Hallowe'en

The world has dressed up with their painted fa-
ces, celebrating the Goblins of the Dark,
The Kingdom of the Underworld, embark-
ing on a Masquerade, being led astray.

Satan has deluded them that a veil
Is better than the Truth; that hiding be-
hind walls where no one sees is a guarantee
To live in security without fail.

But God is the God of Truth, not disguise:
Eternal Living God of Honesty
Purge from us our fraud, our hypocrisy
And help us flee from the Devil’s lies.

Heavenly Father, we pray, cause us to see that Heaven’s spacious,
Not walled nor hidden with a mask—O! be Thou Lord of naked faces.

- D. Benning

written 31 Oct 1982

The Lord, My Refuge!

Psalm 16:1 - 2----

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

There are times when we feel unsafe. There are times when we fear, when we are anxious or worried or threatened. King David, who wrote this psalm, had times in his life when he was running for his life. Saul wanted to kill him.

This psalm shows that we can turn to the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He is our refuge and our safety. He is also our treasure. We see that David said that he had nothing good apart from the Lord. The Lord was his treasure.

But what is it that we need to be kept safe from? We’re not kings. We’re not running from a Saul who wants to do us in. What is it that we need to be kept safe from?

The Bible says that “It is appointed for man once to die—and after that the Judgment.” (Heb 9:27)

There is the Judgment Day. The Day when God has said that everyone will be judge according to what he or she has done. This judgment day is called “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Mal 4:5) We are warned that is it a “dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb 10:31)

Why is this such a horrible thing?

Because God is a righteous God. He is a holy God—and we are unrighteous and unholy. God said that “there is none righteous—no not one!” Nothing that we have pleases God. All that we have done in our own strength has offended Him.

That is why this is such a dreadful day! That is why we should fear and be afraid. That is why we should be very concerned and seek some refuge.

That is why King David prayed: “Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge!”

King David looked to this God for His refuge! This God who is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). Yet David prays to Him—“keep me safe!” How can this be? God said there is none righteous—no not one. And His anger burns against the workers of unrighteousness everyday. Yet David who was a sinner could pray—keep me safe, O God!

How?

Because God provided a way. God provided a refuge. God provided a substitute. We deserve His wrath and punishment. Yet God punished Jesus Christ in our place.

Jesus took our sin and our punishment and then He gives us His righteousness so that we may approach the Father.

Oh! What an amazing thought! God takes dirty rotten sinners and cleans them up and gives them shelter. Shelter from the storms of life—shelter from the great and dreadful day of His Judgment.

But this is not a FIRE INSURANCE sort of escape. You know, insurance? The type of thing that you would buy and then place in your desk drawer and never think about? Maybe if you had a fire or someone else had a fire, you might think about your insurance. But basically it just sits there and does nothing.

No, this refuge that we have in God is not to be like that at all! See what King David wrote? “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord.’”

This God who can be our refuge and our safety must be our Lord. We had not security in Him unless we make Him our Lord.

So what does that mean? Lord?

He is in control. He says what to do. He is the King. Imagine that: King David look to this Lord as his own King. We must look to Him as our King too.

But there is something more. David went on and wrote, “Apart from You, O Lord, I have no good thing.” David delighted in this God and Lord. Do we look to Jesus as our King? Do we look to Him as our delight? Do we read His word and find our joy and our comfort there?

If so, we can look to Him as our refuge and our safety—our security and shelter in the Day of Judgment.

If you are not looking to Him as our King and as our Joy, you cannot look to Him for shelter. His wrath still burns against you. You are in danger and you need to call out to this God for mercy. Save me, O God. Change my heart and wash me to make me clean. Save me, O God. I trust in Jesus who took my punishment. Save me, O God. I make You my Lord and my delight. Apart from You I have no good thing.

If we do look to Him as Lord and we find our delight in Him, we are secure. We are safe. We can stop worrying. No matter where we are in life this Jesus will be with us. This Jesus promised to be with us. He will abide with us and we will abide with Him. Even when our time comes and we leave this life, we may rest secure and safely in Him. He won’t let us down. He abides with us and we abide with Him.

How Great is the Father's Love!

I John 3:1----

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Another version says:

Behold, what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the children—the sons and daughters—of God!

In this passage we see the great and astounding revelation of God’s love. His love is great! His love is for us! We are His children! God’s love is lavished on us—poured out richly without stopping. The apostle John here expresses his great marveling at this love! God’s love for us. He says: “what manner of love”! Indeed, what manner of love is this love that God has given to us?

But in order to see how great this love is, we must first see who God is. Then we will look at who we are. Only then can we see how great this love is. Finally we will see that this great love should cause us to live and think differently.

I. Who is this God that loves me?

This is the Lord of the whole universe. He spoke and the heavens and the earth were created. He is so powerful that He can just speak and stars appear! How great is His love for us!

He is the Holy One. He is holy—completely different from us. He is holy—completely without sin. He is holy—there is no shadow of error in Him at all. And His love for us is great!

This God is our Father! –How great is the Love of the Father. Our Father. This is the Sovereign, Almighty King of the universe and we may call Him our Father. Jesus taught His disciples to pray: Our Father who art in Heaven. He wants us to come to Him.

Now I have three children. I know what joy it is when one of them comes up to me, sits next to me, sits on my lap, or when they were much younger snuggle and go to sleep in my arms. Our Father who is in heaven loves us even more than an earthly father could love his children. His heart is looking for our good—if we are really His. Oh, how great is His love for us!

II. Who am I that God should love me?

This is an important question. Who am I that God should love me? The Bible says that all have sinned. Remember that God is holy; He is without sin. He is not pleased with sin. In fact His anger burns against sin and all who practice sin. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, that “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of all who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

Some would say, “Oh, I’m not that bad…”

That’s not God’s opinion of any of us. He says that there is none righteous—no, not one. He is the One who said that we should be perfect even as God is perfect.

That’s the standard. Perfection.

And we are not perfect. We are sinners. –Yet God loves us!

How can this be? We should ask how could this holy God come and love us. How could He love me?

In that, we will see what this love is and just…

III. How great is this love?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

That’s how great this love of the Father is for us!

The Father saw that we could not pay this debt. We could not save ourselves. And then, in His great love for us, He sent Jesus.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us!

O how great is the Father’s love for us!

Christ took our place. He who had no debt paid our debt. He who knew no sin suffered our punishment for our sin so that we might experience the Father’s love; so that we might go to live with Him

O, and He is our Father! Think of that! He is our Father! And He calls us His children. We are children of the Heavenly King!

Now I know that earthly fathers care for their children. I take care of my three children. So I know that He cares for His children. And He cares for them better than I could ever care for mine. That’s how great His love is for us!

A father protects—and so our Heavenly Father protects us. None may take us out of His hands. How great is the Father’s love for us!

A father provides—and so our Heavenly Father gives us each daily our daily bread. How great is the Father’s love for us!

A father guides—and so our Heavenly Father has given us His Word, the Bible and He has given us His Holy Spirit who speaks to us saying, “This is the way; walk in it!” How great is the Father’s love for us!

A father also disciplines—and so our Heavenly Father will discipline us to set us back on the straight and narrow way. He does all of this in love. He does all of this for our good. We see that in all things our Heavenly Father works for the good of those who love Him. O how great is the Father’s love for us!

IV. What does this love cause me to do?

What should my response be? This King of Glory has poured out His love so what should I do?

First. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can come to this Heavenly Father except through Jesus. Trust in this Jesus. Call out to Him and say, “Save me, a sinner.” And this Jesus is faithful. He will save those who call upon Him. That’s how great His love is for us!

Then, live in thankfulness and in great joy. This Jesus loves me, this I know! And the Bible tells me that the Father loves me so! Thank you Lord Jesus for giving me salvation! Thank you Heavenly Father for Your great Love!

And then, live according to what He wants. He has given us this Bible that tells us how to live. If He loves me that much, I should love Him and His words enough to live by them each and every day. He loves us so much!

And then, speak of His love to others. We tend to talk about things that are on our mind; about things that we love; about things that we enjoy. If He loves us, we should love Him so much that he is on our minds throughout the day. We should aim to have the first words in the morning be praise and thanks to Him. Thank you, Heavenly Father for loving me so much! We should also aim to have words to speak to others about His great love for us.

Finally we know that we have His love as a shelter. He is the Rock of Ages. He is a cleft that we may hide in. When the storms of life blow about us, it is His great love that will give us peace and hope. He will not fail us. He brought us this far, he will not let us down or drop us.

So remember! Look! Consider just how great the Father’s love for us is. He has made us His own dear children. And that gives us great joy and peace.

The Lord Delights in His People

Psalm 149----

Praise the LORD.

Sing to the LORD a new song,

His praise in the assembly of the saints.

Let the Church rejoice in their Maker;

let His people be glad in their King.

Let them praise his name with dancing

and make music to him with tambourine and harp, with piano and voice.

For the LORD takes delight in his people;

He crowns the humble with salvation.

Let the saints rejoice in this honor

and sing for joy on their beds.

May the praise of God be in their mouths.

In this passage we see the delight of God and the delight of His people. We see the Lord taking delight in His people; and we see His people rejoicing, taking delight in the Lord.

This is truly amazing, isn’t it? God delights in His people. God loves us, His people, and takes real delight in us. How can this be? How can a holy God love us and delight in us? We are sinners—not holy! Certainly nothing that God would delight in. He can only delight in us if we are truly His people. If He has changed us on the inside so that we love Him. So if we want the Lord to delight in us, we must be His people.

That begs the question: How can we be His people?

If we want Him to delight in us, we must trust in Jesus Christ.

If we want Him to delight in us, we must make Jesus Christ our only hope.

If we want Him to delight in us, we must say that we are sinners and we deserve the wrath of God; but we trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us.

If we want Him to delight in us, we must make Jesus Christ our Lord—where He leads us, we will follow.

If we want Him to delight in us, we must be humble—He is the Lord, we are the sheep of His pasture.

If we are His people then He delights in us. Think of that—we have all had someone who brought us some joy. We thought about that person, we loved being with that person, we gave special gifts to that person. That is what our Lord does. He delights in us—He thinks about us; He enjoys us coming to be with Him; He gives us blessing after blessing each and every day!

God delights in us! God loves us!

And see what gifts He gives us!

He delights in His people, so He gives them a crown of salvation!

Now I’m not completely sure what all this crown means, but it seems like an expensive gift. A crown is for rich kings and queens! You see? He is making us to be rich in Christ with Him! – because He delights in us!

But it’s not just any sort of crown—no, it is a crown of salvation! This is our most urgent need. We were lost and wretched—we were under God’s wrath—He was angry at us because of our sins. But this God, who is rich in mercy, poured out His love on us, so that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the ungodly.

He delighted in us so much that He gave His only Begotten Son so that whoever would believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life! — God so loved the world! — God so delighted in His people!

Are you one of His own? Then He delights in you and He has given you the richest and most costly gift! He has given you Jesus Christ—because He delights in you! He has crowned you with salvation—because He delights in you. He delights in you—oh, precious thought!

That should make you happy!

That should make you joyful!

That should make you want to sing!

That should lift your spirits when the devil tries to make you feel afraid—No! Tell depression that the Lord delights in me!

Tell the devil that the Lord delights in me!

Tell your anxious thoughts, the Lord delights in me!

And that is exactly what this psalm says—

This psalm overflows with joy and happiness because God takes such great delight in us, His people. Listen to it:

Praise the LORD. – Why? Because He delights in us

Sing to the LORD a new song. – Why? Because He delights in us

Let the Church rejoice in their Maker – Why? Because He delights in us.

Let His people be glad in their King. – Why? Because He delights in us

Let them praise his name with dancing – Why? Because He delights in us

And make music to him with tambourine and harp, with piano and voice. – Why? Because He delights in us

Let the saints rejoice in this honor. – Why? Because He delights in us

And sing for joy on their beds. – Why? Because He delights in us

May the praise of God be in their mouths. – Why? Because He delights in us

You see? If He delights in us, we must delight in Him. We must make Him the pinnacle of our desires. We must love Him supremely. He delights in us and that brings us great joy—joy that will not ever fade:

The Lord takes delight in His people,

And crowns the humble with salvation.

God's Perfect Peace

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ... And the God of peace will be with you.

In this passage we are introduced to the Peace of God as well as to the God of Peace. And this is amazing! – a miracle. For if there is peace now, there must have been war. You see, peace only comes after a war is over and a victory is declared.

Let’s look at this Peace of God in the past, in the present and in the future:

In the past—there was war.

We were God’s enemies.

Our sin was a declaration of war against God. We rebelled and did not obey Him. In fact, we didn’t like anything He likes. We all like sheep went astray.

So how can this be fixed? How could we be made at peace with God? How can all this hate and war be smoothed over and put aside?

It didn’t start with us.

No, it started with God. Jesus, who is our Peace, destroyed the wall of hostility.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He came to love us and Jesus the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, came to be punished in our place. This is why cane now have Peace.

In the present—we are promised peace

Notice that it says: “the peace of God” and then it also says “the God of peace will be with you.”

—O blessed thought, O happy and great comfort! God with us, not to condemn us, not to harm us, but to help us and to give us peace! Elsewhere it is written that “we have peace with God.” This is a certainty. This is settled. If we are truly His children and if we truly love Him and make Him our Lord, we have peace!

But we also have a job to do in the present:

We are told not to be anxious

but to pray and to give thanks.

We are also told to think about whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, lovely and excellent, whatever is praiseworthy.

And what is more noble than God’s love for us?

Who is more excellent than Jesus?

Who is more pure, more lovely, more worthy of praise than Jesus Christ?

You see, we are to fill our minds with Christ

Then we have peace, sweet peace, blessed peace of God.

Then we are given a promise for the future:

A promise for the future—

This peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds.

He will protect us with His peace.

His peace will not suddenly go away.

No! The God of Peace Himself is here with us.

God will not change His mind

God cannot be moved

Therefore I know that His Peace will and will continue to guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

And I know that His Peace will guard your hearts and minds

if you have trusted Him

if Jesus is your Lord and Savior

Think on these things and His Peace will be with you; and the God of Peace Himself will be with you.

"The LORD bless you
and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."

Rake the Coals of Thy Fire....

"...rake the coals of thy fire so that it will start, burst into flame more easily upon the morrow...."

 

This quote from an old, Puritan write has intrigued me. What's more, it has challenged me to greater discipline. Few of us understand the urgency behind this analogy: To someone in the 17th Century, the fire was the heat and source of cooking power. Much of the life in the house revolved around using and tending to the fire. The fire was life-giving and essential. For it to go out was a serious problem! So what about our Christian life? While we would most all readily admit that the Spirit's fire is essential, do we really order our day so that we can tend this fire and quench it not?

So then, what is this tending of the fire, this "raking the coals"? In my limited knowledge of fires I see several points of interest: 

1) First, to rake the coals there had to be a fire there already. Are you saved? Does your heart grow warm when His kingdom is mentioned? Do you thrill at the reading of His Word as with a great glowing ardor? Then God has placed His fire in your heart. Some would say, "but my fire has gone out!" No! If you are truly saved, He will not allow that to happen. Dig around in the ashes of your heart to find those live embers and then fan them into flame. If your fire is truly out, then you never had His life-giving fire in your heart in the first place! This can only be remedied by humbly repenting and petitioning Him for Salvation. You cannot start your own fire. Remember Nadab and Abihu and their unauthorized fire! (See Lev 10.) 

2) For there to be a fire there, there must be work and planning. These are coals that we are to rake. Coals are the long-lasting hot-points of a fire. When something else comes next to the coals, it too catches fire. How do you get long-lasting coals? Not from paper. That's a flash and it is gone. Nor from small kindling. No, the best coals come from the densest, hard-wood logs. Oak and maple fires will have many hot, glowing embers eight or more hours later. In our Christian life, with what sort of things are we stoking our fire? Light reading? Current events? Sensational stories? Emotionally appealing tripe? If that is all, we will not have many if any coals in the evening, much less the morning! No, we need to feed our soul's fire with God's Word itself: with great logs of doctrine that we ponder and marvel on all day long. Second we feed our soul's fire with writings of those who likewise ponder these deep and marvelous doctrines from God's Word. Puritan writers, D. Lloyd-Jones, P. G. Mathew among others. Do this and you will have hot coals to rake. 

3) Where there is fire there will be ash also. Some of this raking involves the removing of the dead fire, the debris of our own wood, hay and stubble that God's mercy ignited. Perhaps that is why we don't like keeping the fire burning hot so that it is useful. For while it is hot, it also burns our ambitions and self-esteem and worldly pleasures. The dross is purged. Note also that paper and things like it produce much more ash then do hard-wood logs. So also we will have less ash -- less carnal pleasures to repent of if we feed our soul's fire with doctrine instead of sensational, feel-good readings. But forget all these little trinkets of wood, hay and stubble. Look at the great treasure which He is giving -- and has given already--to us! Note also that this ash removal needs to be done at least morning and evening. That sounds like repentance, doesn't it? Never done with it in this life. Repentance is not a once for all, done with it sort of thing. It is daily, on-going. The Puritans said that the two wings by which we fly to heaven are Repentance and Faith. Don't hobble your flight to God. Repent! Clear out the ashes of your soul's fire regularly.

4) Lastly, I want to point out just how much work there is involved in tending a fire. Yes. We all know that it is God who saves us. He reaches down monergistically and sets our hearts aflame. No human with any type of "strike anywhere" match could have ever lit the water-logged alter of our hearts. But just as for Elijah, fire came down from heaven and ignited our hearts. (See II Kings 18:30 - 38) But somehow, we in our fleshly, carnal wisdom want this to stay and to remain completely God's working. We want this sanctification process to be completely of God too. Face it. We' tend toward a certain amount of spiritual laziness. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Herein is another divine mystery! We work in partnership with God Himself! This is why the scripture implores us to "make every effort" and to "make sure" and "to guard your hearts"! Phil 2: 12, 13 says "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." We are to work our our salvation. Work it to the outside so that others may see it. God has placed it there on the inside, now we need to work it to the outside. In thoughts; in speech; and in actions. Raking the coals, and tending our fire will make our lives shine that much brighter for this King who has worked in us such a great salvation!

So, to what end now? What benefit is there in all this work? You will have a heart that is ready to spring forth in praises and supplication upon your waking! No need to spend extra hours trying to find the ember and coax it back to life. No need to start afresh with the paper and kindling of light, simplistic and trivial readings. The coals will already be hot --eager for another log of from God's Word. Notice that this fire will not automatically spring to life. It takes some attention in the morning too. But with the preparation from the night before, it is ready and will take little additional effort.


This Puritan writer adds yet one more incentive: "...for he that goes to sleep in the presence of the Lord, will surely wake in His Presence!"

- D. Benning

A King Will Reign in Righteousness!

Isa 32:1 - 8

A King will rule in righteousness.
Ah, now that sounds wonderful, doesn't it? It sounds like the promise of heaven, the promise of a new world and a new order--a world redeemed from the Fall and the corruption of sin. Some would even say that it is a little "pie-in-the-sky" too. Too far off to have much practical good for right now.

I don't think that the prophet Isaiah believed that. This is why he wrote in verse 9, "You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!"
No, the prophet thought that this King who will rule in righteousness should have a present effect on how we think and live our lives.

Who is this King?

Ps 24: 8 asks it this way? "Who is this King of Glory?"
That is, this King who will rule in righteousness is the King of Glory. It is God Himself. But here some would protest and say... "Hey! That's old testament. We're a new testament church. We don't have to worry about the old testament. Right?"

I would say that this King of Glory is none other than Jesus Himself. Jesus taught His disciples that all of scripture points to Him. (See Luke 24:27.) So I posit that this King who will rule in righteousness is Jesus Christ.

Any proof?

Yes. Isaiah gives us signs that would point to this King and His rule:
Isa 32:3 ... blind eye see; deaf ears hear;
Isa 32:4 ... the insane and rash now in their right mind; stammering, halt tongues talk clearly

That sounds like the miracles that Jesus did. He healed the blind and the deaf. He made the mute to talk. He made the demoniac with a legion of demons to be healed and "in his right mind."

But am I reading too much into this? What did Jesus Himself say? Matt 4:17, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." He said that the Kingdom of heaven is near. And this is not a picture of some sweet day in the bye-and-bye. No, Jesus in Matt 21:32 said to the Pharisees that "tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." Are entering. That is, the Kingdom is so near that some are already going into it. This Kingdom is promised to have no end and to increase! (Isa 9:7)

So.... This King is Jesus. This Kingdom is near. This Kingdom keeps increasing--keeps expanding. That is: It wins!

But what of this for me?

If there is a Kingdom, there must be a King.
If there is a King and a Kingdom, there must be rules!
That is why it says "A King will rule in righteousness." He rules.

Let me repeat that. He will rule and because He has come and established His Kingdom, He is ruling now.

Of course, we don't see the full extent of His rule. There are still areas of rebellion. We only have to read the Book of Revelation to see that He will come again as a Conqueror to subdue all rebellion. (Read Rev 19, 20, 21, 22.)

But this Jesus is King. That is why the New Testament calls Him the Lord Jesus. A "LORD" is a King. That is what Caesar was called in the Greek. He was King and had absolute sway in his realm. How much more should the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Sovereign God and Creator of the whole universe have in His realm!

So what are we to do?

Live under His righteous rule.
That is, live righteously.
In other words, live by doing what is right.

What is right? Whatever will please the Lord. He established the Law not as a punishment, but because it is a reflection of His moral nature and character. That is, the Law is good because it reflects who God is.

Isa 32:8 say "But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands."

Are we being noble? Noble means "Of exalted rank; of or pertaining to the nobility." And if we are Christians, we are adopted into His family! That is a very, very high position indeed. We are to act worthy of that calling. He is our Father now. Children imitate their daddy. Are we imitating our Heavenly Father who said, "Be holy as I am holy!" It should be our desire, our hearts' cry, our longing and our daily yearning to be more like Him. To be more and more holy.

If so, we will have noble plans (that is, our thoughts and our goals). These will lead to noble deeds (our actions). And by these we will stand. That is, it will prove that we have had a radical change in our hearts. It will prove that God is our Father, that Jesus is our King and that the Kingdom of Heaven is among us--because we obey His law.

If this is not true of you, please ask this gracious King Jesus for repentance and a new heart. One that loves what He loves. Then you will be noble of thought and action. And in that Day of Judgment, you will be able to stand by His grace!

-Amen
Soli Deo Gloria