Just in Case

by My Anonymous Friend

Ever had a really frightening email or phone call? I assume all of us have at some point. I got one such email this past week. A friend sent me a note to say that his doctor had used the dreaded word “Cancer” as he diagnosed some concerns my friend went to see him about. Suddenly everything changes!

We both serve together on a board. My friend suggested we go to the bank to add one more name to be authorized to sign checks for our organization, “just in case!” As we talked about some plans we had to attend a football game together later this fall, my friend said, “Let's see first what happens, just in case!” Several more times during our board meeting time he said, “Let's see what happens, just in case!” My friend went on to tell us that he was rethinking the lease on a new car because it might not be needed in the future, – “just in case!!”

We tend to live our lives as though we will live forever even though we know full well that we will not. We simply assume we will do this or that tomorrow, next week, or next month. My friend's announcement this past week reminded me once again how fragile and temporal life is.

Scripture addresses this topic:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil (James 4:13-16).

Speaking or thinking as though we are in charge of our lives is called arrogance and evil by this Scripture. I was struck by the harshness of this idea. But when we really think about it, assuming we are in charge of our lives really is arrogance. We are taking upon ourselves a prerogative that is not ours to take. Although we may not actually say so, we are really telling ourselves we are in charge of our lives when we say, “I will do this or that tomorrow!” We shut God out and assume He has nothing to say about our lives.

We are not in charge and the experience of my friend this past week was a painful reminder to me of this truth. I often say, “"God willing” when I make plans with others but today that expression takes on a fuller meaning.

Have a great week and be careful how you make plans – “just in case!”

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

by My Anonymous Friend

...we visited an exhibit entitled "Body Worlds and the Brain." This is a traveling exhibit making its way around North America. If it comes near where you live make the effort to go see it along with the more than 26 million people around the world who have already seen it. It is spell-binding and features preserved human bodies revealing inner anatomical structures in a process called plastination. This technique was developed at the University of Heidelberg in the 1970's. The exhibition shows nervous, muscle and bone systems and how they function together to make our bodies perform. Over 200 specimens of real human organs or organ systems are displayed along with 25 full body plastinations. It also demonstrates the development of the human body prior to birth from the first few weeks onward. I enjoyed the display of prosthetic devices (heart valves, hip joints, and the like) thinking I may not be so far away from needing some of this technology in the days to come. Hopefully not for a long time!

All the while we were there I kept wondering when someone or some display would raise the question of how all this came to be. Just how is it that our bodies are so incredibly wonderfully designed? The underlying assumption all through was that all this evolved over time. I could not help but wonder how anyone could really believe this to be true. In my mind all I could think of was the Scripture that says we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am not a medical person and medical things do not usually excite me. For my wife and daughter who are both nurses the exhibit was particularly fascinating from that standpoint. However, I too was spell-bound by all this. Having seen what goes on inside my body I now feel almost afraid to move lest anything be pushed out of place or somehow be damaged. Of course that is foolish, but it points out how intricately our bodies are designed and how fantastically they function.

To me it all serves as a reminder that we have an omnipotent and sovereign God, the Ultimate Designer and Creator! Praise be to Him!

God is Sovereign

Following are some words of wisdom from A.W. Pink, 1886-1952.

How different is the God of the Bible from the God of modern Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today, even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth. The God of the twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit is an object of pity rather than of awe-inspiring reverence.

To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellow-men are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity: is to say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied, and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated. We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is "trying His best" to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the Devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is Almighty and God is no longer the Supreme Being. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, Revised Edition, 1961, page 21.)

“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Psalm 115:3, NASB).

God is sovereign! What more needs to be said? I am very thankful for my pastor who diligently proclaims the all-powerful God of the Bible!

The Bible Speaks With Accuracy

by My Anonymous Friend

I discovered something interesting recently. The cycle of water that we observe in nature was actually known by the Romans as early as 30 BC. An engineer named Marcus Vitruvius understood what we know as the hydrologic water cycle. Ecclesiastes, Amos and Job all speak of it many hundreds of years earlier. Matthew Maury (1806-1873) is known as the father of oceanography. He read about the "paths of the sea" in Psalm 8 and used this concept to develop his ideas about ocean currents. What we take for granted today... that all water continually moves in a never ending cycle from the seas to the skies to the land and back to the sea to repeat the cycle, and that water moves in currents of the ocean, was discovered by men but mentioned in the Bible from the very beginning.

This may not be a profound revelation to you but to me it is once again a reminder that the Bible speaks with accuracy and truth in all it declares. Sometimes it is generations ahead of itself and we are slow to understand what it reveals. When we do not understand it is not the Bible with the problem. It is us! We do not know everything. We did not always know about the water cycle. We were unaware of ocean currents. We did not know the earth was round at one time either. The Bible declared all these concepts all along. What have we not yet discovered that the Bible has been stating all along? I wonder!

All Who Come are Secure

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:35-40, NASB).

 

This passage and others like it are frequently ignored in Bible studies, because such passages bring up many questions that we often find easier to ignore than to address. The truths found here tend to be ignored, marginalized, or explained away today. It is important to recognize the balance found in the Scriptures. On the one hand, we know that the Bible teaches us about human responsibility. On the other hand, we see the sovereignty of God. Today things are out of balance. There is far too much emphasis on the human side and far too little emphasis on the Divine side.

 

Jesus claimed to be “the bread of life.” This tells us that He is the very source of and sustainer of life. Without physical food, we die physically. Without Him, there can be no life. Salvation is totally of the Lord, and it is by His grace.

 

Those who come to Christ and believe in Him will “never hunger” and “never thirst.” The use of the word “never” teaches us that salvation is eternal. We can NEVER lose our salvation. Many really resist this truth, because it takes away all pretense of human ego. Not only can we not save ourselves, but we cannot keep ourselves saved. Salvation is all of grace and not even partially of works, “...so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9, NASB).

 

Some of those who saw Christ and witnessed His miracles did not believe in Him. How often do we hear it said that if we could just see miracles, it would be so much easier to believe? Yet, many saw those miracles, but only some believed. The same is true today. Many know about Jesus Christ and what He did, yet they do not believe, because it is the nature of sinful man to reject the truth.

 

All those given to the Son by the Father will come to the Son. This certainly tells us that there are those who are not given to the Son, because if all are given to the Son, then all will come to the Son. That is not going to happen. The Scriptures make it clear that many will reject salvation and be eternally condemned. Those who have not believed are condemned already. Those who are given to the Son will come to Him and be saved. When the Gospel is preached, it is preached for this purpose. What an encouragement it is to servants of the Lord to know that it is never a waste of effort to proclaim the Gospel, because His Word will accomplish its purpose and there will be results! “…so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11, ESV).

 

No one who comes to Christ will ever be “cast out.” Here again, we have biblical support for the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints,” which means that true believers will endure, because they have been “born again” or “born from above.” There is a reason the Lord used “birth” as an illustration of salvation. People understand that no one can ever be “unborn.” Once we come into this world, our parents will always be our parents, no matter what may happen. Birth cannot be reversed and made as if it had never happened. In the same way, once someone is born again, they cannot become “unborn.” Since birth is a permanent arrangement, those who have been born again cannot be other than a child of our Heavenly Father for all eternity.

 

The one who came from heaven, God the Son, came to do His Father’s will, and that perfect will is that all those the Father gives the Son will come to the Son, that the Son will lose none of them, and that the Son will raise ALL of them up at the last day. Here again we find the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints.” This doctrine is a great comfort to believers.

 

The same truth is once again repeated. When God says something once, it is very important. When He repeats it a second time or even a third or fourth time, it is EXTREMELY important, and He wants us to hear it. Sometimes we are slow learners, and we need to hear something several times. This passage concludes with another reference to our resurrection and a mention of the fact that we have “eternal life.” Somehow, the definition of eternal life gets twisted around to mean just about everything but what it actually means. It is not a difficult concept. Eternal life is life, the source of which is Christ, which is eternal (never ending, not even when we sin). What could be clearer? Eternal life is a present possession, and if it could ever end, then it would not be “eternal” and God would be less than truthful, which means He would not really be God. He cannot go back on His promises. That is why I frequently say, “My salvation is as secure as the integrity of God.” That is as secure as anything gets.

 

God gets to be God, whether we like it or not. Does this fact eliminate human responsibility? Absolutely not. Do I completely understand that? Not really. I can only humbly believe what God has said. He does not contradict Himself. Scripture complements itself; it does not contradict itself. Whether we understand it or not and whether we like it or not, when someone comes to Christ for salvation, God gets all the glory, and when someone is condemned, he gets all the credit for his own condemnation. It is interesting that even many who believe salvation is a matter of the will of man will pray to God for the salvation of their friends and loved ones. I am not really sure why they do that, unless they somehow suspect that God is really more in control of things than they are willing to admit. The fact that we go to God in prayer indicates tacit agreement with the fact that God really does get to be God, and He is in charge.

 

God is sovereign. Man is responsible. An unbeliever cannot blame God for his lost condition. A redeemed man cannot take credit for his salvation. That is what the Bible teaches. God does not ask us, in our limited ability, to understand every detail. He only asks us, in simple childlike faith, to believe what He has said.

 

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18, NKJV).

 

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36, NKJV).

 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28, KJV).

 

A Significant Sequence of Events

by My Anonymous Friend

I have been curious sometimes why Gospel writers under the direction of the Holy Spirit recorded certain events in the sequence they did. These events are not always in chronological order and sometimes time passes in between one incident and another.

A good example is Luke 5. The chapter begins with the miracle of the fish catch. The next narrative is about a leper healed. The third "cameo" in this chapter concerns the paralytic who was lowered through the tiles of a roof so he could get near Jesus and be healed.

So why are these three events following each other? I wish to offer a suggestion. It can be said that each of them teach a lesson about the human condition. Let me show you what I mean:

Fishing story – Peter responds, "Get away from me, I am a sinful man." A most unusual response we could say. Jesus said to him, "Be not afraid!"

Leper – Dr. Luke reminds us that this man was full of leprosy. In light of biblical teaching about leprosy we could say he was HOPELESSLY sick. Jesus said to this man, "I am willing to heal you!"

Paralytic – Had to be helped by others. He was HELPLESSLY sick. Jesus called this man "Friend!"

Do you see the progression?

Fear,.... hopelessness.... and helplessness. Then.... Do not be afraid,..... I am willing,..... Friend!

A beautiful picture we have here. Our initial response to God may well be fear. When we are made aware of His presence as Peter was, we shrink back in fear and terror. But Jesus tells us not to be afraid. Leprosy is a frequent picture of the pervasiveness of sin. Luke takes pains to let us know that the person was full of leprosy. The paralytic was entirely helpless. He needed others to bring him to Jesus. We too are hopelessly and helplessly lost and in need of healing.

The response by Jesus in each instance is fantastic. Who would not be comforted to hear Him say, "Do not be afraid." Who would not be thrilled to hear Him say, "I am willing to heal and cleanse you!"? Many believe their "leprosy" is too far advanced or beyond healing. Not so! Who would not be thrilled to hear Jesus say, "Friend" and to continue to hear the words, "Your sins are forgiven you!"?

Well these are some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for a time. I hope they give you occasion to think and to realize that these three cameos present a beautiful picture to us of God's grace and love.

Groom has Appendectomy in the morning and gets married in the afternoon!

by My Anonymous Friend

I presume the heading above would serve as a good newspaper headline and would attract attention. It is exactly what happened to our new nephew by marriage this past week. Early on Friday morning we learned that he was taken to a local hospital and very shortly the medical team determined that his appendix needed to be removed. He was to be married at 4:30 that afternoon. All the myriads of finely planned details were now in great jeopardy. Everyone waited nervously and prayed. Options were considered. The hospital offered its atrium as a place to perform the wedding if necessary. Around noon the young groom was released and the decision was made to proceed as planned with the church wedding. It went forward almost as originally planned and all was well.

In circumstances like these I always tend to look for the philosophical or theological issues. Here are a few that came to my mind.

1. Man proposes but God disposes. This is not a direct biblical quote but the concept is very biblical. We make our plans but ought to always hold on to them loosely. Ultimately, God is in charge. Our niece, just like other brides, worked for months to plan every little detail of the wedding. She is an incredible organizer and nothing was left to chance. Flowers, music, colors, reception details, and on and on. In just one moment every single detail was up in the air.

2. God is omniscient. There is today in some circles a vigorous discussion about what God knows. It is known as Open Theism. The view is that God is not in exhaustive control of the universe and that He desires meaningful relationships with people who therefore must have the opportunity to exercise their own free will. The concept is passionately argued today. Just how does God's involvement in our lives actually play out in events like weddings and surgeries? As I get older my theological positions are becoming both more simple and more profound. The former because I am less willing to argue and debate the complexities involving an infinite God. I tend to simply accept even seemingly paradoxical statements about God. I view myself as finite and greatly limited in my understanding and I see God as infinite and high above my understanding. The latter position about my theology works well also. God is omniscient and omnipotent. I cannot possibly hope to fathom the depths and heights of the truths about who He is. I seek to bow in humility and awe before Him. It does not bother me that I am unable to answer many questions about Him. I do not believe there are contradictions about God. I believe God knows all and I believe that somehow humans have freedom to make choices. Are these concepts contradictory? Only to a limited mind. I leave it at that.