Yesterday I met the younger brother of a guy with whom I went to high school. I really was not a friend of the older brother. We were acquaintances, but I did not seek to be around him. To be honest, I was afraid of him. He seemed to always have a chip on his shoulder. In the ninth grade he used to call me smiley. I think it was because I made a concentrated effort that year to experience the joy of the Lord. Yesterday, as I talked with his younger brother, he said that his brother liked to fight. I thought to myself, “That’s exactly how I remember him.” It is why I didn’t seek to be around him. The younger brother became a Christian about 15-20 years ago. He suggested that I give his older brother a call and invite him to my church. I think I will. Maybe you could pray for him that the Lord would draw him to Himself. Pray that the glory of the Lord would shine through me.
It is an amazing thing that happens when the glory of the Lord settles on someone. It often gives them joy. After all, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Jehoshaphat (Yahweh is my judge) took delight in the ways of the LORD. I think there was joy there. He also removed all the idols in the land. Wow! Can you imagine any ruler doing that in our country today? What a backlash he/she would receive! Anyway the glory of the LORD settled down upon him. As a result, “The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.” The difference between this and my high school acquaintance is that the fear of the Lord is clean. We fear Him because of how awesome He is. I feared my acquaintance because his anger was unpredictable. Conversely, the Lord always acts according to His character. His character does not change. The nations surrounding Judah knew better than to mess with God’s beloved. I stayed away from my acquaintance because I never knew what might erupt.
Yes I fear the Lord, but I also come boldly into His presence. Why? Because I know to what great extent He has gone to accomplish His wrath against my sin. The price is paid in His Son. I can trust Him. He is not capricious. He always acts according to His character, and He has a trustworthy character! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PROVERBS 15
Clint and I were seniors. We took World Geography (a sophomore level class) because we wanted an easy schedule our last year. Clint liked to talk. We were constantly being corrected by the teacher because of talking. One day I was in an annoying mood, so I kept quietly pestering him. He finally got tired of it and turned around to slug me. I held up my clip board. When he hit it, it went flying. The teacher had looked up at just the right moment to see him do the dastardly deed. She immediately gave him detention, and I got off Scott-free. (Where does that term come from?) Anyway, I felt guilty. . . for about two minutes. We laughed about it later. I haven’t talked with Clint since 1973. I wonder if he ever held it against me. I’ll have to look in the phone book and see if he is still around. It really wasn’t completely just for him to be punished for something that I provoked him into. But then, he was a free moral agent; he could have handled it in another manner, and as he said, “I get detention all the time.” . . .
Most of the time in the human world, there is no one there to view what really happens, so justice is rarely served. Not so with the Lord. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Later on in verse 11 it says, “Hell and Destruction are before the LORD; So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.” Our teacher would probably not have seen me pestering Clint, even if she had been watching. The angle of how we were sitting from her location was wrong for her to see from where she was standing. However, if she could have seen our hearts, perhaps I would have been the one in detention, and Clint may have walked away with just a reprimand.
Yes, justice is rarely served in this world, but He keeps watch on the evil and the good, and our hearts are before Him. We cannot hide our evil or our good from Him. One day we will stand before the Lord; He will reveal the thoughts and intentions of our heart as it related to every deed. He will judge with just judgment in our every intention and deed. Now there is a scary thought, but there is one comfort in the midst of that. He removes all our sins and lawless deeds if we repent and believe in Him. When it comes to that point in our trial, there will be missing minutes in the tape because they are under the blood of the Lamb. Justice will have already been served on the cross. Wow! Such mercy! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. Here is what Ask Yahoo says about the term “scot-free”.
First off, let's set the record straight on the expression itself -- it's actually "scot-free." And contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with Dred Scott or the Scottish. Sceot is the Old English for "a tax." Scot and lot was a medieval municipal tax levied on residents. Someone who managed to avoid paying this medieval tax got off "scot free." Eventually, the word evolved to describe getting away without any kind of punishment, fiscal or otherwise. Kids who fake fevers get out of school scot-free. Cagey adults escape jury duty scot-free. And dogs with remorseful eyes get off scot-free from just about any wrongdoing.
REVELATION 6
Now, if I were God and were to describe myself in relation to the breaking of the seals, and if I had previously described myself as a Lion and as a Lamb, I don't think I would have picked the imagery of a Lamb for this chapter. Rather I would have picked the Lion. But then I guess I've just shown why I am not God. The Lamb is the One who has permitted Himself to be sacrificed for the ransom of the sins of mankind about which these seals demonstrate the pinnacle of their heinousness.
The seals depict the horrible acts of man to man. There is the conqueror. History is mostly the telling of the story of powerful men trying to conqueror others. Then there is warfare. The number of years on the face of the earth where there has not been some kind of violent conflict is indeed small. I am not sure, but I doubt that within the last thousand years that there has been any singular year where there has not been some sort of armed conflict between one nation and another. Then there is scarcity of food resulting in a driving up of food prices. Scarcity of food on planet earth has always been a distribution problem. We have the ability to feed the world's population several times over. The problem is our willingness to distribute it equitably. Then there is the problem of death. One fourth of the world dies by sword, hunger or beasts. Again it seems to me that each of these sources of premature death are rooted in the depraved nature of man. Even death itself is rooted in Adam's sin and the just curse upon creation as a result. Then the fifth seal reveals those who have been killed by those who rejected the Lord, the Lamb. They were killed because of their testimony of the Lamb. The sixth seal reveals cosmic disturbances that occur because of the wrath of the Lamb.
Pardon me, but did it say, "The wrath of the Lamb?" I could picture a million things that would evoke terror, but the wrath of a lamb is not one that necessarily grabs my imagination. A lion yes but a lamb? Come on! The thought doesn't exactly strike terror to my bones. "Oh help! This lamb is going to nuzzle me to death!"
Why a lamb? He is both the Lion and the Lamb. Like a lamb He permitted Himself to be abused and murdered, taking upon Himself the sins of all mankind of all time. He allowed the penalty of sin from the just and holy God to fall upon Himself in order to purchase our ransom from sin and death. But like a lion He is powerful and fierce. And these who are fearful recognize His sacrifice and reject it! They would rather attempt to hide themselves from Him rather than acknowledge their sin and plead for mercy. Such arrogance in the face of His glory is incomprehensible and unjustifiable. They willingly and justly will receive His wrath. It is right that they receive wrath from the One who gave Himself completely for them and whom they rejected! It is the glory of the Lamb that He punish those who will not receive His rich offer of Himself. It is interesting that He forces His glory on no one. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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