23 November 2008

Though The Fig Tree May Not Blossom

(Kent Heaton)

There is no doubt our country is moving through a dense forest of worry and trepidation as the financial markets continue to tremble upon their foundations. Jobs are being lost, mortgages defaulting by owners, savings liquidated, hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow diminishing in a cloud of doom. These are tough times and these tough times may get worse. People are having to reevaluate what is important in life and what is true worth in a world of transparent reality.

As in generations past who walked this same vale of fear there are two kinds of people today – those who trust in God and those who do not! Those who trust in God experience the same concerns as those who do not but with an eye to understand the grand picture of life. They see God as their hope; not their possessions. For those who do not trust in God their hope is in the temporary things of this life. The treasures of their hearts are buried in the belief that life is about this world.

The Hebrew writer describes a horrific time in the lives of the saints in Hebrews 10:32-39. He describes the suffering of these early Christians and how they had endured “a great struggle with suffering” (v32); being made a “spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations” (v33). His plea is for them to not cast away their confidence and to endure to the end (v35). He then adds this statement: “Now the just shall live by faith” (v38). What diligence this would produce, what vehement desire this would instill and how better to help the Hebrew brethren to maintain their faith.

These words of faith were of great significance to a Hebrew. Repeated by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, “the just shall live by faith” resonated in the hearts of every Jew. These words came from the prophet Habakkuk and were a call to victory in a time of great calamity. Where does trust come from when the clouds are dark? To whom can men go when the future looks troubled? "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The proud are those who trust in this world and its blessings. What happens when the things of this world fail? “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength” (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Faith will endure forever. Homer Hailey writes, “The growth of faith from perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust is one of the beautiful aspects of the book. Its lesson is for all time.” Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). The answer is that doubt and fear should not destroy us (Romans 8:36-39). Trusting in the riches of this world will only bring about grief.

Living by faith is putting our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21); not in the things of this life (Luke 12:15-21). Shrouds have no pockets but faith in God will last. We must “rejoice in the Lord” and have “joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18). “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "’I will never leave you nor forsake you’" (Hebrews 13:5). The fig tree may not blossom here but the tree of life will never cease to yield fruit (Revelation 22:1-3). In that land there is no sorrow or worry (Revelation 21:4). Trust God!

The Women At The Cross

(Barry Hudson)

We preachers try to so impress our hearers with life-changing truth that we sometimes overstate our case. I believe this has been done when we say Jesus died all alone on the cross. Yes, He was forsaken by those materialistic, fickle Jews, by His apostles, and even by His Father as He took our iniquities upon Himself, but Jesus was not all alone.

In that poignant scene of the cross we see the faithful women in Jesus' life. True, three of the gospels say that these women were standing at a distance, viewing the events of the cross; but John 19:25 says they were standing by the cross.

These women of Galilee were dear friends of Jesus. They ministered to Him of their own means (Luke 8:3; Mark 15:41). Their sympathy, love and concern for Jesus in His ministry, and now in His death, must have greatly encouraged Jesus in the midst of cruel ridicule and unbelief. Salome, the mother of James and John, was at the cross. If we had been there, we might have stayed away  out of bitter resentment. In Matthew 20:20, she requested that Jesus give her sons chief places in the kingdom. Jesus taught her and her sons how wrong their ambitions were.

Salome--the woman Jesus refused; and yet, she was there at the cross, constantly devoted to Jesus even when she didn't get her own way. Many give up on the Lord when they don't get their way, but Salome teaches us to trust the Savior in spite of disappointment.

Mary Magdalene was there. She had known the misery of being possessed by seven demons, but after Jesus cast them out, Mary was a new woman. His love had rescued her and her constant love for Him never died. Even at the cross, when people said He had failed and was a blasphemer she kept on loving Him as demonstrated by her return to the tomb on the day Jesus was raised from the dead. Isn't it wonderful that the first one to see the resurrected Christ was this devoted woman disciple? Likewise, if we remain devoted to the Lord, we shall see Him in all His glory (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

Then there was Mary, His mother. As she stood below the cross, it may be that she thought of the day when she stood in the temple as a young mother. She and Joseph were bringing their little boy to dedicate Him to the Lord. An old man stepped out of the crowd and prophesied that this baby would be a Leader of men, a Ruler of nations. And then he said directly to Mary, "And a sword will pierce your own soul." At the cross, that prophecy was fulfilled.

The sword pierced her soul as she thought back on the last three decades. She was the first one to plant a tender kiss upon His brow, but now that brow was crowned with thorns. She had held His little hands as He took His first steps, but now those hands were spiked to a cross. She had guided those little feet in the right way, but now they were nailed to a tree.

She must have remembered how He astounded the scholars of Jerusalem with His knowledge and had said to her, "...I must be about my Father's business." This was the beginning of separation. (Parents, it hurts, doesn't it?) Mary knew that things were going to be different in the future. She didn't always understand, but she stored the information in her heart and pondered it. At the cross, the puzzle starts to make sense and it pierced her soul.

Openly, publicly and shamefully, Jesus was crucified. And there Mary stood, feeling the sword go through her soul. She saw Jesus struggle to catch His breath, and then He breathed no more. If we could get into this mother's heart, and picture this scene at Calvary, especially these last moments, it would make His sacrifice more real to us.

I am impressed that Mary stood silently. If anyone would know the real truth, it would be a mother. Her silence is an eloquent testimony that Jesus is God the Son come in human flesh. She unashamedly stood by His cross and loved Him until the end. How sad when Jesus provides a son for His mother! But Mary and John belonged together because in His death they were losing more than the rest. Mary was losing a son and John was losing his Master who loved him beyond the rest. Neither Mary nor John would ever have Him again as they had once known Him in tender and loving association. Jesus understood their mutual love for Him and, while dying, gave them each other.

Let us never underestimate the importance of these women. Others fled, but these devoted disciples risked everything to comfort Jesus in His sorrow. It could not have been easy to witness the agony, shame and indignity of His death, but they firmly stood there. It is one thing to stand by Jesus in His hour of joy and victory, in the day of His power when He cured diseases, cast out demons, and raised the dead. It is, however, another thing to stand by Him at the cross, when heaven seemed closed to His cries and the devil seemed so victorious. But these women stood fast. Nothing could overpower their love and sympathy for the Savior. May we ever be as devoted and unwavering in our commitment to the Lord as these women were.

The Ancient Seed Reborn

(W. Frank Walton)

“The seed is the word of God … But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:11,15 NASB).

The power of life is in the reproductive power of the seed. A great illustration of this is seen in an almost 2,000 year old seed o f the extinct Judean date palm, which was found at Massada about 30 years ago. Dating from 73 A.D., it was sprouted by an Israeli botanist in 2006. The sapling (dubbed “Methuselah”) in June, 2008 is now almost four feet tall. It is the oldest seed ever germinated! This illustrates the restoration principle of sowing the original seed of the gospel. The power to reproduce the original is in the life identity of the see. “Methuselah” is nothing more or less than the original Judean date palm reborn after 2000 years.

Today, we can plant only the pure seed of the ancient gospel in modern man’s heart and make just a Christian, nothing more or less! The risen, authoritative Christ gave marching orders to His apostles, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you” (Matthew 29:18,19). This is the quest of restoring the original teaching of Jesus in faith, practice and spirit.

Interestingly, George Barna, who has keep research growth trends in churches for the last 24 years, in a recent book ‘Revolution’ concluded that the established denominational churches of mainstream religion have failed. He came to the startling conclusion after many years of researching “churched” people, finding little evidence that their lives were transformed by their church experience. This is a clear failure to plant the original, dynamic seed of the gospel in people’s lives.

Restoring the seed of the original gospel is the ideal quest for pure, undenominational Christianity. The productive soil, in Luke’s account of the parable of the sower, is both “honest” (noble, idealistic) and “good” (practical, productive) in receiving the gospel seed. If we do the same thing, for the same reason, and in the same way that the early believers did in the apostolic age, then we’ll be the same thing they were – Christians only (1 Peter 4:16). Our loyalty is to Christ alone through His Word alone (John 10:16,27).

The Word of God is the “incorruptible seed” that is “living and abiding” (1 Peter 1:23), which means it has the enduring power to give spiritual rebirth to men’s souls. It abides forever through time. James wrote we should “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul” (James 1:21; cf. 1:18).

Jesus said His Word would never pass away (Matthew 24:35), and would judge us all in the end (John 12:48). His truth can be known, freeing us from ignorance and error, and then applied, empowering us to bear fruit (John 8:31,32; 15:1-8). The original gospel, preserved in the pages of the New Testament, makes Christians only and the only Christians.

So, the Lord’s true church is the Lord’s true people patterned after the Lord’s transforming Word (2 Timothy 1:13). Human alteration of the gospel seed’s original genetic blueprint always corrupts it.

You Can Run On A Foul But You Sho' Can't Sco'

(Selected)

The Bible compares our efforts toward heaven to a race or a game of contest in which all competitors are striving for victory. In 1 Corinthians 9:24: "So run, that ye may obtain." In Philippians 3:14: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." In Galatians 5:7: "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" In 2 Timothy 2:5: "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” In each instance, attention is called to the fact that to win the prize one must contend according to the rules. One's measure of skill and proficiency does not give license to ignoring the rules. It may be a race, tennis match, football or baseball game - or going to heaven - but they all have that common point.

A black preacher was once illustrating life to a baseball game. He was striving to show the folly of ignoring what the Bible says and of following human creeds and denominationalism. He first said, "You can't run on a foul." But you can run on a foul, just as you can practice any religion you want to, and the old preacher knew this. So he paused and said, very deliberately, to set the record straight and make his point clears: "You can run on a foul, but you sho' can't sco'." Yes, you can hit a "home run" in foul territory, but it doesn't give you the privilege of trotting around the bases, and if your religion isn't in the Bible, "you sho' can't sco'."