January Meditation

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</div> <div> teach me Your Statutes. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     "My ways" that the psalmist declares to God are sinful ways.  "My ways" of going about things are radically different than God's ways, because mine have been distorted by sin.</div> <div>     We are supposed to declare our ways to God.  Why?  Well, how else will we become conscious in His presence of motives and activities we are to avoid?  If we don't set them before ourselves and God, we will continue to blunder into them, oblivious.</div> <div>     The contrast to our ways must then be part of our prayer.  After exposing our own ways, we are to ask that God's ways be shown to us:  "Teach me Your Statutes."</div> <div>     God's Statutes, then, teach us reasons that sin is destructive.  When we see in the light of God's Word how counterproductive sin is, we are much more inclined to avoid it.  When we realize the lie that sin is constantly telling, we are actually strengthened to hold to the truth.</div> <div>     Reason, then, is a great weapon in the war against sin.</div> <div>     The Church in our day has acted as though reason is our enemy.  We have somehow equated the Faith with an irrational credo which must be embraced contrary to evidence.  This is certainly not true.  Sin is the irrational.  Therefore, righteousness- and the Faith that maintains it- must be ultimate rationality.</div> <bR> <div>     Perhaps we have failed to grasp righteousness securely because we are not sure it can be firmly grasped- mentally especially.  </div> <div>     Would we call Jesus muddle-headed as a righteous one?  Would we assert that He had a mystic's cloudy mind that convinced Him that He was following some concrete way, when He really only pursued a personal fancy?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_2"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="347" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:29<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Remove from me the way of lying; </div> <div> and grant me Your Law graciously. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew word for Law, "torah", comes from a root word with the idea of direction, used of the flowing of water, throwing, and pointing.</div> <div>     God's Law, then, is a direction, a pointing of <I>the way</I>.</div> <div>     The way or path of lying is <I>another </I>direction.</div> <div>     The two directions are mutually exclusive.  If you are going one way, you cannot be going the other.</div> <div>     This is why the Psalmist makes the request, "remove."  He wants the direction of lying not to be taken.</div> <div>     This is also why the Psalmist requests, "grant ... graciously."  He wants instilled in him the sense of God's finger pointing the way.</div> <div>     But he is not moaning and groaning, as though he were merely a victim of higher forces with no choice in the matter himself.  In the next verse he says:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 119:30</FONT>  I have chosen the way of truth; I have laid Your judgments <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>before me</I></FONT>. </div> <bR> <div>     "I have chosen."  He asked for God's help, but he also <I>moved </I>in that direction himself.</div> <div>     "I have laid ... before me."  He didn't expect the principles replacing lying to magically blossom in his soul.  He <I>put  </I>them before his thoughts.</div> <div>     (Notice that we will only know the way of truth if we are well familiar with God's judgments- His system of right and wrong, its penalties and rewards.)</div> <bR> <div>     Only someone who really knows him<I>self</I>  will ask for his natural path of lying to be extricated.*</div> <div>     Only someone who knows the beauty of God's direction will ask for its gracious implanting.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" >* </FONT>Concerning the way or workings of lying:  it is much easier to know the working of lying <I>in general</I> than it is to know <I>my </I>workings of lying in particular.  We must move from the general to the particular.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_3"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="324" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:31<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> I have stuck to Your testimonies; </div> <div> O Jehovah, do not put me to shame. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     The psalmist had made a firm choice:  "I have <U>stuck</U> to Your testimonies."</div> <div>     Nevertheless, he did not feel that this entitled him to a skid-free road.  He asks not to be put to shame, acknowledging that God's providences <I>could </I>lead him into a shameful situation.  </div> <div>     The psalmist was <I>not </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>asking to be kept from testing.  <I>Nor </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>was he asking to be kept from the path of mean men who might seek to shame him.  He was asking God to uncover any possible area in his life where he did <I>not </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>have as firm a grip on God's testimonies as he thought.  He was saying, "I can say with a good conscience that I've set myself diligently to the task of applying all Your testimonies to all areas of my life.  No matter what kind of testing comes my way, I know I would only be ashamed <B>if </B>I lost this clasp onto Your words or had left something out.  Help me to hold Your words thoroughly, Lord!"</div> <bR> <div>     One observation:  We have no right to make the request the psalmist makes without first being as studious and conscientious as he was.  We must first have a handle on God's testimonies and have them as the true rule for our lives before we can properly ask to be kept from the shame of fumbling those testimonies.  We are shamed in the first place if we haven't sought and applied God's words to our lives.</div> <div>     We should always ask for God's merciful protection over our ever-limited knowledge and sanctification, though.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_4"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="405" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 WIDTH="393"><div> Psalm 119:32<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> I will run the way of Your Commandments, when You shall enlarge my heart. </div> <div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Why do we experience poor advancement in our obedience to God?  Why do we lack energy in our 'pilgrim's progress'?  Why do our feet drag in our sanctification?</div> <div>     The Psalmist indicates that it is because we have small hearts.  He says that he will begin to make good movement in his spiritual life when God <I>enlarges </I>his heart.</div> <div>     This is a very important concept.  We know that we have hearts of stone before we come to God (Ezek. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >36:26</FONT>) and that He replaces those with "hearts of flesh" (Ezek. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >36:26</FONT>)- that is, real human hearts.  A heart of stone is merely a product of earth (like the soul  that "clings to the dust", Ps. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >119:25</FONT>, the first verse of this section).  You might say that we are not even properly human until we become a Christian.</div> <div>     But a Christian is born into the spiritual world with a baby spiritual heart.  Unfortunately, many Christians' hearts do not grow beyond that stage:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > 1</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > Cor 3:1, 2</FONT>  And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but as to fleshly, as to <U>babes</U> in Christ.  I have fed you with milk and not with solid food, for you were not yet able <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>to bear it</I></FONT>; nor are you able even now. </div> <bR> <div>     Ironically, it is the Christians of stunted spiritual growth who think they are the giants in the spiritual realm.  Note how Paul chides these same Corinthians later in the book:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Cor 14:36</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Or did the Word of God go out from you? Or did it reach only to you? </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     What Paul meant by this question was that the baby Corinthians were behaving as though the gospel message had originated with them, or that they were the only place the gospel had come.  They acted as though they were the standard for the whole Christian world, though, in reality, they were frightfully <I>sub</I>standard.  They had baby hearts; they had small hearts.  They needed the same realization the Psalmist had so they could make the same request.</div> <div>     Therefore, again ironically, spiritual progress begins with a knowledge of my backwardness.  I see my teeny heart, so I cry out for its growth.</div> <div>     There are a thousand factors that lull us into confidence that our hearts are healthy, large, and pleasing to God.  One sure sign that they are <I>not  </I>is if we think they <I>are</I>:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Rev 3:17</FONT>  Because you <U>say</U>, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you <U>are</U> wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked</div> <bR> <div>     Of course, the Laodiceans did not brag on themselves out loud.  This was the thought of their hearts- their exceedingly small hearts.</div> <bR> <div>     When will the Church come back to a time when she sees the health in admission of sickness?  When she sees the progress in confession of lameness?  We have been hoodwinked in our day to put our best foot forward before God and to admire the gaudy thing ourselves.  Such narrowness of vision comes from confinement of the heart.  O Lord, enlarge our hearts!  Enlarge <I>my </I>heart!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_5"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:73<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Your hands have made me and fashioned me; </div> <div> give me understanding so that I may learn </div> <div> Your Commandments. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God's personal creation of a human individual is not restricted to His hands-on 'building' of Adam and Eve.  He builds each one of us.  He no longer goes straight from the dust of the ground as His building materials, but He does still use the building blocks of dirt (that is what we will turn back into).  The chemical compounds of soil He used to form me were those available in my mother's womb.</div> <div>     The Psalmist uses God's creation of him as the basis for a request.  He asks that God give him understanding.  "Make me discern."</div> <div>     How is God's creation of me tied to a request for discernment?</div> <div>     Simple.  The same God who built my mind and designed my thinking capacity is also the one who can make them both work right:</div> <bR> <div>  Luke 24:45<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Then He opened up their mind to understand the Scriptures </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     When we approach a difficult passage of Scriptures, we should not be discouraged and assume that it is incomprehensible to us.  We must ask God to help us understand, and we must ask with complete confidence that the maker of minds can unlock those minds.</div> <div>     We of course cannot dispense with study if we expect God to enlighten us.  He only promises to help the studious:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >2 Tim 2:15</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Give diligence to present yourself approved to God, a laborer unashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     After all, what good would it be for me to gain understanding of one passage if I had no grasp on the whole of God's truth, especially related passages?  I would have no context in which to explain my new understanding.</div> <div>     It is an urgent need to ask for God's help in understanding <I>difficult </I>passages, but it is perhaps more urgent to ask for help in understanding seemingly <I>easy </I>passages.  How quickly we assume we understand a passage on first sight!  How easily our mind flows in the direction of our preconceptions!  How readily our comprehension conforms to the mold of our grammatical and syntactical limitations!  Yes, perhaps we need <I>most  </I>help with passages we feel we immediately understand!</div> <div>     But finally, look at what the Psalmist asks for help to understand.  He wants to learn God's <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >commandments</FONT>!  Certainly when God says "Do" or "Don't", these instructions need little explanation?  But no.  </div> <bR> <div>     And here is our greatest insight.  To truly crack the mold of my disobedient mind and become <I>conformed </I>to God's direction- <I>this </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>is the largest learning.  Only when our <I>being </I>flows in the direction of God's will- His commands- can we say we have "learned" His commandments.  So the Psalmist is asking for <B>comprehension unto conformity</B>.  This alone is true learning.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_6"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="497" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:75<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> I know, O Jehovah, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >that Your judgments </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >right, </FONT></div> <div> and that You have afflicted me in faithfulness. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     If I have been afflicted, it is God who has afflicted me.  Furthermore, He only afflicts me in His faithfulness.</div> <div>     The time in the Bible when we are most aware of Satan being at the bottom of a man's trials, we are also made aware that he could only approach that man with God's permission.  Chapter one of Job 'pulls back the curtain' of Heaven twice and lets us hear the arrangements between God and Satan which lead to Job's loss and harm.  We are assured that there was no defect in Job's life for which he was being punished.</div> <div>     The Psalmist had learned from Job.  He knew that there was no case in which God would abandon faithfulness in His dealings with His people.  Even if He was bringing affliction into their lives because of their sins, He was still being faithful.  He was seeking to bring about the termination of their offensive behavior.</div> <div>     "I know, O Jehovah, that Your judgments are right."  Whether You are merely testing me, as You were Job, or whether You are responding to sin in my life by this affliction, You still measured both me and the situation in Your scales of justice, and You have poured this difficulty into my cup quite precisely.</div> <div>     "Judgments" is from a Hebrew word meaning a verdict.  God's verdict on Job's character, when He described Job for Satan, was that he was "blameless."  So God's further verdict to allow tragedy into Job's life was only to perfect him further.  And this end was, in fact, accomplished.  Job said he went from a relatively second-hand knowledge of God before his trials to a more first-hand kind of knowledge afterwards (Job <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >42:5</FONT>).  Was this end worth the difficulty?  If you want to know God better it is.</div> <div>     Couldn't God just wave His 'sanctification wand' and make us know Him better?  Certainly He could in terms of His power, but it would be contrary to His wise and just workings.  It would also be contrary to what we really need- a deep comprehension of our own sinfulness.  God wants our knowledge of Him to be a part of the real us.  Our sin and ignorance cloud all our knowledge so badly that only the blows of affliction can dislodge them sufficiently to allow true understanding to take up residence within us.</div> <div>     Is this how we look at trials?  If it is, then we can have a real measure of joy in even the worst of them.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_7"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="463" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:78<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Let the proud be ashamed; </div> <div> for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: </div> <div> <I>but</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >I will meditate in Your precepts. </FONT></div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     "Let the proud be ashamed", the psalmist prays.  It is their due to be shamed.  </div> <div>     He is not praying from a feeling of hatred or a desire for personal vengeance.  The only reference point for defining the proud's shameful behavior is God.  God is therefore also the only one who should be putting them to shame in a retributive sense.  We are to be God's <I>messengers </I>who, "with meekness and fear," (<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1 Pet. 3:15</FONT>) warn the proud of their coming doom, but we are not <I>implementers </I>of His wrath against the unrepentant, at least not in this day.</div> <div>     So this is a Christian prayer.</div> <div>     Have you ever prayed it?</div> <div>     It will cause you to rethink your relation and attitude towards unbelievers.  It should by no means cause unkind thoughts or acts towards them.  Again, when we share God's command to repent with the unrepentant, we do so "with meekness and fear."</div> <div>     In fact, mentioning the proud's shame in our prayer should be accompanied by the mention of our <I>own </I>shame.  Two verses later we read:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 119:80</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Let my heart be sound in Your Precepts, so that I may not be ashamed. </FONT></div> <div>  </div> <div>     It is no over-and-done conclusion that my heart is sound in God's Precepts.  In fact, I am to assume that my advancement is <I>incomplete enough </I>that I will shame myself without real, further progress.  </div> <div>     This attitude will go miles towards helping me pray properly that the proud be ashamed.  Their false dealings with <I>me </I>are only a manifestation of their hatred for <I>God</I>.  I am praying as an offended party, but I am not trying to make God my 'big brother' to go beat up the bullies.  <B>I already </B><I><B>know </B></I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I><B> </B></I></FONT><B>He will beat them up if they remain proud</B>.  My prayer, therefore, is more a committing of this, His work of vengeance, into His hands- OUT of my hands.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_8"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="463" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:79<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Let those who fear You turn to me, </div> <div> and those who have known Your testimonies. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>    The psalmist asks God for good companionship.  He is asking for God to turn the hearts of good people favorably towards him.  We should do the same.  There is no substitute for faithful companionship on the road to Zion.</div> <div>     The psalmist asks for good companions in two groupings:  those who fear God, and those who know His testimonies.</div> <div>     Now is he asking for one group of friends that fit one description and then another group that fits the other?  No, certainly he is asking for only <I>one </I>group of friends who fit <I>both </I>descriptions.  This is a common Biblical use of the word "and" as a connector.</div> <div>     Therefore, those who fear God <I>are </I>those who know His testimonies.</div> <div>     Who is it that <B>fears </B>God?  Those who know and avoid what Jehovah hates.</div> <div>     How do they know what Jehovah hates?  By knowing what He <B>testifies</B> about it<B>- </B>by knowing Scriptures.  So we see that the two groups of friends the psalmist wants really <I>are </I>just one: those who fear God do so by knowing His testimonies.</div> <div>     Now we can also ask this about ourselves:  would <I>we </I>be worthy companions for the psalmist?  </div> <div>     Do we fear God?  What opportunity to sin was specifically presented to me yesterday that I avoided?</div> <div>     Do we know His testimonies?  Have we studied Scriptures until they make good sense to us- where we can see God's line of reasoning in what He testifies?  AND do we automatically turn Scriptural learning INTO the fear of God, knowing that He is pointing out specific roads to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calibri" ><I>take </I></FONT>and specific ones road to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calibri" ><I>shun</I></FONT>?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_9"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="463" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 147 ><NOBR><div> Luke 10:2<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Therefore He said to them, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Indeed, the harvest </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >much, </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >but the laborers </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >few.</FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Therefore, pray </FONT><I>to</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >the Lord of the harvest, </FONT></div> <div> that He send out workers into His harvest. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God is the "Lord of the harvest."  The harvested 'crop' is men's souls.  </div> <div>     The activity of harvesting suggests that we are to perform two functions for men's souls:</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1</FONT>)  Bring them in; and</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2</FONT>)  Store them.</div> <div>     These are the two activities performed upon crops in harvesting, and it is a harvest analogy Jesus is using here.</div> <div>     How do we bring men's souls in?  By the gospel, the Word of truth, converting men to God OR instructing them in the way of salvation, the way a Christian is to think and behave.</div> <div>     How do we then store men's souls?  By <I>keeping </I>them in the confines into which they have been brought.</div> <div>     God is the Lord of the harvest because He is the Lord of the CROP.  </div> <div>     <I>Ours  </I>is to plant the gospel seed and water it.  God gives the increase (<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1 Cor. 3:6, 7</FONT>).  Then it is <I>ours  </I>again to reap.</div> <div>     Harvesting is seasonal.  Each harvest matures at its own rate, whether of a regional revival or of one man's soul.  Though harvesting is seasonal, planting and watering are for ANY time.</div> <div>     Jesus gives a prayer command.  When we pray it, we also have the command laid upon <I>us </I>to proclaim the gospel to every creature.  We pray for harvesters as God sends <I>us </I>out among them.    </div> <div>     God sends us, but do we go?  "The toilers are few."</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_10"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="398" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 130:1<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Out of the depths I have called You, </div> <div> O Jehovah. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Psalm <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >130 </FONT>is one grand anticipation.  It begins in the mournful depths of the knowledge of sin.  It proceeds to a yearning for God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 130:6</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  My soul </FONT><I>waits</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >for the Lord more than those watching for the morning. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     A sort of 'question' is posed, a problem that needs resolving.  I'm waiting, but I don't possess.</div> <div>     But the Psalm only ends in the HOPE of resolution of the problem- only with an assurance that the question <I>shall be</I> answered:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 130:7, 8</FONT>  Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>mercy, and with Him <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>abundant redemption; and He <U>shall redeem</U> Israel from all his iniquities. </div> <bR> <div>     The problem of my need for God remains unresolved in the here and now.</div> <div>     Therefore, much depends on <B>whether HOPE is based on REALITY.  </B>Consider:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Heb 11:1</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Now faith is </FONT><I>the</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >confidence of things being hoped, the conviction of things not having been seen. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     "Confidence" in this verse is from a compound Greek word meaning "set under."  Faith  'sets' a foundation 'under' our hope.  It provides stability and reality.</div> <div>     So does faith spin its own little universe?  Is that what hope does- provide us with a grand illusion to hearten us in our unpleasant surroundings?  If so, it is not the Biblical kind of faith.  Biblical faith proceeds on the assumption that the future described is in the power of the One who made all things and is therefore within His power to bring about.</div> <bR> <div>     Most Christians betray their weak faith by lowering their expectations.  They do this on a leveling scale.  That is, rather than lowering their actual expectation of Heaven, they lower their sense of any sin which might diminish their hope of Heaven.</div> <div>     The psalmist didn't do this.  His sense of sin was deep and grievous.  His hope of God seemed all the further off thereby.          </div> <div>     But a hope of redemption really only gains its reality <I>in contrast to</I> the depths of sin.  On the one hand, there is the dizzying distance between the two, but on the other, there is an intensity of yearning which exists when the far side of the canyon is only there for us because we have been <I>told </I>that it is there by the One who showed us our sin in order to bridge the gap that sin made.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Wingdings" >ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_11"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="350" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 131:3<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Let Israel hope in Jehovah </div> <div> from this moment and forever. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Let Israel HOPE."  This concerns Israel's FUTURE.  This is the last verse of the Psalm.</div> <div>     The beginning of the Psalm also had a future reference:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 131:1</FONT>  O Jehovah, my heart is not <U>haughty</U>, nor have my eyes been <U>lofty</U>; nor have I walked in <U>great</U> things, nor in things too <U>wondrous</U> for me. </div> <bR> <div>     "Haughty", "lofty", "great", and "wondrous" all bespeak an attitude towards the future also.  They all say, "This is what I SHOULD have if justice be served.  This is what I <B>deserve</B>.  This is what I <I>will do</I> if I have my way."</div> <div>     So the psalmist, by disclaiming haughtiness, loftiness, greatness, and wonders, puts himself <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >back in the present</FONT> for a moment, regaining his sanity.  There he can be given a NEW future, a future with God at its center rather than himself as center.</div> <div>     We must do this as well- pull ourselves back from all our "I deserves" and all the expectations they generate.</div> <div>     The psalmist, in the remaining verse of the Psalm, tells us how he did this:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 131:2</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Surely I have behaved and have quieted my soul, as one weaned by its mother; my soul by me </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >as a weaned </FONT><I>child</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >. </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_12"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="350" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 85:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> I will hear </div> <div> what God Jehovah will speak ... </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     PRAYER is a <B>conversation</B>.  It is not quite so alternating a dialogue as regular conversation is.  That is, in a good prayer, God has liberty to speak- to interrupt, if you will- whenever He will.  In fact, the whole point is to hear from Him.</div> <div>     <B>God's</B> actual <B>part </B>in the conversation is <B>Scripture</B>.  That is Him speaking.  And that's one reason, perhaps the main one, why it is so critical that we be conversant in Scriptures.</div> <div>     When we are first learning to pray, <I>our </I>voice is louder than God's.</div> <div>     The awkwardness of this inequity and impropriety is daunting.  Hence- so few people who make it out of prayer kindergarten.</div> <div>     The only answer is to speak on AND listen.  His voice, or the assurance of His thoughts/feelings, is conveyed by the Holy Spirit through the words and concepts of Scriptures.  We must learn to give priority to that part of the dialogue.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_13"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="474" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 143 ><NOBR><div> Habakkuk 2:1<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> I will stand on my watch</div> <div>  and set myself on the tower, </div> <div> and will watch to see what He will say to me,</div> <div> and what I shall answer when I am reproved. </div> <bR> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     A practical definition of prayer- drawn from the <I>actual </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>way we pray- is this:  a barrage of words aimed in God's direction to keep me from listening to Him.</div> <div>     Prayer school is a climbing out of this morass.</div> <bR> <div>     Prayer is sweet incense to God IF:</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1</FONT>)  it is from the Word; and</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2</FONT>)  from the heart.</div> <bR> <div>     Both of these must be BY the Holy Spirit.  That is, the Holy Spirit must minister the Word to us, and the Holy Spirit must be working in our hearts a compliant reception of the Word.</div> <div>     God cares whether we are listening to Him or not.  He is delighted when we listen, as evidenced by our "You said ..." in prayer.</div> <div>     The best prayer is more about what He <I>said </I>than what I am <I>saying</I>.  What I am <I>saying </I>must be <B>about </B>what He <I>said</I>.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_14"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="345" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 WIDTH="333"><div> James 1:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> a two-souled man </div> <div> <I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >unstable in all his ways. </FONT></div> <div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     This verse may sound more familiar with the "double-minded" man.  But he is, indeed, literally "double-souled".  </div> <div>     This is the man who is told not to expect anything when he makes request of God.  With two souls, he cannot ask in faith, as is required.</div> <div>     So what are his two souls?</div> <div>     When he is with God, he is able to give his whole soul to God.</div> <div>     But then when he departs God's presence, he is unable to maintain an awareness of what he had pledged to God.</div> <div>     He is able to give his whole mind and/or emotions to the pursuit of heavenly knowledge or praise.</div> <div>     But then he is unable to <I>keep </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>his mind and emotions <I>from </I>worldly wisdom or delights.</div> <bR> <div>     How many souls do you have?</div> <div>     This is why Jesus said:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Luke 11:34</FONT>  The light of the body is the <U>eye</U>. Therefore when your eye is <U>single</U>, your whole body also is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>full of</I></FONT> light. But when <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>your eye</I></FONT> is evil, your body also <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is full of</I></FONT> darkness. </div> <bR> <div>     You can judge a soul by <I>what it looks at</I>.</div> <div>     Surprisingly, the Bible doesn't give much credit for looking to God.  He is, after all, a very worthy sight.</div> <div>     What the Bible gives credit for is looking at God <I>without distraction</I> or interruption.  That is when we are worthy.</div> <div>     Occasional views of God, or even frequent but distracted ones, only qualify us as what James calls "unstable".</div> <div>     Most church people are sincere about their worship and get something significant out of their time with God.  But most of them are also very sincere about what they give their soul to much of the remainder of their time.</div> <div>     Everyone has urges contrary to God, but when we have a whole, well-developed soul for our worldly engagements, we have two souls.  </div> <div>     Two souls = one damned soul.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="419" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 169 WIDTH="407"><div> 2 Chronicles 2:6<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> But who is able to build Him a house, </div> <div> since the heavens and heaven of the heavens cannot contain Him? </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Who </FONT><I>am</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >I then, </FONT></div> <div> that I should build Him a house, </div> <div> except only to burn sacrifice before Him? </div> <div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Solomon speaks this with reference to His building of the Temple, the first permanent structure for God's dwelling among His people.  Obviously, Solomon feels his deficiency for the task at hand.</div> <div>     He in no way doubts that the assignment is his, nor that he would do his very best in it, nor that God would be delighted with the results.  He merely realizes that in himself, he is not worthy of so noble a task (self-esteem proponents, take note).</div> <div>     This is Solomon's version of something John the baptizer said (taken slightly out of context):</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >John 3:30</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  He must increase, but I </FONT><I>must</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >decrease. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     In context, John was comparing his ministry as forerunner to the expanding ministry of the One he came to announce.  His job was coming to a close, because the One he was introducing all this time was now becoming well established in His work.</div> <div>     It is very difficult, however, not to glean from John's statement a real, permanent evaluation of any Christian's relationship to Christ.  Since Christ's ministry <I>was </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>established and <I>has </I>succeeded, every Christian since that day can continue to pray, "Lord, You have increased; help me to decrease."  That is, for the Lord to take His proper place of exaltation, I must not preempt Him there.  Anyone who is magnified is in competition with the One who alone is worthy to be magnified.</div> <bR> <div>     On the practical side, when we are exalting Christ and putting ourselves low, it's easier to <I>feel </I>only the lowering.  Our natural 'non-humility' is pinched at being removed from the spotlight.</div> <div>     We must remind ourselves of His consequent <I>raising </I>to take the sting from our <I>lowering</I>.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_16"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="419" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 83 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 119:104<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Through your precepts, I get understanding; </div> <div> Therefore I hate every false way. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     What is our actual power against sinning?</div> <div>     That question can be answered from many angles, but one that we should not miss is <B>our hatred of sin and sinning</B>.</div> <div>     Why does the Psalmist hate sin in the above verse?  Because he understands God's precepts (his understanding is <I>generally </I>broadened through God's precepts, but those precepts themselves are certainly the <I>first </I>concepts where he has increased insight).</div> <div>     How are God's precepts an enlarger of our mental capacity and a 'gossip' against sin, if you will, causing us to hate it?</div> <div>     Every command and precept of God is counteractive to some specific sin or sins.  When we sin, it is a sin exactly because it is the breaking of a command or statute of God.  Therefore, we might say that either God's laws will have predominance in our lives, or sin will.  Either this command of God will have its place in my life, or its corresponding sin will.</div> <div>     May God grant us discernment to identify our sin by the commandment we are breaking.  This realization itself will most likely result in the breaking of sin's yoke in that area;  that is, assuming that the understanding is accurate and is accompanied by sufficient love of the command the we hate the sin.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_17"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="500" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 112 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 58:11<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> So that men shall say, </div> <div> "Most assuredly there is a reward for the righteous. </div> <div> Most assuredly there is a God who judges the earth." </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Britannic Bold" >judgment </FONT>is a <U>foundation</U><B> </B>for our theology.</div> <div>     This is opposed to the contrasting notion that God's judgment is an <U>add-on</U> to our theology.</div> <div>     In our day, of course, God's judgment is nothing more than an add-on in most people's theology.</div> <div>     But let us be quite direct.  If God's judgment is foundational, then theology cannot be understood without it.</div> <div>     But is that a true statement?  God cannot be understood without understanding His judgment?</div> <div>     On a practical level, most Christians would not agree with that.  They would say that if you understand His mercy, You understand enough about Him; you understand the <I>main </I>thing about Him.  His judgment is not on a level with His mercy in importance.</div> <div>     Biblically, however, it is indefensible to say that God's mercy takes precedence over His judgment.  He feels differently about the two of them, but He does not downgrade His judgment as compared to His mercy.</div> <div>     History ends with two works of God: mercy and judgment.  God is not ashamed of either of them, now or ever.  Both of them are consistent with His glorious character.  Both of them glorify Him.  All men will be recipients of one work or the other.  Forever God's judgment will declare Him to be a good God who hates sin.</div> <div>     The Psalm quoted above equates the reward of the righteous with the judgment of the wicked.  A day is coming when the righteous will no longer be hindered from pursuing truth in the earth.  All deceitful workers will at last be vanquished.</div> <div>     For various reasons, we don't see the world and its future this way.  We pretty much accept things the way they are as normal.  The wicked aren't really that bad.  Deceit as a common way of business is just everybody taking his cut the best way he can.  Hell isn't really a place for the deceitful or the selfish or the arrogant.  They only have to go there because they failed to make the right choice in the religion area.</div> <div>     We don't really make a connect in our thinking and teaching between men's sin and the punishment God threatens.  We make Hell a punishment for not accepting Christ.  We simply do not understand judgment.</div> <div>     Therefore, we do not really understand God.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_18"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="353" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Ephesians 4:4<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> <I>There is</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > one body and one Spirit, </FONT></div> <div> even as you also were called </div> <div> in one hope of your calling</div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     There is only one body of Christ.</div> <div>     What then of all the denominational groupings by which Christian bodies identify themselves as separate and distinct from one another?</div> <div>     No denomination is guaranteed connection to Christ because of a Christian name.  In fact, we would expect that denominations which have had doctrinal or moral crisis points may have come out the other side of them 'lampstand-less'.  Christ threatens the Ephesian church in Revelation <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2 </FONT>with removal of her lampstand over what sounds like a small deviation.  He warns that she would not be one of His churches any longer, and Christ does not idly threaten.  </div> <div>     We would like to think that every church snaps to attention when her Commander critiques her, but we know it is not so.  Apostates took over churches in the apostles' days, as we see, for instance, from the little book of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >3 </FONT>John.  </div> <div>     If you study recent church history, you see that all of the major denominations in America took a decisive move <I>away </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>from Christ in the early nineteen hundreds.  The product is a Christendom in which vital doctrines like the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Christ, the reality of Hell and the inspiration of Scriptures are largely disbelieved or viewed as optional beliefs.</div> <div>     So there is ONE body of Christ.  All who name His Name are not part of it:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >2 Tim 2:19</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  However God's firm foundation stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness." </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Failure to believe what the Lord testifies is, without doubt, unrighteousness.  Those who have tolerated doctrinal unrighteousness (to say nothing of the moral unrighteousness rampant in churches) have certainly departed from the Lord.  The Lord knows those who are His.  The rest are not His.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_19"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="311" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Ephesians 4:4<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> <I>There is</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > one body and one Spirit, </FONT></div> <div> even as you also were called </div> <div> in one hope of your calling</div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Even amongst true children of God there can be divisions:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Cor 1:12, 13</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But I say this, that every one of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? </FONT></div> <div>  </div> <div>     The further these divisions are followed, though, the less like the body of Christ the Church becomes.  One church becomes the Paulites.  Another becomes the Systemizers (following Apollos' systematic teaching).  Another becomes the Universalans (claiming Peter as the head of the one true church).  The end result can be (and has been) apostate churches.</div> <div>     Where there is a true manifestation of the body of Christ, how does that church deal with the fact of her splintering from unity?</div> <div>     The question is not whether she thinks optimistically, looking past fracture towards renewed unity- whether she speaks inclusively, for instance, of the far flung body of Christ.</div> <div>     The question is:  how does she respond to the <I>actual rupture</I> from which she is suffering?  </div> <div>     Each separated church or denomination is like a siamese twin that was separated at a vital organ.  The only difference is, churches just keep cloning themselves like tumors on a body: tumors which then tear themsleves off and begin stalking about.  They've acquired new organs from somewhere, or else they're just pretending to be fine; but in reality they are strange half-persons, unable to lead a normal existence.  </div> <div>     How does a denomination respond to <I>that?</I>  That is the question.</div> <div>     In terms of her mentality, perhaps the Church is like one suffering from multiple personality disorder- someone whose mind instinctively invents separate personalities to cope with some shattering trauma.*  Each denomination** carries some aspect of the true Church with her until she can be healed by unity.</div> <div>     This would tend to give us a more sympathetic view of denominations.***  Denominations were generally spawned foolishly, but now they struggle to find their way back to the family from which they were separated- without which they cannot truly survive.</div> <bR> <div> *  However real the syndrome might actually be.</div> <div> **  We should say, each denomination that hasn't wandered far enough away to have become apostate.</div> <div> ***  Which is not to say that God necessarily takes a sympathetic view, either in the main or at all.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="361" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 126 ><NOBR><div> 1 Chronicles 13:9<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> And when they came </div> <div> to the threshing-floor of Chidon, </div> <div> Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark,</div> <div> for the oxen stumbled. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     There are some matters which no amount of Christian experience, closeness to God, or apparent "leading from the Lord" can provide for.  Only a verse from the Bible can provide for them.</div> <div>     In the above verse, the Ark of the Covenant is being brought to Jerusalem from Abinidab's house in Gibeah where it had wound up after the Philistines returned the troublesome item they had won in battle.  David and all Israel had settled on the return of the Ark as the prudent thing to do:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Chron, 13:3, 4</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  And let us bring again the ark of our God to us. For we did not inquire at it in the days of Saul.   And all the congregation said to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The return of the Ark became a very important and joyous occasion:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Chron. 13:8</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  And David and all Israel played before God with all </FONT><I>their</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >might, and with singing, and with lyres, and with harps, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     But after Uzza touched the ark, God interrupted the festivities with the man's death.</div> <div>     Now, of course, David was 'in the Spirit' when this happened.  He sensed that something had gone awry, probably from his end, but he questioned God in his heart:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Chron. 13:11</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  And David was displeased because Jehovah had made a break on Uzza.  And he called that place The Breach of Uzza to this day. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Ah, when we feel the 'leading of the Lord', who can tell us otherwise?  Not even God Himself!</div> <div>     Eventually David came to his senses, and he made the great discovery that God had a certain procedure for the Levites carrying the ark:</div> <bR> <div>  1 Chron. 15:13<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  For because you did not do it at the first, Jehovah our God made a break on us, since we did not seek Him in due order. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     So now the Ark was transported correctly:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Chron 15:15</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders, with the staves on it, as Moses commanded according to the Word of Jehovah. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     So why wouldn't God give some leeway, especially since the people's intentions were so honorable?</div> <div>     This question is begged at countless worship services in our day where rules for worship are blatantly despised.</div> <div>     Rather, the question is:  Why would someone with honorable intentions go beyond or without the instructions of God?  Why would we forget His holiness and assume that our good intentions were enough to purify all our deeds before Him?</div> <div>     We began by saying there are <I>some </I>things which require a verse of Scripture.  Actually, for the instructed, <I>everything </I>requires a verse from Scripture.  Those who say, "Oh, the Bible doesn't specifically cover that situation" show that they wish to be left to their own devices.</div> <div>     Those who count God holy will find as specific a Biblical principle as they can to guide their every decision.  They believe the whole reason God gave Scriptures is that we aren't wise enough to lead ourselves and that we are very prone to mistake <I>our  </I>impulses <I>for  </I>God's leading.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_21"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="316" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 168 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 9:16<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Jehovah is known. </div> <div> He has executed judgment; </div> <div> the wicked is snared </div> <div> in the work of his own hands. </div> <div> A meditation. </div> <div> Selah. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God is known by His judgments.</div> <div>     This does not mean that He is known by His judgments <I>alone</I>; but it does mean that if you don't know God's judgments, you do not really know Him yet.</div> <div>     The Lake of Fire is God's ultimate judgment.  It is final, it is comprehensive, and it is everlasting.  God is known by the Lake of Fire.</div> <div>     Therefore, we can begin at the Lake of Fire and look back from it to answer certain questions.</div> <div>     Did God want to save that man in the Lake of Fire?  If He did, then will He go on<I>wishing </I>He had saved him throughout eternity?</div> <div>     Did He savingly love that man in the Lake of Fire?  If He did, then will He <I>always </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>love him as He punishes him there?</div> <div>     The answer to all four of these questions is No.  The answers can be understood otherwise through other Scriptures, but the perspective of Hell greatly clarifies the issues. </div> <div>     So the Lake of Fire can help us discern God's saving intentions.  God is known by His judgment.</div> <div>     Furthermore, the Lake of Fire can teach us about sin.  How heinous is sin?  How heinous is that man in his sin as he suffers in the Lake of Fire?  Was his sin merely that he failed to exercise the faith to be saved?  This is the impression that is often given in our day.  Such a perspective actually makes Hell a fairly cynical doctrine.</div> <div>     None of this, of course, makes Hell a pleasant subject, but it is a subject that must be dealt with just as sin itself must.  The Lake of Fire is a work of God, and it clearly makes Him known.  If we know God only by His mercy, we know Him only partially.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_22"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="316" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 126 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 4:6<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >There </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >many who say, </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Who will show us </FONT><I>any</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >good? </FONT></div> <div> Jehovah, lift up the light </div> <div> of Your face on us. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Our relationship with <B>men</B><I><B> </B></I><I>does affect</I> our relationship with <B>God</B>.</div> <div>     Our relationship with men is to be <I>brought into</I> our relationship with God.</div> <div>     Psalm <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >4</FONT> is a good example of this.</div> <div>     Verse one addresses God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:1</FONT>  Hear me when I call, O <U>God</U> of my righteousness ...</div> <bR> <div>     Then verse two shifts perspective and addresses men:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:2</FONT>  O sons of <U>men</U>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>how long</I></FONT> will you turn My glory into shame? ...</div> <bR> <div>     Verse three has God as reference point again:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:3</FONT>  ... <U>Jehovah</U> hears when I call to Him.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Then verse four addresses men again:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:4</FONT>  Tremble, and sin not; speak within <U>your own heart</U> on your bed and be still.  Selah. </div> <bR> <div>     The next two verses exhort men, then comment on man's skepticism:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:5</FONT>  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and <U>trust in</U> Jehovah. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > Psalm 4:6</FONT>  <U>Many</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I> </FONT>saying, Who will make us see <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>any</I> </FONT>good? </div> <bR> <div>     Then verse six ends with a call to God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:6</FONT>  ... O <U>Jehovah</U>, lift up the light of Your face on us. </div> <bR> <div>     Verse seven is a direct comparison between what God has given me and what the world has:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:7</FONT>  <U>You</U> have put gladness in my heart, more than when <U>their</U> grain and their new wine are increased. </div> <bR> <div>     The Psalm ends in repose in God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 4:8</FONT>  I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for <U>You alone</U>, <U>O Jehovah</U>, make me dwell in safety. </div> <bR> <div>     Psalm four shifts back and forth in its focus and address.  The whole Psalm has reference to God, of course, but it teaches us that a God-centered reference point does not exclude deliberations upon men.  Indeed, confrontational considerations of men seem to heighten the psalmist's awareness of God.</div> <div>     If our prayers exclude bad men, as though they were intruding upon our 'holy sanctum' in prayer, then our prayers have become irrelevant.  Such prayers are religious exercises outside the realm of reality.</div> <div>     Other Psalms show us that God's <B>enemies </B>need not be specifically included in our every prayer, but if they are never included, our religion is a made-up world without real reference to our lives.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_23"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="288" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 30:6<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Do not add to His Words, </div> <div> that He not reprove you, </div> <div> and you be found a liar. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     This verse identifies one source of our spiritual deficiencies.  </div> <div>     When Agur (the author of this verse) exhorts us not to augment God's testimony, he is telling us to let God's word be final.  That is only possible on two conditions:</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1</FONT>)  That we are fully <I>aware </I>of all God has testified, and</div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2</FONT>)  That we <I>believe </I>all His testimony unto obedience.</div> <div>     Most Christians do not have sufficient hunger for Scriptures to fulfill the first requirement; therefore, it is impossible for them to fulfill the second.</div> <div>     Some Christians do actually seek a mastery of Scriptural knowledge, but then precious few among <I>them </I>perceive their learning as a call to conviction and action.  The learning is perceived as basically an end in itself :  believed right is done right.</div> <div>     What <I>is </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>the purpose of Scriptures for us?  To address a need in our lives.  There is a spiritual deficiency in all of us.  Scriptures come to identify, convict, and correct that deficiency in general (sin) and all its attendant deficiencies in specific (sins).  Anything short of seeking this goal in our approach to Scriptures is to augment Scriptures with our <I>own </I>regimen- probably a less demanding regimen; or bloated on <I>minors </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>so we can avoid the more convicting <I>majors</I>.</div> <div>     Anyone who tries to simplify things with, "Well, it's all about just following Jesus in the end," has pasted an amendment to Scriptures.  It is an amendment which practically subtracts from Scriptures.  Any matter which complicates simple devotion to Christ is extraneous to these folk.  The extraneous Scriptures are relegated to secondary status (how can any Scripture be <I>less </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>God's word than the others?)  Voila!  A new canon (body of Divinely inspired writings) <I>and </I>a new canonizing authority!</div> <div>     This brand of <I>pietists</I>, who deem themselves the humblest servants of Christ, are therefore guilty of the grossest deceit and spiritual pride.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_24"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="339" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 168 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 115:4<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Their idols </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >silver and gold, </FONT></div> <div> the work of men's hands... </div> <div> Psalm 115:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> The ones who make them </div> <div> are like them, </div> <div> <I>and</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >everyone who trusts in them.</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Those who make idols and those who trust in them are, like the idols themselves, <I>senseless</I>:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:5 - 7</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  They </FONT><I>have</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >mouths, but they do not speak; they </FONT><I>have</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >eyes, but they do not see; they </FONT><I>have</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >ears, but they do not hear; they </FONT><I>have</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >noses, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; they have feet, but they do not walk; they do not mutter through their throat. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Idols are mute and inactive.  Those who make them are likewise dead.  The living world of the living God they ignore.</div> <div>     Jehovah, on the other hand, actually <I>does </I>something:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:3</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But our God </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >in Heaven; He has done whatever He has pleased. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This is why the Psalmist exhorts us to trust in Him:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:9</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  O Israel, trust in Jehovah; He </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >their help and their shield. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Imagine!  Pagans serve their gods whole-heartedly, while Christians pursue the true God with a relatively mild interest.  So it should not be!</div> <div>     Pagans have something they can relate to in an idol.  </div> <div>     Christians err greatly who fall into the trap of trying to <B>make </B>their God 'relevant'.  How can omniscience and a compassion that fills the earth be more relevant?  Yet we want more.  We want 'handles' by which we can lay hold of God.  We figure He is pleased when we make him more relevant for the masses.  We are not content to leave Him in the Heavens from where He does all He pleases.  We need Him accessible, here on earth, to do a few things <I>we </I>please.  </div> <div>     God's people have always had the problem of adjusting our God per the tastes of the surrounding peoples.  The Ammonites' worship is so sincere and sensible.  It does them such good.  Surely we assume rightly that Jehovah would want the same for us.  </div> <div>     Psychology and psychiatry are sincere and sensible.  Surely their conclusions are really what God meant all along.  Look!  Here are even some Bible texts to prove it!  </div> <div>     And so we become cauterized to truth like the world, like their idols.  </div> <div>     How can we see idolatry for what it is now- now that we have 'baptized' it in the name of our God?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_25"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="393" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 126 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 115:14, 15<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> May Jehovah increase you more and more, </div> <div> you and your children.  </div> <div> You are blessed to Jehovah, </div> <div> who made heaven and earth. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God is able to increase us.  He is able to do so just as He made the heavens and the earth.  </div> <div>     He has a motive to increase us.  He is our God and has committed Himself to be our supply.</div> <div>     God taught us to ask for our daily necessities.  A large part of our supply is from the earth.  This Psalm mirrors that reality.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:16</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The heavens, </FONT><I>even</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >the heavens, </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Jehovah's; but the earth He has given to the sons of men. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This realm of earth is suited to us.  The increase we ask for here is fitting.</div> <div>     Even the spiritual increase we ask for is limited by the bounds of the earth, for</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:17</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The dead do not praise Jehovah, nor do any who go down into silence. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The earth is our realm of service.  If we are waiting for something else, we are wasting our opportunity, an opportunity that will not be repeated.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 115:18</FONT>  But we will bless Jehovah from this time forth and <U>forevermore</U>. Praise Jehovah! </div> <bR> <div>     Service is an opportunity that will be <I>extended </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>if we use it here.  But if we cannot see how this earth is a place to serve Jehovah, we will not be among those who serve Him in the "forevermore".</div> <div>     The temptation we have to avoid is viewing the earth as <I>so </I>suitable a habitat for us that we actually derive our principles of worship from the earth rather than from the words God gives:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Col 2:20</FONT>  If, then, you died with Christ from the elements of the <U>world</U>, why are you under <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>its</I> </FONT>decrees, <U>as living in</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I> </FONT>world? </div> <bR> <div>     This is what the first half of Psalm <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >115</FONT> addressed (see previous devotion).</div> <div>     The Christian lays claim to the world as the creation of God.  It is the place we prosper, the place we blossom.  But we make earth like Heaven by doing here as the angels do there, attending constantly to the voice of our Master.  </div> <div>     Feet on the earth, ears tuned above.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_26"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A> </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="393" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 109 ><NOBR><div> Galatians 3:11<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> But that no one is justified by the Law </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >in the sight of God </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >clear, for, </FONT></div> <div> "The just shall live by faith." </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Paul is quoting from Habakkuk (<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2:4</FONT>).  He quotes the same verse in Romans <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1 </FONT>as part of his theme statement for that book.  Justification by faith is clearly a key concept for Paul.</div> <div>     "The <B>just </B>shall <B>live </B>by <B>faith</B>" means that the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Colonna MT" ><B>just </B></FONT>are made just in the first place by <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Colonna MT" ><B>believing </B></FONT>in the gospel message.  Their spiritual <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Colonna MT" ><B>life </B></FONT>is transferred to them <I>by means of</I>  their faith.  So the just lives- receives spiritual life- through the medium of faith.  (We learn elsewhere that that faith is a gift of God)</div> <div>     Paul is heavy on justification by faith.  A large segment of anti-Christian and counterfeit Christian error can be identified and uprooted with a strong, Biblical position on justification by faith.</div> <div>     But Paul never left the doctrine of justification by faith on its own.  He always used justification by faith as the foundation and starting point, but then he always built on that foundation the doctrine of sanctification:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Col 2:6</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, </FONT><I>so</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >walk in Him</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     "Receiving Christ Jesus" happens at our justification.  "Walking in Him" is sanctification.  The one naturally leads to the other.  The foundation is laid <I>so as to</I> build on it.</div> <div>     Our daily life is just as much "by faith" as our conversion:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Gal 2:20</FONT>  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and <U>the </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>life</U></I><U> </U></FONT><U>which I now live</U> in the flesh I live <U>by faith</U> in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. </div> <bR> <div>     The better we understand the distinctions between justification and sanctification, the better we can weld them together, as they should be.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_27"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="360" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 127 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 80:1<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Shepherd of Israel, give ear!</div> <div> You who lead Joseph like a flock, </div> <div> You who inhabit the cherubim, </div> <div> shine forth. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God is the one who inhabits the cherubim.</div> <div>     He rides upon this class of angels, the cherubs, or cherubim, Ps. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >18:10</FONT>.</div> <div>     But our verse uses an expression found seven times, "You who inhabit the cherubim," most of them obviously referring to God's presence in the Tabernacle or Temple between the golden cherubim on the ark of the covenant.</div> <div>     God's dwelling between the cherubim is a place He <I>does </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BwSymbol" ><I> </I></FONT>inhabit.  The psalmist calls out to Him in a place he can count on finding Him.</div> <div>     This is in contrast to the psalmist asking God to "shine forth."  He does not always shine forth.</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:2</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might! And come to save us! </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     God's people always need saving.  We are never 'in the clear' in this life.  </div> <div>     We chiefly need constant saving from ourselves, from the trap of doing things our own way.</div> <div>     God's people are always in need of reviving:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:3</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Turn us again, O God, and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Revival happens when God's people realize their need for God's salvation.  They stop focusing on the fact that they <I>have been saved</I>  and start focusing on the fact that they need <I>to be saved</I> today!  When we pray "deliver us from evil", that should be exactly what we mean:  save us today.</div> <div>     God's people are usually satisfied with the degree of God's brightness presently shining on them.  They do not particularly want Him to shine forth any brighter.  This would imply He hadn't been shining very brightly in their lives.  </div> <div>     When we lose our high regard for our present level of holiness- our <I>present </I>proximity to God- a hunger may have begun for a <I>greater </I>level of nearness to God.  This is where revival always starts.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_28"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="344" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 105 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 80:3<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> Turn us again, O God, </div> <div> and cause Your face to shine, </div> <div> and we shall be saved! </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     Revival- our being saved in the present hour- is the coinciding of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Century Gothic" >us turning to God</FONT> (a work He performs, as the psalmist sees it) and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Century Gothic" >His face shining on us</FONT>.</div> <div>     The psalmist addresses this need in the midst of 'anti-revival' in his day:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:4</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  O Jehovah, the God of Hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people? </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Scary stuff, eh?  If God is angry at His people's prayer, they must have done something- or many things- very wrong.</div> <div>     (Just in case you're wondering, God still cuts off communication with His people for disobedience in our day, Rev. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2:5</FONT>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >1 </FONT>Pet. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >3:7.</FONT>)</div> <div>     God must turn us to Himself again.  We are to cry out to Him to do so.</div> <div>     God's face must shine.  He is turned <I>away </I>from the psalmist presently.  When He turns us <I>toward </I>Himself, then He also will be facing us.  That is when we will see His face shine again.</div> <div>     There are two conditions which will especially prevent revival from occurring.  </div> <div>     One is when we feel things are alright between us and God.  Why would we seek revival if things are already fine?</div> <div>     The other, the opposite, is when we feel <I>too </I>discouraged to cry out to Him.  We know we have offended Him and deliberately ignored Him, and now we feel there is no just way back to Him.</div> <div>     Of the two obstacles, the latter is much less prohibitive than the first.  The first is outright presumption.  The second is merely contrition without repentance.  </div> <div>     Repentance can much more easily be added to contrition than pride can be removed from presumption.*</div> <bR> <div>     Are we ready to cry out to God for revival in our day?</div> <div>     Are we any what accustomed to His voice in the Word?</div> <div>     Do we even know where we have offended Him?</div> <div>     Can we even see where the world has invaded through our unwatched and unprotected walls?</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:12, 13</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Why have You broken down its hedges, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?  The boar out of the wood wastes it, and the wild beast of the field eats it. </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >*  </FONT>In our day, the common wisdom is that discouragement a more serious problem, owing to our general presumption.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_29"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="374" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 80:6<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> You make us a strife to our neighbors, </div> <div> and our enemies laugh to themselves.  </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     God makes us an object of contention among the surrounding unbelievers.  They are ever taking up plans of war against us.  They laugh to themselves, noting what easy prey we are.  And we <I>are </I>easy prey.  In a day of spiritual decline, God, in His <I>anger</I>, has exposed us:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:4</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  O Jehovah, the God of Hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people? </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Therefore, we must thoughtfully bear the shame God puts upon us.  </div> <div>     Our attention must not be stolen by malevolent thoughts towards our enemies.  They are only doing what comes naturally.  We must be thinking about God, about how we have offended Him, about how we need His help to come through our difficulty.</div> <div>     One thing God is doing to help us, contrary to appearances, is allowing the <I>prolonged </I>disdain of the heathen to antagonize us.  This is the best preventive medicine.  If we are rescued immediately from nets we voluntarily jump into, we learn no lessons, we fear no repeat mistake.  The longer we stay under the cruel thumb of the godless, the better etched in our memory is the folly of the path that got us there.  </div> <div>     Our own godless behavior becomes like the informant who put us in prison.  We spend much of our time 'behind bars' plotting his downfall- that is, plotting how we will avoid godlessness from now on.  Our persecutors' <I>own </I>godlessness, then, becomes one of our chief incentives.</div> <div>     This perspective- that I am under God's discipline because <I><B>I  </B></I>reverted to godless behavior- is also a dandy way to keep bitterness toward my persecutor out of my heart.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_30"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="374" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 208 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 80:8 - 11<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> You have brought a vine out of Egypt; </div> <div> You have cast out the nations and planted it. </div> <div> You cleared before it, </div> <div> and caused it to take deep root; </div> <div> and it filled the land. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >The hills were covered </FONT><I>with</I> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >its shadow, </FONT></div> <div> and its boughs <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>were as</I></FONT> the great cedars. </div> <div> It sent out its boughs to the sea, </div> <div> and its branches to the river. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     In the days of our prosperity, when God was establishing us, when we were in full agreement with His ways, the land was filled with us.  We were not the greatest in number, but our influence was felt as though we were.</div> <div>     But what was filled with us?  "The land".  Not the whole earth yet.</div> <div>     Interestingly, the Hebrew word for "land" can also be translated "earth", but it is manifest that the psalmist meant the promised land, for that is all Israel took possession of, not the whole earth.</div> <div>     It is an important and practical theological matter to decided whether true Christians are supposed to be in the minority or the majority.  Or do Scriptures even indicate which?</div> <div>     If we are expecting a Christian <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="CAMPBELL" >majority </FONT>in earth, or a movement towards one, we will tend to be overall optimists, put the best face on situations, and give people the benefit of the doubt when their regeneration is in question.</div> <div>     If we are expecting a Christian <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="CAMPBELL" >minority </FONT>in the earth, we will tend to be cautious- sheep on the lookout amidst surrounding wolves, expecting most professions of faith in Christ to be false ones (counting everyone worldwide who is named "Christian" in any way).</div> <div>     As you can see, these two outlooks are extremely different, and if Scriptures have anything to say about what our expectations should be, it becomes critical for us to discover it.</div> <div>     It is here suggested that the first and last word on the issue is Matthew <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >7:14</FONT>.  There is no other Scripture that addresses the issue so directly and none that contradicts its easily drawn conclusion:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Matt 7:14</FONT>  Because narrow <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the gate and constricted <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> the way which leads to life, and there are <U>few</U> who find it. </div> <bR> <div>     So any verse that talks about our wide influence, like the verses in our Psalm above, are talking about just that- influence, not actual numbers.  </div> <div>     We are the leaven in the parable of the leaven.  Our influence is felt throughout the loaf of bread, but how much actual leaven is <I>in </I>the bread (Luke <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >13:21</FONT>)?  We are the mustard tree in the parable of the mustard seed.  We are the largest plant <I>among </I>all the other plants (Matt. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >13:32, Luke 13:19</FONT>), not the <I>only </I>tree, nor even a big tree among smaller bushes.</div> <div>     Christianity <I>is </I>the most influential force on the face of the earth.  It has been since soon after its inception.  But its adherents remain a minority, as in old Israel's day, and as Jesus indicated would always be the case.</div> <div>     We are to be optimistic <I>because  </I>God is working out His plan- rescuing His people <I>and  </I>hardening His enemies at one and the same time: both <I>by </I>His ever- victorious Gospel (<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >2 Cor. 2:14-16</FONT>).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ssvwv]vwv]vtv]vwv]vwvss</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="jan_31"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="423" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> Psalm 80:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT></div> <div> You have brought a vine out of Egypt; </div> <div> You have cast out the nations and planted it. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>     We are to remind God of His past work in light of His present anger.  That is what the psalmist is doing here.  The previous section of the Psalm reveals God's displeasure with His people.</div> <div>     It is appropo to remind God of His former merciful dealings even when He has subjected us to complete humiliation:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:12</FONT>  Why have You broken down its hedges, so that <U>all</U> those who pass by the way <U>pluck it</U>? </div> <bR> <div>     It is even appropriate to ask for God's face to shine (verses <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >3, 7,</FONT> and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" >19</FONT>) when His face is presently only one of rebuke:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 80:16</FONT>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>It is</I></FONT> burned with fire, and cut down; they perish at the <U>rebuke of Your face</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     It is a great grace bestowed on us to recognize our distance from God, His anger with us when it is present.  It is as great a grace to have boldness during our discipline to seek God's mercy confidently, sure that He will be glorifying His name to save us.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Isa 62:6, 7 </FONT>  I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night.  You who call on Yahweh, <U>take no rest</U>,  and <U>give Him no rest</U>, until He establish, and until He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. </div> <bR> <div>     Are you such a watchman?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv]vzv</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>