Why Study The Bible?

 

"Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing shall cause them to stumble" (Ps. 119:165).
"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction" (Ps. 119:92).
"I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil" (Ps. 119:162).

The discipline of teleology is the study of the purpose or design of things and unbelievers don't like to hear that there is a purpose behind the universe or creation, but that it is just a big cosmic accident of the forces of nature. For instance, the so-called design of earth (Anthropic principle) is perfectly fit for human habitation--is that an accident? This is one of the proofs for the existence of God, that it seems obvious to the objective person that there is a purpose for everything--telos, or purpose is anathema to the secularist. Case in point: The purpose of dirt is to grow grass; the purpose of grass is to feed cattle; the purpose of cattle is to nourish man--this is where the equation breaks down because we can't agree on the purpose of man without religion entering the picture and then we see the big picture. The three questions: where did we come from? Why are we here? And where are we going?

Now, the question at hand is, why study the Bible? It should not be an academic issue or discipline to entertain us (like in a trivia game) or increase our knowledge, but to change our lives. During the Enlightenment gentlemen used to have the hobby of discussing theology, the queen of sciences, among themselves to pass the time--it was assumed everyone had a working knowledge of the Bible and could take part. Having a great knowledge of the Bible is not necessarily a compliment, because the Pharisees did too--it's what you apply That counts with God! Knowledge about the Bible is a prerequisite to knowing the Bible; it is necessary, but not sufficient to know God--the goal.

"Knowledge puffs up, but love [is what] edifies," according to 1 Cor. 8:1. But this is the kind of knowledge that doesn't contain discernment or wisdom, knowledge of God (cf. Hos. 4:1,6) "A people without discernment ["understanding" in NIV] perish" (Hos. 4:14). One of the worst sins is knowledge without character, according to Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, because it is a fact that knowledge can be dangerous, and a little knowledge is worse than none. Half-educated people are more dangerous than illiterate ones. What you know ought to be so! Some people know just enough to be dangerous. Don't get me wrong--ignorance is not bliss, but we must be careful to see Bible knowledge as a means to an end, and not the end itself. It's not a contest to see who the most about the Bible--knowing the Bible is different and knowing and loving the Author is the paramount goal. More knowledge equals more responsibility too!

We are not to compare or commend ourselves with others because accumulated knowledge can be a byproduct and just because someone knows a lot doesn't mean that is the goal. Knowledge is a tool for the preacher and part of his trade and he is to teach others to become independent of him and learn to fend for themselves, as it were, and someday know how to study on their own--because they love the Bible, not because they want to get smart. The Bible is sufficient to teach us everything we need to know how to live a victorious Christian life and grow into a mature believer, producing much fruit. The Bible is also known for its clarity because its main message is clear to the simple-minded and hidden from the "wise" out of the wisdom of God, because of the condition of their heart and will.

You can't teach someone to love the Bible--he must practice it and apply it himself to learn this and he will learn gradually to appreciate it. He has to grow into this. One should learn to study the Bible so that he can get "Aha!" moments or epiphanies (I can remember the exact day when God opened the Scriptures to me and I couldn't stop reading them) One can then sense God is speaking to Him because this is the way God has promised to reach out to us and speak to our needs. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV).

With the privilege of interpreting Scripture, comes the responsibility to do it right and not to fabricate our own truths! The Word also "equips" us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:17)! We should all be able to say with the psalmist, "O, how I love Thy Law, it is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97). Soli Deo Gloria!

ADDENDUM.

When you say something is credible because it is credible, this is not meant to be circular reasoning, like saying it's logical because logic is the only proof. It's logical to believe this because what is logical is believable. But I mean different and subtle shades of meaning. A witness's credibility must be established before he can be believed on the witness stand, and the other side seeks to destroy his credibility--The character of the Bible characters and of the Bible itself is without peer--so it is reasonable to believe them. Some skeptics don't believe the Bible because of their presupposition that miracles don't happen--but you can't prove that! In the end, this is a philosophical question and the authority is the reliability of the historical documents and the veracity of the witness

An example of circular reasoning would be to say that you think logic should be the test of Scripture because that's only logical. Actually, any standard to hold the Bible to other than itself will never stand and will break down as circular proof--the Bible must be self-attesting just as it assumes God exists and doesn't try to prove Him. The saying is, "The finite cannot grasp the infinite.

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The Reluctant Prophet VII

 Israel was commissioned by God to be His messenger of the gospel to the world, but they botched it miserably and that is why the church had to come into being--to make Israel jealous.  God's grace has never been limited to one family, clan, tribe, nation, race, or peoples; but always open to all who have faith like Abraham ("Everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham," says Gal. 3:7).

Jonah was a type of Israel who was ordered to go to Nineveh to tell them to repent and went to opposite way! Now, before you condemn him for his disobedience, compare this to sending a Jew to Hitler in Berlin during the Holocaust to tell him to repent or else!  It was a suicide mission, to say the least, and Jonah had a survival instinct--get as far away from it as possible.  He actually didn't believe God would hassle him in Tarshish, and maybe God wouldn't have any authority there.  He asked the next boat if they were "going his way" and he was off to escape God.  But he found out you cannot run away from God but the Hound of Heaven will always catch up.  Jonah was out of fellowship and fell asleep in the hold of the ship during a violent storm.

To say the least, Jonah was a reluctant prophet and a negative example in Scripture of how to obey.   God used Him anyway and turned the situation around by His providence.  Jonah is the most famous, infamous, and even notorious of all prophets, and people sure like to mock his faith and story as fiction--but Jesus, Himself, believed it.  Jonah is indeed a lowlife in this book who happens to be the only one not on board with God--the ship's crew repents, the city of Nineveh repents and Jonah is "angry enough to die."  He has a death wish, but I wouldn't say he is suicidal--he is in a depressed funk and takes it out on God.  

Why?  His prophecy didn't come true about God destroying the city and he actually wanted it destroyed--he didn't love his enemies.  Jonah must have been aware of the doctrine of the providence of God and could've seen how God was moving behind the scenes in the small details of his life as He prepared (Providence in action!) a storm, a fish, a goad, and then a worm to convict him.

Jonah should not be judged by us, but only looked upon as a lesson to learn from, even if negative. He is one of the few prophets in the Bible that was successful and got the people to repent.  He certainly didn't want to be known as a "false" prophet and humiliated; on the other hand, he had no right to be angry and should have recognized that God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy.  This is a lesson on universal grace and for us not to have self-pity and lack compassion for our fellow man--we shouldn't be so willing for them to be judged.

In summation, we are all reluctant prophets who must complete our "commission" to share the gospel message with the lost everywhere God plants us and sends us.  We cannot run from God, but must reckon that if God wants to use us as a vessel of honor, nothing will stop him and there is no Plan B--get with the program!    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Reluctant Prophet VI

"But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God.." Gal. 4:9 

"I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations." (Isaiah 42:6). 

"Yet he did what was right in the sight of the LORD but his heart was not in it." 2 Chron 25:2

The book of Jonah continues with Jonah being angry at God for no justifiable reason. He hated the Assyrians so much he didn't want them to repent and thought they deserved annihilation. He is the only prophet who got results from his preaching that is recorded to repent and he should have realized he had a record to brag about or an achievement to tout or flaunt back in Israel.  "I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth." Isaiah 49:6. That is the Great Commission as given to Israel which they failed to complete.  But maybe he thought his brethren would be angry with him for helping out their enemy. 

It shows that we can throw a fit at God and even get angry just as Job did and God will not judge us but rather have mercy: "His mercies never come to an end."  You cannot limit God's mercy.  Jonah did not realize that he did not deserve God's mercy either!  It should have humbled him that they repented but he was still self-righteous and God still forgives him. Jonah had to realize who was in charge and find out he couldn't have his own way but must accept God's will. He might have thought he knew better than God!  God never answered his question but humbled him with another question.  "Is it right for you to be angry?"   It is noteworthy we can get angry at God!  You have to be secure in your relationship to get angry at them as couples know.   Jonah did not doubt his salvation!  When someone repents we should realize our need for it also and not just expect others to repent or think only they need it. This means "practicing what we preach." 

The question arises as to whether Jonah was obedient; he was to the letter of the law but his heart was not in it. He was not gusto, or gung-ho for the Lord and had no grit, and was not a wholehearted follower but only met the bare minimal requirements. We should never think we are failures when we do the Lord's work for the Lord will use us for his purposes and accomplish his will through us as his vessels of honor.  No Christian in God's will is a failure!   Jonah should teach us that we are much like Jonah ourselves and that God is also patient with us and we should not judge Jonah! 

The big problem with Jonah was that he was self-righteous much like Job and failed to realize his shortcomings and that he needed to repent--even Job did at the end. Job thought he was on board with God but never was.  He needs to get on track with God again.  He was forced to do God's will and complied in deed only but his heart wasn't in it and he had no love for these sinners or concern or burden or the lost. Jonah boasted to the Lord that he "knew" God and his mercies and even thought that God was going to spare Nineveh but he found out how little he did know.  Jonah didn't know as he ought to know! 

Even theologians can know a lot of doctrines and be quite versed in the Word and biblically savvy and not know God as well as anyone else.  "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6.  "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:4   Jonah said,  "I knew..." but this doesn't mean he knew God--you can know a lot about God and still fall short and not know God or have knowledge of God. 

You can know doctrine but until you experience it and it becomes part of you, making it your own or owning it and living it out, can you say you know it. We must turn our creeds into deeds! Jonah insisted he "knew" this and that but it was not real to him yet.  "Now that you know these things blessed are you if you do them."  John 13:17. After God spoke to Job, he repented but not so with Jonah!   He had not come to a personal encounter with God that made him humble before him and it did not change him! Holiness is not according to experience because he sure had it.   It goes to show that there are two types of Christians: those who have been humbled and those who will be! Soli Deo Gloria!

The Reluctant Prophet V

 When we look at the book of Jonah, we see that he preached that they ought to repent pronto, immediately with due haste, and with no postponement at all--as soon as possible, asap. The Ninevites realized "Now is the day of salvation."  They did respond immediately as it says and felt convicted with what they had done, and they changed their attitude towards their behavior and said that they had sinned against God, even though they did not know God, but did not realize this is only half of the formula of salvation or conversion we must add faith to our repentance. Now, we should realize penitent faith or believing repentance go together hand in hand as it says in Acts 20:21.  

Now, something you may wonder whether Jonah was a good prophet or not but he is the only prophet of the major and minor prophets who really got any results in preaching the thankless job of repentance because the people actually did repent when he preached, and what is ironic thing is that Jonah probably didn't even want him to repent or wasn't expecting him to repent he probably hated these innovate somewhat he won and to be punished by God. What kind of attitude does God have when he says, "I will be merciful to those who are merciful." and "Mercy and mercy triumph over judgment." (James 2:13).  

We must be careful not to pass judgment too quickly and that measure we measure on others may come back to us and haunt us if we are judgmental, we may end up being judged. If you want to be shown mercy you must be merciful to others if you are not merciful to others don't expect God to be merciful to you you need a lot of mercy then you better exhibit a lot of mercy. This is the thing about mercy in my opinion once you've experienced it you want to pass it along just like the love of God if you have never experienced the love of God you will not be sharing it with others is a transforming experience to encounter God in one's life in conversion you want to help others see the light in the work when you see the light the Joanna exhibited none of these qualities he didn't realize that the commission that God gave the Jews for the Israelites was also to the Gentiles to be a light to the nations.

The point of the story is that the Ninevites sought fire insurance, as it were, they didn't want their city destroyed or overthrown.  They had regrets about what they had done and felt sorry for what they had done but it was nothing mixed with faith they were only halfway there. Also, repentance is not supposed to be merely a ticket out of hell or fire insurance, but a heartfelt conviction, radical change of behavior, and transformation of the heart will, and mind not just a change in your opinions toward your sin. 

They certainly did not deserve mercy we must also realize that we do not deserve mercy and that God doesn't have to be merciful. God could be just even if he condemned everybody who ever lived. It is a miracle of mercy that he has saved anyone. When people say that God is love they forget that is not the whole picture as far as God is concerned for the lost ("Behold, therefore the goodness and sternness of God." Rom 11:22).   God is also just and righteous and holy and must not overlook sin he must punish it because it offends him it is just like man or is to anti-matter to matter when both cannot coexist.  God's holiness and man's sin are antithetical. 

Usually, when we preach faithfully the Word of God, we must properly divide the law and gospel into what we must do and what God has done or will do for us. Good news as well as bad news. He failed to preach the good news of the gospel to get them saved he just preached something to them so they would avoid catastrophe and annihilation as a city. Have the message!  He was a doomsayer, in other words, and he probably felt that this was their just dessert for what they had done, and in due time they would be judged.

But the Ninevites realized, first of all, that perchance God grant them mercy and change his mind and not destroy us. This is an example of God's justice being satisfied because these people did render contrition to what they had done in the sense that they went through all the motions of repentance like sacrificing sackcloth and sitting fasting and prayers and all that so God did spare them, so they were lucky in a sense.  We certainly did not deserve it either, we must realize that all of us are like the men of Nineveh, but God is calling us all on the day of salvation that once. we repent we will be headed towards hellfire as we already are if we don't repent. 

The default position or direction or destination is hell-bound and God does not condemn us. We condemn ourselves God does not judge so much as we judge ourselves so much, we condemn ourselves by our own conscience and we choose to rebel against God on our own even without Adam's help for we would have done the same thing as Adam and God knows it and we know it.

You must realize that true repentance isn't just reforming our lives or changing our ways but having a change of heart not just an opinion and a complete turnaround from our sin to God and in about-face going in the other direction we were running from God and we should run to God it's more than just turning over a new leaf or making a New Year's resolution or making an AA pledge, rather it is a complete transformation of the heart from the inside out wrought by God's grace (Acts 5:31:11:18).

Repentance is only manifest when it has the fruits of repentance (Luke 24:47) for it we are told to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance to prove our repentance is genuine for there is no genuine repentance without saving faith that produces a life of good works.  They all go together hand in hand one after another in subsequent order. We do not change our lives, but God changes us and changes our hearts. 

We must also note in this book that God always gives time and place and the chance for repentance he never judges without warning.  We are given a fair chance to repent and an opportunity to change our ways and God doesn't give anyone an excuse, so it is our fault that we turn against God, not his fault for failing to warn us of our ways. We all got more than an apology we need to change our lives to prove our apology is valid.  We don't just say we're sorry to God that doesn't cut it with God.  Judas said he was sorry, but he did not have faith, Peter did have faith when he did repent and was sorry, he showed true repentance accompanied by faith and fruit.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Reluctant Prophet IV

 

I'm sure about this:  the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:6

I am with I am by the grace of God. 1 Cor. 15:1

PBPGIFWMY  (Please be patient, God isn't finished with me yet!") 

WE ARE GOD'S WORKS IN PROGRESS! 

Remember that we are God's masterpieces. (Eph. 2:10).  God never gives up on us (Phil. 1:6)--that is a point we see in Jonah. God is no Plan B, for instance, he has our destiny planned out and written out for us he controls our destiny he uses us for his purposes and we will know there is no second best in our life but best either the best or disobedience there is no second best.  God doesn't compromise!  We are either in God's will or we are not. We cannot keep God's will as Jonah thought he could. God goes after us as a hound of Heaven in a shepherd after the lost sheep. We cannot offer excuses for God's will in our life that we are not adequate or suited for it or that people will not believe us or that we are inarticulate or have no way with words.   

God uses us the way we are and we can become all things (1 Cor. 9:22) to all people God opens the door for whoever we are to reach other people in his name if we have the faith to do it.  It is the power of the gospel and the power of the word that works on people, not our words but the power of the word that brings conviction of the Holy Spirit. We must remember that God is the Potter and we are the clay though we must not quarrel with our maker.  God has a purpose for us even regarding the evil ones.  God is the purpose for them there's nothing in the world that does not have a purpose in God's eyes this is called teleological thinking. We are God's masterpiece in the sense that we are his "workmanship" created by Christ Jesus unto good works. (Eph. 2:10). 

God knows us, in fact, he knows better than we know ourselves for he is our Maker and we know us inside and out and has all of our days or lives written out beforehand and before we were born even knew us. We must sometimes think that we are not someone that would people would respect but God does not look at our appearance or look at our resume what he sees is what he can do with us if we let him control our spirit submitting to his we are seen as possibilities than someone that he can work with and he sees potential in us even if we are just the average Joe.

God is able to make all things work together for his Plan to supply all our needs (Phil. 4:19).  If we do his will, we never lack supplies or goods or provisions when we're in God's will. We must always have a criterion for our plans and our lives and be patient with others because God's not finished with us yet either so we want people to pace it with us too. Some people think that when we lack nothing good it means we have everything,.  No, it does not mean that Paul lived in poverty even though he had a tent maker minister, he did not have riches it's not necessarily true that Christians become rich as prosperity preachers but God is the Maker both the rich and the poor. But God will supply all your needs to do his will and all your needs not all your wants.  (Phil. 4:19). 

God will give us the marching orders to do his will and we must not major in the minors or get sidetracked but be disciples on a mission to do what he has planned out for us and open the door for us to do and I remember the disobedience does not change God's plan he will deal with it and prune us discipline us and chastise us to bring us into the right path and on right track.  He keeps us going on the right track and God is able to make us willing to do his will  Phil 2:13) this is unusual because we are free persons and agents with God have free will but God can influence our will and make us do whatever his will is.  He is more powerful and stronger than us, in fact, his sovereignty means that we cannot frustrate or thwart his will and God has all power to accomplish his will on Earth regardless of what we do or not whether we cooperate or not. We must realize that God never holds back on his abounding grace (where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. Rom 5:20) and never has a second plan in case this one fails if we fail and we won't because God knows that he has called us for his good purposes we cannot fail the church cannot fail because God has chosen it.

Isaiah 14:24, 27 says, "As I have plans and as I have a purpose" In verse 27 it says, "Who will know it is He has stretched out who will turn it back?"    Contrast this with Job 42:2 which says I know that you can do everything and no purpose of yours can be felt or thwarted from you God is never frustrated with us we cannot upset God he will do his will whether we cooperate or not we are mere clay in his hand as he is the Potter and we are the clay and we have vessels who honor or dishonor we either examples of good or of evil god use us regardless.  Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Reluctant Prophet Part III

 Jonah is the story of our salvation, it is not meant to be prophetic.  His book is a narrative that tells us a lot about salvation and about our walk with God but it is a story of a backslidden son in a sense one that goes away from God and then God uses him in a way brings him back but in this case, Jonah never really does come back but God uses him in a way it shows that God uses us for his will regardless of us he doesn't need our cooperation even to make us do his will.  But the essence of faith is measured by obedience and Jonah finally did obey!  We are vessels of God either of honor or dishonor (good or bad examples!) and we are here for his purposes, not ours God will achieve his plan for us no matter what. Jonah was saved or thought he was and was wayward, backslide, nearly apostate, and reluctant to God's will.  

We find his prayer in the belly of the fish as one of salvation but it is not, he is already saved and knows it. He would even rather die than fulfill his ministry and commission and direct order!  There is no prefabricated prayer of salvation (as some make his prayer out to be) in Jonah's prayer in Jonah chapter two he never prayed when he was on board the ship nor when he was called to go to  Nineveh but now he seems desperate and he wants to pray while in the belly. This is not a prayer of faith or of repentance is a theological one of confession and faith where he's trying to make a point with God, for instance, he says that those who worship idols forfeit their grace when he was referring to the sailors and looking down on them thinking that he was better than them comparing themselves. He knew all the theology of salvation but he did not have his heart in the right place. He actually thought he was better than others or superior or had a holier-than-thou attitude which was repugnant to God and that's why the fish vomited up as a symbol of God's rejection of his prayer. 

But God was to use Jonah despite himself just like God uses us despite ourselves and he saves us despite ourselves.  No one deserves salvation!  When it says "Salvation is of the Lord," it also means repentance of the Lord faith is of the Lord and regeneration of the Lord is God's work in us.  It is God's work in our hearts to kindle it with faith and repentance by regeneration.   God grants us repentance and changes our hearts and woos us to him we do not do this on our own we do not conjure up faith or repentance we do not catch it like we catch a cold in a crowd. Jonah did not consider himself unworthy (the prerequisite to salvation is to realize our unworthiness!) which is a primary consideration to come into God (realize you are not worthy!)  He humbles himself shall be exalted he exalts himself shall be humbled. The way up is down in God's economy just as John said, "He must increase and I must decrease." God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble! (James 4:6).  And Jonah did not see this and was never onboard with God throughout the whole book. 

We must realize from that verse in Jonah 2:9 that the salvation of the Lord is not a cooperative venture of us and the Lord or us alone god grants salvation from first to last all by grace.  It is God's work in us. Jonah in his prayers much like many of us we want revenge we want vindication we want to get even or to score we do not want repentance. Even a child that gets caught with a cookie in his hand at the cookie jar is not sorry for what he did but for the consequences and when he gets in trouble he wants revenge and does not confess wrongdoing, he doesn't want to repent and admit wrong. 

Jonah is the type of person who could probably preach repentance and salvation to other people and knew all the all doctrines of salvation and soteriology but he could not apply it to himself.  If he had a high opinion himself and did not realize he was backsliding from the Lord or towards apostasy. But God saved him in a way that is the whole story of us, how we cannot look down even on Jonah but let's learn from the story that we can be in the same boat as God has leveled the playing field and we have no right to feeling superior; to him the missing link is indeed repentance

I did not realize how to save myself until I found out about the missing link of repentance in my life hearing it from a Billy Graham crusade.   I knew that was what was missing and what I needed to do to get restored to God because of my sin. Jonah will never get back to God until he repents regardless of what he did even preaching the sermon he must still repent to be restored to fellowship. The story reminds me of the Pharisee in Luke 18 who says I thank God that I am not a prostitute, publican, or a sinner like others but has such a superior attitude and attitude of exceptionalism and superiority that God is offended by his self-righteousness.  Soli Dep Gloria!

How Shall We Then Live?

"And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?" (1 Cor. 14:8, ESV).
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people [Israel] whom he has chosen as his heritage!" (Psalm 33:12, ESV).
"There is no accountability since God does not exist" (Psalm 10:4, HCSB).
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people" (Prov. 14:34, NIV).
"To this, you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21, NIV).

Note: Christianity is composed of two things: orthodoxy or believing right, and orthopraxy, or doing right. Orthodoxy has to do with ethics or right conduct, answering the question, "How shall we then live?"

My title was also the title of a book by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, of L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. It is a big issue of how believers should apply their faith and fulfill their marching orders. We are not meant to either flaunt it or privatize it, though our faith offends no one if we do keep it to ourselves. However, it's not a matter of personal preference to propagate our faith, or "shove it down other people's throats" as some call it--it's the Great Commission, mandated by our Lord Himself.

We are to live out our faith, and only those believers who desire to live it out and share their faith are obedient--the only way to keep it is to give it away! We are, in essence, to live forthright, honest, exemplary lives as proof of our profession, which is the reality of our faith. The faith we have is the faith we show! We must never lose focus of our first order of business (Job One), that we are here to make a contribution and fulfill God's will, and must heed the spiritual wake-up calls to read the signs of the times.

As American citizens, we have the awesome task of being witnesses amid people who've already heard (territory Paul would've balked at entering, to sow where someone else had been). People already have preconceived notions of our faith and are prejudiced--we must be all the more ready to be "not ashamed" "in debt" and "ready" as Paul proclaimed in Romans 1. The door is indeed often closed and we must pray for the open door or opportunity to live out our faith as examples. Unfortunately, there's often just enough darkness not to see, and enough light to see, but only to the willing and obedient. That's the rub: Man is by nature stubborn and in defiance of God's authority, especially in the political realm, which seems to be Satan's turf, and so it takes moral courage and grit.

The biggest error is to think we can usher in the kingdom and that America is somehow God's chosen nation. Governor William Bradford of Plymouth indeed set out to "advance the kingdom of Christ," (cf. Jer. 29:7) but our nation has no right to usurp Israel's place in God's scheme of things and the overall plan for the ages. This is the church age and the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and we are here primarily to save souls, not the nation.

But if Christians do get their so-called act together and repent, pray, and stand up for the truth, God will bless our nation and rebuke the devil's intervention, and may perhaps relent of His divine wrath, punishment, and even curse--yes, God can and does curse nations, even Israel (cf. Deut. 28). We can not call something crooked if we don't have an idea of what straight is. And we should never turn a deaf ear to the evil in the land and be too timid or inhibited to speak out about crimes against humanity or whatever form evil manifests.

But by and large, we can expect the blessing of God if we follow godly paths of righteousness in our nation; for the Word says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality and will bless us for the sake of His people. But we must also note that God has promised to bless those nations who bless Israel as God's chosen people, promising Abraham that He'll bless those who bless him. We cannot maintain an anti-Semitic attitude or policy and expect God's approbation--this doesn't mean whether they are right or wrong politically or morally!

Believers are called to rise to the occasion and stand up and be counted for the Lord, and that means taking stands for the truth and being loyal to God, and even courageous to the point of civil disobedience and public stands when the state's policies are immoral, unethical, or unscriptural. We must maintain the highest standards of conduct and hold our government accountable and be equal to the challenge! Who knows, as it is written in Esther 4:14, maybe we were born for such a time as this?

We must be careful not to idolize our party (i.e., "my party, right or wrong!"), identity, candidate, or policies to the point of demanding our highest allegiance and unwavering devotion. God is not a member of a party since He cannot be limited or put in a box or labeled, and it is often the case that Christians deify their party or candidate at the expense of losing all sense of decency, morality, and even ethics. Remember, only God deserves our homage and ultimate loyalty; we only pledge allegiance to a nation "under God."

We must learn to draw the line and know where the limits are. Sometimes the law is in direct violation of divine principles, but we will never realize this if we are blinded by the following party, person, or policy above God. Augustine of Hippo said something very noteworthy for our time: "An unjust law is no law at all." "Woe to those who decree unjust laws," (cf. Isaiah 10:1). Remember the words of Scottish Presbyterian minister and author Samuel Rutherford, in his book, Lex Rex, (i.e., the law is the king), that delineated limits to the power of the king or any government as being subject to the rule of law--and this goes back to biblical precedent, not just democratic--this book upset the political landscape and applecart. In a similar vein, Will Durant, a historian, said, "No society has been able to maintain morality without the aid of its religion."Also, Edmund Burke noted: "'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."

Christians always reserve the right to peaceful protest and even defiance of evil law, and this is fully realized in the slogan of the Reformation: I dissent, I disagree, I protest, attributed to Martin Luther. In a crisis of evil, many ask, "Where's God?" but we should be asking, "Where's the church?" We must never forget that we have dual citizenship, our home is in heaven and we are only passing through with our spiritual green cards on a mission. God doesn't burden just one individual to change the world for Christ but will transform it through the corporate activity of the body of Christ and the church at large. One task of the church is to equip and help believers find their calling and gifting so this can be implemented. It's a shame when unbelievers lead the way and do what we should be doing by nature (cf. Romans 2:14-15).

NB: God did something about evil--He made you! Our mission to counter social injustice has not been rescinded. Note the words of a famous Christian philosopher, dramatist, theologian, and journalist--known as the "prince of paradox": "What's wrong with the world? I am. Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton." The words of John Donne come to mind: "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." We must turn our creeds into deeds, thus proving our testimony by actions, which can speak louder than words--true faith always expresses itself!

We must expose, openly declare and wave our Christian colors and not permit evil to win by default. We must also learn not to just bemoan evil, but to challenge ourselves to see the possibility of good beyond the gray clouds. Evil always presents an opportunity for good, because that's why it exists as the counter and contrast of good, which we can then highlight and see clearly in juxtaposition.

Thus, Christians have a Second Great Stewardship as salt and light, to heal and preserve society as well as caretakers of the earth, and we must pay our dues, live up to our faith, and be worthy of the name of Christ, touching the world for our Savior, all so that no one will have anything bad to say about us, and we can win them over by our witness.

Even though Francis Schaeffer wrote a book by this title too, showing its importance, the question we all must answer is: "How shall we live in light of eternity?" Jesus didn't tell us to close shop and stop working to wait till He comes but Matthew Henry said that we should live each day as if it's our last! Jesus told us to occupy till [He] comes and be ready! But we are to be ready and watch for Christ's coming and live our life to have maximum impact on eternity. We aren't seeking to be remembered but to be obedient.

We see eternal results in everything; all we do strikes a chord that will vibrate for eternity. Everything will either be rewarded or not and in time we can be disciplined for what we do if not in God's will. Paul said that to him "to die is gain" not as a death wish but he meant that he saw eternity in a better light than imagined ("what no human mind has conceived"). He only said this because he had a clear concept of heaven with no misconceptions or delusions to live the good life.

Living in light of eternity inspires us to do good deeds and to have a good testimony to the world at large so they get saved as a result. It helps us in our trials, seeing that they are only temporal and serve an eternal purpose. In short, we become purpose-driven. We prove and validate our faith by our deeds--the faith we have is the faith we show and authenticate. The more we see Jesus coming soon, the more eager we will be to show our faith also because we will see the urgency of the Great Commission relative to our personal lives.

Thus, we will want to pass it on and become contagious Christians. We will be eager to make others ready and to stop living for the moment and the here and now. What we look forward to affects our worldview and how we interpret life in general. When the "Desire of all nations" comes at His Parousia, we will be transformed to become like Him, but we can have a taste of the good things to come now: "Taste and see that the LORD is good." But now we can see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 27:13, KJV).

We are simply pilgrims, aliens, foreigners, and even strangers in this life and to the world, and passing through, not meant to make ourselves at home here--we don't belong here! But God has a place for us in His plan. God has an eternal purpose for our lives that He will fulfill and not give up on us. We are on a spiritual journey too, growing in our relationship with Christ--Reality 101. We should not cling to our mundane lives but see that our spiritual lives take precedence; however, we do not live with our heads in the clouds or on cloud nine. What matters is how our relationship with Christ is growing. It is wrong to think that we should live as if we go around once and should grab all the gusto we can. We must have an eternal bucket list that involves our beatific vision of God in glory.

Having a true focus on Christ, keeping our eyes on Jesus orients our life and sets the priorities to have spiritual value. However, we ought not to be so heavenly-minded we are no earthly good. We must not be known as mere secluded saints but actively involved in the real world. We can enjoy this life, but without sin, and thank God for the blessings that it gives to all in common grace. We can enjoy life to the max as Jesus promised: "I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full [more abundant life]" (John 10:10, NIV). On the other hand, we ought not to "love the world nor the things of the world" because the more we do, the less room we'll have in our hearts to satisfy our spiritual appetites to enjoy all the good things He gives us richly as a blessing for stewardship (cf 1 Tim. 6:17).

The good life has universally been defined as an ethical one: our duty to God and mankind. We do this by loving God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves as exemplified in the parable of the Good Samaritan. "Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8, HCSB). This is achieved by a true sense of "oughtness." Knowing and believing the right doctrine or having one's thinking straightened out is orthodoxy while living right and practicing what one believes and applying it is orthopraxy--both are necessary for the good life (which is not achieving the American dream!).

In the final analysis, when our lives are given their final audit and we go one-on-one with our Maker to face God in the Bema or Judgment Seat, we must ask ourselves whether we are faithful stewards of the blessings God has given us and whether we used them to have an impact. We all will pass on some legacy and people will tend to judge our lives, but what matters most is what Christ sees in us. He isn't going to ask us about our achievements but our obedience and we will realize that success doesn't matter to God because it belongs to Him anyway (cf. Deut. 8:18), but what matters is our call to faithfulness. Praise the Lord, life is good! Soli Deo Gloria!

The Reluctant Prophet Part II

Jonah was not onboard with God and he ran from God thinking he could get away with it but that would be disobeying a "direct order" in military parlance.  That deserves the severest of punishments: treason is punishable by death!  Court-martial per the uniform code of military justice. The point is that we all tend to run from God at times but there is a merciful God who will come after us and bring us to repentance. The phrase "but God" is significant in that God has the last word and is a God who intervenes in the affairs of man.  

God was always in control noted by the phrase "but God..." even churning up a perfect storm and went after this rebellious lost sheep and brought him back. The storyline is a perfect illustration of the gospel: Jonah doesn't preach the gospel he is the gospel in a manner of speaking but the book portrays it by symbolism and events.  Some people only learn by seeing what not to do or by bad examples!  Jonah was a prophet who was called to speak on God's behalf with his authority and he knew what the people needed to hear but was reluctant.  He was stubborn all the way to his NDE or near-death experience.

When the seasoned sailors (note that seasoned believers can be in the same predicament) cried for salvation, he knew what to tell them and they repented and worshiped God but Jonah thought it was all over for him and it was too late to get on track with God again. They say there are no atheists in foxholes and people get religion when desperate or afraid!  When people ask us what shall they do to be saved, we should be prepared to speak for God and what to tell them. We should know the simple gospel message: repent and believe in Jesus for the remission of sins and to get right with God and restore the broken relationship.  

One main lesson from this book is that there are consequences and recompense for disobeying God's direct commands and going our own thing or running from God.  Conditionals are all over the Bible: if this, then that...  We reap what we sow and pay the piper for our sins and even get others punished by association with us.  With every cause, there is an effect by definition or it's not a cause. This is the second law of being and is called the law of causality or of cause and effect.  Jonah in this book found out that God is merciful and that means we do not get what we deserve: he deserved death and he knew it.  To him who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, it is a sin! Jonah knew better and was held to a higher standard.

Like Joshua knew, "There is sin in the camp!"  Paul the apostle also fought God or His will and Jesus said to him: It is hard to kick against the goads! meaning that the way of the transgressor is hard and you will not get away fighting my will and that is a hard way to live. He who does the will of God abides forever.  We cannot live lives of disobedience and escape running, punishment, discipline, or natural consequences even if we repent!  

God is saying to us: what have you done! Known sins are more serious.   That is rhetorical for our sake because God knows our rebellion. Jonah had a wake-up call and saw the light and God's mercy but he learned the hard way; blessed are those who learn from the Bible and don't need to go through the school of hard knocks. Jonah had been doing his own thing and doing what was right in his own eyes and was "following the course of this world."  Jonah should have learned that we do not get away with disobeying God or running from his will.  Paul said he was not "disobedient to the heavenly vision."  Jonah was indeed an example; what not to do!  We must be faithful to fulfill our calling! 

Jonah also doubted God's omnipresence or that God is everywhere and erroneously thought you could hide from God or escape His sovereignty as if God were a tribal or local deity. The sailors on board wondered where God was but Jonah reminded learned that the question should be "Where isn't God?
Today with all the evils in the world people still ask this but God says "Where is the church?"  The church was given the Great Commission to the whole world but it also has a social obligation to be good citizens and salt and light to the world.  

Jonah might have had disdain or animosity toward Nineveh because of its notorious reputation. But God has leveled the playing field and called us all sinners in his sight and we are all in the same boat needing his mercy. He despised them but God saw differently.   God is the God of the Gentile too and not only of the Jews and this book illustrates that better than any other OT book. God has no hands but our hands, no voice but ours, and no ears except ours; we are his instruments of mercy and his vessels of honor that God has decided to use for his glory whether we want or not God has a purpose for us.  

Some doubt that Jonah was a prophet because there are no predictive prophecies in the book but a prophet not only can foretell but forthtell or speak on God's behalf to edify and with the authority of God.  Prophets are notorious for upsetting or discomforting the at ease and comforting the discouraged.  Prophets must be ready to speak not on authority but with authority and they are known for doing the thankless job of preaching repentance to the apostate and rebellious Israel and Judah. 

Prophets are never people pleasers nor do they preach what people are itching to hear! Their message is usually unwelcome!  People can get upset at the truth told directly to them.  Jonah did not want to be a prophet, he did not inherit the job, but was appointed directly by God!  But the sailors asked him what to do and he knew as if they were saying if you are a prophet or know your God what is happening onboard this ship? We find out Jonah was no ordinary prophet: God used him to bring revival. 

Jonah knew the Answerer, not just a generic answer1, and as believers, we do too: we should know the answers to life's ultimate questions and be ready to speak for God because we are anointed. We are all commissioned to preach the gospel. Many Christians are spiritually hard of hearing and turn a deaf ear to God's call on their lives.  We must heed the heavenly claim on our lives for God owns us! 

The message of this book seems to be summed up asking "What shall we do?"  When we are called by God, we cannot say: No Lord! for that is false by definition: if Jesus is Lord, we must not disobey. We must not preach the false gospel of "easy-believism" or "cheap grace" thinking we do not need to receive Christ as Lord to be saved but only need to simply believe he is Lord; even the demons do that much.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Reluctant Prophet Part I

 Jonah is called the reluctant prophet because he fled from the presence of the Lord after he was given his great commission.  He was called by God to preach against Nineveh, the great city and the enemy of Israel at that time, the Northern Kingdom, it was like asking a Jew to go preach against Hitler in Berlin during World War 2.  This was indeed a tall order!  Was he up to it?  He had a right to self-preservation and survival instinct (he must have considered this a suicide mission) and that's what he did he fled and went the opposite way toward Tarshish. But he found out he cannot flee the presence of the Lord for he had thought that God was the only of Israel was the only God of Israel and not the God of all Gods everywhere (henotheism)  He thought that if you went to another country God would not be God there, in other words. He was great and mistaken the God of Israel is God everywhere and a God even of the Gentiles he was asked to preach against in Nineveh.  

Some people say he prophesied against Nineveh because he said that in forty days it would be overthrown Good.  Now this prophecy never did come true and was eventually overthrown 200 years later (see the book of Nuhum) but Nineveh's prediction did not come true thus making him in a sense a false prophet. No, he was not really a prophet in this true sense of the word because He gave no prophecy. On the other hand, he was the most successful prophet of all time because his prophecy actually had an effect and worked repentance upon the people he was a success unlike other prophets and he didn't get stoned, unlike other prophets. Prophets do not necessarily tell predictive prophecies but speak forth the Word of God.  They comfort the affected and afflict the comforted. 

No, in this book we see that everyone seems to be on board with God except Jonah like when he was on the ship all the people repented and feared God but Jonah refused and when the people repented in Nineveh he was upset with God he actually probably want the people to be you know and be destroyed and would pity a plant more than on the people of Nineveh. 

We see in this book from the get-go that God had heard about the great evil of Nineveh and it reached Heaven by reputation then we had a great reputation to be the evilest people on the face of the earth there they were so heinous and egregious they would kill babies by striking them against the wall they did some repugnant, ignominious and offensive things, the most brutal person would do like the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah had reached up to God and God decided to judge but this time God decided that a prophet to tell him to repent rather than strictly judge them without warning. 

It says that Jonah preached against and they heard him and understood because he actually preach God's word but he didn't want them to repent and give them a chance told them to wait to avoid judgment but he never thought they would or pent now why would God tell Jonah this message if God knew they would repent? Because God has provisional plans and God works in time like we do and this is a reality that if they did not repent they would have been overthrown Jonah was not deceiving them he was just delivering his God-given message is a great commission.

This book teaches us that we ought to go when God tells us to go until obey God because God will get his way with us he will find a way to make us do his will. And if God wants us to repent we will repent and God is also the God of the Israelites and the Gentiles just as much there is one God for the whole world he is not a local Deity or God or a tribal God. Jonah was very mistaken thinking he could escape the so-called presence of the Lord by fleeing for God is everywhere.  Now everyone has heard of Jonah he's the most famous prophet of all he's the one people usually use a skeptic to say do you believe there a man could be sold by a whale? So he has become the object of ridicule for skeptics and cynics and atheists and this is more than a kid story or a fable Jesus quoted that Jesus believed in it so it must be true it is a fact of history

The Book of Jonah is written as a narrative, not in a didactic form like Paul's epistles just teaching propositional truth or lessons or doctrine we are to glean lessons from the reading of the historical narrative this actually happened it is true history even Jesus believed in it. Stories become a matter of cliche and odd end ridicule by some who claim that a whale could not swallow a man but there's been proof that wheels quit swallowing men a blue whale has been discovered to find a man inside.  We do not know whether this was a whale or great fish according to some scholars because Jonah probably didn't know the difference. The story has been told and told and oversold and some get tired of hearing it but there are many deep lessons and many doctrinal lessons especially to be learned from it that apply to us even if we don't think they apply to us.

We must realize this book is about God's compassion, about his attributes.  We can know the God that we don't know. We should teach others and lead them to know the beauty of this book is that God is the protagonist and he appears front and center as the main character and the story involves him as if our lives revolve around God.  We are not the center of our life. Still, God writes out the destiny of our lives. It is no use fighting God! We can get his attention! 

Now Jonah disobeyed God's direct command of God to go to any disobeyed and went the opposite way out of fear survival instinct etcetera he had self-preservation and knew how dangerous these people were he had heard of them, Nineveh had a bad reputation. This was also during good times and he was very reluctant to leave the peace and safety of his role and go to a faraway land. Jonah probably knew that God cared about the Gentiles he thought maybe God only cared more about the Jews or the Israelites as they were called His people, at that time some in the Northern Kingdom did not think that Gentiles were worthy of the gospel even though God had called the Jews to be a light to the world but they failed in this commission.  

And the plot thickens as he doesn't arise and go as commanded to go immediately but goes in the opposite direction to see if he can get as far away from God as possible because maybe he thought that God would not be there as I said he fled from the presence of the Lord he felt he could actually get away from God which is impossible. In summation of this, Jonah did not want you to save them, he wanted punishment and he heard of their great wickedness it was common knowledge Jonah was an un-prophet or anti-prophet and he would didn't prophecy anything really in this book or any in the old in the Bible that we know of except unless you want to take his sermon about saying that Nineveh would fall in forty days.  

But note that he is the only prophet who was successful in bringing repentance!  But that turned out to be a false prophecy in that case because it did come true but Nineveh spoke for God this is what a prophet really does he doesn't just foretell but forth-tells, that is, he tells God's words, and explains them to God's people to understand he tells exactly what God tells him to tell he may.   But we noticed that Jonah rationalized.

But we noticed that Jonah rationalized he had many excuses for not going just like Moses had three reasons for not going anywhere who was he, couldn't speak, and people wouldn't listen to him they would believe that kind of thing.  Jonah thought that someone else could do better than him maybe he wasn't good enough that they wouldn't listen to him or that he it was too dangerous why should he risk his life to do that that was he thought probably the people in Judah or Israel needed God more than Nineveh.  This was outside his comfort zone but we should never question God's commands, we should never run from him.

In fact, when we do that we find out that God chases us like a Hond of heaven and we cannot escape the presence of the Lord he finds us we don't find him he finds us and will not let us go so, in essence, we are to a rise and go just like Jonah and follow God's commands.  It's like Paul said I was "not disobedient to the heaven vision." When he became converted and saw the light on the road to Damascus he was immediately blinded but then saw the light and realized it was Jesus Christ that had saved him even though he was reluctant. 

That's why we called Jonah the reluctant prophet, just like God said to Saul: "Why do you kick against the goads?" (meaning fighting God's will) he did not want to do and we are like that ourselves we are reluctant to do a big God's will sometimes in our command is also like the Great Commission given by Jesus to go to all nations making disciples, and so forth.  We don't just pawn this off on the pastor but we have to take our individual gifts and go for it and find our role or niche in doing the work in the church. So in essence, this is not a great suggestion or a great idea but it is a great command it is an imperative mandate we have no choice we are disobedient you cannot say no lord that's a contradiction of terms if you're going to call God Lord, you must obey him you do not argue with God.  

In sum, God will knock us all out of our comfort zone and give us a heavenly vision to fill tall orders and to obey; but we can walk on water and move mountains with mustard-seed faith!  We all are running from God but this is impossible because God pursues us as reluctant prophets in a sense. After all, we fall short and we must trust God's will for our lives and trust in His love that He knows best for us and can plan our lives better than we can.   Soli Deo Gloria!