Do you suppose that Hiram was a believer? He willingly was an ally of David. Do you suppose his friendship was just shrewd politics? Or do you suppose that he saw the work of the Lord in David? When Solomon informed Hiram of the decision to build a temple for the LORD, was his joy because of the spiritual decision Solomon had made, or was it because of the business deal was to his advantage? Hiram indeed rejoiced and blessed the name of the LORD indicating that he knew the covenant name of the LORD. Or was Hiram’s blessing of Solomon simply shrewd business dealings? I tend to think that Hiram saw the glory of the Lord in David and in Solomon. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. the May/June 2013 issue of Biblical Archeological Review has two excellent articles on the cedars of Lebanon.
PSALM 94
I receive it once a month, and perhaps you do as well. It is a magazine called The Voice of the Martyrs. Every month it is full of stories of the faithfulness of God’s people in the world today who are willing to lay down their lives for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They endure hardships, imprisonments, tortures and unspeakable difficulties all for the love of Jesus. A skeptic might ask, “What kind of glory is that?” Even believers at times fall into the trap of thinking in the same manner. What they/we forget is that God is the One to Whom belongs vengeance. In the words of R.G.Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” His lack of vengeance now is really His patience and love waiting upon the perpetrators to repent and turn to Him; He loves even them.
The Psalmist reminds us of that. We are reminded that judgment will one day return to the righteous. Woe to the unrepentant in that Day! The Scripture is clear that the Lord hates the unrepentant. The Psalmist consoles himself in those thoughts. Whenever the anxieties of the day begin to rise up, he comes back to the thoughts that the Lord will help, and the Lord’s mercy will hold him up. I love verse 19, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” One of the things I love about the stories in The Voice of the Martyrs, is how those have been persecuted for the sake of His name, so frequently talk about what a privilege it is to be counted worthy to endure hardship for His name. It is a living demonstration of His comforts, which delight our soul. I say, “That is a greater glory than a would-be god who promises us no hardship!” His comfort is so sweet that it exceeds any hardship imposed upon us! Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
HOSEA 3
On a few occasions as a pastor, I have had the uncomfortable duty of doing marriage counseling with a couple where one of the partners has committed adultery. It is a very stressful duty. One witnesses the pain of both partners. It is immensely painful to be the counselor. Rarely is one partner completely innocent. Usually, both want their marriage to be healed, but they cannot get past the pain and self-destruction. Never is the marriage healed unless the wayward partner recognizes that the reason for their unfaithfulness lies within themselves, not with their partner, and the ‘innocent’ partner chooses to forgive. Often the unfaithful partner will justify their unfaithfulness with faults of the other partner—lack of attention, uncaring etc. Very often the ‘innocent’ partner does have some glaring faults, but never does the ‘innocent’ partner’s fault justify the waywardness. I do have one interesting observation of my limited experience. Usually when the male partner is the wayward spouse, his waywardness is a result of his uncontrolled lusts. However, when a female was the wayward spouse, she had some background of sexual abuse by a close male relative. Her brokenness was accentuated by an inability to really believe that the man she married could ever love her.
Hosea’s marriage was a wreck. Gomer couldn’t give herself to just him. She left him and the kids to pursue a never ending list of lovers. She found herself selling herself from lover to lover to be able to survive. Eventually it resulted in a financial debt that could only be satisfied by being sold in the slave market. We do not know how many years she was gone, but she had aged to the point that she could no longer even bring the price of a slave. Exodus 21:32 values the life of a slave at 30 pieces of silver. Hosea bought her back for 15 pieces of silver and some grain. It was a half-off sale! Who wants a worn out harlot? Hosea did. Why? Well obviously because God commanded it, but since he was to reflect the love and holiness of God, I think God gave Hosea a true love for her. I don’t think Hosea took her in dragging his feet. Look what he says to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.” The New Living Translation puts it a little more bluntly, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.” There needed to be time where love was proven by faithfulness to each other, not by sexual elation.
You and I had been abused by this sin of this world, our close male relative. We were seduced by Satan, the world and our own dead spirit. Yes, we submitted to it willingly, but it was a seduction over which we could not prevail. It was as if we were sold into a whore house of sin. We hate the servitude sin has over us, but we are unable to break out of the house unless a strong man comes and binds the strong man of the spiritual whorehouse, purchases us and carries us away. This is the glory of Jesus. He came to our whorehouse. He purchased us with His own blood. He carries us away. He tells us, “I have married you. I have united you with Myself. I go to prepare place for you. I will come to receive you for myself. Be holy even as I am holy.” One day He will return to receive us to Himself, and we will join Him in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Messiah. We are no longer to give ourselves to Satan, the world or the old nature. In the meantime do we have a hard time believing that this God who became flesh could really love us considering our past? Are we even worth the value of a slave? He thinks so. He purchased us with His own blood, far more valuable than that of a slave. How dare we who have been redeemed think otherwise! Are we really worth that much? No! I mean Yes!!!! He deems us worth that much. When we listen to the other voices is when we give into the seductions of Satan, the world and the flesh. I will walk in holiness and purity when I am focused on His glory and what He says is true of me, not on the other voices that abound around me. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Ephesians 5:15-33
The glory of any groom is seen in his bride. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is seen in His bride, the Church. I am somewhat a student of church history. When think of the first two statements of this paragraph, at first I shudder. But then I remember the parable of the tares that our Lord told. I remember that when the bride is presented to Christ it will not be the church that we see in history. It will be the church of true believers of history who have had their dross and impurities removed. Is there anything in church history that might give us a partial glimpse of the glory of Christ’s bride? Oh yes, It was the true church that brought an end to slavery in Rome—without a war. It was the true church that reduced the pagan idolatry of Rome without resorting to law. It is the true church through out the ages that brought hospitals and schools to needy areas without government funds. It is the true church through out the ages that has raised the level of women from chattel to companion. It is Christ through the church that has turned the waste of alcoholic bottles of alcoholics into milk for their children. That change is produced when the church presents the true gospel of Jesus Christ to those in bondage of alcohol and drugs and they believe and are set free. I could go on and on about the good that the church has done. Is it the church? It is Christ through the church! When the church does anything worthy of glory, it is because of Christ!
Let me give one more example. In January of 1956 five missionaries were speared to death by the Auca Indians in the jungle of Ecuador, while they were in the process of sharing the love of Christ to them. A widow and sister of the two of the murdered missionaries returned to the same people to keep sharing the love of Christ with them. Because of that act of love and forgiveness, a majority of the tribe came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. An anthropologist went in and interviewed the tribal members. As a result of his survey, he found that 60% of all adult deaths before the missionaries came were the result of homicide. After many in the tribe trusted Christ, homicide in the tribe almost disappeared. Many of those men who had speared the missionaries to death, baptized the children of the missionaries they had murdered—at the request of the children! That is the work of Christ! Only he can bring love and forgiveness like that. But it is glory that is seen in the church! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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