Third Day

John Newton, Anglican Pastor from the 1700s who gave us “Amazing Grace”, had a favorite image in the Bible. It was the unconsumed burning bush which Moses saw and from the bush heard the voice of God. To Newton, the bush was a metaphor for Christians who undergo severe suffering.

He wrote, “Some Christians are called to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering. Such Christians are a spectacle of grace to the church, like flaming bushes unconsumed,  and cause us to ask, like Moses, ‘Why is this bush not burned?’ The strength and stability of these believers can be explained only by the miracle of God’s sustaining grace.”

There are stalwart saints, like John Newton, William Law, Bishop J.C. Ryle, Elisabeth Elliot, Joni Eareckson Tada, Stephen Davey,  and more who have battled but not burned. Their tough take on suffering has helped deepen my walk with Christ and given me something rich to pass on to others. A spectacle of grace for others to see Jesus in us!

There is a great problem today as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. Many do not believe in the existence of God, or the biblical God that we serve. Also, there is not a  respect for Scripture as authoritative and lawful. There is another quandary as well, it is the problem of a guilty conscience over personal sin.

Throughout the history of the church, there have been episodes of revival and reformation within and through the church. But upon closer observation, the people revived and the sinners converted, already had, for the most part, a belief in the evidence of God, which is described in Scripture as a respect for the authenticity and authority of Holy Scripture, as well as the presence of a guilty conscience over one’s own personal sin.

We must turn back to the doctrines of Scripture found in the only Book that shows us who God is and what we are. We are totally depraved–mankind is not lightly sinful-we are totally, entirely sinful. We sin because we are sinners. And because of this fact every unbeliever is headed for a future damnation. Society is ignoring this truth, but more than they, the church is ignoring the warning of the Bible.

Pleasing God is better than feeling good. Truth hurts before it heals. There is coming judgment wherein a judgment day appointed by God. The payment for sin is death–an eternity in hell, instead of heaven. May we tell and may we tell someone soon.

One can be driving on the interstate and before becoming aware, the driver could be swooped into a direction they never intended to go. Uninitiated drivers, flying along faster than they really want to go in the farthest right-hand lane, can suddenly look up in dismay to see the interstate dividing into two. Just in a blink or two, one is swept along in another direction, toward another destination.

Could this be…her time, her release? Could this be the EXIT she had longed for all those years? Was this the one exit sign that read “HEAVEN”? Was this God’s plan? Is this God’s itinerary of being taken to a destination that calls out to Heaven? This is what Joni Eareckson Tada wondered when she realized she had breast cancer.

Friend, all of us are on a plane that is loading and unloading passengers. We might get off of one plane in this city or in that destination, but eventually, for those who know the Lord Jesus there is Destination Heaven. Twenty-four hours before you are humming down the interstate and you miss the turn, for there is no going back, you find out for sure this is your destination–Heaven. This is it; life on earth is about to end from the way you used to know.

I will never forget what a gentleman said to me some years ago. I was asked to come by and visit for his days were numbered. He said to me, “Joking about death is funny until it’s about me.” You see, the speedway had split, and he was heading at a different destination than what he thought he would be on for that day just twenty-four hours ago. There was no going back, no turning around, the destination was set.

Remember what Alan Redpath, a British pastor and author, had written. “There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with great purpose.”

The duty and delight of every Christian is to bear witness to the truth. Our behavior and our beliefs are to be saturated by the Spirit of God. When we are living by God’s Word in the keeping, drawing power of God, then we are bearing witness to God’s Son who lives! We choose to flesh out what has been worked in by dependence upon God’s Spirit.

John bore witness to Christ. He bore testimony to the Son of God. There can be no shining if there is no burning. John burned for Christ and was passionate about the Spirit’s work in his own life. The flesh was burned away and the Spirit of God burned within.

A.W. Tozer said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

Churches are only as powerful as their dependence upon the Holy Spirit. We can say that any man who is bored with church work and worship is not ready for Heaven. People of God are renewed daily by the inward pressure of the Spirit of God who leads. He does not drive. The external situation or climate dictates to the leader of a family, a Sunday School class, a work place, or a church, that God desires to move in! And to take over! And To change it! This is a man/woman who lives in God.

David was at it again. Another day of being a king. It had taken its toll on him. He was tired, mentally tired. Not long before, he had sent his troops off to fight and die in the wars against the hated Ammonites. He had stayed behind, though the weight of his kingship rested heavily upon him.

David was in bed about all day. He decides to get up and take a stroll on the rooftop in the evening. The man was under pressure. Ruling a country and running a long-distance war can do that.

We all face pressure. We all seek something to take our minds off of the struggles of work and the battles at home. We all would love an escape. There are many ways we can get that little respite.

We can take a walk, just like David. We can watch a college basketball game. We can take the wife out for dinner (even McDonald’s). We can mow the lawn. We can play a round of golf. We can grab a good book. Or we can find a woman–man–whose looks and wiles we cannot resist. Umm!

Don’t yield to the temptation to do something wrong to get your minds off of that which is wearing you down. David’s sin on that cool spring evening followed him the rest of his life.

We all face pressures and temptations. But we can run to Jesus. He defeated everything that came His way. And you and I can defeat anything that comes our way. How? Why? Jesus lives in us and we are more than conquerors.