
Those who have appropriately strong respect for Jehovah are never far from salvation because he wants to give it to them so that those who are far from him will see the value of serving him. In Jesus; mercy and truth, righteousness and peace all meet; he will show the right path to walk in.

Think about Jesus, how could some aspect of his life be imitated appropriately in your life?

Brain and Brawn

Based on Psalm 84

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee... They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

Think about Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary. Think about life with Jesus. Allow your strength to come from the Holy Spirit and believe that you will be invincible. Even if you die a miserable death, that is not a failure, so did the martyrs. Your strength comes from Jesus, think about him.

Blessed Curses

Based on Psalm 83

I was talking with my sister yesterday about the difference between Hades and Gehenna and this psalm is relevant to that discussion.
Hades is the Greek equivalent of Sheol - the grave, the state of nothingness, the state of being dead.
Gehenna is not used as a word in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it is used as a concept.
The Psalmist lists the enemies that are persecuting God's people and pleads with God to judge them.


Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: (Psalm 83:17)

The context shows that this passage is talking about bring temporal suffering on the wicked to bring them to repentance. But it should also be remembered that being confounded and troubled "for ever" has an equivalence to being put to shame and made to "perish". Death is the punishment for sin (Rom 6:23) and what a terrible punishment it is, but just.


Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: (Psalm 83:9)


What place does this kind of cursing have for the Christian? Why is this in the Bible, if we are supposed to bless those that curse us? Let me know if you have a good answer.

That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth. (Psalm 83:18)

My thought is that we are being told to boldly pray to God that our enemies will be saved, if necessary through suffering. We have a tendency to complain about our enemies or criticise them, it practice we curse them. But to honestly admit they are our enemies and appeal to God to bring suffering on them for their own salvation, that seems a bit extreme. I think I can take from this that I have no business gossiping about someone if I am not willing to honestly ask God to curse them. If I did have an enemy I wanted God to curse I ought to want this for the sake of their own salvation.

That will be something to go on with.

Heroes

Based on Psalm 82

Justice should come from the leaders of this world, but they do not regard the powerless. Only the return of Jesus will bring justice back to this world. We who wish to be like him should behave like him; bringing justice to the powerless within the sphere of our power.
This reminds me of another verse:
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Ephesians 4:28

A Song of Comfort

Psalm 37

A Psalm of David.

1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers,

neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

and wither as the green herb.


3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord;

and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.


5 Commit thy way unto the Lord;

trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light,

and thy judgment as the noonday.


7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:

fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,

because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.


8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath:

fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off:

but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.


10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be:

yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth;

and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.


12 The wicked plotteth against the just,

and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

13 The Lord shall laugh at him:

for he seeth that his day is coming.


14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,

to cast down the poor and needy,

and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.


16 A little that a righteous man hath

is better than the riches of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken:

but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.


18 The Lord knoweth the days of the upright:

and their inheritance shall be for ever.

19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time:

and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.


20 But the wicked shall perish,

and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs:

they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.


21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again:

but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth;

and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.


23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:

and he delighteth in his way.

24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:

for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.


25 I have been young, and now am old;

yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,

nor his seed begging bread.

26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth;

and his seed is blessed.


27 Depart from evil, and do good;

and dwell for evermore.

28 For the Lord loveth judgment,

and forsaketh not his saints;

they are preserved for ever:

but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.


29 The righteous shall inherit the land,

and dwell therein for ever.


30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom,

and his tongue talketh of judgment.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;

none of his steps shall slide.


32 The wicked watcheth the righteous,

and seeketh to slay him.

33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand,

nor condemn him when he is judged.


34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way,

and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land:

when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.


35 I have seen the wicked in great power,

and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not:

yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.


37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:

for the end of that man is peace.

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together:

the end of the wicked shall be cut off.


39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord:

he is their strength in the time of trouble.

40 And the Lord shall help them,

and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked,

and save them, because they trust in him.

Come

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird... And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:2,4)


What is Babylon the great? From these passages it is at least clear that God has people in Babylon the great. Babylon means confusion. If you are confused about God and the Bible that doesn't mean you do not belong to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is calling you out of confusion into the light of clear truth.
We who have the light of clear truth should share it loudly and boldly like the angel in this vision. We have a work to do, to save people from the plagues that are coming and from the consequences of their sins.
Please Father give me boldness.

Home

It is good to be home.
Home with my family.
Home with my church.

Homesickness has not been a big problem for me, but it is so nice to be back. Prayer meeting this morning we studied presumptuous prayer, it is nice to be back at the best church in the world.


Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psa 133:1

Disappointed

It has been seven weeks leading this canvassing program and tomorrow it finishes. It has become almost a way of life and time has flown by so quickly. I have been inspired by the students to try to take up canvassing again myself. In the last few days I did a little canvassing myself when things were quiet. I was bitterly disappointed with myself. So clumsy, and so cowardly. I know I just need practice, but I am overwhelmed by the people and it is a struggle to get that practice.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Tim 1:7

I have a long way to go.