Two very different mounts

I have always been fascinated by horses. I have never really been mad keen to ride one although I have done it a couple of times but there is something about them and the image of the horse which captures my imaginination. They are a combination of power, grace and when content they convey a sense of tranquility.

The bible speaks a lot about horses. After God defeated the Egyptians
Miriam sang, "Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea." Exodus 15v21. No ancient monarch would be without them. 1 Kings 4v26 tells us that "Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses". 1 Kings 10v28-29 shows that Solomon paid a pretty penny for these fine equine specimens, costing 150 shekels a piece. He charged his royal merchants which the task of buying them from Kue (Some he also bought from Egypt.)and this underlines how indispensible they were to the wise king.

Horses usually symbolise military might as evidenced by Psalm 20v7: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses,but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Other such passages include 2 Kings 6v17 and 1 Kings 20v1. There are many others.

The Scriptures also speak about donkeys too. Many will remember the occasion where God had to use Balaam's donkey so he got the message from heaven. It was Balaam who was the stubborn one and not his mule in this instance. (See Numbers 22)They were also valued as a mode of transportation and were given as presents so therefore must have been considered valuable.

As we approach Easter the image of the donkey also is prominent in our minds when we remember Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. The Son of Man was humble enough to enter Jerusalem on this often ridiculed animal. Can you imagine the reaction nowadays if Prince Charles rode through the gates of Buckingham Palace to his coronation on a donkey? He would be a laughing stock. Much more believable if we imagine him on a prize stallion. Yet Jesus, the King of Kings did it! He humbled himself to enter to the applause of men (how short lived it was!) on this all to humble of creatures.

He will be astride another animal one day soon. This time, however, it will not be on a donkey. Revelation 19v11-19 is an astounding passage which portrays the Warrior King Jesus returning on his steed ready for battle and set on taking what is His by force. No more gentle Jesus meek and mild. We see Him deal out summary justice to His enemies, destroying them with the sword coming out of His mouth and feeding their flesh to the birds.

Oh on that day there will be no doubting who He is. There will be no excuses. Those who laughed at His children and scorned His Gospel will cower and call for the rocks to fall on them. They will run but not escape. They will seek a hiding place but will be found. Oh scoffer, oh mocker, oh you who despise Christ. Turn from your sin while you can or soon you will see Him pursue you with the heavenly cavalry and will feel the full force of His wrath. His Spirit will not always strive with you.

Those of us who are His saints, take comfort from this in your trials. Ask Him to fill your mind with His splendour. Take courage from this image of the One who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and who will one day be seen undeniably for who He is.

I close by citing the lyrics of Christian rock band Petra's take on this powerful piece of apocalyptic writing called "All the King's Horses".

All the King's Horses
Words and music by Bob Hartman
Based on Revelation 19:11-21

It's an age-old score that's got to be settled
It's an age-old debt that's got to be paid
When the King breaks through in all of His glory
To claim His throne and the world that He made
The nations wait with their armies gathered
With Jerusalem firmly under their thumbs
There will be no peace in Armageddon valley
Till the trumpet sounds and the cavalry comes
When He arrives He will conquer them all
Take back the ground given after the fall

(Chorus)
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Gonna ride down from heaven from where they've been
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Gonna put this world back together again
Gonna put this world back together

On a great white horse the King will come riding
He's the One they call Faithful and True
With His eyes of fire and blood dipped clothing
He had a name nobody else knew

And by His side ride the armies of heaven
Dressed in linen clean and white as the snow
Riding down to earth with a vengeance so holy
For a one-day battle that will trample their foe
And when the dust and the smoke disappears
The King will reign for a thousand years

When the lion lays down with the lamb
There'll be peace in the land of Abraham
They will beat their swords into plows
When every tongue declares and every knee bows

Insight on the blood of Christ

I recently heard an excellent explanation by R.C. Sproul of what the whole biblical emphasis of the blood of Christ means.

He said "What does this mean that we are saved by the blood of Jesus? Do we have some kind of primitive, animistic, magical view of the blood that flowed through the veins of Jesus that we think that it was that red liquid that saves us? Doesn’t that seem silly? ...When we talk about the blood of Christ that’s a kind of shorthand to talk about the life of Christ and when the Scriptures speak about the precious blood they realise that the blood is made precious by the man whose blood it is....John Guest asked the question... 'If Jesus would have come down from heaven and scratched His finger on a nail would that be enough to save us? ...It’s blood and it’s the blood of Jesus...' And of course the answer to that question...is “no”...because God required the sacrifice of a life." R.C. Sproul

Therefore we see that this whole idea refers to our Lord's sacrificial death and so I believe those who say that to preach the Gospel the word "blood" must be mentioned have made a mistake. That does not take away from this powerful image or detract from the fact that we should contemplate how gruesome the cross was and that Jesus died a painful, bloody death.

If it weren't for this powerful yet shocking imagery we would not have a lot of very famous hymns.

I think of the old black Gospel song "I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole". Also
"Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"
"There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood"
"There's Power In The Blood"
"Not all the Blood Of Bulls and Goats"

Let us not see Jesus' blood as some mystical totem but let us remember that the death He died was brutal and sacrificial and because of that our sins are forgiven.

Amen.

The wonder of fellowship

I have the enormous privilege to come from a family in which I am part of at least the fifth generation of Christians. God has been very gracious to bless both sides of my family with godly men and women including a founder of a Sunday School and a missionary to India. Among these godly relatives I am very pleased to count my dear maternal grandmother. Although she never opened a Bible school, never wrote a book, never went overseas on missions or anything quite as grand I count her as one of the godliest people I know because of her love of the Bible and her very committed prayerfulness. Her example, her desire to be more like Jesus, her love and support and fellowship have always been a great blessing to me. This has been even more appreciated since I moved to Spain. Last Friday night (6th February) she was on the phone and quoted Luke 24v15 which says:

"And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them." (KJV)

You will note I quote the verse in the KJV. I am not one of these people who is adamant about reading the King James Version. I am somewhat dubious about Christians singing the merits of a version which carries the name of a monarch known for his loose morals, his negative view of Presbyterianism and staunch resistance of the reforms of the Anglican Church the Puritans wished to implement. Having studied English Literature, however, I can appreciate the beauty of the language used, especially with the Psalms. I also feel that this is one instance in which it conveys something very personal which the other versions do not quite express.

The verse comes from the account of the two believers walking along the road to Emmaus. The verse says that they were communing and reasoning together. In modern day language they were having fellowship. They were talking about their faith in Jesus. They were at a very low ebb. They thought all was lost. But look what happened. Jesus drew near and went with them. Other versions say that "He walked with them." Jesus could have sent an angel to comfort them or another one of the disciples. But he HIMSELF drew near. Oh! What encouragement to know that when we talk about Christ together, even if we are struggling and maybe despairing that He draws in in the person of the Comforter, (His Holy Spirit) and walks alongside us.

It was totally Providential (N.B. any Christian who uses the word coincidence take note, there is no such thing! Read The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel published by Banner of Truth) that Granny should mention this verse because Jeff Lucas had recently been focussing on this incident in his Lucas On Life (published by CWR). He was focussing on how Jesus did very ordinary things after the resurrection. He said "...the nature of faith [is that] God walks with us through the mundane bits of life." He also draws attention to the fact that Jesus goes with them even though they were going the wrong way and about seven miles the wrong way into the bargain! They should have been waiting for Him in Jerusalem but instead they were heading in the opposite direction. Jesus' patience and grace is here underscored. He not only meets them up close and personal but He goes along with them and teaches them. This speaks to me of God's Providence and how sometimes He sovereignly lets us go the wrong way so we can learn from the experience.

Finally, I looked at what my esteemed brother Matthew Henry had to share on this. He exhorts us to follow their example and when in the company of other believers to share about our experiences of Christ. In his typically poignant manner he says, "It well becomes (i.e. it is very appropriate for/it is fitting for) the disciples of Christ, when they are together, to talk of his death and resurrection; thus they may improve (make the best of) one another's knowledge, refresh one another's memory, and stir up one another's devout affections.(love for Christ)"

He goes on to say "We may observe it, for our encouragement to keep up Christian conference and edifying discourse (i.e discussion and conversation) among us, that where but two together are well employed in work of that kind Christ will come to them, and make a third. When they that fear the Lord speak one to another the Lord hearkens and hears, and is with them of a truth; so that two thus twisted in faith and love become a threefold cord, not easily broken, Ecclesiastes 4:12. They in their communings and reasonings together were searching for Christ, comparing notes concerning him, that they might come to more knowledge of him; and now Christ comes to them. Note, They who seek Christ shall find him: he will manifest himself to those that enquire after him, and give knowledge to those who use the helps for knowledge which they have." (Matthew Henry's Commentary)

Never ever devalue Christian fellowship and from now on you have no excuse for not realising that when you share with another believer, Christ is with you both, walking beside you. Hold on to that thought and may it stir you on to encourage someone today.

Blessings.

Andy.

More convinced about grace

Recently, I read Jerry Bridges' book Transforming Grace. After writing my last blog entry, I am totally convinced that God, in His Providence, wanted me to read this book. Someone lent me it for me to see if it was suitable for a friend of mine! But the Lord wanted me to read it. And Bridges encapsulates far more succintly and articulately what I was trying to say in my last post here.

In the preface to the book the author says, "The grace of God is one of the most important subjects in all of Scripture. At the same time it is probably one of the least understood." He points out that most Christian literature on the subject deals with justification or the initial coming to faith by grace but that seems to be where it ends. In agreement with what I said in my previous post, he says "the Bible teaches that we are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day of our lives."

Bridges also affirms my fears that so many of us think that whether God is going to bless us or not is based on our performance. He says that we think that "if we have performed well-whatever "well" is in our opinion-then we expect God to bless us. If we haven't done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works rather than grace."

A respected full-time Christian worker I know tells the story of one night where he watched something on television he shouldn't have. Because of this he did not do his quiet time. The next day he had an appointment with someone who was seeking guidance about coming to faith. What would you have done in that situation? Phoned and put off the appointment? My friend went ahead with it and the Lord lead the young man to himself. This illustrates the power of the grace of God and reminds us that all Chistian service we do is only because of his grace. If we are in His service it is by grace and it is by grace that we carry out this service. The Christian worker may have broken a major Christian taboo but in reality God views your pride, envy or any other sin in your heart as rendering you equally unworthy of sharing His message with anyone else. That He covers our sins with Jesus' blood and lets us participate in His service is another powerful illustration of just how amazing His grace really is!

Let us always live by grace and marvel at it's unfathomable depth and enabling power, remembering that it is sufficient for us and perfected in our weakness.

Yours in Christ.

Andy.

Getting back to grace

The more I go on in my Christian walk the more concerned I am becoming at the number of Christians who seems to go astray from the core of the Gospel i.e. the grace and mercy of God. It is a phenomenon I have noticed here in Spain and am sure that it is occurring in many other places.

There seems to be a very subtle undercurrent afoot in some churches here which implies that you are saved by faith but after that you better look out because from here on in you better keep your socks pulled up and your nose clean or God is going to finish with you. There is a big culture of obedience to God being a guaranteed path to achieving your dreams and to a guarantee of blessing. Now do NOT misunderstand me. I am NOT and NEVER will be an advocate of antinomianism (the idea that we as Christians are under no obligation to obey God's law...see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism for a definition.) Paul makes this clear in Romans 6v1-2. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

However, it would appear that these teachers who promise that obeying God will guarantee that you fulfil your deepest desires and guarantee you success in life are in danger of falling into another trap that the Paul is equally censorious of, and that is legalism. Wikipedia defines legalism as "the notion that obedience to a code of religious law is necessary for salvation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism

From what I have seen this also seems to apply to sanctification and to a life of blessing. What ever happened to "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2v13)(See also 2 Corinthians 9v8 Philippians 1v6, Hebrews 13v20-21) These passages make it clear that it is God who works the desire for obedience in us and who keeps us persevering in our faith. He does not do this because we deserve it. He saves us as an act of grace (God's riches at Christ's expense....He accepts us on the basis of Christ's merits) and He keeps us by His grace too. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1v5 that we "are kept by the power of God" until Christ's return when we will be made perfect. (Andrew Bonar has some excellent thoughts on this. See http://articles.christiansunite.com/article20.shtml

Jesus gives a harsh lesson to those who think they can earn God's favour. He said "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5v20)Thankfully if we are trusting in Christ, God sees you as having never committed any sins and as having done all the good deeds that Christ did on earth. He also sees Christ as guilty of ever sin you ever committed and of every good work that you omitted to do. It was for this reason that Christ lived a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice for sin. If you want to access God's blessing on your own merit you will be doomed to failure because you cannot obey perfectly.

You came to God by the cross and it will ever remain the only route to Him. It is the only merit you can plead when asking for His help and favour. Obey Him because you love Him and out of a grateful heart. Don't obey Him to try to curry favour.

Also, take into account that often those who obeyed God best suffered most. Look at the life of Job. If you are striving to please God in the hope of realising all your ambitions this guy's story will not make for pleasant reading. Are you prepared to come to the place where instead of saying "God can make my dream of being a teacher etc come true so I will obey Him" to become "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him."? (Job 13v15) Psalm 37v4 and Matthew 6v33 show us that we must prioritise God's desires and not our ambitions. God's priority is for us to glorify Him. If that means you have to stay in a dead end job all your life He doesn't mind. If that is the best way for you to glorify Him take pride in it. He will magnify His grace to you in it.

For those who have failed remember that God accepted you by His grace and that is the road back. The blood of Jesus cleanses and goes on cleansing us from every indivual sin and avery type of sin, all we have to do is repent. (1 John 1v7,9) Psalm 51v17 and Isaiah 57v15 show us that God values a humble spirit and a heart broken because of sensitivity to sin. We must realise that even our best obedience is tainted by sin and is only accepted by God because of the merits of Christ. If you are not daily beseeching God by the merits of His grace and the blood then dear friend you do not really know your own heart nor do you realise the magnitude of what was done for you. I finish with John Newton's words "T'was grace that has brought you safe thus far and grace shall lead you home"

Prayer....who does it change?

Have you ever read a quote from a Christian writer which you knew to be true but it was just a little too close to home? Those quotes that just seem to be like the doctor giving you an injection you know you need but ouch do they hurt! One such quote I read recently was from the Puritan Thomas Watson. I have never read a writer who has so many quotes on prayer and not only do they abound in number but they continue to be pithy and get to the heart of the issue. Reading many of them, you would think that they came from the pen of John Piper or some equally contemporary author. It was Watson who came up with the epithet "Praying without faith is like shooting without bullets." He also said "Prayer is a bomb which will make heaven's gates fly open."
(Both these quotes are from "The Godly Man's Picture" which is well worth a read.)

The quote which really grabbed me recently, however, was from his weighty tome "Body Of Divinity". He said, "Many pray 'Let this cup pass away' but few 'Thy will be done'. I also came across a similar quote from Jeff Lucas in the daily bible reading notes he produces for CWR called "Lucas On Life Every Day". He said "The essence of prayer is that I bring my requests to God and ask Him to act. How He responds, who He chooses to use, the method of His action-all of that is up to Him and He owes me no explanations."

When we pray it is true that God often gives us what we ask for. I do believe, however, that an important part of prayer is not us getting God to change us mind or doing what we want but often it is about Him shaping us and Him helping us to be submissive to His will. This is the implication of the two quotes above. Many situations in life are painful and we would rather not go through them. But we must learn to trust Him as our Father working all things together for our good. We must learn that "behind each cloud of Providence, He hides a smiling face."

Matthew Henry, in his excellent little book "Experiencing God's Presence" puts it like this, "God expects and requires our prayers...Thus God will keep us by His authority over us. He will keep us continually mindful of our subjection to Him, which we are apt to forget....By frequent, humble adorations of His perfections, you will make a constant, humble compliance with His will easier for yourself. By doing obeisance, we are learning obedience."

Oh Lord! How much resistance is still in our hearts towards your good, pleasing and perfect will! Help us to adore you in prayer and thus learn subjection to your plan for our lives, especially when that means drinking the cup of bitterness. Amen.

God bless you all.

Andy.

New Living Translation

Being a good Ballymena man and loving a bargain, I was very pleased to pick up a good solid compact bible for a fiver over Christmas. I was reading through Colossians in the NIV and found the language quite awkward. I didn't really seem to be able to get past the words to the nub of the message. (I am sure some of you feel like that when reading my often very verbose prose!!)So looking at different versions and value for money I decided on the New Living Translation. I have found it to be very helpful and it is bringing the Scripture to life to me in a new and fresh way.

I particularly found several verses jumped off the page in this version in Colossians which they weren't doing in the NIV. The first was Colossians 1v28. In this version this is expressed "...everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ." What a challenge for us as Christians. When you are paying for your groceries at Tesco do you ever think of telling the cashier that Jesus loves them? How many opportunities do we miss on a daily basis? Note that it says EVERYWHERE we go we tell EVERYONE about Christ. WOW!!

The second verse that popped off the page was ch3v2 "Let heaven fill your thoughts." How often do we really think about what heaven will be like? It was said of the Puritan Rihard Sibbes "Of this man let this just praise be given, that heaven was in him before he was in heaven." We often hear it said of some that they are too heavenly minded to be any earthly use. This is totally unscriptural. The passage in Colossians uses heaven as a motivation for us to live godly lives. Thinking on heaven puts perspective on all our problems here and should motivate us to live lives in which we do not get so tied to material wealth.

(http://articles.christiansunite.com/article3023.shtml Here are some tips from the Puritan Richard Baxter on how to do this.)

The Lord bless you all.

Andy.